After reviewing this 60 minutes transcript and reflecting on influencers I follow, I’ve noticed that this type of marketing can be highly impactful if the product or service is relevant to the audience that the influencer has built. For instance, influencers that come to mind for me would be considered content creators. I would also consider them industry leaders in providing fantasy football advice, The Fantasy Footballers.

What I’ve personally noticed about influencer marketing, and notice about The Fantasy Footballers, is the way they approach ads. They are upfront that the product or service is an ad, which they do to maintain follower trust. Then they continue to harbor that trust by promoting products that align with their brand.

  An example of this can be seen when The Fantasy Footballers promoted FantasyJocks during an ad on their show. FantasyJocks is a company that offers Fantasy Football trophies, belts, rings and draft boards (FantasyJocks, 2022).

This aligns well with the brand The Fantasy Footballers have built, since they promote themselves as experts “who break down the world of Fantasy Football with astute analysis, strong opinions, and matchup-winning advice you can’t get anywhere else” (The Fantasy Footballers, 2022).

  Strategies The Fantasy Footballers employ are to incorporate the ad organically into the show, instead of cutting to a third party “pre-roll” for the ad. The organic-ad will typically tell a personal story around the item they are promoting and a reason why they are promoting it. This comes across as more personal and relevant, which allows the ad to resonate better.

  The role that influencers play in the marketing is like a personal spokesperson, almost like that of a friend. As a listener who has forged a long-time listening relationship with the creator, I’m willing to support companies who support the creator, and for that reason I’m more open-minded to the ad. This dichotomy of influencers promoting items and services from companies, and the followers choosing to support those companies makes it feels as though it’s a friend-supporting-friend exchange.

  The use of marketing, if handled correctly, makes it so that the ad resonates better with the audience that the brand has forged. Had the FantasyJocks ad been an ad for Burberry trench coats, I don’t feel that the ad would have resonated the same.

For that reason, influencers must also be mindful of the brands they choose to partner with to promote. If The Fantasy Footballers start partnering with brands outside of their target audience, it could hurt their credibility and make it so that their audiences start tuning out their ads, which can negatively impact the relationship between the company and the consumer. Those are some perspectives on influencer marketing.

References

FantasyJocks. (2022). About Us | FantasyJocks. Retrieved from https://www.fantasyjocks.com/

Hubspot Academy. (2022). Extending Your Reach On Social Media. Retrieved from https://f.hubspotusercontent20.net/hubfs/137828/_Academy%20Education%20-%20Learning%20Center%20Resources/Academy_Certification%20Courses/Academy_Social%20Media%20Certification/Academy%20Lesson_Extending%20Your%20Reach%20on%20Social%20Media/Slide%20Decks/S

The Fantasy Footballers. (2022). About The Fantasy Footballers | The Fantasy Footballers. Retrieved from https://www.thefantasyfootballers.com/about/

Whitaker, B. (2016). The Influencers. Retrieved from https://www.cbsnews.com/news/60-minutes-kim-kardashian-logan-paul-social-media-influencers/