Public relations practice has undergone major changes in the past 15 years. Even more so in the last five years. Interestingly, most of these changes are tied to the rise of social media networks, a major change in the media landscape and influencer marketing activities as well as a “bandwagon” which picked up steam about the same period and for a good reason it has come to stay.
In 2014, I managed a campaign with some young brilliant chaps while in C&F Porter Novelli. It was a relaunch of a household seasoning cube MAGGI with the objective of changing the perception that the “product is for old women (old mothers and grandmas).” The new flavour introduced by the company according to research and insights gained by the team appealed to the younger generation including young men and women, new wives and students, among others.
Getting ‘credible people’ who fit this profile and are willing to speak on behalf of the product in form of a testimony in a ‘believable manner’ to the target group was a big nut for the PR team to crack. We had to do a lot of research to know who the target audiences were, what they did, where they went, who got their attention, and what they consumed. Through our research, we were able to find out that at the time, that a majority of the people, who fell under the target group of the new product, were not the regular newspaper readers. They listened to radio for music and chit-chat by radio presenters but not for news though. They spent most of their spare time on social media, especially Twitter, Facebook and BBM at the time. WhatsApp and Instagram were not BIG in Nigeria in 2014.
Whereas, the traditional spaces for PR consultants to pitch content or stories to were the Newspapers, Radios and TV televisions; but these particular consumers were not there at that time. The team simply followed the consumers (the target audience in this case) to where they play and work – the SOCIAL MEDIA and Radio. And there, we got them using Influencers who most of the target group follow and engage with on different social media platforms, radio presenters who they listen to for different reasons and pop-music icons they respect a lot and engage with. It was a time consuming exercise but it was worth it in the end as we hit the gold. We got the message to the target group..
Influencers have been a part of the marketing and branding game for decades. In the past, the powerful influencers almost always attained celebrity status in some form — sport stars, models, or well-known actors — however, that is not what we are experiencing in the age of social media.
From a social media influencer standpoint, celebrities may not have as much draw as up-and-coming influencers who consciously build a large following with high engagement ratio in different niches including politics, finance, sports, and entertainment among others. Interestingly, most of these influencers are in their early twenties and with basic understanding of the issues but they engage their followers a whole lot nonetheless.
Most of the time brands get befuddled with the number of the followers. They go after the influencers with the largest following, irrespective of who the followers are, Such people are not the real influencers that BRANDS brands should be looking for, but those whose followers fit the target demographic for the brand; people who have the reputation that these audiences trust; and people whose posts are largely about issues as opposed to brand representation or promotion.
For some, it is more about the number of followers as against how the followers react and engage with the influencer. Most people we call ‘Influencers’ are actually ‘publicists’ as they rarely command any influencer or carry out any form of engagement.
The real influencers hardly call themselves influencers or have such tag on their social media bio. They are consistent in putting out information on certain areas of life, are highly opinionated and are the go-to persons on such issues. There are social media tools designed to help you identify them. Brands and PR people must find them to ensure their views align with their agenda.
For example, A Nigerian who drinks Star Lager and flaunts it on social media needs little conviction to post a Star Lager related content. He will feel recognized if the brand seeds a tray and pots of Nkwobi to him on his birthday, He will speak to the values and attributes of the brand well in a believable manner. Compared to a hired and paid influencer who will most likely post competing brands the following week.