INFLUENCERS

How many times have you’ve run to buy a handbag, a dress or a pair of shoes just because you saw a picture of someone who looked great on it in a social network? What was the last thing you bought just because someone recommended it and said it was good or mentioned its advantages? The popular word of mouth advertising is having particular success, especially in social networks, and here’s where  Influencers take part; people with a far greater capacity impact than the average in certain niche or sector, in our case, fashion.

Influencers aren’t great movie or TV stars, they tend to be more "normal" people, that have become known for their style and because everything that is put on becomes a trend. It is a marketing style that thanks to social networks like Instagram, Twitter and Pinterest, is increasingly reaching the target audience, young and influenciable people, people who wants to stand out and differentiate themselves from the rest.

An Influencer is not simply a marketing tool, but an important asset of social relations. In fact, it can directly affect certain key contracts, support the launch of new products, or be part of a resource group that is dedicated to increasing awareness of the brand or product in the market. Unlike conventional methods, the Influencer is not only able to buy or not your product, but to multiply their impact area to ​​hundreds or even thousands or millions of potential consumers.

The failure or success of integrating these opinion leaders in your marketing strategy will depend on the selection you make of them, because if it is true that abound Influencers in social networks, not all are what you or your company need. That’s why the first major challenge is to find them, and once you have them the first question to ask yourself is what do you expect from the Influencers and what they expect from you, because it is a "Win-Win" relationship, therefore, they’ll also expect something from you.

Olivia Palermo, Chiara Ferragni, Aimee Song and Kristina Bazan (my favorites), are part of the leading Fashion Influencers group of the moment. They participate in major fashion events around the world (they usually attend accompanied by a photographer who is capturing each part of their styles to be published immediately in social networks), have fashion blogs and always give mention to brands of each of component of their outfit, because after all they’re getting paid for it.

Certainly, the role of Fashion Bloggers has directly impacted on the emergence of Influencers in fashion industry, they’re no longer limited to the editorial, but assume many roles like advertisers, promoters and stylists.

Be very careful when selecting your Influencers, whether you are a company or a person to who wants to follow trends. Keep in mind that choosing isn’t just looking at the number of followers or fans of the user, which is important for the extent it would represent for the brand or the safety that could give you as a follower; you also have to investigate who’s really the people that speak about the topic that interests you, and when you get with the right person make sure is someone who truly inspires you. Avoid jack’s-of-all-trades especially since an Influencer is not measured by the number of subjects they know about, but the level of expertise you have one in particular subject,  that is key.

Massiel Féliz Rivas

Personal Shopper and Fashion Blogger