Influencer Marketing Across the World

For brands and agencies, the world can be your oyster when it comes to influencer marketing. By its nature, social media draws people together around a set of common interests which they share within their personal communities, enabling you to access the attention of an engaged audience base for your brand.

Many of the most successful brands of the last few years such as the Dollar Shave Club or Kiehl’s have not relied on traditional advertising but taken a social-led approach.

They recognizeΒ that it’s not just about reaching eyeballs but engaging hearts and minds with a particular brand philosophy.

And, challenger brands such as these can’t afford a fullΒ multichannelΒ strategy, nor do they see huge value in it compared to the relatively lower-cost of an influencer strategy.

However, despite an increasinglyΒ globalisedΒ world, it’s worth remembering how different approaches to social media and influencers marketing can be in each market.

MENA

More than one authority has deemed 2017 to be the β€œyear of influencer marketing” yet brands cannot apply a β€œone-size-fits-all” approach. The complexity of the sector is somethingΒ indaHashΒ US team is well aware of. In their market (and many others), each brand or client handles influencer marketing through a different team – digital, social, content, PR or creative which can make finding decision-makers challenging.

Perhaps surprisingly, despite the sophistication and maturity of the market, clients take a much more hands-on approach, approving every piece of content before publication. The emphasis on brand safety means that the advent of automation technology in influencer marketing can be slightly scary for some of our clients. In this case, ourΒ  human moderation teams take on increased importance here, taking the heavy lifting of monitoring content for quality and fit to brief so clients can sleep easy.

This is a trend we see more widely across major markets with larger advertisers operating under a global mandate compared to smaller, regional brands which are more willing to takeΒ riskΒ to compete against slower, larger competitors.

In contrast, less mature media markets such as MENA have embraced a technology-led approach. In Dubai, particularly, technology start-ups are finding a good home to nurture their business. With around 200 different nationalities living and working in the region, automation can help brands identify the most appropriate influencers and audience for their message.

The trend across the region is most definitely mobile-led with e-commerce (encompassing online shopping and app-based products and services) at the heart of the consumer battleground for trusted recommendations and reviews.

Underpinning this is a strong design influence, most notably with the recent addition of the Dubai Design District (D3) intended to become the next global fashion capital with billions of dollars of planned investment. This means that fashion,Β beautyΒ and lifestyle brands haveΒ significantΒ opportunity through this creative ecosystem. Also, as a hub for business,

Dubai consumers tend to be time-poor and cash-rich and use social influencers to clue them in on the best places to eat and drink – making food and beverage brands top users of influencer marketing.

Building relationships with the right influencersΒ isΒ key hereΒ and the market is rather saturated with β€œrich kids of Instagram”, making it important to establish who is a genuine influencer with real engagement.

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