MBA631 Digital Marketing and Communication Repot 2 Sample

MBA631 Digital Marketing and Communication Repot 2

Assignment Details

As a team of 3-4 (depending on class size), prepare and write a 1500-word analysis individually on a digital marketing trend impacting marketing practice using the APAA (Authority, Prime, Attention, Advocacy) framework.

students will be given an opportunity to explore one digital trend that businesses should consider integrating into their future marketing communication strategies. In addition, students will be given an opportunity to understand better how the various trends impacting marketers in today’s digital-orientated world can affect the APAA framework

your group must participate in a 60-minute in-class activity during which you are required to discuss your individual research results collaboratively. Based on this discussion, you and your group must determine how the assigned digital trend impacts various businesses in relation to the APPA framework required to collaboratively create a dashboard and extract the insights from the dashboard.

you are required to submit an individual 1500-word written analysis to summarise the assigned trend’s impacts. Specifically, your report must include the following:

• An introduction to the digital trend and an explanation of the trend’s rise to popularity.

• An analysis of the impacts of this digital trend on marketers. What are the advantages and disadvantages of the digital trend?

• An analysis of how businesses can adopt this digital trend using the APAA framework.

• Propose how businesses can measure the success of the digital trend. Please support your proposal with relevant sources of information.

Solution

Introduction

Influencer marketing has emerged to be prominent in the digital marketing strategy; this uses social media influencers to advertise goods and services. It has been observed that four types of influences have been involved in influencer marketing: mega influencer, macro influencer, micro-influencer and lastly nano influencer. This trend involves engaging the right people who have a strong followership on the available social media platforms to make them associate their large following with certain brands. Influencer marketing has emerged as a result of Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok since users turn to the content of trusted ‘influencers. Also, the innovations in the measurement and analytics of data provide brands with better tools to track the effect of these partnerships, which in the long run promotes the concept. Today, the influencer marketing strategy remains significant for every business because it is more genuine and direct compared to others. Hence, consumers today have a high regard for word-of-mouth and personal recommendations compared to conventional advertising hence making Influencers a handy tool in creating engagement and confidence in today’s competitive market.

Impact of the Digital Trend on Marketers

Influencer marketing strategy is slowly and gradually becoming the core strategy that marketers use to communicate with their target consumers. By using personalities who have significant and active followers, marketers can access established groups which makes it easier for them to target specific audiences more effectively. There are three major benefits of influencer marketing: better targeting, higher level of engagement, and lower cost (Vrontis et al. 2021).

Enhanced Targeting:

One of the major benefits of riding the wave of influencer marketing is its target audience reach. That is because influencers typically appeal to specific audiences, niches, and other characteristics, which makes it possible to target specific consumer segments. This means that for anyone who wants beauty, fitness, technology, travel, and everything in between, there are influencers out there for it (Leung et al. 2022). This, in turn, not only makes certain that the brand message gets to the intended audience but also that it is delivered by word of mouth by a third party. Some of the conventional advertising techniques are looked at from a broader perspective and therefore end up targeting irrelevant audiences. Unlike traditional advertisement, in which marketers fire off a scattergun approach, influencer marketing targets potential customers directly, hence, achieving better results for MBA assignment expert.

Improved Engagement:

Marketing with influencers is much more personal and engaging to the customers in contrast to the regular forms of marketing. This is the reason why influencers make authentic content which is close to their followers and this proximity creates a higher level of credibility. As compared to other forms of advertisements that someone sees as disturbing or fake, influencer endorsements feel more like advice from a friend hence convincing (Campbell et al. 2020). This level of participation is retransformed to better customer contact with the brand as many followers are likely to comment, share and engage in discussions of influencer-generated content. This raises the awareness of the brand, improves the process of community formation and develops strict and direct contact between the brand and potential purchasers.

Cost-Efficiency

Due to this, influencer marketing is usually more economical compared to other conventional advertising techniques especially when engaging micro or specialist influencers. While these influencers may attract fewer people to their accounts, they have loyal audiences that are more likely to make a purchase hence the better returns on investment (Haenlein et al. 2020). The measure of performance in engagement rates, click-through rates and conversion rates enables brands to make better use of the limited budget and get more effective results. Furthermore, it was found that influencer collaborations are more effective than large-scale advertisement campaigns, which are costly and less efficient as compared to influencing, but they can be adjusted to the size of the businesses.

Adoption of the Digital Trend Using the APAA Framework

Analyzing the way businesses can adapt to influencer marketing, the APAA (Authority, Prime, Attention, Advocacy) framework is the most effective one. It asserts brand stewardship, finds out optimum interaction phases, reaches out to the consumer, and creates loyal consumers; making it a force to reckon with in today’s world of marketing.

Authority:

Influencer marketing places a business’s product at the top of the industry by associating with influencers. When the opinion leader supports a product or a service, this strengthens the brand’s authority over their followers, as well. The audience expects information from an influencer, and when a brand collaborates with a credible influencer, it automatically receives a hall pass to be accepted as the expert in the niche.
For example, beauty firms such as Glossier have accrued the authority of the opinion through cooperation with beauty opinion leaders who are perceived to be trendsetters in the industry. Thus, creating partnerships with influencers familiar with skincare and makeup routines helped Glossier build a trusting audience and position itself as a new-generation beauty brand

Figure 1: APAA Framework of Influencer Marketing
(Source: KUSUMA, 2022)

Prime

The “Prime” element of the APAA framework deals with how brands can leverage on the right time in getting their target audience’s attention through influencer marketing. This trend makes it easier for the business to know when the consumer is most open to the kind of message that the business wants to convey. It is also common to find that influencers post content that is relevant to the particular season, a new product in the market or topical issues that will create an apt platform for brands to engage their target market (Masuda et al. 2022).

For example, in the Black Friday event or any occasion that a company launches its new products, it can work hand in hand with influencers. Such networks help fashion brands like ASOS Tweet out new collections to extend awareness before key shopping periods which could be receiving serious attention from the extensive volume of users.

Attention

At the same time, influencers correctly get and hold consumer attention which is a major advantage of influencer promotion. These personalities have developed an audience that pays attention, and sometimes even obeys what the influencers suggest, so the content is always much more effective than blunt advertising. Also, influencing customers to focus on brands through storytelling and engagement by preparing unique and genuine content for their followers.
Some of the long-term aims are possible to work on maintaining the consumers’ engagement, for instance, brands engage influencers to establish lasting relationships. For instance, Nike is constantly working with fitness influencers for a long-term period and it consistently provides content that helps the consumers to stay connected with the brand and the products offered by Nike.

Advocacy

As a result of influencer marketing, brands can build long-term customer advocacy since the influencers are happy and satisfied customers. Influencers do not only promote products, but they also actively promote communities of the brand they support. This means that the customers often imitate the purchases of their favorite celebrities hence raising customer retention and recommendation.

One of the best examples is advocacy using influencer marketing is Gymshark, a fitness apparel company that started advocating by associating with fitness enthusiasts.

Measuring the Success of the Digital Trends

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

To determine the effectiveness of influencer marketing, one needs to quantify parameters such as conversion rates; engagement rates including likes, comments, and number of sharings; and most importantly Customer Lifetime Value (CLV). High engagement rates mean that the material published by the influencer is suitable for the target audience, in addition, increased conversion rates prove that the partnership benefits the business. For instance, Sephora is a beauty company that will monitor cause marketing influencer campaigns by sales of the products and reactions on social media. Current standards for the engagement rate, for example, 3-5% on Instagram, are viewed as good average metrics.

Customer Feedback

It was identified clearly that the feedback from consumers is more relevant in deciding on the success of influence marketing. Conducting online surveys and analyzing online word of mouth or direct interactions on social media can help businesses get a clear understanding of how the influencer campaign measures up to customers’ expectations. More brand mentions, positive feedback, and high positivity in social media sites under this campaign imply success.

ROI Analysis

It is significant to note that the Return on Investment (ROI) is an essential measure when determining the effectiveness of influencer marketing. Some of the ways through which businesses can calculate ROI include revenue generated or the cost of partnering with influencers with the cost-saving or customer retention resulting from the partnership.

Figure 2: ROI Influencer of Influencer Marketing
Source: (Tanwar, 2022)

Conclusion

In conclusion, it can be mentioned that for companies which want to market their products, influencer marketing has potential benefits such as higher targeting increased engagement and better cost efficiency. Some of the benefits that businesses can achieve when implementing APAA include establishing more authority, positioning during key moments, gaining the attention of consumers, and utilising partnerships with influencers to advocate for their products. Therefore, using KPIs, customer feedback, and ROI analysis, the effectiveness of the trend is guaranteed. Now, companies need to use influencer marketing to gain high sales and enhance brand recognition among their loyal customers. Yet, brands have to ensure that they acquire influencers of similar values as their companies and the consumers who will be targeted.

Other trends such as AI in marketing, and AR in the coming future might enhance digital marketing. This means that the APAA framework will further enable organizations to operate with flexibility when it comes to engaging consumers through primed moments and sustaining customer interest across evolving and dynamic digital surroundings.

References List

Campbell, C. and Farrell, J.R., 2020. More than meets the eye: The functional components underlying influencer marketing. Business horizons, 63(4), pp.469-479. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S000768132030032X

Haenlein, M., Anadol, E., Farnsworth, T., Hugo, H., Hunichen, J. and Welte, D., 2020. Navigating the new era of influencer marketing: How to be successful on Instagram, TikTok, & Co. California management review, 63(1), pp.5-25. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0008125620958166

KUSUMA, A.P.A.A. and SHIRATINA, A., 2022. Effects of online promotion and personal selling on the purchase decision of the Cisauk point apartment during the pandemic. International Journal of Environmental, Sustainability, and Social Science, 3(2), pp.450-463. https://www.journalkeberlanjutan.com/index.php/ijesss/article/view/292

Leung, F.F., Gu, F.F., Li, Y., Zhang, J.Z. and Palmatier, R.W., 2022. Influencer marketing effectiveness. Journal of marketing, 86(6), pp.93-115. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/00222429221102889

Masuda, H., Han, S.H. and Lee, J., 2022. Impacts of influencer attributes on purchase intentions in social media influencer marketing: Mediating roles of characterizations. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 174, p.121246. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S004016252100679X

Tanwar, A.S., Chaudhry, H. and Srivastava, M.K., 2022. Trends in influencer marketing: A review and bibliometric analysis. Journal of Interactive Advertising, 22(1), pp.1-27. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/15252019.2021.2007822

Vrontis, D., Makrides, A., Christofi, M. and Thrassou, A., 2021. Social media influencer marketing: A systematic review, integrative framework and future research agenda. International Journal of Consumer Studies, 45(4), pp.617-644. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/ijcs.12647