Wonder

Research Outline

Prepared for Ramon B. | Delivered September 22, 2020

Influencer Marketing

Goals

To have a broad understanding of how businesses use influencers at each stage of the marketing funnel that is at the top of funnel, middle of funnel, and bottom of funnel in order to show people or marketers how influencers can be a valuable addition in their marketing mix. An ideal response would include the definition of a marketing channel, why influencers should be considered in marketing, statistics to back up the importance of influencer marketing, and strategies for using influencers at each stage of the marketing funnel.

Early Findings

According to InfluencerDB, when influencer marketing emerged, many marketers found it very useful in generating brand awareness. However, influencers can have a huge impact on every stage of the marketing funnel keeping customers excited at each stage.
According to the Digital Marketing Institute, millions of consumers trust influencers as they are more relatable than traditional celebrities. As a result, more marketers have been paying attention to influencer marketing with approximately 86% of them using influencers as of 2017. 
An article by Smart Insights stated that while 71% of marketers believe that an active partnership with an influencer is the most "effective tactic to influencer marketing," 67.6% of them also say finding the most relevant influencers to work with is the biggest challenge.
Some of the brands that can attribute their success to influencer marketing include Ricoh, a Japanese imaging company, and Daniel Wellington. By effectively using influencer marketing, Ricoh was able to "reach new audiences in France, the UK, and Germany" while Daniel Wellington is "one of the most successful studies of influencer marketing" according to Talking Influence.
As mentioned above, influencer marketing is more than just creating brand awareness and it can do wonders throughout the marketing funnel stages. In addition to a healthy marketing funnel, businesses also try to create a marketing mix to get the best results, and thus some organizations nurture influencer relationships to ensure success. 
Summary Of Our Early Findings Relevant To The GoalsOur initial hour of research was spent gathering some data that addressed the question asked as well as ensuring there is publicly available data that can provide the required data in line with the goals of the project.
We were not provided a geographic focus for this research so we assumed a global view. If a more targeted approach is desired, for example, the United States, this would have to be clearly communicated to us in any reply.
Please select one or more of the options provided in the proposed scoping section below.