Influencer marketing: how do you choose a testimonial?

Choosing an influencer has recently become a decisive choice for many brands who decide to start an influencer marketing campaign. The popularity of these people is so widespread that more and more companies are trying to gain visibility by paying celebrities to speak well of their product. Unfortunately, in recent weeks, there has been a lot of talk about this topic due to a major controversy that arose around the issue of hidden advertising , in fact there are many obvious but not openly declared collaborations that we see on social media every day. The birth of this controversy has obviously drawn attention to the quantity of collaborations that exist between celebrities and brands and the real value that these can have within a marketing activity. What value can influencer marketing bring to brands? To answer this question and start thinking about the topic on a deeper level, we need to rediscover the basic dynamics of collaboration between brands and testimonials as happened with traditional advertising. Under testimonial we find this definition: “ It defines a procedure that associates the image and testimony of a person considered representative (an expert, a celebrity, a commentator, a typical consumer) with a cause or a product for strengthen its credibility.” (Source: wikipedia) The role of the testimonial is to transfer one's positive characteristics directly onto the product, a transfer of value and credibility that has the power to convince and sometimes to change opinions.

The choice of testimonial is fundamental: do you by any chance Panama mobile number list remember Jean Claude Van Damme in perfect balance between two golden trucks in the middle of the desert? Here you are. That is a perfect example of a successful collaboration in which the credit, in addition to the wonderful execution of the sport, also goes to a perfect choice of testimonial . That Volvo commercial would not have been as successful if there had been another instead of that testimonial. It's worth seeing again: What is the reason for this success? The character Volvo chose to act as a " guarantor " of the brand's value is absolutely perfect: Van Damme was and still is a cultural icon. Muscular, determined, sporty, a karate champion and an actor in films loved by male audiences, in the collective imagination he has always represented the alpha male, the macho who doesn't need to ask, the strongest and wisest in the situation. Van Damme in addition to all this, was also known for his perfect karate moves, his temperament and his precision. All characteristics absolutely in line with the value that Volvo wanted to communicate regarding that product. The association between the two was therefore perfect. This parenthesis on testimonials was due because I believe that the care and approach towards a character must be the same even when it comes to influencers on the web, because ultimately the strategic objective is the same.



Currently, social networks are full of influencers in almost all sectors and countries. These are people who have acquired a lot of credibility over time and have slowly become opinion leaders capable of moving the masses, convincing and persuading. More and more companies hire them to advertise their products but unfortunately many people believe that the best influencer is always the one who has the most visibility. When it comes to web stars, visibility for its own sake can be meaningless and paying someone to say that our product is beautiful can be a waste of money that doesn't bring notable results. The choice of a brand ambassador should be made based on objective and relevant considerations. The right approach, in my opinion, should start from a series of considerations: the best influencer is not (always) the one with the most followers the influencer's audience must be as close to my target audience as possible our influencer must truly believe in the qualities of the product and its positive characteristics the collaboration between company and influencer must be explicit and declared in a transparent manner On this last point I recommend reading my latest post on the topic of hidden advertising by Instagram influencers. Now let's see how to make a right choice. How to choose the influencer for an influencer marketing campaign As we said before, the number of followers that an influencer has on their channels is only one of the characteristics that determine the choice and, as we will see later, it could also be among the least important.