Fifth process: Evaluate

Evaluate is the last process of the conceptualised framework which is part of the post-launch phase. All three influencer marketing agencies explained that evaluating the strategy is part of their process when working with influencer marketing campaigns. AN states that when evaluating the campaign, they ask questions such as what went well or/and bad and how can they do it differently next time (Appendix, 1.34.). AN also claim that it is about evaluating your Return On Investment (ROI) (Appendix, 1.14.), in which the brands measure whether the ROI of the campaign has been positive or negative. The ROI can either be tangible, which focus on the explicit profitable financial outcome or it can be intangible, which investigate customer satisfaction (Chaffey & Chadwick, 2019:

22). Furthermore, it is important to measure the success of the influencer marketing campaign by evaluating whether the goals and objectives set in the beginning have been met (Appendix, 3.28.). FA stated that it is often in the evaluating stage that brands determine which specific influencers they want to pursue a long-term strategy with. Here, they evaluate whether the influencers in the campaign performed in accordance with the objectives and if they did not then the brand do not prolong their contract (Appendix, 2.22.).

Lastly, as the conceptualised framework also shows, the fifth process leads to the first process which is the define process. When the campaign is finalised, two main scenarios can occur: either the objectives are met or not. In both scenarios, new objectives can be formulated. If the initial objectives of the campaign are fulfilled, then it can occur that the brand is not in the same position in the marketing funnel. However, they might have moved down the funnel from the awareness section to the consideration part. This can lead to a new set of KPI’s and objectives being set, which can result in a new cycle in the conceptualised influencer marketing framework.

Thus, by taking the above-presented tools in the conceptualised framework into consid-eration, brands can to a greater extent ensure that a successful influencer marketing is created.

5

Discussion

In this chapter, I will discuss and evaluate the overall success factors identified in the analysis section. To accomplish the latter, I firstly examining whether there exists a pattern between the identified findings in the analysis and the already existing literature.

Then, I will investigate whether the findings show indications of new tendencies occurring in the field of influencer marketing. The second part will be centred around three key themes that are based on some significant findings in the analysis section.

5.1 Key findings

The findings in this master thesis can add to the existing literature about influencer marketing. A theoretical and practical understanding of the success factors in influencer marketing has been presented by examining which characteristics of the SMI that can contribute to the persuasiveness of the message and also by presenting additional tools which brands can use to facilitate a successful influencer marketing strategy.

In the source credibility model, this master study found that the credibility of the SMI is affected by their level of expertise and trustworthiness which is also consistent with other studies conducted to investigate the persuasiveness of endorsers (Pornpitakpan, 2004). In addition, De Veirman et al. (2017) concluded that the number of followers can have a positive impact on the SMI opinion leadership. Our results, however, differ from De Veirman et al. results as the engagement was determined to play a greater role in determining the likeability of the SMI than the number of followers. Possible reasoning can be that the number of followers is not enough justification for opinion leadership among the followers’ network.

With the use of the source attractiveness model, it was demonstrated that an endorser who has similarity, familiarity and likeability is perceived as being more attractive than

one who does not have those characteristics. The majority of the findings in the source attractiveness model is in line with already existing literature that claims that attractive speakers to a greater extent can influence the attitudes of the audience towards the brand (Sharma, 1990; Seiler & Kucza, 2017) and not have an impact on purchase attention as attractiveness is not perceived to be a factor that is persuasive enough to generate conversion (Lim, et al., 2017: 30).

In the match-up hypothesis, it was established that the natural match between the endorser and the brand, product or service is essential for the followers to find the endorsement credible. This correlated with findings from Seiler&Kucza who established that product congruency could positively affect consumers attitude towards the adver-tisement. Moreover, with the analysis in the match-up hypothesis, we also supplemented with additional factors that could impact the match between the endorser and the brand or product. The latter is to the knowledge of the researcher not elaborated on prior to this study and therefore, the thesis adds to already existing literature of match-up hypothesis.

When investigatingPSR, our findings suggested that PSR were driven by the elements in friendship and self-disclosure. Our results approve the claims of Chung & Cho’s (2017) research as they indicated that frequency and personalisation of a message could potentially enhance the illusion of intimacy which could develop to friendship. However, it has to be noted that their research was based on celebrity endorsement and not SMI, which shows that our research adds on to the literature of PSR in regard to influencer marketing. Moreover, similarly to previous research of Ferchaud et al. (2017), our findings also agree that self-disclosure could potentially strengthen the authenticity of the SMI.

Lastly, the conceptualised framework highlighted different practical planning tools that could drive a successful influencer marketing strategy. To the knowledge of the researcher, no prior academic study has combined the academic tools with practical tools. The conceptualised framework has provided new insight and can optimise the understanding of influencer marketing. Therefore, this conceptualised framework adds to the literature of influencer marketing because it provides a practical and holistic approach to the phenomenon.

5.2 New tendencies in the influencer