Social media has become a prolific tool for companies to build their brands. An effective way to interact with stakeholders on social media has been the relatively new discipline of ‘influencer marketing’. Here, companies engage social media stars to use their large fan-base to promote products and services on their brand’s behalf. While related to the promotional tactic of word-of-mouth marketing, influencer marketing lacks a theoretical foundation in the academic discourse. This paper aims to fill this gap by offering a conceptualisation to operationalize the new discipline in practice. The conceptualisation proposes brand owners a methodology to choose the right influencers for their brands and guides influencers to perform optimally with their fan base. Lastly, a consumer perspective is taken to the discussion to emphasize the relevance of influencer marketing in the consumer purchase decision-making process.
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Hoe maak je goed gebruik van influencers? Suzanne de Bakker, wetenschapper en auteur van het boek ‘Contentmarketing’ spitte drie wetenschappelijke onderzoeken door en bespreekt de conclusies, die direct toepasbaar zijn om influencers op een effectieve manier in te zetten.
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World globalisation drives companies to undertake international expansion with the aim of retaining or growing their businesses. When companies globalize, managers encounter new challenges in making international marketing strategy (IMS) decisions, which are influenced by perceived cultural and business distance between their home- and foreign country. Telkom Indonesia International (Telin) was formed by Telkom Indonesia (i.e. the state-owned company in the telecommunication industry in Indonesia) to engage in international business within a global market. The central question in this study is to what extent do managers’ perceived cultural and business distance between home- and foreign country influence their IMS decisions? A mixed research strategy will be employed by applying qualitative and quantitative methods concurrently. The data collection will involve interviews with CEOs and managers, alongside a web survey to 55 managers of Telkom's. Results suggest important consequences for IMS decisions and emphasizes the need for dialogue on perceptions of cultural and business characteristics of countries.
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