Social Media Influencers and Business Marketing Strategies
This paper examines the evolution of social media as a business marketing tool, tracing the shift from broad, platform-based advertising on early sites like Myspace and Facebook to highly targeted influencer marketing on Instagram and YouTube. The paper reviews how companies previously relied on banner ads and general promotions, then explores how the rise of smartphones and social media influencers transformed brand strategy. Case studies of companies such as Morphe and Fit Tea illustrate how influencer partnerships generate significant sales and customer loyalty. The paper also discusses Facebook's continued relevance through preference-based targeted advertising, concluding that social media and business have developed a mutually beneficial relationship.
- Introduction: Social media's growth as a business marketing channel
- Previous Approaches to Social Media Marketing: Early advertising on Myspace, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube
- New Findings: Influencer Marketing and Targeted Advertising: Influencer partnerships, brand case studies, targeted ads
- Conclusion: Symbiotic relationship between business and social media
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What makes this paper effective
- Uses concrete, real-world brand examples (Morphe, Fit Tea, American Airlines) to illustrate abstract marketing concepts, making arguments tangible and persuasive.
- Provides a clear chronological structure — moving from past to present strategies — that gives the reader an intuitive sense of how social media marketing has evolved.
- Integrates direct quotations from industry sources to support claims about influencer fees and platform performance, lending empirical credibility to the analysis.
Key academic technique demonstrated
The paper effectively uses comparative analysis to contrast older, broadcast-style advertising methods with modern influencer-driven and preference-targeted marketing. By showing what companies used to do versus what they do now, the author demonstrates analytical depth without requiring extensive theoretical framing — a useful technique for applied business writing.
Structure breakdown
The paper follows a clear four-part structure: an executive summary and introduction establish the topic and scope; a "Previous Approaches" section surveys early social media advertising tactics; a "New Findings" section presents current influencer marketing trends with supporting examples and quotations; and a conclusion synthesizes key takeaways about the evolving relationship between social media and business. Each section builds logically on the last, reinforcing the overarching narrative of marketing evolution.
Introduction
Social media in the last ten years has exploded and expanded to include a host of websites and apps. What seemed like a niche market with very little advertising consideration has grown to become a primary way for businesses to market themselves and increase customer brand awareness. Some of this growth had to do with the smartphone and the ease with which customers could interact with companies and with each other to spread company advertisements or inspire trends. An example of this is Instagram, where social media influencers feature a beauty product and create a trend among users, increasing sales for the company that produces it.
It does not simply happen on Instagram. Social media has also come to include YouTube, where influencers can be sponsored by companies to promote a product in one of their videos. Because these influencers have millions of dedicated fans viewing their content and buying recommended products, companies end up gaining sales and better profits compared to not engaging with influencers at all. Because social media has grown into what it is today, it is a key means by which businesses market to consumers in the hopes of growing their customer base — often at a lower cost than traditional methods like television commercials. This essay discusses past and current methods businesses use to leverage social media.
Previous Approaches to Social Media Marketing
Myspace was once a useful platform for companies to showcase their brand through advertisements. However, it was quickly replaced by Facebook, which became the main means of reaching social media users through both targeted and general advertisements. Twitter also emerged as a great way to communicate directly with customers. Beyond advertising, businesses could open a Twitter account and have employees engage with customers — especially those with complaints about a product or service.
A good example of this is American Airlines, where customers can tweet a concern and receive a prompt response without having to call and wait on hold. Not only did Twitter become a great way to connect with new and existing customers, but it also became a primary tool for gathering data on potential customer interests. Twitter hashtags, for instance, give businesses the ability to collect data on what is trending and desirable, then market accordingly.
As Chae (2015) notes, supply chain tweets are used by different groups of supply chain professionals and organizations — such as news services and manufacturers — for information sharing, hiring, and communicating with stakeholders. Diverse topics are discussed, ranging from logistics and corporate social responsibility to risk, manufacturing, supply chain management IT, and even human rights. Some tweets carry strong sentiments about companies' delivery services, sales performance, environmental standards, and supply chain risk and disruption (p. 247).
When YouTube was in its infancy, advertisements were not placed on videos. Businesses instead advertised through banners and commercials on YouTube's front page. This method was favored at the time because the social media influencer was not yet as well known or valued as today. Looking back ten years, companies chose to advertise that way because prominent users of the website had comparatively limited audiences; it made more sense to appeal to all users rather than to the followers of any individual creator.
That was the basis of earlier marketing and advertising strategies for businesses seeking to raise brand awareness on social media: the goal was not to appeal to those expanding the reach of social media, but rather to advertise broadly to the general user base. It was not until the introduction of the smartphone that businesses began to see the importance of targeted advertising — to improve their reach, build customer loyalty, and sharpen company branding. Smartphone and app technology brought entirely new means of advertising to businesses in the social media space.
Much of the older evidence connecting social media and business focused on the idea that customers could be accessed through sites used primarily on desktop computers. Traditional methods of advertisement accordingly included images, long commercials, and promotions. While these methods are still used today and remain effective, new approaches have emerged that allow for greater interaction with customers, as explored in the next section.
Conclusion
Social media has blossomed and become a lucrative arena for businesses. Companies have found remarkable success by marketing to social media users, and as platforms have grown to include millions of active participants, the power of the social media influencer has expanded accordingly. Influencers now command tens of thousands of dollars simply to feature a product in a video. They collect AdSense revenue on platforms like YouTube and Facebook and can earn millions annually through their own marketing efforts. This illustrates just how significant social media has become for the business world.
When social media was in its early stages, platforms like YouTube and Facebook hosted general advertising — usually banners on landing pages or traditional image and video commercials. Social media influencers at the time had minimal reach, and companies saw little incentive to engage them. Instead, businesses connected with customers directly through Twitter, also using the platform's hashtag data to gather intelligence on target markets.
As smartphone technology improved and consumers came by the millions to access these platforms, social media influencers gained significant traction. Companies like Morphe began paying influencers to promote their products and achieved remarkable success through these strategies. By partnering with influencers and streamlining the promotion of their products and services, companies attracted more customers and cultivated dedicated, loyal followings — something that would have been difficult to achieve through older methods alone. Social media and business have developed a symbiotic relationship that shows every sign of continuing to expand.
References
Bousquet, K. (2016, April 5). 5 brands that can credit their fame to social media. Retrieved from
Chae, B. (2015). Insights from hashtag #supplychain and Twitter analytics: Considering Twitter and Twitter data for supply chain practice and research. International Journal of Production Economics, 165, 247–259. doi:10.1016/j.ijpe.2014.12.037
Chaffey, D. (2017, April 27). Global social media statistics summary 2017. Retrieved from http://www.smartinsights.com/social-media-marketing/social-media-strategy/new-global-social-media-research/
Faircloth, K. (2016, April 28). Inside the big Instagram business of shilling 'detox' teas. Retrieved from https://jezebel.com/inside-the-big-instagram-business-of-shilling-detox-tea-[redacted]
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