Strategy Development for use of Influencers in Communication of Small
and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) with Consumers
IVETA LININA
Faculty of Business Administration,
Turiba University,
Riga,
LATVIA
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0363-2604
VELGA VEVERE
Faculty of Business Administration,
Turiba University,
Riga,
LATVIA
ROSITA ZVIRGZDINA
Faculty of Business Administration,
Turiba University,
Riga,
LATVIA
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2285-6662
Abstract: - In order to retain existing consumers and acquire new ones for the company, one of the basic tasks
is to understand their needs and to create a dialogue with them. Effective consumer information and
communication with them is important for successful business and for ensuring the company's competitiveness.
Effectiveness means getting maximum effect with less resource consumption. Within the framework of this
study, the authors investigate the use of influencers - digital content creators - for communication with
consumers for the successful development and competitiveness of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
This research has identified factors that should be taken into account when using influencers in the dialogue
with the consumer. The research uses both secondary data analysis and consumer surveys. The study describes
the situation regarding the use of influencers in small and medium-sized companies. It was found that
influencers are an effective means of communication with consumers. To achieve the goal of the research, three
tasks were set: 1) to analyze the theoretical basis of the use of influencers; 2) to describe the use of influencers
and their contribution to communication with consumers; 3) to study consumers' assessment of the activity of
influencers. The monographic or descriptive method was used to analyze the theoretical aspects, the analysis of
secondary data was used to describe the situation, and a consumer survey was conducted to study the opinion of
consumers about the activities of influencers and their contribution to effective communication with consumers.
Key-Words: - Influencers, consumers, communication
Received: March 18, 2023. Revised: June 30, 2023. Accepted: July 12, 2023. Published: July 21, 2023.
1 Introduction
Influencer marketing is a relatively new discipline in
marketing to interact and engage with stakeholders
on social media. Marketers have recognized the
growing importance of social media influencers.
Actions with influencers are developed in a
synergistic way with other advertising and public
relations actions, both on and offline. In terms of
their approach, they follow Marston's strategic
planning model, which consists of four phases:
research, planning, execution, and evaluation. In this
sense, its particularities include the decision-making
based on data, as well as the empowerment of the
user and the brands' agents, [1]. Despite the growing
importance of this social media marketing tool, the
literature to date has paid limited attention to the
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effectiveness of influencer marketing in delivering
strategic social media marketing communication
outcomes, [2]. This study examines the use of digital
content creators or influencers in small and medium-
sized enterprises (SMEs) for their effective
communication with consumers. These emerging
opportunities require communication professionals
who strive to continuously engage with target
customers through various social media channels. On
the other hand, the positive reaction of consumers to
the offer is the basis of the company's success,
ensuring its competitiveness. The aim of the study is
to develop guidelines for the strategy of using
influencers for small and medium-sized companies
to ensure their competitiveness. To achieve the goal
of the research, three tasks were set: 1) to analyze the
theoretical basis of the use of influencers; 2) to
describe the use of influencers and their contribution
to communication with consumers; 3) to study
consumers' assessment of the influencer activities.
The monographic or descriptive method was used to
analyze influencers and the theoretical aspects of
their use, the secondary data analysis was used to
characterize the situation, and a consumer survey
was conducted to study the opinion of consumers
about the activities of influencers and their
contribution to effective communication with
consumers.
The research period is from June 1, 2022, to
January 1, 2023. Based on the theoretical knowledge
that will be discussed in the theoretical chapters on
the advantages of using influencers, the development
of a strategy for their use, and the study of consumer
attitudes toward influencers, recommendations will
be developed for the selection of influencers and the
development of a strategy with them, which will
allow SMEs to more effectively use the
communication budget to achieve business goals and
increase competitiveness.
2 Theoretical Aspects
Influencer marketing is all about interacting and
engaging with stakeholders on social media.
Marketers have recognized the growing importance
of social media influencers. Despite the growing
importance of this social media marketing tool, the
literature to date has paid limited attention to
influence marketing and the effective delivery of
social media marketing communication results, [2].
Influencers or digital content producers are perceived
as reliable and unbiased source that acts in the
interests of their followers. Therefore, their followers
also often choose the mentioned products/services
making them in demand. They also provide
consumers with relevant and useful information that
can influence their opinion of brands. Also referred
to in the literature as social media influencers, digital
influencers are considered opinion leaders online and
are characterized by their knowledge, specialization,
and power of influence, [3]. As the activity of
influencers developed, their power over the
perception of the brand and the company grew
significantly, so it can greatly affect both the
company's operation and its reputation, [4].
Influencer marketing has a stronger impact on
consumers than any other form of marketing
communication. People follow influencers on their
social media profiles and are interested in the content
they create. Over time, the consumers’ trust is gained
and people will be interested and often inspired to
look at and explore information posted by
influencers, which often cannot even be recognized
as paid advertisements by a company. This direct
form of communication, in contrast to advertising
prices, is relatively cheaper and allows for dialogue
with the consumer, and mainly promotes
engagement, [5]. Consumers trust those influencers
whom they have been following for months or even
years. In their turn, companies choose and pay, for
example, for publications to online influencers -
individuals, groups of persons, or even virtual
avatars who have created networks of followers on
social media, [6]. A large number of companies have
noticed how effective influencer marketing is when
compared to other forms of consumer engagement
that are rapidly losing their value these days.
Influencer marketing can require a significant
amount of resources, that are rather difficult to
evaluate. Companies must consider the criteria by
which the effectiveness of a certain marketing
campaign will be evaluated. A proper strategy must
be created, which will determine the corresponding
budget and expected results. If influencer marketing
has already been used before, the previously
obtained data and effectiveness should be evaluated.
Formation of the budget also depends on the chosen
influencers, the number of their followers, as well as
their popularity in society. The followers'
engagement in the influencers’ activities and
publications should also be measured, for example,
the number of comments. The influencers with a
lower number of followers can even bring more
benefits to the company. Often, the influencers with
a larger number of followers post a lot of business
ads, which followers may be used to. If the digital
influencer posts ads very infrequently, then posting a
new ad to the account can attract more attention from
followers.
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3 Benefits of Influencer Marketing for
Business
Influencer marketing is one of the most effective
ways for businesses to attract customers, especially
today. The authors of the current paper looked at
several benefits for brands of using influencer
marketing, as summarized by Gordon Glenister:
1. Authenticity – a brand can create a real
resonance through its audience, allowing them to
convey its brand message;
2. Trust – the consumers are less responsive to
advertising than they used to be.
3. It helps convey the brand story in a unique way
and with the help of different people
(influencers);
4. The influencers can be a great resource for the
community.
5. It can generate a higher return on investment
than other forms of advertising
6. It helps in improving the search engine
optimization (SEO) of the brand.
7. Relevance – a company can tap into a vertical
market that matches its brand.
8. New businesses – this is great for new
businesses to tap into an already established
target audience.
9. Industry opportunities - with so many interests, it
is easier to find a narrower segment of the
industry.
10. Immediate impact – unlike many large
campaigns, including video and location filming,
the influencers are often able to create content
very quickly, which means that they can also
respond faster and even can change the direction
of the campaign if it is necessary.
11. "Evergreen" content - many influencers who
successfully work with organizations will
continue to actively create content for
publications, meaning that the brand value lasts
longer than the original campaign intended.
12. Ability to use different influencers with different
audiences.
13. Profitable influencer marketing can be an ideal
marketing tool for all types of organizations,
especially smaller startups with limited
marketing budgets.
14. Knowledge and perspective – it is possible to get
instant access to influencers' unique perspectives
and diverse skills.
15. Influencers can help create new products with
their brand line, [7].
4 Creating an Influencer Marketing
Strategy
When choosing to use influencer marketing, the first
thing to do is to determine the goals. Brands using
influencer marketing aim to reach ever new
customers. This makes sense because the influencer
campaign extends the reach to that person's
followers. The goal is to reach new customers, not
necessarily to make an immediate sale. Sales
promotion is the third most common goal of
influencer marketing campaigns after brand
awareness and marketing mix. It is necessary to
think about how the influencer marketing plan will
fit into the social media marketing strategy, and then
to create measurable goals that can be tracked, [8].
By setting a goal to reach new customers, the sales
will also be increased at the same time.
Secondly, it is necessary to understand the object
of influence. An effective influencer marketing
strategy requires providing information according to
the target market, using appropriate tools and
influencers. So the targeting is important.
Determining the target audience ensures that the
content of the information will be received and
understood. Once determined, an appropriate set of
influencers is created. This helps to understand what
qualities to look for in the influencers, [8].
Before delving into influencer marketing, it is
important to understand the rules for using
influencers to communicate with consumers. In
Latvia, fines can be applied for not specifying
advertising in the publications, especially if such a
violation is repeated regularly. If the publication
looks like an advertisement, but it is not sponsored,
then it is recommended to indicate this as well, so
that the responsible persons cannot in any way
consider it a violation of the rules.
A reach is the number of people who can be
reached through an influencer’s follower base. A
small audience can be effective, but it is necessary to
make sure to have enough followers to fit the
according business goals. It is also important to
determine what proportion of followers have
engaged with the content creators’ publications.
Resonance is the potential level of engagement an
influencer can generate with a brand-relevant
audience. The bigger is not always the better. As
mentioned earlier, a large number of followers does
not matter if the followers may not be interested in
what the company has to offer. On the other hand,
the influencers in certain industries can have very
loyal and active followers, [8]. When creating a
marketing strategy, a short list of influencers should
also be drawn up. When thinking about who one
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wants to work with, the main thing is trust. The
audience must trust and respect the influencer's
opinion with whom the company works.
Researching what the company's potential
influencers are posting is of prime importance. How
often do they post sponsored content? If there are
relatively many paid publications, the level of
follower engagement may not last long. Plenty of
natural, unpaid content should be sought out to keep
the followers interested, enthusiastic, and engaged.
This should be kept in mind when also thinking
about what the company will ask the influencer to
post. Asking for too many posts in a short period of
time will make it difficult for the influencer to accept
the offer, even if it comes with a high salary. In-
demand influencers get a lot of offers. When a
business first approaches an influencer, it's important
to show that they've taken the time to learn what they
do. One should make sure to know exactly who the
influencer channels are and what the audience is, [7].
It is worth looking into how much advertising is
published, as too much-published engagement with
brands can distract followers from engaging in the
content. The influencers should be contacted
privately. Communication with a new potential
partner should be started slowly, organically
interacting with messages. If necessary, write
comments. One has to be patient. When ready to
partner, a direct message is a great way to start. If
one can find an email address, it should be used as
well. But sending a mass email or general private
message is not recommended. Writing a personal
message for each influencer may take a little longer.
But it will show that serious thought is being given
to the potential partnership. This in turn will increase
the chances of closing the deal. It is important to
provide as much information as possible about the
brand and what the company hopes to accomplish
with its Instagram campaign. It should be clearly
stated what benefit the influencer will get, without
talking about payment. One of the main things to
keep in mind during this process is that one should
not use the word "influencer" when communicating
with potential partners. The influencers prefer to be
referred to directly as content creators, and
“influencer” can be seen as an insult that belittles
their work, [8].
The next step is collaboration with the chosen
influencer in developing effective content. The social
media influencer who has worked hard to build a
following won't accept a deal that makes their brand
seem inconsistent. After all, the influencers are
content creation experts. Therefore, they prefer to be
called content creators. The company will get the
most value from their work by allowing them to
demonstrate these skills. Of course, it's a good idea
to provide some guidelines on what to look for. But a
company cannot expect to manage the entire
campaign, [8]. Usually, companies make a lot of
points that they want to see in advertising, but often
the influencer approach works more effectively
because he/she knows the interests of his/her
followers better.
The final step in developing a marketing strategy
is to measure results. When starting an influencer
campaign, it can be tempting to focus on likes and
comments. If the influencer has a lot more followers
than the brand, one might be pleasantly surprised by
the high number of likes. However, to measure the
effectiveness of the campaign, one must understand
its value in terms of the return on investment. There
are many ways to measure the success of a
campaign. UTM ("Urchin" Tracking Module)
parameters are one way to track visitors that an
influencer sends to a company's website. They can
also help to gauge how much engagement the
campaign is getting. By giving each influencer their
unique links with tracking module codes, one can get
a clear picture of the results. This allows the impact
on profits to be calculated, [8].
Influencer marketing initiatives require
companies to recruit and incentivize online
influencers to engage their followers on social media
to promote the company's offerings. Influencer
originality, follower size, and sponsor visibility
increase effectiveness, while news announcing new
product launches decrease it. Several tensions arise
when companies select influencers and manage
content: influencer activity, follower brand
congruence, and postpositivity create an inverted U-
shaped moderating effect on influencer marketing
effectiveness, suggesting that companies that take a
balanced approach across these dimensions can
achieve greater effectiveness, [9].
5 Influencer Marketing Campaign
Process
Given that brands are increasingly investing in
influencer marketing practices, there is a need to
plan these campaigns in a structured way. Based on
what the authors wrote, [10], the process of using
digital influencers to promote the brand products or
services consists of five steps:
1. Planning – setting the goals for the
marketing campaign, defining the target market,
drawing up a budget;
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2. Identification – identification of the relevant
influencer leaders. It is necessary to determine the
criteria by which to identify them;
3. Alignment – to align Internet opinion leaders
with the products to promote. Defining the content of
the advertising message;
4. Motivation - to reward influencers according
to their social role. Determination of the duration of
the campaign;
5. Coordination – conducting negotiations, and
supporting the online opinion leaders. Evaluation of
the campaign and the influencer himself.
During the process of creating a campaign, it is
necessary to evaluate and take into account all
existing conditions - difficulties and challenges,
success factors, etc.
Digital influencers know better the language and
content that best resonates with their audience, so
brands need to communicate campaign guidelines
and goals without restricting influencers' creative
freedom to create authentic and original content that
is perceived as appealing, [11]. By limiting the
influencers' freedom too much, the content may not
be created according to followers' wishes and
interests. Be sure to look at the content of the
influencer's account and understand that the brand's
product or service will also be promoted similarly.
Also, a decision must be made whether this type of
publication would be in line with the company's
values and the goals of the influencer marketing
campaign.
6 Research
When studying consumer attitudes and buying
behavior, surveys of the population or users of the
industry are used. In the framework of this study, to
directly and indirectly find out the influence of the
influencers on consumer decision-making when
choosing a product/service, a traditional method was
used - an organized survey with the help of a
questionnaire, [12]. The survey was conducted to
identify the factors of customer satisfaction and to
rank them according to their importance. Preparing
to use this method involves six steps.
1. Determining the degree of standardization
and openness of the questionnaire. Questions were
selected with one answer option according to the 5-
point Likert scale and other answer options in the
system.
2. Determination of the survey method. The
authors chose the following option - the survey was
created on the website "Google Forms" and was sent
to the respondents via e-mails using the non-
probable Snowball method, [13], using the personal
contacts of the authors, who, in their turn, shared this
link below. The answers of 673 respondents were
recognized as valid for conducting the research. The
population of Latvia in 2022 was taken as the
general population. At a 95% confidence level and
5% margin of error, the minimum size of the sample
set was calculated – 385 respondents, [14].
3. Determining the acquisition of the necessary
information. Previously conducted focus group pilot
studies on consumer recommending factors and
factors influencing the choice of purchase/service
facilitated the formulation of questions so that the
respondents have the necessary information to
answer the questions raised, they have sufficient
information, and are interested in providing the
necessary and true information.
4. Formulation of the question. The
recommendations of specialists were followed,
which stipulate using simple words and sentences,
avoiding ambiguous words and questions, avoiding
leading questions, avoiding hidden alternatives,
avoiding hidden assumptions, avoiding evaluations
and summaries, and making sure of the specificity of
the question, [15].
5. Order of questions. The authors of the paper
followed special recommendations: simple the
interest raising questions were asked at the
beginning, followed by the general questions, and
then the specific questions were asked; the relatively
difficult questions were placed in the second half of
the questionnaire; the questions regarding one topic
were finished before moving on to the next topic; the
socio-demographic questions were asked at the end
of the questionnaire.
6. Determining the form of the answer. To be
able to provide a quantitative assessment and
perform a corresponding analysis in the case of one
possible answer, the authors of the paper used a five-
point Likert scale, where 1 is very low and 5 is very
high.
7. Statistical methods of processing and analyzing
consumer survey ratings. For the scored questions
given, it is possible to perform an extensive
statistical analysis using the SPSS computer
program. For the multiple-choice questions, the
percentage of responses out of the total number of
response options was calculated, while for the open-
ended questions, responses were summed.
Summarizing the results of the survey, it can be
concluded that the majority of respondents are aged
18 to 24, which is 28%, 27% of respondents are aged
25 to 30, 18% are aged 31 to 40, and aged 41 to 50
are 16% of respondents. The smallest group of
respondents are minor respondents under 17 years of
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age, which make up 2%, and respondents over 51
years of age - 9%.
Looking at the habits of using social networks on
a daily basis, it can be found that 82% are active on
Facebook, 59% of respondents also use Instagram,
35% use TikTok, and 4% - Snapchat. Most 74% of
respondents use more than one social network. Also,
the majority, or 91% of all respondents, follow an
SME company profile on social networks, while
43% follow an influencer's profile. 94% of
respondents mostly get information about
goods/services from Internet resources, including
social networks. Regarding the question of whether a
product/service was purchased during the last month
based on information provided by an influencer on
social networks, 37% answered affirmatively.
Table 1. Evaluation of the activity of influencers
in Latvia
Evaluation of
influencer
performance and
use in SMEs.
Mean
Standard error
of Mean
Mode
Standard
deviation
Skewness
Range
Credibility rating
for the content
provided by the
influencer
3.21
0.04
3.00
0.85
0.72
0.06
Evaluation of
content quality of
international
influencers
4.15
0.05
5.00
1.07
1.14
0.06
Content quality
assessment of
Latvian
Influencers
3.55
0.05
4.00
0.99
0.97
0.06
Evaluation of the
digital content of
enterprises
(SMEs) using
influencer
marketing
3.05
0.05
3.00
1.04
1.09
0.08
The company's
ability to use
influencers in
product/service
presentation
3.94
0.05
5.00
1.09
1.19
0.06
Analyzing the results obtained in the survey, it
can be seen that the credibility of the content
published by influencers was evaluated by the
respondents with an average of 3.45 points out of 5
( = 3.21; Me = 3.00; Mo = 3.00). This is an average
indicator that indicates the need to build more
credibility. Comparing the ratings of international
and Latvian influencers, they are very similar ( =
4.15; 3.55; Me = 5.00; 5.00; Mo = 4.00; 4.00). Of
course, the activity of Latvian influencers is rated a
little lower (see table 1).
The respondents were also asked to evaluate the
overall quality of the Latvian SME influencer usage
in marketing, which also includes the selection of an
appropriate influencer and the relevance of the
content to the company's image and communication
style. As can be seen, the result is average ( = 3.94;
Me = 4.00; Mo = 5.00) (see table 1).
In the open-ended question, they were asked
about the main problems in communication between
companies and consumers. The main answer was
that the companies choose inappropriate influencers,
the content and style of communication do not match
the company's communication style and the
corporate image, as well a lack of familiarity with
the influencers’ product/service is sometimes
observed.
7 Conclusions
1. influencer marketing is a modern
communication tool with a target audience that is
relatively cheaper than traditional communication
tools. The influencers, or the digital influencers, can
act as promoters of goods/services in the market, as a
symbol of the company's corporate identity, and also
have many other positive benefits. It is the lower cost
of influencer marketing that creates its advantages
over other communication principles, but this does
not eliminate the need to calculate its profitability.
2. 94% of respondents obtain information
about goods/services from Internet resources,
including social networks. When asked whether a
product/service was purchased in the last month
based on information provided by the influencer on
social networks, 37% of respondents answered
affirmatively, which indicates the possibilities and
importance of influencer marketing.
3. The use of influencers in SME communication
with consumers should be created in synergy with
other types of marketing communication, which will
increase the effectiveness of all marketing
communication.
4. The study shows that the content provided
by the influencers is trusted and estimated at 3.21
points out of 5, while the company's quality in using
influencers is rated 3.94 points out of 5. These
evaluations can be considered false positives, which
indicate the possibility for companies to adopt
influencer marketing in Latvia.
5. Summarizing all the information, it can be
concluded that influencer marketing can be a
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significant and effective tool for SME
communication with consumers and product/service
promotion, as well as a tool for ensuring their
competitiveness.
6. The companies, especially the SMEs, to
achieve the desired results and avoid mistakes, have
to follow the influencer marketing strategy
developed by scientists, As well as accurately define
the influencer marketing campaign process,
including the campaign planning, the influencer
selection, and motivation, as well as harmonizing
and coordinating the entire process.
7. In order to gain a deeper understanding of the
effective selection and use of a specific influencer in
SME communication with the target audience, it is
essential to continue research in this direction.
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WSEAS TRANSACTIONS on BUSINESS and ECONOMICS
DOI: 10.37394/23207.2023.20.141
Iveta Linina, Velga Vevere, Rosita Zvirgzdina
E-ISSN: 2224-2899
1613
Volume 20, 2023
Contribution of Individual Authors to the
Creation of a Scientific Article (Ghostwriting
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-Velga Vevere the article was translated into
English.
Sources of Funding for Research Presented in a
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Conflict of Interest
The authors have no conflict of interest to declare.
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WSEAS TRANSACTIONS on BUSINESS and ECONOMICS
DOI: 10.37394/23207.2023.20.141
Iveta Linina, Velga Vevere, Rosita Zvirgzdina
E-ISSN: 2224-2899
1614
Volume 20, 2023