Influencer marketing the next big thing
James Richardson says a lack of skilled workers is hampering his ability to expand his leather goods business.
The Christchurch leather– worker is not alone. Almost half of employers are struggling to fill vacancies compared to about 40 per cent globally, according to recruitment firm Manpower.
Richardson said he had been looking for skilled staff to work at his handcrafted leather goods business, Sonder Leather, for three months, with no luck. He was after someone who had skills in fashion technology and design, marketing and manufacturing, which was proving a challenge.
‘‘Traditional advertising avenues like Trade Me Jobs and Seek are unlikely to provide candidates with the broad range of skills required,’’ Richardson said.
Instead he was relying on wordof-mouth advertising, especially around the Ara Institute of Canterbury, which offers a bachelor of design course, where he hoped to find a successful candidate.
‘‘A big issue with being a small business is cashflow, and if you’re going to allocate a substantial portion to taking on a staff member, they need to wear a lot of different hats within the company.’’
Manpower‘s survey of more than 650 businesses showed skilled trades, engineers and sales staff were most in demand.
Manpower Australia New Zealand managing director Richard Fischer said New Zealand’s construction boom was responsible for driving demand in these jobs. ‘‘The construction industry is still showing consistently strong demand from large infrastructure projects,’’ Fischer said.
A quarter of employers having difficulty filling jobs said a lack of available applicants was to blame followed by a lack of skills and lack of experience.
Four out of five employers were choosing to train and develop existing workers to fill jobs, he said.
This pointed to a new trend in recruiting that focused on a candidate’s ability to adapt and learn, Fischer said.
An ANZ survey of about 250 small firms showed a net 17 per cent were confident about the year ahead, up from a net 8 per cent in June.
Business confidence is measured by optimistic responses minus pessimistic responses.
Businesses employing six to 20 employees were the most optimistic in the September quarter, with net 26 per cent feeling confident.
ANZ retail and business banking general manager Andrew Webster said medium sized businesses had the strongest hiring and investment intentions and profit expectations with net 42 per cent expecting business activity to lift.
Smaller businesses were less euphoric, but still feeling positive about levels of business activity, investment and profits with a net 30 per cent expecting business activity to increase over the coming year, he said.
Small businesses in the services and construction sector and increasingly agriculture were feeling particularly positive, he said.
‘‘While there’s still a way to go for the agricultural sector, the recent lift in dairy prices appears to be giving businesses something to look forward to,’’ Webster said.
Retail was the only sector to record a drop.
Businesses were concerned about finding skilled staff, he said.
Hiring intentions for small firms were at the highest in over a year and sitting well above the five-year average with manufacturing and construction businesses most in need of staff. Influencer marketing is evolving in New Zealand and it’s a tactic that could be extremely effective for small businesses.
The rise of social media has taken the practice of endorsements by famous people to a whole new level. Research shows that consumers are heavily influenced by bloggers and actively look online for recommendations on products.
Dow Design group account director Simon Wedde says influencer marketing is the way forward and can be highly effective for smaller businesses.
It is a way for them to get their story out quickly, particularly if they can link their brand with influencers who have the same attitude, style and point of view as the company.
‘‘There’s a big opportunity for small companies to seek out brand ambassadors or brand supporters, people who get really enthusiastic and understand their brand,’’ Wedde says.
While few companies in general would be able to afford the five to six figure sums reportedly demanded by high-profile celebrities such as the Kardashian family, there are far more influencer options for businesses on a tighter budget.
The rise of social media stars and web-famous bloggers and vloggers mean businesses can find extremely influential people with extensive networks who are not necessarily famous in the mainstream. These people tend to be highly attractive to advertisers because they are more engaged with their audiences.
However, truly effective influencer marketing ultimately comes down to a company’s story and brand.
Wedde says social media is forcing businesses to think seriously about what their brand is and the level of transparency around what they are doing.
‘‘That’s a good thing. It’s almost like a democratisation of brands.’’
James Polhill is the founder of influencer marketing agency Populr, which links companies up with some of the most prolific influencers in the country.
He says influencer marketing is much more than just a famous person posting on social media about how much they love a product.
For Populr, it is also about creating a conversation around a product or service.
For example, an influencer will start a conversation about a product or service on Instagram by interacting with fans, or encourage fans to post pictures of themselves with a product for competitions.
‘‘Social media is a two-way conversation and that’s where the power lies,’’ Polhill says.
‘‘Suddenly you’ve got celebrities or athletes, or entertainers talking about your brand, not your brand talking about your brand.’’
The rise of influencer marketing has come with a call by some industry players for more clarification over paid promotion.
In New Zealand, the Advertising Standards Authority code of ethics requires advertising material to be declared as such.
Recent examples show blatant product placement does not go down well with followers.
Several Super Rugby players, for example, have tweeted and Instagrammed photos of themselves with My Food Bag packages with no explanation. It turned out the players were brand ambassadors for the company.
Polhill says it is imperative from Populr’s perspective that influencers are matched with products they truly love in order to deliver the best returns for businesses.
‘‘The minute it starts to [appear fake], the guys don’t want to push it, the girls don’t want to endorse it. It just doesn’t work for anyone.’’
"There's a big opportunity for small companies to seek out brand ambassadors or brand supporters." Simon Wedde of Dow Design