For most people, social networks are an everyday routine, especially for younger generations. Some people visit them out of fun, boredom, or curiosity, and there are more and more people who have shown interest in a certain domain and follow some of the famous influencers. If you love to travel, why not follow a well-known travel blogger and see which places are worth visiting and what not to miss? Do you like to cook and you’ve run out of ideas? Follow a blogger who likes to experiment with food. Posting interesting photos accompanied by inspirational texts are what attracts many to follow a certain person. In addition, that turned out to be a very good business, which we will show you in the case of young Jake Geruson, who gained a large number of followers in a very short time, but that’s not all. Let’s go in order.
What is an influencer?
The word influencer in English generally means a person or group of people who has some influence. In business language, the term influencer refers to a person or group of people who can influence business decisions because of their reputation, position, or connections and whose opinion and actions carry more weight than the opinions or actions of their colleagues or comparable groups. In today’s everyday life, it is impossible to avoid this word. In the not-so-distant past, people laughed at those who walk around the city and talk to the camera, take photos of food, don’t go for coffee without announcing where they are, and to those with many other still incomprehensible traits. In the past, these were exclusively celebrities, such as athletes, actors, and popular musicians. However, social networks have reshaped so many aspects of our lives that the market for so-called influencers has turned 180 degrees.
So, an influencer can be anyone with a good idea, one who is creative and open in front of the camera. Jake Geruson is a handsome, smart young man who, no doubt, many girls follow because of his physical appearance. But did you know that he is one of those influencers who combined the comfortable with the useful and who has helped many brands “break into the market”? This leads us to the next term – the marketer.
What is a marketer?
It is said that each product has its own customer. However, it often happens that a certain company fails or reduces production because its business is not going well. Then the marketer enters the scene and a new trend in marketing — influencer marketing — is born. What is it really about? A person promotes a brand’s products or services through various media like YouTube and Instagram. Celebrities used to be in charge of this type of marketing, but now influencers are sought-after people from our immediate environment with whom we can identify. They are people like Jake Geruson who have influence in their communities and whom people trust. Common categories of influencers are photographers, food bloggers, travel bloggers, fashion and cosmetics lovers, fitness trainers, and the like. Each of them has knowledge and experience in their field of activity and gathers a community of like-minded people around them. This is exactly something that this young man came up with and developed into a real business. Jake’s job is to take a company’s business to the next level, to help them find a target group on social media, and to turn their fans into customers. It may sound like an easy job, but it takes a lot of research and hard work to get the desired result.
What Jake Geruson points out as crucial is that you need to have a clear vision of what it is that you want from social media. Only when you know this can you focus on achieving the goal. This young man has even founded his own company whose main task is to improve the business of a company or individual. This young entrepreneur is very popular in digital marketing circles, so media houses such as the London Daily Post, Yahoo! Finance, America Daily Post, Business Insider, California Herald have published articles about him.
Main functions
It is difficult to get an answer as to what makes a marketer good and successful because it depends a lot on his focus in business – whether his goal is to study the existing market demand or to increase sales, as well as whether the company is more attentive to advertising or focuses on the analysis of competition and consumers. In any case, a good marketer is the one who first assesses the market capacity, analyzes the industry and demand, then performs additional corporate analyzes, and finally develops the appropriate marketing strategy, the one he considers most appropriate. Today’s good marketers increasingly are looking to leverage influencers like Jake Geruson who have large social media followings that can turn clicks into sales and hence profit.
What is the role of social networks in improving business and performing marketing activities?
The multitude of users, motivated by the needs of business and private nature, join social networks to maintain contacts and keep up with relevant content and contemporary culture. Social networks such as Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Instagram, Pinterest, LinkedIn, and YouTube allow for the continuity of such a lifestyle as well interactions. Companies inevitably were going to discover that some social media users had more market power than others. It made sense for brands to find them and, through their presence and influence on social networks, spread awareness about their brand, that is, they present products and services to potential customers efficiently whereby influencers help them reach customers far and wide. Social media followers of someone like Jake Geurson are aspirational customers for a brand. They aspire to be like the influencer so they want to use the same products. Also, in addition to generating interest and potential sales, social networks make it possible to exchange relevant and useful product information.
Final thoughts
For smaller companies to larger organizations, the presence of influencers like Jake Geruson on social networks creates a business opportunity. The already vast spectrum of social media is improving at an accelerated pace, which for marketing purposes represents new ways to promote and interact with customers. The success of social networks in expanding brand awareness and sales through influencers like Jake Geruson testifies to the fact that it is no longer an option but rather a necessity for companies to collaborate with them. This form of marketing will continue to evolve along with the platforms and the myriad ways social media influencers are leveraging them.