Samenvatting

The motive of this research is to provide YourSurprise with relevant information in order to create an effective influencer marketing strategy that support the long-term goals of the organization as a whole. YourSurprise and its employees have experienced that maintaining growth does not come as easy as it did in the previous years. Furthermore, the brand ‘YourSurprise’ and the lack of its awareness amongst customers in the Dutch market is acknowledged to be a weakness for the organization. To increase this brand awareness, employees reckon that making a change in the marketing mix is necessary. Consequently, implementing a solid influencer marketing strategy could be the solution to a healthier marketing mix and the lack of brand awareness. However, YourSurprise did not have much experience with influencer marketing and further research into the matter was demanded. Accordingly, a research was conducted to find out what key factors play a role in the effectiveness of influencer marketing and how to implement this. In order to understand the underlying reasons for the struggle with maintaining growth, in-company interviews were conducted with two employees. As a result, it became clear that the lack of brand awareness and the current marketing mix played a big role. To gain an in-depth understanding of how to apply influencer marketing effectively, more qualitative research was done. Consequently, four people all considered to be experts in the field of influencer marketing because of their experience were interviewed. The results of these interviews show that influencer marketing is a very authentic way of advertising and very suitable for increasing brand awareness. Furthermore, it is seen as a form of word of mouth advertising with few official rules. Although this industry is becoming increasingly mature and professional, a lot of influencers and brands are ignorant of how to effectively implement influencer marketing. Hence, brands are advised to start small, have patience and do the necessary research when starting with influencer marketing. Furthermore, critically reviewing influencers, having goals, a clear strategy and brand story is crucial to match with influencers accordingly. In addition, it is fundamentally important for a brand to be transparent, come to mutual agreements with influencers, implement a certain degree of co-creation and provide creative freedom to the influencer since this positively benefits the collaboration. Considering the results from both the in-company interviews and the expert interviews, 5 recommendations are proposed. Firstly, it is recommended that YourSurprise focuses on developing a solid brand strategy and more specific target groups. Furthermore, it is advised that YourSurprise starts with influencer marketing on a small scale while maintaining long-term relationships with nano- and micro-influencers. In addition, YourSurprise should continuously keep the key factors of effective influencer marketing in mind. Finally, it is recommended that the organization focuses on increasing brand awareness to support the long-term strategy of YourSurprise