Abstract:

Influencer marketing is a form of the social media marketing that involves product placements and endorsements from online creators. In today’s competitive marketing landscape, brands are collaborating with influencers more firmly than ever, as partnerships with well-known creators can open the door to large potential audiences. Companies use influencer campaigns to increase sales, reach better awareness, and encourage user-generated content (UGC).

Social media influencers are individuals who can strongly impact their social media circles. Influencers outperform brand organic posts in terms of engagement metrics such as likes and comments as well as behavioral variables such as unique website visits and purchases.

The paper identifies and describes the different types of social media influencers: mega-influencers, macro-influencers, micro-influencers, and nano-influencers, also virtual influencers. In the article, types of UGC creators are described, and their contributions to the brand.

The paper describes how influencer marketing could encourage UGC and be beneficial for education, and the learning process. To reach this goal two strategies are described in the article: content strategy and community strategy. The specifics of the application of these strategies are discussed and the ways how it could help to create a more engaging learning experience.

The article delves into the process of creating a bond and relationship between influencers and followers, developing consumers' cognitive and affective commitment to the influencer. The article also discusses different theories, which help to better understand how the relationships between influencers and their followers are built. In the article social capital, social exchange, and relationship management theories are described. The research methods used in this academic article include the literature review, systematic analysis, and generalization.

Keywords:

Influencer marketing, user-generated content, marketing strategy.