Influencer Marketing is a trending strategy leveraging the influence of the fandom market.
Currently, Influencer Marketing is a very popular strategy. Almost every brand and business is using it in their marketing, especially now that LGBTQ+ series are incredibly popular.
This has led to the emergence of numerous influencers. It's not just celebrities and artists who have influence over consumers, but also the highly followed KOLs group. So how should brands decide to approach this?Choosing influencers to help advertise your products and services is a good idea. Brands may make decisions based on an influencer's posting behavior, as this affects click-through rates and conversions (the number of sales or the conversion of potential buyers into actual customers), and also helps build brand awareness.
However, surveys show that in Thailand today, Influencer Marketing is most influenced by the fandom market due to the strong foundation and loyalty of fans to the influencers. The larger an influencer's fanbase, the more benefits the brand receives.
Therefore, Influencer Marketing has become one of the most popular and effective marketing strategies for attracting a large number of consumers and building a positive brand image.
Understanding 3 key insights into the fandom market: the consumer group that drives the growth of the influencer market.
The survey found that fan groups tend to express their passion and admiration for their idols, starting with following them on social media, posting commendable moments online that become viral, participating in events, and even purchasing products used or endorsed by their idols.
It's safe to say that the most popular influencers today are the on-screen couples from various series and movies. These influencers have a very loyal and extensive fanbase, as evidenced by the numerous hashtags that appear daily on popular platforms like Twitter.
This has led to many brands becoming interested in and conducting marketing campaigns with this group of influencers. However, brands will have an even greater advantage if they understand the behavior of this fan base. Today, we'll explore some insights into this consumer group, which are:
- Shipping/Couple Culture: If you're in the fandom market, you're probably familiar with the "shipping" culture. People often start following these influencers because they appreciate the chemistry between actors in their series and movies, as well as their off-screen relationships. This has resulted in these influencers having a solid fanbase and continuously expanding popularity. Therefore, if brands collaborate with these influencers, they have a greater chance of their marketing activities receiving a positive response from their loyal fanbase.
- Unwavering loyalty, even after the task is completed: These fan groups exhibit extremely strong and loyal love and admiration for influencers. They follow and support them in every aspect, even after their performances have ended. These fans are always proud of their favorite influencers' achievements and are happy to support brands that collaborate with them, purchasing their products or services and participating in all kinds of marketing activities.
- Marketing activities based on influencer loyalty: As influencers increasingly play a significant role in boosting sales and increasing brand awareness, brands reap unexpected benefits in various areas, partly due to the loyalty of their fans. Therefore, the more marketing activities a brand organizes that give fans exclusive opportunities to interact, get closer to, and participate in activities with influencers, the more positive the response will be.
Therefore, if a brand understands these three insights, it can easily create advertising campaigns that attract this consumer group and generate revenue through Influencer Marketing without difficulty.
The fandom market is a booming market among modern consumers that brands are paying attention to.
From the Hakuhodo ASEAN Institute of Wellbeing Research (HILL ASEAN), an academic think tank founded by the Hakuhodo Group in Japan, the results of a study on the consumer behavior of fandoms in ASEAN have been released. They define a fandom as a group of people who are intensely passionate about a person or thing, whether it be idol artists, anime, sports, hobbies, or even a whole kingdom or culture where like-minded people come together because of their shared passion.
Currently, the number of fandom members in ASEAN is steadily increasing for various reasons, such as having more free time at home during the COVID-19 pandemic or developing a liking for a particular series. Research also indicates that these consumers are not only passionate about their favorite genres but also enjoy sharing their enjoyment with friends, which contributes to the growth of larger fandoms.
The analysis revealed that this consumer group doesn't just gather for fun, enjoyment, or stress relief, but also to fulfill their self-worth by seeking new perspectives on life. Furthermore, Hill's ASEAN found that fandoms share a strong sense of connection, like family, and therefore support each other without expecting anything in return.
Statistics show that football, TV series, YouTube, K-POP idol groups, science fiction films, and technology brands have the largest fanbases. The top three most popular fanbases in ASEAN are K-POP, games, and cooking. In Japan, the top three most popular fanbases are J-POP, manga/anime, and games. Compared to ASEAN, there's a clear difference, as Japan produces a vast amount of content domestically, while ASEAN is largely influenced by foreign content.
Based on research into fandom behavior, brands can use the results to tailor their marketing campaigns to reach a wider consumer base.
Direct To Fan Marketing: A new marketing approach that reaches fan groups more effectively.
With our world evolving rapidly, people can communicate more easily through social media. This presents a great opportunity for brands to reach their fan base more easily by utilizing the Direct To Fan Marketing trend.
Direct-to-Fan Marketing originated from the Direct-to-Fan business model used by independent artists and musicians to communicate directly with their fans. This approach allows fans to become a part of the artist's life in various ways. Marketers see this as an effective way for brands to reach target customers more easily, using artists whose characteristics align with the products (e.g., skincare, IT products, supplements, snacks), as fans are more likely to purchase recommended items. Furthermore, it generates significant consumer engagement.
In this era of influencer popularity, Direct To Fan Marketing has gained significant influence across all influencer groups, leading to the widespread use of this strategy today.
Statistics reveal that 40% consumers in the United States are willing to pay artists and gamers for virtual fan meet-and-greets, and 49% are willing to pay an average of $25 per month (approximately 750 baht) per month to influencers. This group primarily consists of Gen Z and Millennials (Gen Y), totaling 72%.
Therefore, if a brand understands and wants to attract this consumer group to engage with the brand, it can increase sales and build reputation in the business.
If you're interested in targeting this fan base but don't know where to start and need more information, you can...For inquiries, please contact HelloAds You can hire an agency to provide full-service online marketing.
