Influencer marketing: Long-term collaborations on Instagram : A case study

Abstract: More and more companies have started to use influencers on social media platforms for promoting their product or service, in exchange for a compensation. While this has enabled reach for a low cost, it is the nature of the authentic endorsement that has made the marketing channel so efficient. This thesis seeks to investigate how different collaboration types, depending on size and length, impacts the financial performance of Instagram influencer collaborations. In addition, it investigates what underlying factors that might be prevalent in impacting these collaboration types. The thesis is conducted as a mixed method descriptive single case study, utilizing both quantitative and qualitative data. To understand the financial performance of influencer collaborations, data from three consecutive years from the case company are presented and analyzed. To understand what characteristics that impacts this outcome, interviews with marketing professionals are used together with relevant previous literature in the field of influencer marketing. It is found that long-term collaborations have a higher return compared to short-term, along with other useful advantages of collaborating long-term. Additionally, it was found that influencers with more followers tend to have a lower financial return, but can be more efficient in other aspects, such as promoting the brand. Lastly, contributions based on the findings for both theory and practice are presented.