Influencer Marketing vs Celebrity Endorsement

Social media is filled with every type of influencer you can imagine, so it can sometimes be difficult to tell each influencer apart. Celebrity influencer marketing has always been in popular demand for brands everywhere, but the recent surge in social media influencers has blurred the lines between influencer marketing and celebrity endorsements. Celebrities and influencers alike have strong followings on social media and often become involved in influencer marketing platforms, promoting brand awareness and attracting customers to the brands that they choose to collaborate with. As a result, many people define celebrities as influencers, and they also perceive influencers with a huge online presence as celebrities themselves. 

Is there a difference between influencer marketing and celebrity endorsements? Keep reading to find out.

Source: Ryo Leong Youtube Channel 

What’s the difference?

Although celebrity influencer marketing and social media influencers often overlap, there are various ways to distinguish celebrity endorsements from influencer marketing. 

Celebrities have more followers 

These days, anyone can become a social media influencer through hard work, dedication and perseverance. This is fast becoming a dream job for many young people around the world, with many influencers setting an example of how to be an influencer. There is, however, a disparity between celebrities and influencers in terms of their follower numbers. The most followed celebrity influencers on social media have millions of followers, whereas non-celebrity influencers typically don’t have the same reach. For example, retired football player, Cristiano Ronaldo, has 259 million Instagram followers, making him the most followed person on the platform. It is highly unlikely that a non-celebrity could attract mass audiences in the same way as a celebrity. However, it can be confusing to tell the difference between the two as some social media influencers have over 1 million followers on platforms like Instagram, making it difficult to determine whether they are celebrities or not. 

Influencers are experts in niche topics

Top commercial brands opt for celebrity influencer marketing as a result of the colossal followings of celebrities. This is a quick way to produce a successful marketing campaign. Some brands favour influencer marketing as some influencers such as micro-influencers have expertise in a number of industries. Travel influencers, beauty influencers and many more build a community of loyal supporters and fans by engaging with their followers through their common interests. Social media influencers are recognised for their credibility and honesty, where their reviews of a brand’s products and services are meaningful to their followers. 

Celebrities do not interact with their followers in the same way. They usually promote sponsored content on their social media accounts through limited posts. They are less likely to reply to comments, answer questions and consistently spread brand awareness in comparison to social media influencers. 

Celebrities are the face of a brand 

The easiest way to decipher the difference between celebrities and influencers is through their marketing campaigns with different brands. Celebrities act as the face of the brands they partner with, as their high-profile status is guaranteed to attract millions of consumers to the marketed products or services. Brands generally work with celebrities due to their fame rather than their genuine interest in a product.

Many brands rely on influencer marketing in order to heighten the authenticity of their products. Social media influencers are known to collaborate with brands whose products they have a keen interest in, which makes their content reliable and trustworthy to their followers. They take great pride in constantly pushing out content. Anything from Instagram Stores to IGTV videos is a great way for social media influencers to display their fondness of the brands that they partner with. 

Influencers are creators 

Influencers on social media are dedicated to creating their own content. From writing their own scripts to editing their own YouTube videos, they appeal to brands through their innovation. They take ownership of the content that they create through showcasing their originality as well as their personalities. Brands that work with social media influencers trust them to portray their products in their own unique ways.  

Celebrity influencer marketing incorporates several creative elements into marketing campaigns in ways that differ from influencer marketing. Celebrities usually rely on a brand to create everything revolving around the campaign. They deliver the required content of the brand, meaning they have less creative input in a marketing campaign. Anything from scripts to editing stems from the vision of the brand and is the brand’s responsibility.

Final thoughts

Whilst there is a fine line between celebrity endorsements and influencer marketing, the dissimilarities between the two terms allow brands to determine the right influencers for their marketing campaigns. If you are a business owner seeking to work with influencers, remember that your goals should correlate with that of your chosen influencer. It is also important to remember that you should always be aware of the differences between celebrity influencer marketing and influencer marketing as they can vary greatly. Your approach to both celebrities and influencers should never be the same.

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