Module BUSI3451: Influencer Marketing

Department: Management and Marketing

BUSI3451: Influencer Marketing

Prerequisites

• None.

Corequisites

• None.

Excluded Combination of Modules

Aims

• To develop an advanced understanding of what Influencer Marketing is from the standpoints of both the Influencer and the partnering brand
• To explore major frameworks and strategies in Influencer Marketing practice, how they may be leveraged across the Customer Journey, develop a creative Playbook, and analyse the key metrics required to evaluate and enhance performance
• To equip students with the skills needed to identify a niche, develop a personal brand, build online presence, create engaging content, and to manage sustainable relationships with audience members and partnering brands.

Content

• What is Influencer Marketing?
• Key platforms, audiences and content forms
• Approaches to strategy development
• Working with influencers – segments, characteristics, agreements, creatives, etc.
• Influencers and the customer journey
• Building and managing brand ambassador programmes
• Measuring and managing impact and performance
• Legal and ethical issues in international influencer marketing
• ‘Sinfluencer’ marketing and ‘dark’ PR.

Learning Outcomes

• Design, implement and evaluate Influencer Marketing strategies and brand ambassador programmes
• Identify and segment both Influencer Types and their Target Audiences
• Plan and create engaging ‘on-message’ content
• Develop and demonstrate an Influencer Marketing Playbook.

• An in-depth knowledge of how brands may leverage Influencers as an integrated component of their Marketing Communications strategies
• The conceptual knowledge required to develop and implement market-responsive Influencer Marketing programmes
• An advanced understanding of personal branding and the persuasive concepts needed to build a sustainable online presence.

• Effective written communication skills
• Planning, organising and time management skills
• Problem-solving and analytical skills
• The ability to use initiative
• Advanced skills in the interpretation of data
• Advanced computer literacy skills.

Modes of Teaching, Learning and Assessment and how these contribute to the learning outcomes of the module

• The module is delivered via a series of full-cohort weekly workshops to afford maximum flexibility to suit the dynamic nature of the subject-matter. The workshops consist of lecture-style input, break-out discussions of key cases, data analysis exercises and ‘hands-on’ training in use of content planning tools and content creation methods.
• The summative assignment is designed to consolidate conceptual knowledge, demonstrate skills in data analysis and content planning/creation, and to enhance employability skills. Specifically, this takes the form of the production and submission of an interactive Influencer Marketing Playbook, following industry-standard templates provided. Playbooks have a significant written component and their production as a whole is equivalent to a written assignment of 3000 words.

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Summative Assessment

Formative Assessment:

Group exercises undertaken during the workshops and continuous feedback.

■ Attendance at all activities marked with this symbol will be monitored. Students who fail to attend these activities, or to complete the summative or formative assessment specified above, will be subject to the procedures defined in the University's General Regulation V, and may be required to leave the University