First things first! The concept of Business to Business (B2B) and Business to Consumer (B2C) has long gone! It is the era of Peer to Peer (P2P), and marketing is all about personal touch!

Now, when the brands associate their personal self with their clients, the immediate option is choosing a celeb to endorse the brand. After all, that’s one of the most prominent ideas that a customer advocacy platform looks forth to.

Now, coming to the current scenario, close to 60% of consumers are influenced by blog posts or social media posts which their peer shares as per a recent study.

To get the details, scroll down!

What are the drawbacks of having a celeb on board?

An article on marketing strategies in the New York Times back in 2008 claims – ‘nothing sells like a celeb!’

Cut to 2018! Though there are some celebs who earn a fair share via endorsement deals, their relevance has changed drastically.

In their place, people now want to have a close individual speak positively of a certain product. That’s not all. There are multiple drawbacks to having ‘bigwigs’ on board, which quite shockingly acts as a deterrent to that product. Some of the drawbacks include:

• High costs associated.
• Lack of expertise in that field.
• Starry tantrums.

Other options to explore and why?

With changes in the online front, there are multiple options that a company has in their hands.

The level of personal interaction and engagement

The primary aspect which this format targets is a level of interaction that a brand must have with its clients. There must be a certain level of engagement between both parties to ensure that the idea of the product reaches the other party. With celebs, this is not entirely possible!

Differentiation of products

Two clients of different ages will have different tastes. In that case, how will a celeb manage to satisfy both? Rather, with the help of this P2P process, clients with different tastes can be catered to.

The cost factors

When you have peers doing the work and that too via social media – the costs are immediately reduced. There is a budget allocated to every product, and hence in times of stress, the companies can alter it as well. Will a celeb do that?

Ever thought of this? Now that you know the benefits of this process, it is evident that you should try it out.

However, just a passing thought – how to start off with your leads? Option: College students! Why them?

In today’s times, they are quite aware of the brands and specifically have a mind of their own. With that, they want to match their peers. Hence, you get your lead material since you can always expect them to suggest a handful of things to their friends!!

Just a point to note: As someone looking to spread your wings into the corporate venture, it is imperative that you understand the demands of the target audience. Rather than going haywire over a celeb face, it is critical to ensure that your audience rather has a trust base that a P2P set-up can only provide.

It is critical to choose a customer advocacy platform only after noting the credentials well. A brand advocacy agency with an experienced set of people is bound to provide you with quality work that meets your marketing objectives.