More convincing than celebrities: The power of corporate influencers

The Bank Austria The duo Mr. Holzer and Ms. Reiter – also known under the user names @grindig and @alisa. The two are Corporate Influencer and have been performing humorous sketches on the bank’s official TikTok channel since May 2022. “We do bank stuff” is the description of their work, which is intended to show one thing clearly: nothing at this bank is dusty. But as a company you first have to have the courage to do that.

High credibility, more likeability

Corporate influencers have a strong impact, shows a new study by Marketagent in cooperation with the Austrian Marketing Society. 78 percent of those surveyed (230 marketing experts and 1,000 people from the total Austrian population) find the content of influencers to be more credible than classic corporate communication. In addition, respondents clearly prefer real employees and real customers to celebrities.

Companies with employees in advertising are mostly perceived as likeable, approachable, modern and transparent, according to the study. Some companies are already making use of this advantage – including this one Austrian Airlineswhich gives its followers insights into everyday working life via TikTok, often with humor.

Overall, 40 percent of those surveyed already use corporate influencers – most often LinkedIn (74 percent), where the tone tends to be more serious than on TikTok and Instagram. 65 percent of those surveyed reported positive acceptance. However, 64 percent worry about excessive self-promotion. Because corporate influencers bring in their own personality – this can be good for the company image or, in the worst case, damaging.

The most important key competence we want from online brand ambassadors is credibility and authenticity. The biggest challenges would be different levels of quality, the loss of control over content and the uncertainty of triggering a shitstorm.