Influencer marketing: service supplier selection

Purpose The main objective of this study is to lay the groundwork for a systematic approach to selecting social media influencers (SMI) for influencer marketing campaigns. Design/methodology/approach This study achieves its objective by presenting an innovative framework that combines the ordinal priority approach (OPA) with the Delphi method. This hybrid approach is applied to an academic event promotion case study. The original 22 selection criteria for SMIs were derived from the Delphi evaluation. These criteria were subsequently ranked using modified OPA to select influencers in a systematic and hierarchical fashion. Findings This research proves the effectiveness of the framework by applying it to a case study. Three top-level critical criteria, 13 intermediate-level criteria and six additional criteria are revealed by this hierarchical prioritization of SMI selection criteria. This methodical procedure allows for a more logical and educated decision-making process in selecting the best influencers for marketing campaigns. This research also proves the feasibility of the proposed model. Practical implications Better influencer marketing campaigns and marketing resource allocation are possible outcomes of the suggested framework, which marketers and businesses can use as a more organized and objective tool for selecting SMIs. Originality/value This study contributes to the field of influencer marketing by developing and validating a novel decision framework. This work not only fills the gap in existing research regarding quantitative decision-making models for SMI selection but also expands applications of the OPA method to address service supplier selection problems.