This document highlights the subtle differences between celebrity endorsements and influencer marketing. Influencer marketing is an effective technique that leverages the power of an influencer on social media.

1. Differences between the Celebrity Endorsement and Influencer Marketing
Prepared by: Ms. Lahari, MBA- Semester-IV
Reviewed by : Prof Venkatesh Ganapathy, Associate Professor (Marketing),
Presidency Business School.
Celebrity Endorsement Influencer Marketing
1. Celebrity endorsements use
the fame/ brand power of a
celebrity to get people excited
about a brand or a product.
1. Influencer marketing
creates buzz around a brand
or productusing word of
mouth by an individual who
has a substantial fan
following on social media.
2. Celebrity endorsements have
always been an effective
method of arousing public
interest in a productor service.
2. Social media marketing
has spawned the rise of
influencer marketing to build
a brand’s reputation in the
digital world.
3. Celebrity endorsements rely
on brand value of a celebrity to
promote a productor service.
3. Influencer marketing relies
on the digital influence and
power an influencer has on
his/her followers in social
media.
4. The celebrity endorsing the
productor service may not be a
subject matter expert with
regard to the productor service.
It is the charisma of the
celebrity that is used to sell the
productor service.
4. Influencer is generally
someone who has a
connection with the product
or service sold. It is a
technique to use the
popularity and fan following
of an influencer to motivate
consumers to take action.

2. 5. It is the celebrity’s star
power that engenders trust in
the brand.
5. Followers have greater
trust on influencers on
account of their subject
matter expertise.
6. Though celebrity
endorsements have a wide
reach through audio visual and
print media, it is difficult to
measure the impact of the
endorsement on sales.
6. Influencer marketing
provides a marketer with
access to a large section of
the audience on social media
in a shorter period of time. If
handled well, a campaign on
social media can become
viral contributing to the
enhancement of brand equity.
7. Celebrity endorsement
makes the customers easily
recall the productor the brand.
But there are examples where
brand power of celebrity
eclipses the product/service
brand.
7. Influencer marketing
strategy is more focused and
one can win over a new
target audience with the right
strategy.
8. Engagement with customers
is not in real time and it may
not be possible to gauge the
results of the celebrity
endorsements in a short time.
8. Influencer marketing
engages customers in real
time and feedback is
instantaneous – however it is
difficult to predict the actions
of followers.
9. In celebrity endorsement the
return on investment is less
compared to influencer
marketing due to the huge fees
charged by celebrities.
9. In influencer marketing
the return on investment is
more as influencers’ fees
may be relatively compared
to that charged by celebrities.