How social media influencers support political parties in achieving campaign objectives, according to political communicators in Germany

Abstract

Political parties have started exploring how to involve social media influencers in their public relations activities during elections. Political communicators are following in the footsteps of their corporate counterparts, who have long been reaping the benefits of strategic influencer communication. Due to the structural differences between the corporate and the political domain, however, political communicators must carefully consider the adoption of corporate instruments. Against this background, the current study examines how political communicators think of collaborations with influencers. It is based on expert interviews with 25 political communicators from German political parties. Findings show that political communicators believe influencers can make valuable contributions to the three campaign objectives of informing, interacting with, and mobilizing voters. At the same time, findings demonstrate how political communicators are struggling with adjusting strategic influencer communication to the peculiarities of their field, when fearing that influencers do not do justice to the complexity and seriousness of voting decisions or insisting that influencers should work for free. This article extends the body of knowledge on the management of strategic influencer communication in PR and marketing research by prolonging the debate into a new, namely the political, domain. Moreover, it offers first insights into a possible future of the influencer industry: promoting political programs and their underlying values.