TikTok-influencers: vad är ett vinnande koncept för framgång? En kvalitativ innehållsanalys om olika personliga varumärkesbyggande kommunikationsstrategier samt karaktärsdrag som är framträdande i svenska influencers TikToks

Abstract

Executive summary The purpose of this thesis is to examine the construction of personal brands on influencers on the platform TikTok. Influencers - a very current and relevant phenomenon in today’s society, are gaining more power in the media landscape and have major influence on both social media users and companies. Personal branding is a relevant field to explore, since the success of influencers depend on how, and in which way they present and differentiate themselves from others. In order to build a successful personal brand it's crucial to consider using specific communication strategies, which will be examined in this thesis. This will be accomplished by principally using the theoretical frame semiotic, to interpret and develop an understanding of the strategies used by three successful Swedish influencers on TikTok. In order to examine this issue, a qualitative method is used to in depth analyze and develop an understanding of different important traits of character and communication strategies used by the influencers. Communication strategies are important for influencers to take into consideration since influencers actively need to work to present themselves in a way that will benefit their online image and personal brand, to stay relevant in today's competitive media landscape. By using previous research on the field, we have found that the following four communication strategies are the most distinctive ones for personal branding: interactivity, emotional attachment and authenticity, the standardization and adaptation of content and the importance of good product congruence. This study will examine which ones of these four communication strategies are the most prominent on the three Swedish influencer’s TikTok videos, in order to then see how they are expressed on the platform. Additionally certain traits are important to take into consideration as well, since some attributes and features are more beneficial than others when it comes to building a strong personal brand. Hence, these specific traits can be exploited and highlighted by communication in order to benefit the brand. In this thesis, three specific traits have been concluded as the prime ones that can successfully distinguish an influencer's personal brand. These are: physical attractiveness, reliability/expertise, and humor. Previous research on the subject states different types of communication strategies and traits when it comes to personal brands, therefore this study will compile the most used ones by different researchers, and later on see which ones are the most prominent on the three influencer’s platforms. The previous research also lacks how the communication strategies and certain traits can be shown on the influencers` platforms, meaning, how they are expressed by the influencer’s, both consciously and unconsciously. Therefore, will this study show how they are expressed. The result of this study reveals that the most prominent communication strategies for a personal brand are: interactivity, and emotional attachment and authenticity. Interactivity can be seen in the comment section, where the influencer’s who are liking and answering users comments are building a closer relationship to the users and therefore also strengthening their personal brand. Emotional attachment and authenticity are seen as one communication strategy and as well as interactivity seen in the way influencer’s answer their followers, and also when the influencer’s appear to be personal and share personal experience with their followers. The most prominent traits differ from communication strategies in the way that they are more personal and therefore cannot be applied to everyone in the same way. The three influencers show different traits on their platform and therefore they are also expressed differently, depending on the influencer.