Who has influenced you — Abraham Lincoln, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Mohammed Ali, Thomas Jefferson, Michael Jordan, maybe Oprah Winfrey? According to a survey done for Variety this year, 8 out of 10 teen consumers didn’t name celebrities at all, but rather, chose influential YouTube stars such as the comedy team Smosh. Another survey, this one conducted by Tomoson, reported that 51 percent of marketers believed they obtained better customers through influencer marketing than through more traditional channels.
Influencers don’t have to be famous, but — as they are often focused on specific niches — should definitely be both knowledgeable and accessible. The explosive growth of social channels, paired with the ease of video and image production, has birthed a new group of rock-star influencers who travel the globe, teaching others everything they know about influencer marketing.
Over the past few years, I have been able to present, interact, and meet with many of these thought leaders such as Brian Fanzo (@isocialfanz), Stephanie Be (@stephbetravel), Amy Jo Martin (@amyjomartin), Marsha Collier (@marshacollier), Diana Adams (@adamsconsulting), Ted Coine (@tedcoine), Winnie Sun (@SunGroupWP), Sam Hurley (@sam_hurley), Rachel Miller (@rachelloumiller), and countless others. Most recently, I spoke at a conference with Emily Thomas (@emitoms), Pam Moore (@pammktgnut), Stephanie Be (@stephbetravel), and Sean Gardner (@2morrowknight).
Talking with each of these extremely talented, intelligent, and motivated people has taught me that there are a few common themes that make influencer marketing great as well as one of the fastest-growing areas of focus for businesses.
Influencers Are Real People Who Engage in Brand or Industry Conversations.
Influencer marketing’s enormous growth was created mostly by social media — not because of the actual networks but because consumers, businesses, students, and daily users craved the personal connections of thought leaders. It’s the modern iteration of websites’ testimonial programs. We want to connect a face with a brand, an industry, or a topic — someone we can relate to and converse with in a world full of automated messages and chatbots.
Influencers Are Smart and Forward-Thinking.
One of the best Twitter #Adobechats I have ever attended (every Wednesday at 1 pm pt) was about the future of digital marketing, and it was littered with marketing influencers. Those who attended brought up insightful — and sometimes challenging — conversations on everything from virtual reality and artificial intelligence to chatbots and personalized customer experiences. It was a tremendously engaging conversation that had the potential to improve the futures of many businesses. For example, Diana Adams (@adamsconsulting) — a globally respected influencer who is focused on the future — presented us with this incredible insight about digital marketing:
Influencers Have Passion and Energy for Their Specialties.
This is the most common theme among the influencers I call friends. Travel, business, marketing, customer experience, tech — it doesn’t matter what their expertise, influencers learn everything there is to know about it, epitomizing this quote from Henry Ford:
“None of our men are ‘experts.’ We have most unfortunately found it necessary to get rid of a man as soon as he thinks himself an expert because no one ever considers himself expert if he really knows his job … thinking always, thinking always of trying to do more, brings a state of mind in which nothing is impossible.” — Henry Ford
Would I hire myself or any other influencers to evangelize my brand? Absolutely. Should you start formulating an influencer plan to capture some of the knowledge share in this growing social market? Yes. You need to make a decision now: Would you rather have #Brangelina championing your brand or dozens of influencers providing a true interactive face. As for me, I will take the influencers.
The post Influencer Marketing From the Influencers appeared first on Digital Marketing Blog by Adobe.
from Digital Marketing Blog by Adobe https://blogs.adobe.com/digitalmarketing/social-media/influencer-marketing-influencers/
via Tumblr http://euro3plast-fr.tumblr.com/post/151374547789
No comments:
Post a Comment