How To Be Effective With Influencer Marketing
Like any good blog post, it starts with a story. Mine goes back to my time working as head of digital at a large communications agency in London in 2009. Twitter was just getting started and blogs were starting to get noticed by brand managers, almost like working with the rock stars of the internet. They were considered then, a little bit like a unfinished tool — a diamond in the rough but I always thought there was a better way to work together.
Back then it began with outreach, using 3–4 tools to get a list of the right people to then present to the client, shortlist, discuss and hammer down to a select few. PR agencies did quite a lot of the work in some cases, because mainly, a lot of PR is about relationships. Knowing the right person to get to talk about the right thing at the right time, in the right way to the right audience. Its certainly a massive part of PR and the discipline of having sound relationships to call upon for the right project.
The list was what everyone wanted to see. Everyone wanted to know — who have you found, who have you got thats right for us? what can they do, how can they do it, when can they do it and how much will they charge.
This is where it goes wrong. You see its a complicated space, but theres a really important place to start if you’re going to work with effectively with online social media influencers.
Lets face it, being a digital marketing manager today for a brand is like spinning plates. There are so many tools, options, incentives, activations and just progress in the digital advertising/communications/marketing space its hard to know where to start. What do you look at? Which agency to choose? Which tools become a priority? What are you testing? What are the learnings? What is working?! What never works!?
So I can’t blame them — in fact in some ways I feel sorry for all the information being pitched to brand managers, marketing directors and CEO’s of brands every day… its a lot to take in and investments all the way — in terms of personnel, time, money and training. As an agency we’ve made the decision to not send out information to businesses, we don’t think we can get our message across the best way like that — and our message, how we do things, is special. Its unique to the industry and to us.
Anyway. Let me tell you where effective influencer marketing starts. It starts like any marketing or creative process — with a brief. That brief develops an idea, that idea is then activated ticking all the right boxes along the way, right people, right message, right sentiment, right delivery, right project management and at the end… the right outcome.
Imagine social influencer marketing as simple as you can imagine. As a brand, you want someone (who ticks all the right boxes) to talk to their audience about you, in some way. This doesn’t have to be a ad. You don’t have to think of it as creating an advert — but you do have to start with an idea.
That idea is what gives social media influencers direction. Its what they need to fire a spark about the 2 things they are interested in — their content and their audience. The brand has a opportunity to play together talking to an audience that is passionate about quality content.
The brand has a chance in this short space of time to represent a unique experience to the audience. If you, as a brand, as a brand manager with this one shot, one opportunity… Would you waste it?
OK, enough Eminem references…but you get my point right? It has to start with a brief and an idea. Fundamentally, why would it start anywhere else?
Think about this… when was the last time you were asked to do something? Whatever it was, it would of been clearer in your mind if you had the idea first.
It is the same with how we work. We’re approaching this space from the only way we know — which is to start with the goals. Not the tools. They all come later.
The brands we’ve worked since starting our agency 9 months ago think this is the most sensible approach they’ve ever heard and they’re desperate for an expert to come in and take control. In a time where communication agencies are finding it difficult to find their space, we’ve carved out a new approach, one that works. Whatever your brief, nothings getting talked about unless theres an idea that can really engage the audience.
Thanks for taking the time to read — I hope you found it interesting.
Social Talent — Social Media Talent & Influencer Marketing Agency.