BSME hosted its talk -Working With Influencers at the Which? London office on 27 June 2019
The event was moderated by Alex Mead Chair of BSME who introduced the panellist, Alice Liveing- Blogger, Health and Wellbeing influencer, the Mac Twins -Dj’s, & Founders of The Gut Stuff and Sedge Beswick- Managing Director of SEEN Connect. The event was attended by representatives from the magazine world, interested in how influencer relationships work.
Statistics show that Influencers are opinion leaders
Alex Mead started the meeting with some serious statistics obtained from mediakix.com: “75 % of Gen Z wants to be Bloggers, Vloggers and YouTubers. That is an insane fact“, says Alex Mead. A digitalmarketinginstitute.com article, also states that 49% of people now buy products based on what influencers’ say, which means that they are now opinion leaders and everyone wants to work with them.
Who are these Influencers?
The panellists discussed how the term Influencer has evolved over the years and how it now means something specific. They agreed that the new content producer is not just a famous person with lots of following, but is usually a person with tangible skills. An Influencer is a catch all phrase for content creators who are experts within their field.
“These influencers have loyal followers who will buy anything mentioned or endorsed by the Influencer,” says Alice Liveing.
The panellists see the role of the new content creators as pitching to the right place because people make decisions based on this content. They said that most people putting out information have the right intention, but it’s important to know who is credible and who is not. “With the gut stuff, the info we put out has to be airtight because people take our word as gospel and so we have to have a sense of responsibility. We feel the weight of that, so we have a social media manager and compliance manager and nutritionist” say the Mac Twins.
Are the new content creators a threat to Magazines?
There is a growing fear that magazines are being threatened by content creators who promote the big brands. However, in discussing the relationships between magazine editors and influencers, the panellists agree that partnering with print gives credibility to Influencers. It also works well for the print magazine as it helps promote them to the Influencer’s followers; so it is a mutually beneficial collaboration and not a threat.
Making the most of the collaboration
The best way to collaborate is for magazine editors to look for specific experts or people who have a particular opinion. Brand collaboration works well where the Influencer knows the brand and can produce content that works for that brand. There has to be some co-operation. “Loyalty to the brand is the best thing,” says Sedge.
“Magazines that want to grow need to look at the Influencer’s numbers and what they stand for. However, going after numbers only is not as good as going after what will work for the brand” says Sedge.
At the end of the day, it is more about audience quality than anything else.
You can read more about influencer marketing statistics here: https://digitalmarketinginstitute.com/en-gb/blog/20-influencer-marketing-statistics-that-will-surprise-you
