It’s a powerful way for brands and agencies to meet the consumer’s insatiable appetite for information. Publishers with key audiences and large followings represent a perspective brands will never be able to: that of another consumer. So why not leverage that reach?

Using content from influencers can be a powerful way to win the war on content, or it can be littered with landmines that leave a bad taste in everyone’s mouth, including the consumer. The first big mistake many brands make is thinking that the process of finding and choosing the right influencer is a one-way street. The reality is that influencers are (and should be) just as selective in choosing a brand partner. If they aren’t, they risk alienating the very audience that makes them influential.

A TapInfluence survey conducted in April 2014 of over 5,000 content creators and social influencers revealed their top concerns when evaluating sponsored opportunities:

1. Poor organization. If marketers are working with a handful of publishers, most issues can be handled immediately and personally. But when programs scale to include more than a dozen influencers creating content for a brand, organization is key. Marketers must have their strategies clearly articulated and available to make it easy for influencers to know exactly how to do a good job. This includes clarifying what type of content they are looking to create, which brand assets are approved for use, when blog and social posts are to be published, and which social platforms they care about most. Most bloggers and social influencers who work on sponsored campaigns genuinely want to do a good job. They want their content to be engaging, compelling and meaningful to their audience while best representing a brand’s value. They also want long-term partnerships with marketers. Goals and expectations about performance and results must be clear so influencers can help ensure success.

“Communication is key to a successful campaign whether it be about issues, problems and especially positive/negative feedback”. (Cat Davis, FoodFamilyFinds)

2. Product fit. One of the key reasons brands work with influencers is to launch new products or get existing products into the hands of new customers. As influencer marketing becomes more scalable, it’s inevitable that some influencers will join only to discover later that they don’t like the product. Most will try to professionally bow out, but when schedules, contracts and costs have been committed, brands often expect publishers to fulfill their obligations, creating an awkward and unpleasant situation. Marketers should think strategically and give these influencers a way to opt out gracefully. Another campaign down the road might be a perfect fit.

Don’t pitch me if I’ve never written about anything even close to being in your product’s category. (Erika Sevigny, AllThingseBlog)

3. Compensation. Social influencers have become a powerful part of the paid media ecosystem, driving social content strategies, but there is still a wide gap between what brands are willing to pay and what influencers think they are worth. Publishers can earn anywhere from $50 for a blog post to thousands of dollars for a video, depending on reach, perceived influence, and audience engagement. Brands can avoid conflicts by looking at what the industry has compensated for similar campaigns. Publishers sometimes need to understand the importance of building a portfolio and history of sponsored content before asking higher rates. The paid content landscape is still very fragmented, but standards will emerge as the industry matures.

If you want quality influence, be willing to share quality compensation. (Amber Edwards, JadeLouiseDesigns)

Brands should focus on and set compensation based on the quality of the work being done, not just traffic stats alone. (TerriAnn van Gosliga, Cookies and Clogs)

4. Amount of work. If the top reason for negative experiences is a poorly planned program, it’s not surprising influencers feel many campaigns were more work than expected. Publishers cited unclear deadlines, extra requests outside the contract and unresponsive brand representatives as reasons campaigns required more attention than expected. And if that additional work is required after compensation has been negotiated, it can add to the frustration. Both parties need to be realistic about what is expected and negotiate exceptions up front.

I’m going to give 110% effort to creating a great blog post. In turn, support or feedback from a brand is very valuable. (David Dial, SpicedBlog)

5. Audience feedback. While research and careful vetting optimizes the odds, there are no guarantees a campaign well-suited for an influencer will also be a fit for their audience. It’s tempting to assume this is because readers and followers didn’t like the product, but it’s often because they didn’t like the program. Campaigns that are too focused on sales, too product-focused, show no creativity, and are complicated to join, will turn off consumers.

Let influencers promote your brand in the way that works best for them and their audience rather than trying to enforce specific statements (in a blog post, for example). I think sponsored content is most successful when it doesn’t come across as sounding sponsored. (Alexandra Azary, NoshOn.it)

Marketers can win by choosing content creators wisely, being clear about goals and performance metrics, resisting the temptation to overly control the creativity, and letting influencers do what they do best: telling good stories about experiences and products they genuinely care about.

This article first appeared in Media Post.

The post Beware Of Influencer Marketing Landmines appeared first on TapInfluence.

When writing sponsored posts, it’s good practice to include a disclosure. Here, we’ll cover some important guidelines for including disclosures in your sponsored posts.

1. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Disclosure Guide:

Sarah Hawkins of SocialMediaExaminer.com wrote a wonderfully clear rundown on updates made in March of 2013 to the .com Disclosures Guide, the first and only updates made since the guide’s initial publishing in 2000 (“WOW”, right?).

We’ll note a few items that are particularly pertinent to influencer marketing:

>> The Disclosures Guide isn’t law, but rather guidelines and “rules” for conducting online advertising. However, consistent noncompliance can trigger an FTC investigation of brand or agency practices.

>> Influencer posts should include a disclosure. The hows and whys can be found within the .com Disclosures Guide.

>> While the disclosure appears on the influencer’s site and post, it’s generally the responsibility of the brand or advertiser to make sure it’s there.

2. Consumer Protection Laws:

As with any other marketing program, you should be familiar with Consumer Protection Laws (these are actual laws, not just guidelines). They apply to social content marketing, too.

3. Links should be nofollow:

Nofollow is an HTML attribute that tells search engines “do not count this link.” While not a law, use of nofollow links is a best practice that’s safer and less likely to deem you as “spammy.” For an excellent explanation of nofollow and follow links, check out Search Engine Land and The WordStream Blog.

Thanks for standing by for that brief, but important, aside. We’ll be back on track next week with our post on repurposing content.

The post Transparency is Key appeared first on TapInfluence.

“Give me space to bring my own voice and style to the work. I like general guidelines, and to know what you want to get out of the campaign, but when the guidelines get too detailed, it is difficult to create content that is natural and engaging to my audience.”
- Tracie Nall, in response to a TapInfluence survey question: “If you could give brands one piece of advice on working with you as a social influencer, what would it be?”

I stated it earlier, but it’s worth repeating: Influencers got where they are because of their unique voice, tone, and style of communicating. If you try to direct them toward something that isn’t authentic to them, your brand will actually suffer. Hell hath no fury like an audience force-fed content that isn’t fitting of its environment, culture, and wants. You also risk hurting the influencer’s brand, and your relationship with them for future partnerships.

“When planning content and social amplification, put yourself in the consumer’s shoes. Think about what is going to engage them. This not only makes it easier for the influencer to relate to and promote, it in turn receives more reception from readers.”
- Marisa Atwood, in response to a TapInfluence survey question: “If you could give brands one piece of advice on working with you as a social influencer, what would it be?”

Whether or not your agreement includes previewing content prior to its going live, do not think of yourself as their editor, and instead encourage editorial independence. If there is a blatant error or misrepresentation within the post, first of all, relax and remember they don’t know your brand quite as closely as you do. Then, kindly ask them to make the correction. Influencers are usually happy to make a correction after a post is live.


Aside from that, influential content creators will drop you like you’re hot if you hover too closely. Their authentic voice gives your brand a platform upon which it will be showcased by the influencer to their loyal audience. It is in your best interest to give clear assignment instructions, step back, and let the influencer take the reins from there.

The post Don’t Nanny Every Post appeared first on TapInfluence.

The holy grail of a compelling assignment combines engaging content with branding. It’s easy to do either/or, but not always simple to put them both together. As you design an assignment, ask yourself this: If I were this reader and I read these posts, would I share them with my social network?

Let’s look at a great, intriguing assignment by Biscoff.

The Campaign: Biscoff held a voting contest on their Facebook page calling for a photo and description of your favorite ways to use their Biscoff spread product. Anyone could look through the submissions and vote on a winner. Each vote submitted also entered the voter into a sweepstakes.

Enter Influencer Marketing: To amplify the contest, Biscoff worked with nearly 100 bloggers known for creating delicious kitchen concoctions. The influencers were asked to create a recipe using the product and drive readers to the contest on Facebook where they would find additional Biscoff inspiration and could participate in the voting and submitting of recipes themselves.

Here is one of the influencer posts: The influencer here, Stephanie Au of LifeTastesLikeFood.com, created a recipe that was darn good of its own accord, and also cooked up a beautiful post to house and distribute it.

What’s great about this post:

>>High-quality photography

>>Product featured in the photo, title, and is linked-to within the post

>>Branding is prominent without being irritating

>>Product is key to the value of the post

We encourage you to keep this post and others like it in mind as you brainstorm assignment ideas.

Exercise: Look At All The Things!

In this exercise, the output will be a table matrix of what works where, and why, and is guaranteed (not officially) to get your brain a-chuggin’ with educated inspiration for your next social content marketing assignment.

1. In a spreadsheet or table, compile a list of items you and your social circles have shared, liked, or bookmarked, and make note of the elements that stand out in each of them. Preferably use a table you can filter and rearrange so you can view the data in different ways.

2. Create table columns categorizing each post by type (food, beauty, DIY, etc.), title, author, and sponsoring brand (if any).

3. For each piece of content, answer the following questions (include each as a line item in your table):

>>How is the brand called out? Did it bother you, was it almost unnoticeable, or something in between?

>>Did the author’s voice remain consistent with his/her other posts? If not, how did that affect your experience as a reader?

>>If the author’s voice remained “their own,” did it have any negative impact on your perception of the brand they talked about?

>>What did you like most about the post? Was it the visuals, the concept, or the content itself?

Once you’re done, play around with filtering the columns, move the data around, and see what sort of posts did well by type. You’ll have a more practiced sense of what comprises good sponsored content. Use this knowledge when preparing your own social content marketing strategies and you will immediately garner better results.

Generally, good sponsored content consists of quality writing and photography and  includes all necessary brand assets without losing the influencer’s authentic voice.

The post Craft an Irresistible Assignment appeared first on TapInfluence.

3 Tips for Influencer Happy-Making

Incentivize influncers to create the best content they can for your brand.
1. Give Them Time: Let them know about the assignment weeks, not days, in advance. Pencil in time for a first draft review a few days before launch so you can communicate any missed expectations, or help correct any reference errors before the post goes live.

2. Respect Their Voice: Influencers got where they are because of it. If you try to direct it into something that isn’t authentic to them, you risk hurting their brand, the potential value your brand could gain from their voice, and your relationship with them for future engagements. You are not their editor, so don’t go heavy on the critique.

3. Make It Win-Win: While cash is often king, influencers may also find value in other opportunities like experiences, product, or a combination of those. Whichever it is, communicating the value of what you’re offering fosters a stronger relationship. But before you copy/paste your product specs and market value into an email, take a step back and first define what would actually be valuable to them. Taking the time to do so lets them know you value their work and your relationship with them.

Events, Experiences, or Products as Payment:

Consider your offering in the context of an influencer’s lifestyle. Content creators are passionate about specific things—that’s why they write about them! So a value exchange needs to bring it full circle: They are adding value to you by writing about their experience with your brand. Are you adding value to their lifestyle through what you’re willing to give in exchange?

Examples of (subjectively) valuable lifestyle-based value exchanges:

>>A fashion blogger gets tickets to a top-name runway show during Fashion Week. (Step it up with access to the after party or a pair of designer shoes.)

>>A mom blogger with an 8-month old get a high-end car seat. (Caveat! Product exchanges like this can be tricky. Say the blogger has a 6-year-old. She may be a mom, but her interest in a car seat may not be high. A car seat’s value lies in part in its potential use for years to come—value that is considerably decreased to a mother with an older child.)

>>A travel blogger is offered the chance to experience something unique in a location they want to visit. (Bonus! They get to bring a spouse/friend.)

In an influencer is cash only: Be careful about exposing any sticker shock you may feel initially. If they’re really good and they fit your market well, but you feel the price is high, simply ask for some information on why they charge what they do. They may have insight you haven’t considered, and you might see the cost as justified after a quick communication. Don’t be surprised if an influencer walks away if you offer something lower. By-and-large, cash-only opportunities aren’t a negotiation game. Low-balling in particular is a quick way to squash any chance for a lasting relationship.

 “Being a social influencer is a career choice. Keep that in mind when reaching out to us. Approach and treat us the same as you’d like your boss to treat you. Would you work a 9-5 shift for a coupon?”

-Sheena Tatum, in response to a TapInfluence survey question: “If you could give brands one piece of advice on working with you as a social influencer, what would it be?”

The influencer-brand relationship is a valuable one for both parties. Make sure you make it worthwhile for everyone involved by offering a value exchange that is relevant for the content creator’s lifestyle.

The post 3 Tips for Influencer Happy-Making appeared first on TapInfluence.

Make it mutually beneficial. I understand you want maximum exposure, and I’m willing to work hard to get that for you. But my time is valuable—not usually worth the price of a product alone. I need monetary compensation to make it worth my time and effort.

-MaryEllen Bream, in response to a TapInfluence survey question: “If you could give brands one piece of advice on working with you as a social influencer, what would it be?”

Have a look at the range of rates for Review posts from the TapInfluence platform. Different types of content often have different associated costs, all of which are helpful to familiarize yourself with before planning an assignment. If your marketing budget is tight and you don’t think you’ll be able to run an influencer marketing program, do a little digging—events, giveaways, and reviews may be less pricey forms of content!





Marketer commonly make the mistake of equating giant audience size to giant cost and the highest returns or conversions. That’s often not the case, believe it or not, and the asking price of influencer content should reflect it. In addition to their baseline unique monthly visits, a social content creator’s rate should depend on their level of sway with readers, the nature of their audience (highly specialized is harder to hone), the quality of and level of skill required for their work and their location, among other factors.

Crafting content that converts viewers into customers for a brand, yet still maintains or exceeds the expected level of value, style, and entertainment to a readership, is not an easy task, particularly within the confines of a branded assignment.


The influencer-brand relationship is a valuable one for both parties. Make sure you make it worthwhile for everyone involved by offering a value exchange that is relevant for the content creator’s lifestyle.

The post Offer a Compelling Value Exchange appeared first on TapInfluence.

Social platforms are game changers indeed, but the bigger shift has come from our ability to access these networks anywhere, and anytime. We are living in a world of “Constant Connection.” How many times have you looked at your phone today? A recent IDC Research study shows 80% of us look at our phones within 15 minutes of waking up. From the moment we rise to the time our head hits the pillow again, we check that device another 110 times, on average. Mobile devices are such a part of who we are that they have become “a personal extension of being” according to Adam Kmiec, the Senior Director of Social Media and Content for Walgreens. And they are changing the amount of content we’re exposed to—and how we participate in it—in a big way.

#1 A FILTER TO CUT THE NOISE
As more content is developed, consumers are finding ways to filter out the noise. They have less trust in the ads being delivered and instead look to people they trust for their recommendations and thoughts.


#2 DON’T DISRUPT ME
The more we tune out ads, the more creative brands get at finding their way in. But no one actually wants to be disrupted. While these tactics can get a consumer to stop, they create a negative brand association, which curtails the goals you set to achieve to begin with.


#3 LET ME HEAR FROM SOMEONE I TRUST
What we do want is to hear from someone we trust. And that can be someone different for all the different parts of our lives. We’re complex, nuanced, and we all have particular tastes and routines. Consider your own. Do you turn on a particular radio show for your morning commute? What about your source for tech news and the latest gadgetry? We’ll bet it’s not the same website or person you turn to for incredible slow-cooker recipes, suggestions on weekend getaways, or tutorials on building a deck. For all of those things, whatever yours may be, you’re likely to go looking for input (in the form of content) from real people who have similar tastes. Furthermore, whether we intend to or not, we take notice of the brands they’re using.

———-

CONTRIBUTING TO INTERESTING CONTENT WHEREVER WE’RE CONSUMING IT
When you partner with those already creating content people want, it’s crucial your contributions in those places add to the environment, rather than detract value from it. Brands often make the mistake of thinking something along the lines of “I want this type of person to say they love my product and that it’s the best thing ever.” That’s exactly the type of content that’s bound to get skipped over in the feed. Work with your content creators to develop content that is valuable to the target audience and authentic to their point of view.

The post 3 Consumer Wants From Social Content appeared first on TapInfluence.

1. How can we make your life easier?
2. How can we get you more value for your marketing dollar?

Today I’m thrilled to announce 4 BIG new features that should help marketers achieve their mission:

1. New Assignment Page

We listened to you and gave the influencer assignment page a giant makeover.  We’ve been testing the new interface and have found that it decreases the time it takes to create an assignment by as much as 100%.

2.  Tracking of Blog Post Pins

Not only can influencers create content on Pinterest, but now our platform will track when other content such as blog posts gets pinned to Pinterest.

3. Export Draft Content To Word

Need to send your influencers long-form content to your brand for approval?  Can’t get your brand’s lawyer to login to review content?  No problem, now at the click of a mouse you can export all your draft content to a Word document.  Each post is its own file with meta-data such as influencer name and post title already included.

4.  Export Every Link and Metric for Every Piece of Content

We realize that sometimes you want to do some number crunching and reporting outside of TapInfluence.  With one click you can export all the links and metrics to all content created on blogs, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, YouTube, and Google+.

As always, we love to hear comments and suggestions.  Please let us know how we’re doing by emailing me at Rustin at TapInfluence.  Thanks!

The post 4 Big New Features for Marketers appeared first on TapInfluence.

Herding cats takes a special kind of cowboy, er, catboy. Catboys harness certain skills that allow them to wrangle in wild short hairs. Much like the wild short hairs of the west, online audiences are hard to corral in to a loyal following. Luckily, social influencers possess many of the same skills of those tough catboys.

The influencers who have the most loyal audience—an audience most likely to trust their opinions—are specialized in the topics they write about, and the tone in which they communicate speaks directly to a specific niche. It’s not just about finding a random “mommy blogger” to review your state-of-the-art 4-in-1 pacifier/thermometer/heart monitor/battery charger. Perhaps a male tech blogger who happens to have a 6-month-old and writes to a demographic of 28-to-35 year olds (lots of new parents!) who are into high-tech devices would be a more impactful content creator for you.

Ask yourself what your target market likes to read and where they spend their time online. Then find influencers who live in that space.

Don’t base an influence marketing strategy on the influencer. Base it on the customer. Meaning, if you care about your customer and look for those they value, you’ll naturally find those who influence their decisions.

-Sam Fiorella, Co-author of Influence Marketing: How to Create, Manage, and Measure Brand Influencers in Social Media Marketing

Where to Find Them

Your first instinct might bring you to Google, where you’ll certainly find a lot of social content creators, influential ones included. But vetting individuals who pop up in search results is time-consuming and generally unfruitful. You won’t be able to measure the many factors that go into gauging someone’s baseline metrics around viewership, audience composition, and community engagement. You also won’t have any idea who is missing from your search results, and that might be the bigger loss of all.


A database, such as GroupHigh or BlogDash, is an option that will do the filtering for you. These are databases rich with bloggers, indexing them by the millions every day. Moreover, you can search and filter them by location, industry, keyword, and more. Some databases even offer metrics like page rank and social statistics.


The TapInfluence marketplace is an end-to-end platform that vets influencers prior to bringing them in using dozens of filterable values. Marketers then build and launch assignments, preview posts before they go live, follow along with reader engagement and program progress, and calculate ROI on a program using tracked metrics on engagement, shares, likes, and more.

Having clearly laid out data to utilize when building successive influencer programs yields enormously successful influencer campaigns that target more precisely and result in higher conversions each and every time.


Carefully choosing the best influencers for your social content marketing program will help you better reach you end target: the customer.

The post The Importance of Finding the Right Influencers appeared first on TapInfluence.

CHICAGO, IL. April 29, 2014 – The Word of Mouth Marketing Association, (WOMMA) (www.womma.org), today announced Holly Hamann, Chief Marketing Officer of TapInfluence, (www.tapinfluence.com) has been named to its 2014 Board of Directors. WOMMA is committed to serving the needs of marketing professionals along with promoting and maintaining professional standards for the word of mouth marketing industry. Hamann will assume her duties as a new board member at the first meeting scheduled during this week’s WOMMnext Conference (http://wommnext.com/).


“We are delighted to welcome Holly to the 2014 WOMMA Board of Directors,” said Suzanne Fanning, President of WOMMA. “She is a proven leader and influencer who has demonstrated her commitment to helping WOMMA maintain and develop appropriate content for our wide array of members and those interested in the practice of word of mouth marketing. Her background as an entrepreneur, mentor and social media ‘maven’ make her an excellent addition.”


Hamann is co-founder and CMO of TapInfluence, best-selling software for managing the creation, distribution and measurement of social media content. The company partners with brands to create visual content with the web’s most prolific storytellers that in turn meets the unique needs, interest and concerns of a target audience. Throughout her career, Hamann has launched multiple start-ups in the internet, multimedia, entertainment, video and other high-tech industries. She is a well-known and respected marketing and social media thought leader, has spoken at nearly 100 conferences and marketing events, and writes for The Huffington Post, Chief Marketer and Fast Company. She also is an American Marketing Association “Marketer of the Year” recipient.


“I am honored to serve on this esteemed board to further advance word of mouth marketing practices around the globe,” said Hamann. “In the years ahead, we will work together to produce powerful programs which help marketers and agencies seeking to respond to the dynamic and ever-changing social media industry and promote the common business interests of those engaged in word of mouth marketing.”



Share this: #WOMMA names #TapInfluence CMO @HollyHamann newest #WOMMA board member #socialmedia #marketing #WOMMnext


TapInfluence Media Contact:
For more information or to arrange an interview with TapInfluence, please contact (press@tapinfluence.com).


WOMMA Media Contact:
Office: 312-853-4400

ABOUT Word Of Mouth Marketing Association (WOMMA)

Founded in 2004, the Word of Mouth Marketing Association is the official trade association in the industry dedicated to word of mouth and social media marketing. It is comprised of members from elite Fortune 500 brands, agencies and service providers, such as McDonald’s Corporation, Unilever, Nestle, Nissan, Heineken International, Edelman and more. These exceptional thought-leaders across the globe and innovative companies are committed to expanding the word of mouth marketing industry through advocacy, education and ethics. WOMMA is a leader in ethical word of mouth marketing practices through its offline education, such as the renowned WOMMA Summit, professional development opportunities and knowledge sharing with top industry marketers. For more information visit WOMMA.org.

The post Hamann elected to first term on Word of Mouth Marketing Association board of directors appeared first on TapInfluence.