Think win win. How many times have you heard this phrase?
Marketers should certainly think win win. We shouldn’t think about “extracting value” from consumers, but instead about “providing value”. At the end of the day it’s not about conversion rates and attribution models as much as it is about providing a useful product or service to a customer in return for payment. Both parties win.
With Influencer marketing, a brand commissions an independent social media influencer to create a story. In exchange for compensation, the brand gets to be woven into that story. Never before have we had a marketing channel where so many people can simultaneously “win”: marketers, influencers, and everyday consumers.
WHY THE MARKETER WINS with Influencer Marketing
- Cut through the noise. Consumers are bombarded with promoted tweets, pins, sponsored posts and even snaps. 85% of advertising is ignored. When you do influencer marketing the story comes to the consumer in an authentic way that they can trust. It cuts through the advertising noise.
- Gain the Consumers Trust. “The difference between helping and selling is just two letters” – Jay Baer. Influencer marketing content tends to be more helpful and informative than other types of advertising. When you help a consumer with a recipe or a fashion tip, your brand becomes a trusted resource for your consumer. Jay goes on to say, “If you sell something; you make a customer today; if you help someone, you make a customer for life.”
- Get real ROI. Influencer Marketing Works. Julie Fleisher who heads up Kraft’s content and media recently said that “Kraft gets four times better ROI from content than ads.” At TapInfluence we see ROIs range from 4x-10x.
WHY THE INFLUENCER WINS
In 2009 Becky had a popular food blog and spent about 30 hours a week creating and sharing recipes in addition to taking care of her 5 children. I remember talking to Becky and hearing her say “It’s just not worth it anymore. I used to get $10 CPMs (Cost Per Thousands Impressions) from banner ads and make $4000 a month from my blog. Now, I’m lucky to make $0.90 CPMs from my ads and get $350 a month. That works out to about $3 an hour!”
Becky had started blogging during the “hay days” when premium ad networks were willing to pony up high paying CPMs for banner ads. Then came 2009 when programmatic buying forced banner ad prices down to what were really worth – about 10% of what marketers previously paid. “It’s just not worth it. I’m done.” Becky continued. “I’m closing my blog. Maybe I’ll write an occasional recipe when I feel like it, but I’m done working so hard for so little.”
Becky’s readers were devastated. They had come to rely on her, but she just couldn’t make ends meet.
Now when I tell this story many marketers wrongly assume that influencers are in it only for the money. Not so. Influencers are creatives first who love to tell stories via words, images, and videos. But everyones dream, including you and me, is to “get paid to do what they love” and what influencers love is to tell great stories.
In 2012 due to many forward thinking brands and agencies, the social media world crossed a tipping point. For the first time sponsored content beat out banner ads for the most popular way to make money in social media.
WHY CONSUMERS WIN with Influencer Marketing
Imagine you are invited to a dinner party at your friends house. You show up at her door, are greeted warmly, and are shown to your seat at the elegantly decorated table. The home is warm, and the food is savory and fantastic. You turn to your left and you meet someone who immediately starts to talk about themselves.
“Oh no”, you think “not another night spent listening to another persons whining and one sided conversation.”
Quickly you turn to your right and meet a new friend who asks about your life. You share back and forth. Your new friend even offers you a few travel trips for your next vacation. Which friend do you want your brand to be?
People go online for a purpose. They either want to be entertained, informed, communicate, or get a job done. Does your marketing fulfill any of these purposes? Influencer marketing makes your brand both entertaining and informative.
LET’S MAKE 2015 A YEAR OF BETTER MARKETING
The world has enough bad marketing. Enough people yelling from a megaphone. Enough noise. Think “win win” in your next marketing campaign.