Scott Paul - The Rise of the Influencer
Scott Paul, VP of Product at the Influencer marketing department of Disney, presented on influencer marketing and the tactics and strategies that work for influencer marketing from a brand perspective.
What is an influencer?
When engaging with an influencer to speak for your brand, where do you start? At the beginning of his influencer marketing speech, Scott talked about that, in the beginning, all that mattered was how many fans, followers, and subscribers you had.
At that time, when we were only looking at the number of fans and followers, we started to see more fake followers or bots rising, which led to the importance of engagement. As influencers and engagement rose, we started to see new factors towards what made someone an influencer which eventually lead us to the most important factor: content.
Finding the perfect influencer
Many companies don’t know how to pick the right influencer to market their brand and voice. However, according to Scott Paul, the perfect influencer should have a good mix of engagement, reach, activity, content, loyalty, and audience. The perfect influencer should be a great content creator, match the voice of the brand, and be a loyal customer of your brand. In addition, the content they create must be focused on the brand and present it in an engaging way which excites people to interact with your brand, both online and off.
Micro Influencers
Scott also pointed out the rising trend of micro influencers (anyone with over 250 followers) that targets local, niche businesses.
TakeawayMicro-Influencers are so hot right now. (Influencers with at least 250 followers)#SLCSEM find brand ambassadors not mercenary influencers pic.twitter.com/8ANem1N1Qb
— GREG YOUNG (@PPCJedi) May 18, 2017
Influencers marketing is more than advertising your products or services, you build credibility by having real people speak for your brand in a way that is authentic and drives engagement through great content.
Standing room only for tonight's Influencer Marketing event! pic.twitter.com/giVoyCy04E
— SLC SEM Prof Org (@slcsem) May 18, 2017
Calvin Wayman - The 4 C's To Your Social Media Success
Calvin Wayman, best-selling author, keynote speaker, and social media entrepreneur, used his presentation to focus on 4 key principles to any social media success: Content, Context, Consistency, and Connection.
The 4Cs of Social Media Success
- Content - Without content, you or your brand don’t exist. People care about themselves and their core values. What do you or your brand actually believe in? Create content around what you actually believe in.
In his talk, Calvin recommended, only post things you believe, even if it wasn’t a popular topic. Create content that shares your core value and beliefs, then you’ll attract your real, loyal customers.
- Context - Context is what you do on social media. Share great content at the right time, at the right place will attract the right people.
- Consistency - Without consistency, no one remembers who you are. Calvin suggested posting two to three times a day or else people don’t remember who you are and what you do.
Consistency also means using the same voice in every campaign. Companies such as Coca-Cola (“Taste The Feeling”), McDonalds (“I’m Lovin’ It”), and Nike (“Just Do It”) are consistent in who they are in every campaign they do. - Connection - Spend time to build connection, build relationship with your followers.
Only publish what you actually believe. @calwayman #SLCSEM pic.twitter.com/DwhJpUBTxE
— AJ Wilcox (@wilcoxaj) May 18, 2017
Takeaway
No matter how things shift, the 4 Cs in marketing will help you build a solid foundation to make your campaign work better, develop the voice of your brand, and engage with your customers.
Thank you for those who were able to attend. Once again, seating is limited, and attendees must RSVP in advance for admission. If you are not a member of SLC|SEM, we encourage you to join, and attend the event.
