#055 – Influencers
Make the most of Word of Mouth
Published on April 8, 2019
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Influencer marketing is a mixed bag for most businesses. There are some that swear by it and there are others who think it’s a dirty word. We say that a rose by any other name is still…a rose and that EVERY business needs influencers in their corner.
Firstly, what is an influencer? In simple terms, it really is just a person or entity that has the reputation, authority and ‘influence’ over your target audience – where their opinions have the power to sway the buying decisions of your customers.
Make no mistake, influencers have been around since the dawn of human civilisation. We just used to call them word of mouth referrers.
Ask any business owner or marketer what is the most valuable type of marketing and most WILL say…word of mouth. It is the most persuasive and the most credible. Especially when the referrer is highly respected and has enjoys a strong reputation with your intended target market.
Remember when Oprah Winfrey introduced Dr Phil to the world? Practically overnight, it spawned a whole new TV show and launched Dr Phil to super-stardom. Just on the word of one person. Just.
Social media influencers are followed by ‘millenials’ and there are real reasons behind this. The main driver stems from a distrust of brand generated content. User generated content and opinion (social proofing) has higher trust value. It’s a thing that businesses are waking up to.
However, there is still a lot of work to do in the space to ensure that influencers are accountable to their followers. There is currently also a disconnect with how influencers are remunerated with a ROI being very hard to establish.
Clove Tree Hill is one such business that is taking steps to establish that link to ROI and instituting an influencer program of their own. Go to their website, check out their Facebook and Instagram accounts to see what they’ve been doing in that space.
And here’s a previous episode we did on them.
