AMA Knoxville brings together marketing minds from Knoxville and surrounding counties for professional development, networking, and educational opportunities. The chapter also invests in future marketers by awarding scholarships to marketing students at the University of Tennessee with our Eagle Endowment. It’s thanks to the AMA board of directors, volunteers, and annual sponsors that these events are possible.
About the Presenter
Monique Derico is the Director of Strategy, Influencer Marketing at August United (AU). In her role, she leads in shaping AU’s strategy practice and is responsible for formulating, evaluating, and inspiring strategy for existing clients and new business across the agency. Monique believes that authentic, word-of-mouth first accounts will always be the most useful way to move consumers to behavior adoption. During her career, Monique has managed hundreds of influencer campaigns and creators alike, for some of the biggest brands including Amazon, Bush’s Beans, L’Oreal/Maybelline, Wendy’s, etc. Her current roster of clients includes all Kroger and subsidiary divisions, Microsoft, and Samsung. Monique holds a BA in Broadcast Communication from Lincoln Memorial University and a Master’s degree in Public Relations from Boston University.
The History of Influencer Marketing
Social media marketing is a relatively new industry that’s continuing to evolve each and every day. But influencer marketing may not be as new as you think. The earliest cavemen shared their experiences through trial and error in much the same way that modern influencers share their thoughts on products and brands. And it’s true – at its core, influencer marketing is incredibly simple. One person shares their thoughts with others and thus, influences them.
Derico defines influencer marketing as “the at scale use of authentic word of mouth referrals to market products, brands, and ideas to a pre-built, engaged audience.”
Influencer marketing must be done “at scale” because that differentiates it from personal recommendations. The recommendations must be authentic because audiences need to trust the word of the influencers they follow. Using the influencer’s pre-built audience is a key to this process, especially since these are unique groups of consumers that companies wouldn’t be able to access otherwise.
Influencer marketing in its current form was truly pioneered by mommy bloggers starting in 2002 with “blog” becoming the word of the year in 2004. The boom in the usage of blogs allowed anyone to share personal stories, talk about life, and give recommendations. From there, blogs began to emerge for every interest and industry.
Next came the birth of social networks, making it easier than ever for anyone to build an audience and share thoughts with them. While Facebook was one of the true pioneers in this space, platforms like Instagram and TikTok have quickly taken over and put photos and videos at the heart of communication. In the past year, influencer marketing has grown into a $16 billion industry and has solidified its place as a legitimate marketing channel and a larger part of the consumer’s media mix.
Getting Started with Influencer Marketing
- Start with your objectives, goals, strategies, and measurements
Before engaging with an influencer you’ll need to have a strong sense of what you intend to accomplish in the partnership. Are you hoping to generate brand awareness, increase consideration of your product, or drive sentiment? Do you need to send products out to the influencer for tests/demos? How will you measure the success of your campaign? - Research and identify potential partners
You can search on the platform for personalities within the interest-group you’re hoping to reach or work with an agency to identify talent. Keep in mind that, although it’s exciting to find an influencer with millions of followers, they’re likely only reaching about 20% of that total audience so don’t get distracted by vanity metrics. Focus on finding someone who has resonance with and relevance to your target audience. It’s also important to keep an eye on how often your potential partner is posting sponsored content – at most roughly 3 of every 10 posts should be sponsored. - Reach out privately and contract the creator
Once you’ve selected a creator to partner with, reach out to them or their management to engage in a conversation. If possible, take the conversation from the social media platform to email as quickly as possible. Then, make it official with a contract including considerations like exclusivity, perpetual rights to the content, rates, deliverables, etc… - Partner with influencers to develop effective content
Once the contract is signed, brief the creator on your expectations for the content, what you’d like to see included in their photos/videos, posting details, strategy, influencer disclosure to meet FCC requirements, etc…
Is Influencer Marketing Right for You?
It’s important to keep in mind that influencer marketing is not a quick-win solution, but depending on your company’s goals, it can be an incredibly useful tool for reaching customers in a way that traditional marketing or other digital marketing strategies simply cannot. If you have a limited time offer you may have more opportunity to see results quickly but in general, expect this strategy to speed along the awareness of your product – not necessarily the purchase.
With influencer marketing you’re also not paying someone to say good things about your brand (as with something like a celebrity endorsement.) You’re paying them to interact with your product and provide honest, genuine feedback to their audience. To create authenticity, be ready to embrace constructive criticism from influencers along with the compliments.
And finally, if you’re considering adding influencer marketing to your marketing plan, remember that it’s not a one-size-fits-all strategy. There is no single formula for success and success should be defined individually based on your unique goals and objectives.
Thanks for joining us! If you enjoyed this event, we’d love to see you at our upcoming luncheons and events including:
- 3/8/2023: Redefining the World Through Personal Aviation
- 4/26/2023: AMA Happy Hour sponsored by Graphic Creations
Keep an eye on our Eventbrite page for more information on upcoming events and to purchase your tickets.
