The majority of trends, case studies and best practices at last week’s Event Marketing Summit in Chicago focused heavily on much digital, virtual and event technology elements. As much as I am an interactive technorati at heart, the Influencer Marketing: Leveraging the Power of Influencers session I attended was as refreshing as it was relevant.
I’m just going to dive in because this topic is deep and juicy! I’m intrigued by word of mouth, grassroots, brand ambassador-based marketing. I admire companies whose marketing strategy consists (and are completely successful) of brand ambassadors (think: lulumeon athletica). Word of mouth marketing is the most powerful communications tactic in a marketer’s toolbox.
Influencer Marketing reviewed a best practice case for a few new Pepsi product lines. Present on the brand side was Pepsi Senior Brand Manager Esperanza Teasdale, and the agency that conceptualized the influencer marketing program for Pepsi was Grow Marketing, represented by Cofounder Cassie Hughes.
“10% of the population is credited to influencing the remaining 90%,” said Hughes. Would you have even guessed that? The marketing industry has witnessed the marketing evolution over the years from traditional advertising to publicity to online to social media, and now influencer marketing allows for true engagement between a brand and customer. And that true engagement is a necessity as brands are no longer just brands, but experiences.
Hughes laid out the framework for a successful influencer marketing program as follows:
- Find influencers — while this is easier said than done, “influencer programs are only as strong as the quality of influencers themselves,” says Hughes. - Leverage your loyalists by turning them into ambassadors. - Amplify influencer experiences through social and traditional media. - And of course, how do you measure ROI without measuring influencer impact.
I am now inspired to put influencer marketing to the test. Hughes said it can definitely work for B2B brands, and after all, she is the influencer marketing guru.