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BY JAXON PARROTT.

These four major marketing trends are set to explode this year.

very marketing professional today knows the rules of the game are shifting at the breakneck speed of technological innovation, making it harder to focus on the fundamentals that will maximize success.

Obviously, there’s never one secret sauce that guarantees big wins for marketers this year (or any other). But to my mind, there are four major technological and customer-preference megatrends that promise to build momentum in 2024 and beyond.

I believe embracing these accelerating trends as you adapt your organization’s marketing strategy will help ensure your budgets are smartly allocated and returns on investment are fully optimized.

1. The “Authentic Age”

Today, when marketers are increasingly required to quantify ROI based on complex data —such as cost-per-click and sales conversion rates—focusing on a “soft” concept like authenticity might seem irrelevant.

But thinking so would be a mistake, in my opinion.

Consider this: Merriam-Webster’s Word of the Year for 2023 was “authentic.” Explaining why, Peter Sokolowski, Merriam-Webster editor at large, said in an interview with the Associated Press, “We see in 2023 a kind of crisis of authenticity. We realize that when we question authenticity, we value it even more.”

Customer preference for authenticity has only accelerated now. In an information universe of inaccuracies, uncertain sources, and deep fakes, people crave authenticity more than just a year ago.

Related: 9 Key Tips for Navigating the Upcoming 2024 Marketing Landscape

2. Influencer marketing

With so much content and misinformation floating around, customers are more likely than ever to be influenced and persuaded by a real person than a brand. Influencer marketing has emerged as an essential component of the marketing mix.

The desire for authenticity among customers explains the growth of influencer marketing and creator economy, which is expected to be worth $24 billion by the end of this year.

While budgets today receive more scrutiny than ever, 67% of marketers surveyed by CreatorIQ reported increasing their investment in influencer marketing from 2022 to 2023. Among the brands that increased their spending in this direction, only 24% were working with a net new budget.

According to the survey, among brands that increased their influencer marketing spend, 76% diverted the funds from other marketing activities. In other words, the majority funded their influencer marketing by redirecting resources from other marketing functions—the most common source of which was paid advertising.

And no wonder the power of influencer marketing content, which is more organic, offers a greater possibility of going viral and gaining earned (not paid) media attention among highly relevant target audiences.

Related: 4 Tips to Avoid Influencer Marketing Catastrophes

3. Creator-driven B2B newsletters

Niche newsletters focusing on specialized areas such as AI, health tech, and finance have become pivotal sources for industry insights. Progressing into 2024, the growing interest in newsletters highlights a collective appetite for content curated by influencers and professionally enriching content.

The B2B realm is rich with newsletters designed for an audience that values quality and specialized knowledge. These independent voices offer a refreshing alternative to the conventional narratives found in most major trade publications. They provide insights that feel like exchanging insider information within a community of peers, enriching the professional discourse with diverse perspectives and expert knowledge.

Creator-led newsletters, exemplified by Morning Brew or my own company’s Presspool Insights, which covers AI marketing tech innovations and best practices, are revolutionizing information consumption habits and attracting a quality audience not seen in traditional ad platforms. The main reason is that the audiences are manually opted-in, engaged, and educated or highly interested in the topic they’ve subscribed to.

Platforms like LinkedIn have emerged as prime venues for B2B content creators, each providing unique advantages. Substack and other new platforms have simplified the newsletter creation process with ‘no-code’ solutions, empowering creators with ownership over first-party subscriber data — a major benefit as Google begins eliminating third-party cookie tracking data this quarter. I expect this trend to increase rapidly going into 2025 as the barrier of entry gets smaller and smaller.

4. AI-enabled, ROI-optimized campaigns

Coming full circle, leveraging the power of influencer marketing strategies through today’s creator-led newsletter distribution platforms enables the same type of KPI tracking associated with paid search ads like Google and Facebook for the last two decades.

At my software platform, Presspool.ai, for example, we track everything from impressions to total clicks, unique clicks and conversions. Everything is tracked and monitored in real-time to ensure full transparency into the data analytics while providing our customer with AI-enabled feedback on how to better optimize messaging for higher and higher ROI in their future newsletter campaigns. This falls right in line with ROI optimization, which I believe will become more and more essential in today’s competitive marketing landscape.

The bottom line is that traditional advertising and PR have grown over-saturated and, to be blunt, annoying to buyers. People don’t trust ads from brands or large corporations as much as they once did. Instead, they trust individuals who have a high level of authenticity and specific knowledge. Referrals from these influencers combined with the best technology for tracking and ROI optimization are the most potent form of customer acquisition, and it’s now possible to access platforms that do it all in real-time, at scale.

BY JAXON PARROTT.

ENTREPRENEUR LEADERSHIP NETWORK® CONTRIBUTOR. CEO @ Presspool.ai

Jaxon Parrott is a marketing and AI expert based in Austin, Texas. He currently serves as the CEO of Presspool.ai, an ai-enabled marketing software touting a customer base of over a dozen unicorn and high-growth emerging tech startups.

Sourced from Entrepreneur

Sourced from jeffbullas.com

Social media content has become the lifeblood of online marketing and personal branding, serving as a crucial bridge between brands and their audiences.

This content encompasses everything from captivating Instagram posts and insightful LinkedIn articles to engaging TikTok videos and informative tweets, each tailored to captivate and engage a target audience.

However, to navigate the ever-changing social media terrain effectively, you must embrace the concepts of a content calendar, strategic content creation, and meticulous planning.

These elements work in harmony to ensure that every post, tweet, or story is not just a drop in the digital ocean but a strategic step towards achieving overarching marketing and branding goals.

Through this lens, we’ll explore how social media content can transform your digital footprint, enhance your brand’s visibility, and ultimately drive business success.

The Importance of a Social Media Content Calendar

social media content calendar is an indispensable tool for any brand or content creator serious about their online presence. This calendar serves as a strategic blueprint for what, when, and where to post across various social media platforms.

It’s essentially a detailed schedule that outlines upcoming content, including posts, videos, stories, and any other social media activities planned for the future. By organizing posts in advance, the calendar aids in maintaining a consistent and cohesive brand voice across all channels.

Benefits of Using a Content Calendar Template

  • Consistency: A content calendar helps maintain a regular posting schedule, which is key to building a loyal audience.
  • Strategic Planning: It enables you to plan around key dates, holidays, and events, making your content more relevant and engaging.
  • Efficiency: By planning content in advance, you can batch-create posts, saving time and resources.
  • Collaboration: It facilitates better teamwork, allowing multiple team members to contribute, review, and approve content seamlessly.
  • Analysis and Improvement: Tracking the performance of scheduled content can provide insights that help refine future content strategies.

For those looking to dive deeper into the nuts and bolts of creating and utilizing a social media content calendar, check out our dedicated article.

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The Process of Social Media Content Creation

Creating engaging and relevant content for social media platforms is both an art and a science. It requires a strategic approach, creativity, and a deep understanding of your audience’s preferences and behaviors.

Follow this step-by-step guide to streamline your social media content creation process:

Step 1: Define Your Goals and Audience

Start by clarifying what you want to achieve with your social media content. Whether it’s increasing brand awareness, driving sales, or engaging with your community, having clear goals will guide your content strategy. Next, understand your audience: their interests, pain points, and what they value in social media content.

Step 2: Use a Content Planner

A content planner is crucial for organizing your content creation process. It helps you visualize your strategy over time and ensures you cover a variety of content types and themes. Your planner should include key dates, themes, and the platforms where each piece will be published.

Step 3: Brainstorm Content Ideas

With your goals and audience in mind, brainstorm content ideas that align with your brand’s message and your audience’s interests. Consider using tools like social media listening platforms, competitor analysis, and trend research to generate fresh, relevant ideas. Encourage team brainstorming sessions for diverse perspectives.

Step 4: Create a Content Mix

Plan for a balanced mix of content types, such as educational posts, entertaining videos, inspiring stories, and interactive polls or quizzes. This diversity keeps your social media feeds dynamic and engaging for your audience. Ensure your content mix aligns with the platforms’ strengths and audience preferences.

Step 5: Develop and Schedule Your Content

With your ideas in place, start creating your content. Focus on quality and consistency, ensuring each piece reflects your brand’s voice and values. Use visuals, compelling captions, and strong calls-to-action to enhance engagement. Once your content is ready, schedule it according to your content calendar to maintain a consistent online presence.

Step 6: Monitor and Adapt

After publishing your content, monitor its performance closely. Analyze metrics such as engagement rates, shares, and comments to understand what resonates with your audience. Use these insights to adapt your future content, focusing on what works best and exploring new ideas to keep your audience engaged.

How to Create Content for Social Media

Here are practical tips and techniques for crafting visual content, written posts, and interactive media that can elevate your social media presence.

Creating Visual Content

  • Use High-Quality Images: Clear, high-resolution images are more likely to catch the eye of your audience. Use professional photography or high-quality stock images when original photos aren’t available.
  • Embrace Brand Consistency: Apply your brand’s color scheme, logos, and aesthetic to your visuals to enhance brand recognition.
  • Leverage Design Tools: Tools like Canva or Adobe Spark make it easy to create engaging graphics, even if you’re not a professional designer. Use templates and customize them to fit your brand.
  • Experiment with Video: Video content has a higher engagement rate. Create short, engaging clips that convey your message within the first few seconds. Tools like InShot or Adobe Premiere Rush can help you edit videos for social media.
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Crafting Written Posts

  • Be Concise and Clear: Social media users tend to scroll quickly. Make your point clearly and succinctly to grab attention.
  • Use a Conversational Tone: Write as if you’re speaking directly to your audience. A friendly, relatable tone can make your brand feel more approachable.
  • Incorporate Storytelling: People love stories. Share behind-the-scenes glimpses, customer testimonials, or the inspiration behind your products to create an emotional connection.
  • Utilize Hashtags and Emojis: Use relevant hashtags to increase the visibility of your posts and emojis to add personality and emotion, making your content more relatable.

Creating Interactive Media

  • Polls and Quizzes: Use polls and quizzes to engage your audience directly and gather valuable feedback. These can be fun, related to your industry, or used to understand your audience’s preferences.
  • Live Streaming: Platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and Twitch offer live streaming capabilities. Use these to host Q&A sessions, product demonstrations, or simply to chat with your followers in real-time.
  • User-Generated Content: Encourage your followers to share their own content related to your brand, using a specific hashtag. This not only boosts engagement but also provides you with a wealth of authentic content to share.
  • Interactive Stories: Take advantage of the interactive features available in Instagram and Facebook stories, such as swipe-up links, question stickers, and polls, to engage with your audience dynamically.
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General Tips for Content Creation

  • Understand Your Audience: Tailor your content to the interests and needs of your audience. Use analytics to track which types of content perform best and refine your strategy accordingly.
  • Stay Updated on Trends: Keep an eye on current trends and adapt your content to stay relevant. However, ensure that any trend you follow aligns with your brand identity and values.
  • Engage with Your Followers: Make it a habit to respond to comments and messages. Engagement builds community and loyalty, encouraging more interaction with your content.

Creating content for social media is an ongoing process of learning, experimenting, and adapting. By employing these tips and remaining attuned to your audience’s preferences, you can produce content that not only resonates but also drives engagement and growth for your brand on social media platforms.

Crafting a Social Media Content Strategy

A well-crafted social media content strategy is the backbone of successful digital marketing efforts. It’s a comprehensive plan that guides the creation, delivery, and management of your online content, tailored to engage your target audience and achieve your business objectives.

Here are the critical components of a successful content strategy, along with insights on adapting strategies across different platforms.

Goal Setting

The first step in crafting your strategy is to define clear, measurable goals. Are you looking to increase brand awareness, generate leads, drive website traffic, or boost sales? Setting specific objectives will help you tailor your content to meet these goals and measure your success.

Audience Targeting

Understanding your audience is crucial. Develop detailed audience personas that include demographic information, interests, pain points, and social media habits. This knowledge allows you to create content that resonates with your audience, making it more likely to engage and convert.

Content Planning and Creation

Based on your goals and audience insights, plan the types of content that will best resonate with your followers. Your content plan should include a mix of formats (e.g., posts, videos, stories) and themes (e.g., educational, inspirational, promotional) tailored to each platform’s unique environment and audience preferences.

Platform Strategy

Each social media platform has its characteristics and user base, requiring a tailored approach:

  • Instagram: Focus on high-quality visuals and stories for a younger, visually-oriented audience.
  • LinkedIn: Share professional, industry-related content for B2B audiences.
  • Facebook: Leverage a mix of content types, including videos and curated content, to engage a broad demographic.
  • Twitter: Utilize timely, conversation-driven posts for real-time engagement.
  • TikTok: Embrace creative, trend-driven content to capture the attention of a younger audience.

Examples of Successful Social Media Content

Now let’s explore a few examples of successful social media content and dissect the elements that contributed to its success. By understanding these principles, you can apply similar strategies to elevate your social media content.

Example 1: User-Generated Content Campaign

  • Case: A lifestyle brand launches a hashtag campaign encouraging users to share their own photos using the brand’s products in their daily lives.
  • Success Factors: Authenticity, community engagement, and brand visibility.
  • Lesson: User-generated content not only provides authentic material for your brand but also fosters a sense of community and belonging among your audience. Encourage your followers to share their experiences with your brand, and feature their content on your platforms to boost engagement and trust.
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Example 2: Behind-the-Scenes Stories

  • Case: A tech company shares behind-the-scenes stories on Instagram, showcasing its team’s daily activities, product development processes, and office culture.
  • Success Factors: Transparency, humanization of the brand, and insider look.
  • Lesson: Giving your audience a peek behind the curtain humanizes your brand and builds a deeper connection with your audience. Share stories that showcase the people and processes behind your products or services to create relatable and engaging content.

Example 3: Interactive Polls and Quizzes

  • Case: A beauty brand uses Instagram Stories to run polls and quizzes about skincare routines and preferences.
  • Success Factors: Interactivity, personalized engagement, and valuable insights.
  • Lesson: Interactive content like polls and quizzes engages your audience and encourages them to participate actively in your content. Use these tools to gather insights about your audience’s preferences and tailor your offerings accordingly.
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Example 4: Educational Video Series

  • Case: A financial services company creates a series of short, educational videos explaining complex financial concepts in simple terms.
  • Success Factors: Value-driven content, simplicity, and shareability.
  • Lesson: Educational content that provides real value to your audience is more likely to be shared and remembered. Break down complex topics into digestible pieces to position your brand as a helpful resource in your industry.

Example 5: Influencer Collaborations

  • Case: A fashion retailer partners with influencers to create “day in the life” content featuring their clothing line.
  • Success Factors: Credibility, wider reach, and aspirational content.
  • Lesson: Collaborating with influencers who align with your brand values and aesthetics can introduce your products to a broader audience in a credible and aspirational manner. Choose partners who resonate with your target audience for maximum impact.
social media content example
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Example 6: Real-time Engagement Posts

  • Case: A snack brand uses Twitter to engage with current events and trends, creating humorous and timely content related to their products.
  • Success Factors: Timeliness, humor, and brand personality.
  • Lesson: Leveraging current events and trends can make your brand feel relevant and engaged with the wider cultural conversation. Use humor and personality to make your content stand out and encourage sharing.

These examples illustrate the power of creativity, authenticity, and strategic thinking in social media content creation.

By applying these lessons—focusing on genuine engagement, providing value, and leveraging the unique features of each platform—you can craft content that resonates with your audience and drives meaningful engagement.

Becoming a Social Media Content Creator

Think you have what it takes to become a social media content creator?

At the heart of effective content creation lies the ability to tell compelling stories, engage with your audience, and adapt to the ever-changing digital landscape. Here’s a look at the essential skills, tools, and attitudes needed to succeed in this dynamic field.

Essential Skills for Content Creators

  • Creativity and Innovation: The ability to generate fresh, engaging content ideas that stand out in a crowded social media space is crucial. Creativity isn’t just about what you create but also how you present familiar concepts in new and exciting ways.
  • Strategic Planning: Understanding the big picture, setting achievable goals, and planning content that aligns with these objectives are vital skills for any content creator.
  • Technical Proficiency: Familiarity with social media platforms, basic graphic design, video editing, and analytics tools is essential to create, publish, and analyze content effectively.
  • Adaptability: Social media trends and algorithms change rapidly. Being adaptable and willing to learn and experiment with new content formats and platforms can set you apart.
  • Communication and Engagement: The ability to authentically engage with your audience, respond to feedback, and build a community around your brand is key to long-term success.

Final thoughts

When it comes to creating social media content, the keys to captivating and retaining an engaged audience lie in strategic planning, creativity, and consistency.

By embracing the strategies and tools outlined, content creators and business owners alike can elevate their social media marketing, turning casual followers into loyal advocates.

Whether you’re crafting your next viral post or planning a comprehensive campaign, remember that success on social media is a blend of artful expression and meticulous strategy. So, take these insights, apply them to your content creation efforts, and watch as your social media presence flourishes.

Sourced from jeffbullas.com

By Danielle Wiley

The landscape of influencer marketing is embracing an exciting and highly effective shift toward affiliate marketing as a strategic influencer approach.

This isn’t just another trend; it’s a game-changing method that’s gaining traction for its ability to forge lasting relationships between brands and influencers.

While affiliate marketing isn’t a new concept, the core idea here is to re-imagine its role, shifting from short-term influencer engagements to long-term affiliate partnerships. In this updated approach, influencers don’t just promote; they evolve into genuine brand ambassadors over time. This strategy goes beyond typical campaigns, building a foundation of trust and continuous collaboration. Perhaps the most compelling aspect of this renewed affiliate approach is the performance-based reward system, which effectively encourages influencers to share authentic, impactful brand promotions.

Let’s take a look at how this refreshed affiliate approach can outperform traditional, one-off influencer partnerships in 2024:

Affiliate-Based Influencer Marketing: What Is It?

Simply put, affiliate marketing is when influencers earn a commission for the sales or leads they generate. It’s a straightforward concept: Influencers promote products they genuinely like, and when their followers make purchases based on their recommendations, the influencers get a piece of the pie. In many cases, influencers may receive both direct payments for their promotional efforts and commissions from sales, blending the benefits of both models.

This approach stands in contrast to one-off influencer partnerships. Think of a one-off deal as a quick handshake—it’s brief and transactional. Affiliate marketing, on the other hand, is more like building a lasting friendship. It’s not just about a single promotion; it’s about cultivating an ongoing relationship where both the brand and the influencer benefit over time.

The Advantages Of Long-Term Affiliate Relationships

Long-term affiliate relationships represent a strategic evolution, offering distinct advantages over one-off influencer campaigns. However, harnessing these benefits demands a thoughtful approach.

First, trust plays a pivotal role. When influencers regularly endorse a brand, their followers start seeing these mentions as genuine, much like how people trust a friend who frequently recommends a favourite Netflix series. This authenticity builds trust and credibility, making followers more likely to explore the brand themselves.

Consistency is key, too. By consistently mentioning a brand, influencers can ensure that it remains at the forefront of their audience’s mind. This strategy enhances brand awareness and contributes to brand loyalty as the audience is repeatedly exposed to the brand in a context they already engage with and trust. The goal extends beyond merely repeating the brand name; the aim is to integrate the brand seamlessly into their dialogue, making it a natural and authentic element of their regular content.

Another key advantage of long-term affiliate partnerships lies in their performance-driven nature, largely due to the unique compensation structure. The motivation for influencers in affiliate relationships is significantly bolstered by this setup. Unlike one-off campaigns that offer a flat rate, affiliate relationships include additional pay-outs based on performance metrics like sales or leads generated. This performance-based incentive encourages influencers to produce higher-quality content and invest more effort, as their earnings are directly tied to their effectiveness in promoting the brand.

Best-Practice Advice For Brands: Getting Started With Affiliates

Thinking of giving affiliate influencer marketing a try? Here’s a quick guide to the basics:

• Pick the perfect partners. Look for influencers whose values and audience demographics align with your brand. Let’s say you’re a fitness brand; teaming up with a health and wellness influencer should be a no-brainer. Their authentic vibe and your brand’s message will click, making followers sit up and listen.

• Choose proven influencers. Prioritize influencers who have demonstrated an ability to create engaging, genuine content. Their established rapport with their audience can be a significant asset.

• Focus on longevity. Don’t just go for a quick win. Look for influencers you can grow with. Think of it as a long-term relationship, not just a fling.

• Get some professionals on your side. Not sure where to start? An agency can be your matchmaker. They’ve got the know-how and tools to find your perfect influencer/affiliate match.

Creating Win-Win Deals

• Include fair compensation structures. Crucially, ensure that both you and your influencer are clear on payment terms. Successful affiliate influencer partnerships often involve a mix of affiliate commissions and direct brand pay-outs. This approach ensures that both parties are motivated and rewarded fairly, aligning your mutual goals and efforts for a successful collaboration.

• Set clear goals and expectations. Establish clear, attainable KPI-driven objectives for both the influencer and the brand. This helps everyone understand what’s expected and feel satisfied with the results.

• Monitor and adapt. Keep an eye on your influencer’s performance and provide helpful feedback. Adapt your strategy based on what works. Remember, one of the great benefits of long-term partnerships is the ability to tweak and refine your plan over time. This adaptability ensures that your strategy stays relevant and effective. Agencies can offer valuable insights here, helping you make informed adjustments.

As we move further into 2024, it’s important for brands to recognize the transformative potential of affiliate influencer marketing. This approach—focusing on long-term, trust-based partnerships rather than transient campaigns—offers a unique blend of authenticity, sustained engagement and performance-driven results. For brands seeking to deepen their market impact, affiliate partnerships provide a strategic path forward. By partnering with influencers who resonate genuinely with their audience over time, brands can forge meaningful connections, enhance brand loyalty and drive measurable growth in an increasingly digital world.

Feature Image Credit: GETTY

By Danielle Wiley

Founder and CEO of Sway Group, an award-winning agency that specializes in influencer marketing with a focus on B2C nano and micro campaigns. Read Danielle Wiley’s full executive profile here.

Sourced from Forbes

By Warren Jolly

Since the nascent days of influencer marketing, the concept has been simple: Brands deliver an experience or message through a creator who is perceived as more valuable than traditional advertising.

As influencer culture has exploded, the industry has shifted dramatically. Suddenly, there are more creators and advertisers than there are impressions to go around. As the various social media platforms have grown, they demand monetization from brands to access their target audiences and beyond, essentially restricting the odds for organic reach.

Today, with an overwhelming number of creators and an increasingly fickle consumer audience inundated by content, the future effectiveness of influencer marketing is understandably in question. Is organic reach still possible? Yes, but it’s extremely limited and progressively rare. I believe the solution lies in pairing the right creator with paid media.

A New Model

Right now, the top platforms have their own self-serve partnership ad programs that work in congruence with brands and creators, including Spark Ads on TikTok, BrandConnect on YouTube and Partnership Ads on Meta. By paying the respective platform to run ads linked to native creator accounts, the brand benefits from entertaining creator content that looks organic but has platform support that boosts visibility, encourages brand engagement and increases reach. The content remains authentic to the creator, while the brand leverages it to connect with the creator’s audience, who can instantly follow the brand with one click on the creator’s post. This is a strategy I’ve used with great success to help a number of household names amplify their influence.

As these in-platform services continue to evolve and expand their features, it will be exciting to see how they’ll further enhance the value of brand-creator pairings.

Another benefit of platform ad programs is that they’re official creator marketplaces, which offer brands the opportunity to search for in-app influencers who best meet their needs in terms of identity, content and performance numbers.

The caveat to limiting your search to creator marketplaces is that the talent has, of course, already established themselves as influencers. Personally, I think there’s significant value in independently researching for creators who aren’t necessarily “influencers” yet but are organically making influential content and speaking to an audience you want to reach.

Effective Influencer Marketing

For an influencer campaign to succeed, brands need to map out exactly who their desired consumer group is and then match that buyer persona with a creator who genuinely believes in the brand and aligns with its creative and analytical goals. That might mean searching through all the posts in a hashtag to see who’s talking about the topic in an authentic way. Doing this kind of due diligence yourself as a user on the platform is really the best way to determine their relevancy. Generally, influencers create personas or constructs that express who they are and what they’re passionate about.

Brands also need to understand that influencer content shouldn’t be comparable to ads or commercials. Creators should be allowed a reasonable amount of freedom to lead the narrative. For example, you could strategize ways to marry your research to their content and then determine a theme that works for both parties. As long as they stay within that agreed-upon theme, you need to give them the flexibility to showcase it in a way most effective and authentic to their style.

In addition to moving toward a seamless blend of organic and paid content, platforms are starting to reward live content in a way that hasn’t interested them before. When an influential creator promotes upcoming live content, they can draw users to their live stream and communicate directly with their audience without a moderator. It’s an influencing trend that Gen-Z—who, as consumers, prefer real interactions over polished content—are eagerly starting to engage in. Right now, live content is still new and a little scary, but that’s also a combination that often leads to brands being first in their category to enjoy success by being bold enough to experiment with it. Test it out, spend time under the live construct, and understand how brands outside of your category are having success with it. You have to be a student.

At the end of the day, people want to buy from people. If you think about it, the influencer market is not new to the advent of social media or even the Internet. Lucille Ball was doing brand sponsorships 70 years ago. Influencer marketing will always be around and will evolve in nature as the mediums of consumer consumption evolve as well.

Feature Image Credit: GETTY

By Warren Jolly

Warren Jolly is CEO of adQuadrant, a leading digital marketing company, and has overseen more than $500 million in ad spending.

Sourced from Forbes

By Candice Georgiadis

One of the best strategies for reaching and interacting with your target audience in the digital world nowadays is influencer marketing. It’s been estimated that the global influencer market is currently worth $21.1 billion.

Through influencer marketing, you can take advantage of the credibility and trust that influencers have established with their audiences to help sell your services or products. Influencers help you accomplish a number of goals, including:

• Increasing brand exposure, visibility and traffic.

• Generating leads and sales.

• Creating user-generated content and social proof.

• Increasing audience trust and loyalty.

But how can you locate the ideal influencers for your company? How do you get in touch with them and work together to build profitable alliances?

Here’s my advice based on my experience running a digital influencer agency.

Finding The Right Influencers For Your Business

There are countless numbers of influencers, each with their own unique style, personality, niche and audience. How can you whittle down your choices and pick the ones who are best for your brand?

• Define your target audience: You must have a firm grasp of who your target audience is before you start hunting for influencers. What are their aims, pain spots, hobbies and psychographics? What kind of media do they watch? By identifying your target market, you can find influencers who appeal to them and have traits in common with them.

• Set your campaign goals and budget: Next, decide what you want to accomplish with your influencer marketing strategy and how much money you are willing to invest. What are your key performance indicators? How will you assess the campaign’s success? How much money can you afford to pay influencers? Setting your campaign goals and budget allows you to locate influencers who can help you achieve your goals while staying within your budget.

• Use influencer marketing tools: One of the easiest ways to find influencers is to use influencer marketing tools. These tools can help you filter, analyse and contact possible partners for your brands. They make use of data analytics to easily identify influencers with large followings, high engagements and strong connections.

• Look for authenticity and alignment: Authenticity is one of the most crucial aspects to take into account when selecting an influencer. Many consumers can recognize a sponsored post that doesn’t feel sincere right away. Find influencers whose material reflects your brand’s ideals and who genuinely care about your niche. Avoid influencers who advocate for an excessive number of irrelevant or incompatible goods or services.

Connecting With The Right Influencers

After you have a list of influencers who fit your criteria, get in touch with them and build a relationship. Here are some ways to do that:

• Do your homework: Check out an influencer’s profile, content, audience and prior partnerships before reaching out to them. This will enable you to more effectively target your message and demonstrate your sincere interest in working with them.

Be both personable and professional when communicating with influencers through email or direct message. Use their names and make explicit references to their material or industry. Don’t send messages that may seem generic or like mass outreach or spam. Be kind, considerate and nice, but also explicit and succinct about your goals and expectations.

Don’t merely ask an influencer for a favour or promotion; instead, offer value. Offer something worthwhile that will also be helpful to them. You could provide a commission or fee, a shout out or promotion on your site, access to exclusive material or events, a free product or service, etc.

Follow up: Don’t count on an influencer to respond right away. They can receive hundreds of messages each day and may not have the time to respond to each one. Give them some time to consider your idea, and then get in touch with them again if you don’t hear anything back after a few days. Avoid being aggressive, but convey your enthusiasm about the prospect of working with them.

Effectively Collaborating With Influencers

Here are a few pointers when it comes to collaborating with your chosen influencer:

Agree on the campaign goals, budget, timeline, deliverables, guidelines and metrics. Document them in a contract.

Let the influencers create authentic and engaging content that fits their voice and style. Don’t micromanage them.

Support them by engaging with their content.

Pay them fairly and promptly. Respect their professionalism and influence.

Measuring Your Progress

Partnering with an influencer can help you grow your brand and get ahead of competitors. However, to measure your campaign’s progress effectively, here are some things to do:

• First, keep track of KPIs through Google Analytics, social media platform analytics and influencer marketing platforms.

• Second, examine how your business has progressed toward meeting the initial goals you set, while taking note of why things went well or not.

• Third, try to learn from both your wins and losses throughout the process. This will help foster a culture of continuous improvement.

Final Thoughts

Finding, connecting and collaborating with the right influencers are the keys to successful influencer marketing. Once you’ve done these things, be sure to measure your progress and adjust your campaigns as needed.

Feature Image Credit: Getty.

By Candice Georgiadis

Founder, Digital Day. Read Candice Georgiadis’ full executive profile here.

Sourced from Forbes

By Jessie Sampson

Trust between advertisers and consumers is the bedrock of effective advertising, not least when it comes to influencer marketing. The nature of influencers’ relationships with their followers means that transparency and authenticity are non-negotiable when it comes to communicating branded messages to their communities – and doing this successfully requires trusted partnerships between influencers and the advertisers they work with.

So, how are technological developments impacting the industry’s ability to deliver transparency? What does the growth of AI mean for authenticity in this space? And how is affiliate marketing helping to deliver a full-funnel view of influencer activations? Members of our Influencer Group share their views.

AI & influencer content

Melanie Kentish, managing partner, Gleam Futures: “As the influencer marketing industry matures with greater regulation and in-depth reporting, brands’ trust in the channel is building. Not only is the quality of content often as good as a brand’s own content, the production costs are a fraction of the price. But the most valuable asset of all is the trust fostered within influencers’ communities.

“However, the momentum at which AI is growing is startling and – now more than ever – it’s important that influencers are leading the way by turning their backs on beauty filters and holding their accounts to account to sustain that trust. Progressive advertisers will be casting authentic, filter free and diverse talent for their audiences to be truly represented. This in turn will do what’s right for both brands and society at large. It’s time to do better.”

The role of robust reporting

Ceres Cueva, SVP global publisher partnerships, Rakuten Advertising: “With marketers calling for greater measurement and transparency of campaign performance in influencer marketing, we’re seeing more brands combine influencer and affiliate marketing strategies. You get more robust reporting and actionable insights by layering affiliate tracking links into influencer campaigns; getting a full-funnel view into how influencers drive conversions throughout the consumer journey and better understand the creators, messages and creative that resonate most with your audience.

“These insights build trust between brands and influencers, solidifying relationships and allowing creators to make decisions that actively engage and convert consumers. The outcome? Lasting partnerships that transform influencers into brand ambassadors. After all, when a great storyteller or content creator can directly impact performance growth, it’s a win-win for both parties.”

Authenticity is essential

Izzy Treacy, senior campaign manager, Buttermilk: “Transparency and authenticity are key to building trust in influencer marketing. The recent #deinfluencing trend sparked some controversy amongst advertisers, but it also proved that influencers are striving to be increasingly authentic with their audiences and, in turn, brands are taking more action to encourage transparency in their collaboration.

“Technological developments are key to this – providing brands with improved access to the metrics that matter. As a result, they can clearly understand the impact of their investment and build confidence in future strategies. Additionally, with more tools providing API access directly from the platforms, advertisers can also feel more confident about their influencer selection. Finally, the increase in clear disclosure practices from bodies such as the ASA has created a level of assurance and brand safeguarding for brands investing in influencer marketing.”

By Jessie Sampson

Sourced from The Drum – iab.uk

 

What are the most effective ways of engaging a group whose spending and consumption habits aren’t exactly traditional?

Gen Z make up 40% of the global consumer population, according to global research and consulting firm McKinsey. The Influencer Marketing Factory reports 97% of Gen Z turn to social media as their main source of shopping inspiration. Another report by Statista shows 54% of Gen Z say social media is better than online search when it comes to discovering new products. With this demographic wielding increasing buying power, brands know better than to ignore them.

The question is not whether companies should market to Gen Zs—it’s how? What are the most effective ways of engaging a group whose spending and consumption habits aren’t exactly traditional? Although most brands are still asking these questions, legacy companies like Adidas and Walmart, which have thrived through countless market fluctuations, technological upheavals, and cultural shifts, may already have the answers.

Selling experiences, not products

Product-focused sales have become tacky, especially for a generation that values authenticity and engagement. And, as Jeremy Finch wrote for Fast Company way back in 2015, “Gen Z have a carefully tuned radar for being sold to and a limited amount of time and energy to spend assessing whether something’s worth their time.” What works instead is creating immersive narratives that offer unique journeys, personalized services, and memories that transcend the product’s functionalities.

Adidas is appealing to Gen Z through digital assets like NFTs. “For many brands and consumers, the value of NFTs doesn’t come from the token itself, but from the sense of community built around it,” says Rohan Handa, senior vice president for business development at Horizen Labs Ventures, a digital asset advisory and solutions platform. “It creates a shared experience and exclusivity that draws people in [and] for a population that evolved with Web 2.0, social media, and the mobile-market Web, it is normal that Gen Z users value their digital identity more than people from Gen X, who sometimes don’t even have one.”

This is why Adidas’ first NFT launch in 2021, themed “Into the Metaverse,” minted all 30,000 of its NFTs and amassed up to $22 million in sales in hours. Fast forward to 2023 and the brand has launched the third and final phase of the project, with perks like exclusive access to certain offers and increased interactions.

Walmart, on the other hand, has plans to create two immersive Roblox gaming experiences—Walmart Land for buying virtual merchandise and Walmart’s Universe of Play for toy games. This, according to Walmart’s marketing chief William White, is a strategy to “increase brand favourability with younger audiences” and “drive relevance in cultural conversations.”

“Gen Z is a digital-first cohort [and] digital identities matter to these participants,” says Horizen Labs Ventures’ Handa. “Digital avatars like those done by Ready Player Me, in-game skins/assets similar to the ones in Fortnite and Roblox, ticketing and token-gated sales by Ticketmaster, and collectible NFTs like NBA top-shot are some top-of-mind use cases, and where a lot of Gen Z is headed.”

But if selling products, do it socially

The market size for social commerce—that is, a form of e-commerce that combines social media, online communities, and user-generated content—was estimated to be valued at $584.91 billion in 2021 and is set to grow before the end of the decade, with a projected market value of $6.2 trillion in 2030.

The idea of social commerce is a relatively new phenomenon characterized by its use of social media platforms to facilitate the buying and selling of products and services. While social commerce is still in its early stages, it has the potential to revolutionize the way we shop online.

“It is more important than ever for brands to implement a social commerce strategy that captures their young and increasingly influential audience,” says Roy Avidor, cofounder and CEO of Cymbio. “To a large extent, this booming shopping trend is due to Gen Z, who dedicate a lot of time to browsing social channels.”

Avidor recommends that businesses that want to succeed in the social commerce space must leverage influencer marketing, simplify payment options, and prepare omnichannel marketing. “Brands seeking to connect with younger audiences in the social commerce space must leverage the reach and engagement of influential social media users, ensure payment methods are up-to-date and easy to use, and implement omnichannel strategies by integrating social media into their overall commerce strategy,” adds Avidor.

With inflation and the cost of goods rising, it’s more important than ever for retail businesses to retain existing customers, especially when the cost of acquiring new ones can be up to five times higher. This is where social commerce can help brands of all sizes.

Communicating with Gen Z

Whether it is from their favourite brands or persons, genuine and transparent interactions are necessities for Gen Z. In the words of Avi Pardo, cofounder and chief revenue officer at communications platform LeapXpert, “More than anything, Gen Zers just want to be seen. . . . Should a Gen Z member feel like they are merely a statistic in a customer relationship management system, they will disengage.”

For businesses, this means meeting Gen Z with the information they need in the places they use frequently—especially on social media and mobile messaging platforms. Pardo says leading brands are able to engage Gen Z by creating a personalized experience, which means, among other things, the ability to use any social media or mobile messaging platform to reach out to their personal rep at any time. “These brands don’t make Gen Zers call a desk phone number, a directory line, or reach out through a dedicated company portal. Instead, they have dedicated, personal representatives available to Gen Zers on their time, and on their preferred channel, be it iMessage, WhatsApp, SMS, Telegram, or Signal.”

New insights on mobile messaging are spotlighting significant opportunities for increased brand and customer engagement. For instance, a 2021 report by Statista showed that an estimated 3.09 billion mobile phone users communicate using mobile messaging, while another report by Klaviyo discovered that not only is text messaging the most important form of mobile communication, many customers (especially younger ones) feel secure interacting with brands over texts.

For Adidas, moving personalized interactions to WhatsApp in 2015 was a strategy to connect with the different subcultures of their young audience across the world and grow hyper-local communities within these countries. This, according to Laura Coveney, managing editor at Adidas, “allowed us to build relationships . . . in an ongoing way that [didn’t] feel transactional.” Through WhatsApp, the sportswear brand has launched several campaigns that allow it to engage organically with users.

Similarly, Walmart’s recent “Text-to-Shop” mobile-marketing strategy provides a convenient and accessible way for customers to shop without the need for a dedicated app or website. With a Walmart account, customers can browse products, add to their carts, review recommendations, and eventually make purchases—all via text. Because a Walmart account is linked to your payment information and even location, you can have your items on your doorstep in no time.

Making hiring more engaging

As a generation group expected to account for a third of the workforce by the end of this decade, companies that intend to be around for a long time are actively seeking to leverage their talents and potential. Compared to previous generations, there is now a world of difference in the strategies used to hire and retain Gen Z employees.

“Gen Z are used to instantaneous experiences,” says Benjy Gillman, cofounder and head of innovation and strategy at the candidate experience platform, myInterview. “They can order a taxi, find a date, or book a hotel in minutes on their mobile phone. At the same time, the application process also needs to be as engaging and instantaneous to engage this generation.” And this is what leading brands like Adidas and Walmart are doing—taking a candidate-first approach to recruitment practices.

“Leading brands are making the entire application process mobile-first; they are making it more engaging by injecting interactive media such as video and audio within the application process, and most importantly, they are personalizing the candidate journey so it’s easier and more engaging to apply for a job at the organization,” notes Gillman.

Worthy of note is Walmart’s strategy to attract young talent by offering what they call a debt-free college education where employees enrol in online programs at three universities for $1 a day. But Gillman advises further that the candidate experience must be swift and seamless. “Waiting a week to get back to a candidate isn’t acceptable anymore,” he says. “In the battle for talent, brands need to be fast-paced and need a real-time approach to the candidate experience.”

Feature Image Credit: Getty Images

By Kolawole Samuel Adebayo

Sourced from FastCompany

By Chris Sutcliffe

DTC brands, especially Chinese giants like Shein, have been big news for all sorts of reasons over the last couple of years: their remarkable growth, but also challenges around their sustainability and quality. Is this an evolution that will continue to evolve, one that more established brands will be able to incorporate in the long-run, or a flash in the pan?

Senior tech reporter for The Drum Chris Sutcliffe is joined by Andy Griffiths, associate director for growth, Space & Time; Miro Jin, head of EPAM continuum for China, EPAM Continuum; Lingzi Shang, digital strategy director, Landor & Fitch; and Jessica Chapplow, commerce managing partner at Reprise Digital, to discuss:

  • DTC saw a boom time during the pandemic, and has rapidly accelerated innovation in that space. What have been the biggest trends of the past few years in and around DTC?
  • How has the rapid rise in new DTC brands changed how we think about brand comms?
  • What advertising mediums are working especially well for DTC brands?
  • The perception seems to be that many new DTC brands will flame out in a short period of time – where has this perception come from, and how accurate do we think it will be?
  • What are the panel’s predictions for future trends in and around DTC marketing?

By Chris Sutcliffe

Sourced from The Drum

By Kaloyan Gospodinov

These strategies will help you win and position yourself and your company in the best way this year.

A marketing strategy is the “plan identifying what marketing goals and objectives will be pursued to sell a particular product or product line and how these objectives will be achieved in the time available.” Keep in mind that you need to consider the following three pillars in your marketing strategy plan before execution:

  1. Core audience demographics
  2. Pricing and marketing budget
  3. Business goals

The following seven marketing strategies are vital for connecting with your target audience, achieving your marketing goals by promoting products and services, increasing brand awareness and engaging with your target audience through various channels.

1. Email marketing

Email marketing is an old concept that will be very relevant in 2023. Having lists of targeted audiences with a differentiated email structure for each can provide you with a great and “cheap” way to showcase the developments in your company and sell your products.

Here are three examples that you can implement in your email marketing. The first one is to increase your email interactivity. People are used to social media and the engagement they can give when reading or viewing content. Add videos, sliders, games and carousels of images that people can swipe.

The second one is the use of storytelling in your email copy. People are looking to connect to a brand’s values, and one of the best ways to do that is to tell your brand’s story. Tell them your origin story, show your personality, the company’s culture and team. Use videos, quotes and memes to build a relationship with your subscribers.

The last one is personalization. Personalization in the email body can improve your open rate by 13% and can increase the clickthrough rate by 28% while reducing the bounce rate by 18%.

Email is still thriving as you control how you approach your audience based on your marketing objectives without the need to comply with rules imposed by the platform you use.

2. Social media marketing

Social media marketing is here to stay, and we need to find the right platform for us to create content, connect with our audience and show our expertise or products. This will be dictated by your target demographics and where they spend the most time at.

It is also important to note that Business-to-Business (B2B) and Business-to-Consumer (B2C) companies will have specific platforms that can be used for their business model. For example, LinkedIn for B2B and TikTok for B2C. Remember that your audience can move to a different platform down the line.

One thing that you can integrate into your social media marketing strategy is to think of ways to incorporate user-generated content. This can be in the form of reviews, unboxing, tutorials, and product reviews. According to Stackla, 88% of consumers specify authenticity and relatability as crucial decision drivers to complete in-app purchases and increase their brand engagement.

The most important thing is to use your authentic voice and showcase the people in your company and their expertise, values and personalities.

3. Public relations (PR)

Another old-fashioned concept that still has a place in your marketing toolbox, especially in 2023. PR is relevant and can help you increase awareness around a milestone you’ve achieved or a product/ initiative you are launching. Media mentions will also help you with the SEO of your website/ brand name and how you rank in searches as you get authoritative websites mentioning your company.

According to Statista, the PR industry is expected to be worth $129 billion by 2025 or an increase of 68% from 2020, worth $88 billion.

4. SEO

Search engine optimization (SEO) is a must-do strategy in 2023. SEO aims to increase the searchability of your brand name and specific keywords relating to your offers while helping you grow traffic and sales.

Organic SEO can help you rank your content for specific keywords. I recommend learning how to do the basics of SEO in your content and focusing initially on long-tail keywords, as it will be easier for you to rank.

The main pillar in your SEO strategy should be creating high-quality content and targeting your customers’ needs and questions engagingly while targeting keyword phrases. Create evergreen content that will help customers understand your company and products better.

SEO can be integrated with paid ads so your articles can show on top of the search results.

5. Influencer marketing

Collaboration with influencers can help you scale your business in a short period by increasing your brand awareness and reputation. The key here is to research and get numerous quotes from different influencers so you can decide on the best deal.

I’d say that it’s not always beneficial to go for the biggest names in a particular niche, as your business might not be prepared for that growth. A better strategy will be to find smaller accounts with a more engaged audience so both parties can grow simultaneously and be more sustainable.

One growing trend in influencer marketing is live stream shopping, which means that potential customers can buy products through a live video. Influencers can showcase products, give opinions and answer questions from their followers about the product they are presenting. Instagram introduced Live Shopping in September 2022, which allows users to purchase products from Instagram Live directly, so expect this to be prioritized on the platform in 2023.

6. Virtual events

Virtual events are here to stay, especially after the last couple of years when travel was almost non-existent. Showing your expertise and value through online events can help you increase your brand awareness and reach. The list of attendees can be reused and segmented in your email communication, which will benefit your company in the long run.

Another strategy is to attract experts in the industry you are operating in and create an event where they talk about various subjects related to your company. The event videos can also be reused on social media in long and short-form videos.

7. Video marketing

The most important strategy in the last few years is video marketing. Closely related to hosting virtual events, video marketing can help you present your company from various perspectives.

People from your company can have topics they are working on and record video presentations for the world to see. Behind-the-scenes and company events can showcase the human side of your team, and the sky is the limit regarding creative ways to create video content.

Authenticity here is key as your willingness to open up in front of the camera so people can connect with who you are and what your company stands for.

Short vertical video content will be one of the biggest trends in video marketing in 2023. According to Zippia, 85% of U.S. adults own a smartphone as of 2022, and on average, Americans spend 5 hours and 24 minutes on their mobile devices daily. As vertical video content can take more real estate on a device and people are using TikTok, Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts, you need to focus your time and creativity to investigate that type of video content.

The world is moving towards personal branding, and video is one, if not the best, way to open up to your audience.

Win with marketing in 2023

To summarise, test and see what works for you and your company. Do not focus and do all the strategies mentioned here simultaneously — experiment with what resonates with you as a personality and your business niche. Adapt and develop the best marketing mix for your desired outcome that will help you win in 2023.

By Kaloyan Gospodinov

Entrepreneur Leadership Network Contributor. CEO and Founder at Aezir. Kaloyan is an entrepreneur with global experience. Past successes include 1m+ app downloads, six figures from Amazon FBA, and managing a million-dollar crypto project. Currently, he advises Swiss biotech and runs a London marketing agency. His motivation is helping people pursue their dreams.

Sourced from Entrepreneur

By Lane Ellis

Why are B2B brands increasingly turning to influencer marketing?

B2B influencer marketing is the business-oriented cousin to the B2C Instagram entertainment and lifestyle influencer. In B2B, some influencers go by creators, subject matter experts, industry experts, or other terms that disassociate them from the B2C influencer.

Whichever term is used, B2B influencer marketing provides an ideal way to combat disintegrating brand trust, so it’s no wonder that by the end of 2022 the B2B influencer marketing vertical is expected to reach $11.7 billion in revenue, with over 38 percent of B2B firms exploring influencer marketing for lead-generation and more, according to AdAge.

B2B influencer marketing is a many-faceted digital diamond that when done well shines brightly, however brands need to be wary of treating it like its vastly different B2C counterpart.

Let’s take a look at 20-plus advantages that B2B influencer marketing holds over traditional marketing strategies.

B2B Influencer Marketing Offers Key Advantages

New analysis published in the Harvard Business Review has shown that average brand boost could reach 16.6 percent by properly utilizing influencer marketing, with influencer originality accounting for a 15.5 percent rise in return on investment (ROI).

B2B marketers have said that influencer marketing will be among their three top priorities in the next three to five years, as 59 percent of marketing leaders noted that they considered B2B influencer marketing a priority today, and 64 percent pinpointing it as a top priority over the upcoming three to five years, according to recently-released survey data from the Association of National Advertisers (ANA).

The academic world has also begun to take notice of the power of B2B influencer marketing, such as the comprehensive “B2B Influencer Marketing: Conceptualization and Four Managerial Strategies” study recently-published by Science Direct / Elsevier, including numerous citations to our own ground-breaking first industry B2B Influencer Marketing Research Report.

Social media publications are also increasingly becoming aware of B2B influencer marketing, such as Social Media Today’s recent article “15 Ways the B2B Influencer Marketing Industry is Changing [Infographic],” featuring our own latest infographic filled with data from our newest free 59-page 2022 B2B Influencer Marketing Research Report.

Influencer marketing has emerged as a key way that B2B brands can get the most marketing bang for their buck and help recession-proof marketing strategy. U.S. organizations are expected to spend $6.16 billion on influencer marketing during 2023, climbing from the $5 billion seen during 2022, as influencer marketing has been more resilient than other forms of marketing, with influencer marketing budgets staying strong, according to recently-published forecast data from Insider Intelligence.

Enduring Relationships & Increased Thought Leadership

B2B influencer marketing helps build successful and lasting relationships, as our CEO Lee Odden recently explored in a fascinating podcast with Justin Levy, director of social and influencer marketing at Demandbase, in “The Impact of Building Long-Term Relationships with Influencers with Lee Odden.”

42 percent of organizations with more than 1,000 employees work with influencers and creators, while only 28 percent of smaller businesses with under 100 workers do, according to Hootsuite’s newly-released annual social trends report. 2023 is likely to see more B2B organizations of all size either expand their existing influencer programs or beginning their first.

B2B influencer marketing helps improve brand reputation and awareness, as well as generating new leads, as diginomica recently explored in “Influencer Marketing – first, catch your influencer…,” also featuring data taken from our most recent research report.

B2B influencer marketing offers an ideal framework for successful content planning, creation, and promotion, as we covered recently in “Planning, Creation & Promotion: 5 Top Tactics For Creating Inspired B2B Content.

B2B influencer marketing can have a direct impact on building thought-leadership and executive influence, and the time to redefine influencer marketing may have arrived, as our own senior content marketing manager Joshua Nite has explored in “How to Create More Authentic Influencer-Driven Content to Attract Qualified Prospects.”

“In our survey, over half of respondents said they included internal executives in their influencer content. Nearly half said they included their employees as well. This is a clear opportunity to create more valuable content and build your organization’s thought leadership at the same time,” Joshua observed.

“It’s time to redefine influence. Your most valuable prospects are looking to industry leaders, practitioners and peers for advice. Your team can deliver all of the above with the right mix of influencers,” Joshua added.

“It’s time to redefine influence. Your most valuable prospects are looking to industry leaders, practitioners and peers for advice. Your team can deliver all of the above with the right mix of influencers.” — Joshua Nite @NiteWrites Click To Tweet

B2B Influence Creates Meaningful Brand Experiences & Builds Trust

When it comes to creating meaningful brand experiences and authentically connecting with buyers, B2B influencer marketing has found growing success. “In times like these, the importance of influence is critical for B2B brands that need to connect authentically with their buyers and create meaningful experiences,” Lee observed in our “2022 B2B Influencer Marketing Report: New Data, Insights, Case Studies, Predictions.”

“In times like these, the importance of influence is critical for B2B brands that need to connect authentically with their buyers and create meaningful experiences.” — Lee Odden @LeeOdden Click To Tweet

Social media platforms have proven to hold both influence and attention, while the influencer economy has gained precedence as a top form of customer communications, as B2B brand content creators increasingly become the faces of the brands they represent, as Talkwalker recently covered in its Social Media Trends 2023 Global Report.

“Content creators will become the faces of the brands they represent, especially in B2B. People trust people more than companies. Expertise is key to building trust with your audience,” Daniel Murray, founder of The Marketing Millennials observed.

“Content creators will become the faces of the brands they represent, especially in B2B. People trust people more than companies. Expertise is key to building trust with your audience.” — Daniel Murray @Dmurr68 Click To Tweet

Dispelling The Boring-To-Boring Myth & Boosting Engagement

The type of digital experiences that work so well within a B2B influencer marketing framework go a long way towards dispelling the longstanding notion of B2B being nothing but boring-to-boring, as Lee detailed in the recent “Break Free of Boring B2B with Influencer Content Ft. Lee Odden” episode of The Data-Driven Marketing podcast with host Mark Richardson, director of global content operations at Dun & Bradstreet.

The popularity of influencer marketing is on the rise, as 85 percent of respondents to our extensive survey expect activity to increase over the next year, with B2B marketers increasing their level of maturity and sophistication and shifting towards always-on, relationship-based influencer communities. You can take an eye-opening look at the future and power of B2B influence from 10 of the world’s top experts and influencers in our “10+ B2B Influencer Marketing Predictions From Top Experts & Influencers.”

(Click Through For More Predictions)

B2B influencer marketing also helps when it comes to boosting content engagement. In fact, 32 percent of marketers and influencers have said that influencer marketing has increased engagement, while 65 percent of marketers said that influencer marketing works more often than it fails, recent data has shown.

Additionally, 30 percent of consumers have reported that recommendations from influencers are among the most important factors in purchase decisions — more than the 27 percent who pointed to friends or family, while an upcoming greater reliance on influencers has joined greater adoption of virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR), according to HubSpot’s look at the future of social media.

B2B Influence Will See Increasing Use Among Brands in 2023

via GIPHY

While this list of more than 20 of the reasons why B2B brands are increasingly moving to influencer marketing only scratches the surface, 2023 is certain to see new takes on B2B influencer marketing that we can’t yet set, however by keeping on top of the most recent industry shifts, we’ll be better prepared for what the coming years hold in store.

Especially with B2B influencer content, crafting award-winning B2B marketing that elevates, gives voice to talent, and humanizes with authenticity takes considerable time and effort, which is why more brands are choosing to work with a top digital marketing agency such as TopRank Marketing. Reach out to learn how we can help, as we’ve done for over 20 years for businesses ranging from LinkedIn, Dell and 3M to Adobe, Oracle, monday.com and many others.

By Lane Ellis

Sourced from Top Rank Marketing