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The year of Influencer Marketing continues to gain momentum. More than 84 percent of marketers are now tapping into this effective strategy to develop quality, authentic content marketing with built-in distribution. As a result, more digital ink than ever is flowing about how savvy marketers are using influence to get around ad-blockers and build relationships with likeminded social media creators. Here are five key stories from the last week that will help you stay current on the latest news about influencer marketing.
Social Media Creators Are More Influential Than Celebrities
ION’s Take: Drawing from a variety of studies completed with research firms like Nielsen and Ipsos Connect, Google points out Millennials and Gen Z consumers are more inclined to listen to social media creators than traditional celebrities. This article points out why social media influencers have such a hold on the younger (and largest) generations of US consumers.
Social media creators, not celebrities, shape our culture and set trends, says the largest living generation of consumers. Think With Google’s new study highlights this fact based on analysis from a number of studies they commissioned with various research houses, including Nielsen, Visible Measures and Ipsos Connect.
Facebook Reportedly Paying 2 Dozen Influencers $2.2 Million To Regularly Host ‘Live’ Broadcasts
ION’s Take: Live streaming influencers are on the rise. While upstarts like YouNow and Live.me are trying to create homegrown stars to match the constellations on YouTube, Twitch and Snapchat, Facebook is taking a different tack. Facebook Live is simply paying social media creators from YouTube and Vine to broadcast on their platform. While the Wall Street Journal previously noted that Facebook Live is working with traditional celebrities, Tubefilter reports that social media creators are also part of the strategy. This provides brands with more options to connect with live streaming creators on the social network where you can find more than 1.5 billion consumers.
Facebook is reportedly paying roughly 24 YouTube creators, Vine stars, and other digital influencers to regularly host broadcasts on its burgeoning Live streaming service. According to a document obtained by The Wall Street Journal , Facebook is shelling out a total of $2.2 million dollars to creators who regularly host streams over the course of five-and-a-half months, from April through September.
Connecting the dots: Finding key influencers in content marketing is worth the effort, report suggests | Market Research
ION’s Take: Influencer marketing has been proven time and again to be effective in the B2C space. In B2B, it’s newer territory and some, like Forrester advisor Laura Ramos, would prefer to call it Advocate Marketing. By any name, The Drum points out that it’s clearly an effective way to reach targeted audiences with authentic voices helping make connections with enterprise buyers.
The role of influencers providing the gateway to B2B decision makers and consumers is a key component in a modern content marketing strategy, however the challenge for the marketing and communications professionals is to identify their key influencers in order to build effective influencer engagement programs.
White Paper: 5 Key Influencer Marketing Insights
ION’s Take: What key things do you need to know in order to succeed with influencer marketing? ION, the Influencer Orchestration Network, has provided an updated view of key things brands should know about this powerful strategy for connecting with customers. This free guide is available from a link in the article introducing it.
Influencer marketing finally went mainstream in 2016. As the year progressed, many developments have had an impact on the strategy. Huge platform changes presented new opportunities for brands. A viral live stream broadened the consumer targets for influencers. Some marketers even prompted a false-alarm identity crisis for influencer marketing.
Snapchat Memories Will Mean Better Influencer Marketing
ION’s Take: Sure, Snapchat may have just bought Bitmoji, but the really big Ghost news is still how the new Memories features change the platform’s soul. While live streaming on other apps like Facebook Live, YouNow and Live.me may also be grasping for its FOMO-minded audience, Snapchat is showing signs it wants to be Facebook for the younger set. The Memories feature unshackles content creation on the platform in a way that opens the door for more and better influencer content.
Snapchat has grown to 150 million daily users on the strength of its FOMO-driven soul but a new feature may alter the DNA of the platform forever. The aptly-named ‘Memories’ lets Snapchat users repost and save Snaps and Stories they create on the app.