MLP005: Influencer Marketing – A Hot Marketing Trend – w/ Ron Sela
Influencer Marketing is becoming a force to be reckoned with in the online marketing world.
Marketing is changing at a rapid pace, and often without the public even realizing.
How many of us make our decisions based on online information rather than from traditional advertising? A significant amount I would suggest.
And this trend is exponentially increasing.
Welcome to the world of Influencer Marketing…
Influence Marketing Defined
The topic of Influencer Marketing is a little hazy sometimes, but Ron has helped me to define it, so we have a clear place to start talking about it:
Influence Marketing is the practice of identifying and building relationships with individuals who have influence over a target audience of buyers.
Basics of Influence Marketing, by Appinions
There are also various other words and definitions given to Influencer Marketing such as:
- Online Influence
- Influence Marketing
- Word-of-Mouth Marketing
- Brand Advocacy
- Brand Ambassadors
- Celebrity Endorsements
- Influencer Outreach
- Blogger Outreach
What Do Influencers Really Do
If we are going to discuss influencers, it pays to know what it is that they can and really do. Sure they influence, but what does that really mean?
Here are a couple of ideas of what they do with their influencer:
- Create Engaging and Market Specific Content
- Distribute Messages in Their Channels
- Amplify Messages of the Marketer
So fundamentally, they use their influence to market to us directly or indirectly.
The Objectives of Influence Marketing Platforms
Ron has identified the following as the main objectives of Influencer Marketing Platforms:
Identify, recruit, activate, engage, recognize, reward, measure and analyze
With all of the above in mind, I asked Ron Sela to come on the podcast and give us the low down on Influencer Marketing.
Enter the World of Influencer Marketing
Ron Sela knows a lot about influencer marketing and in this podcast we discuss:
- A quick definition of Influencer Marketing
- Recent books on Influencer Marketing (**list further down page)
- How do we measure online influence?
- How to find influencers?
- What is the process of working with influencers? (for all businesses)
- A rundown of the kinds of tools used for Influencer Marketing (**see tools list – next section)
- Make sure that you are in compliance with rules & regulations
- Where is Influencer Marketing heading?
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 50:26 — 69.3MB) | Embed
Influencer Marketing Solutions/Tools (Ron’s List)
TapInfluence: Content Marketing Software for Brands
GroupHigh: Blogger Outreach Software
InNetwork: Find And Engage The Right Influencers
Triberr: Home of Influencers An Influencer Marketing Platform
Crowdtap: Social Influence Marketing Platform
Online Influence Scoring Systems:
Klout: Be Known For What You Love
Kred: The Social Network for Influencers
PeerIndex: The Marketing Tool for the New Age of Social
Blogger Outreach Tools:
Inkybee: Smart blogger outreach
BuzzStream: Link Building and Digital PR Tools
BuzzSumo: Find the Most Shared Content and Key Influencers
Influencer Marketing Platforms for Businesses:
Traackr – The Influencer Marketing Platform
Appinions Influence Marketing Platform
Little Bird: Influencer Discovery & Engagement
Commun.it: Twitter Community Management Dashboard
Google Plus Tools:
Thought Leadership Marketing in The Age of Online InfluenceCircleScope
Online Influence Books by Thought Leaders (Ron’s Reading List):
Influence Marketing – Danny Brown & Sam Fiorella
Return on Influence – Mark Schaefer
The New Rules of Customer Engagement – Daniel Newman
Engage – Brian Solis
Ron’s Posts about Influencer Marketing
How to Get More Results Out of Your Influencer Outreach
Thought Leadership Marketing in The Age of Online Influence
Triberr Influence Marketing – Bloggers Pitching Brands
Influence Marketing is Moving Towards Mainstream
Social Media Marketing Insights for Influencers
Who is Ron Sela:
Ron Sela is a Strategic Content Marketing consultant, specializing in influence marketing campaigns, as well as inbound and outbound marketing strategies. You can find Ron blogging at RonSela.com where he shares his opinions, as well as social media tools and techniques that he is using.
Achievements
The Top 100 Bloggers on Triberr (#45)
50 of the Best Global Influence Marketing Blogs (#4)
Inbound Certified: HubSpot Academy
Accredited Professional: Bing Ads
Contributor: Yahoo! Small Business | Business 2 Community | BizSugar
Connect with Ron
I would appreciate a Review on iTunes Or Stitcher
As this podcast is just starting out, I would really appreciate it if you could leave a review on iTunes to help me promote it and reach more people.
I have a quick How To Do a Review on iTunes (only because it may not be so simple to find the place to do it).
Previous Podcast Episodes
If you don’t really need to head to iTunes or Stitcher, you can find all the previous podcasts here
Final Words
Influencer Marketing is affecting us all in more ways than we realize.
You too can harness the power of Influencers to further your audience reach, sell your latest products or just in learning more from someone with experience.
Take a look at some of the tools Ron mentioned and expand your influence today!
Let us know what you think of this hot marketing trend in the comments below.
About the Author Ashley Faulkes
Ashley is obsessed with SEO and WordPress. He is also the founder of Mad Lemmings. When he is not busy helping clients get higher on Google he can be found doing crazy sports in the Swiss Alps (or eating too much chocolate - a habit he is trying to break).
