Justin Blaney D.M. - Will Post for Profit: How Brands and Influencers Are Cashing In on Social Media

A POST HILL PRESS BOOK

ISBN: 978-1-64293-546-2

ISBN (eBook): 978-1-64293-547-9

Will Post for Profit:

How Brands and Influencers Are Cashing In on Social Media

2020 by Justin Blaney, D.M. and Kate Fleming

All Rights Reserved

Cover design by Lauren Wohlrab, Instagram.com/theartistlauren

Interior design and layout by Sarah Heneghan, sarah-heneghan.com

Published in association with the literary agency of Legacy, LLC, 501 N. Orlando Avenue, Suite #313-348, Winter Park, FL 32789

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author and publisher.

Post Hill Press

New York Nashville

posthillpress.com

Published in the United States of America

Contents

Note

Throughout the book, there are sections directed toward either influencers or brands.

Influencer sections will have a light gray line along the top and bottom of the paragraphs.

Brand sections will have a dark gray line along the top and bottom of the paragraphs.

Over the last decade Ive provided marketing strategy and data-driven insights for countless global brands. And while Ive had the privilege of working with many talented marketers in supporting those brands, one thing has proven to be fairly consistent: marketers continue to struggle with the complex and volatile landscape that is social media. The fickle tastes of consumers are difficult to nail down. Whats lit today will be cancelled tomorrow. We recognize that authenticity has to be the currency to stay relevant on social media because fake news and contrived memes have taken over feeds. Constantly changing algorithms have turned marketing on these platforms into a never-ending marathon, with brands desperately trying to keep pace.

While there is no complete antidote, the guidance shared throughout this book is a soothing balm for what ails in social-media marketing. This book unpacks the core concepts, providing step-by-step guidance in approachable language that isnt bogged down by marketing buzzwords. For example, readers are taken through the process of brand-campaign creation, and each step is articulated in just the right amount of detailstarting with defining campaign goals, establishing a budget, and choosing a media platform, and ending with identifying key performance indicators (KPIs) and secondary metrics to effectively measure the campaigns success.

Selecting the right social influencer and negotiating the terms of your relationship requires forethought and careful execution to protect the interests of the brand and the influencer. The process is not without risk, and this books guide on how to handle that risk correctly is essential for avoiding common pitfalls. Throughout the book, the authors carefully delve into important aspects of working with a social influencer, including thoughts on budget transparency, FTC compliance, and non-compete agreements.

As a digital marketing and analytics thought leader, Ive read many books that attempt to tackle the topic of social marketing but none so in depth as Will Post for Profit . The authors approach each aspect with a deft hand, their guidance clearly rooted in extensive experience from both sides of the work. Marketers and would-be influencers alike will benefit from reading this book and putting its concepts into practice.

Reese McGillie

Senior Director, Insights and Analytics, Tinuiti

Since 2016, the term influencer has become one of the most buzzed-about terms in marketing and social media. Influencer Marketing has become an alternative option to traditional marketing channels that may be out of reach or underperforming. This is an opportunity for some brands and many influencers.

Billions of dollars in revenue are generated each year through the power of social-media influence. With the millennial generation making more than half of all their purchases online, Influencer Marketing is prime real-estate for most brands today. Influencer Marketing relies heavily on an emotional connection between the product and the advertisement. For this reason, Influencer Marketing appeals directly to the millennial and Gen Z populations.

At the most basic level, influencers are people who can cause others to change their opinions and/or actions. On the surface this sounds simple. But in terms of social marketing, it is important to understand exactly how influencers operate and how they can best be optimized. To do that, we must uncover who influencers really are and what types of influencers are out there. This book will examine what it means to be an influencer, how to become one, and how to use the influence of others to build a powerful and profitable brand.

According to the State of Influencer Marketing 2019, Benchmark Report, Influencer Marketing is still on a rapid incline and has continued to grow as an industry over the last few years, from a $1.7-billion industry in 2016 to $4.6 billion in 2018, and was projected to grow to $6.5 billion in 2019. And there has been a 1,500 percent increase in searches for Influencer Marketing during the same time frame.

Ninety-two percent of B2B marketers believe Influencer Marketing is an effective form of marketing, and 86 percent intend to dedicate a portion of their budget to Influencer Marketing this yeara sharp increase from 37 percent in 2017. Smart businesses that understand and follow Influencer Marketing and its trends gain up to eighteen dollars in earned media-value for every dollar spent.

There are just under 3.3 billion people worldwide (43 percent of the global population) using social media, and that number is quickly growing. While Facebook still has the largest user base, Instagram is rapidly catching up as the fastest growing social network, as of 2019. Instagram sees ninety-five million posted photos and videos each day, with over 4.2 billion likes. With Influencer Marketing as the fastest growing method for reaching customers, it makes sense to use the platforms that reach almost half of the worlds population.

In many cases, YouTubers are more popular than some celebrities. This group of influencers are authentic, gaining them three times more views and twelve times more fan comments than celebrity videos. This is just one example of why Influencer Marketing is a new and exciting opportunity for many brands to increase their exposure, and also an opportunity for individuals who seek to monetize their interests on social media.

While the current use of the term Influencer Marketing began in the mid-to-late 2010s, influencers have been around for hundreds, even thousands of years. In the past, these people were called prophets, philosophers, teachers, storytellers, and authors. As marketing took off in the twentieth century, brands began to make use of fictional characters to promote their products. From Coke repurposing Santa Claus into its personal mascot, to Tony the Tiger selling us frosted cereal, advertisers have long understood the power of connecting with their audiences through Influencer Marketing. Today, we call these characters Virtual Influencers. This is a new genre of Influencer Marketing, where computer-animated people recommend Maybelline lipstick, Gap apparel, and the latest Marvel movie at the cineplex.