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Welcome to our blog, where Appinions matter.
May 2, 2012
Do you Need Influence?
Event though influence seems to be on one of the burners for most brands and agencies, some are still tangling with the question, do I need influence to be part of my overall strategy? The easy answer is a simple “yes”, everyone can benefit from connecting with the influencers who matter to you. Now this is not to oversimplify, but once you step into the world, the rewards are evident.
The fuller answer is more complex, and every brand needs to fully understand why influence exists and most importantly, why does it matter especially from a consumer perspective. It is the most direct link to your audience that exists on the web. Whereas you can spend all day tweeting, there is little guarantee that your audience will find your tweets, listen and eventually act. Influence connects you and lets those who are trusted speak on your behalf to your audience.
It might sound bold, but if you have an online audience (which hopefully at his point you do), than influence needs to be part of your day-to-day operations. It is very tough to argue against a brand needing a digital presence of some degree, and subsequently influence to help move it and capitalize. So why are some still slow to enter?
The biggest question might have to be, what am I missing out on by not utilizing the power of influence?
April 27, 2012
Blog, Blog, Blog!
Much of this blog is about how brands need to empower themselves by properly utilizing digital influence. Every now and then, we also try to deliver ways for the average user to become influential. There are dozens of different tactics a person can employ to become more influential, but there is one that is time tested and a constant in any strategy.
Blogging is a way to share your opinions, and to control your own personal brand on a daily basis. Consider your blog to be your own oasis in the digital desert, where you can speak about anything and take any side you see fit. This does not have to be issues that have global implications, it can simply be about recipes, sports or anything that interests you.
To truly gain influence and a following, you need to blog; there is no way around it. It is also the perfect content engine for social media, constantly supplying you with prime content for your audience. The trick is that the content has to be compelling, opinionated, relevant and have a specific audience in mind.
Obviously, one has to invest a lot of time within the actual social networks in order to gain influence. Blogging supplements it in a nearly perfect way, if done properly. Many shy away from blogging due to the commitment. Truthfully, if you create an editorial calendar, invite relevant guest bloggers, and even create content in one fell swoop then the task can be less strenuous.
Most importantly, you need to enjoy writing and building an audience. You must take it as a responsible to deliver an opinion to an audience who wants to know what you think. Ultimately, blogging when done right is a proven way to enhance your personal brand, and gain influence.
April 25, 2012
Will the Influence Bubble Burst?
With anything to do with the web world, especially aspects that have grown in popularity, everyone always asks the question “when will the bubble burst?”. We’ve all been burned before, and the web is very much an easy come and easy go kind of environment. This question has been posed about digital influence, since it has grown in enormous scope over the past few years.
I do not believe that the influence bubble is on the verge of any kind of decline. The main reason is that it mimics human nature, and does not posses some of the flash in the pan characteristics. Opinions move social media, and people gravitate towards opinions that they trust. With a formula this time tested, it is easy to understand why influence should have the legs for the long haul.
Influence can be a bit of a tricky game, but when you finally understand and can utilize it the effectiveness is very evident. Maybe the question about the bubble bursting is being asked by those who have been reticent to employ. This is not uncommon, but needs to be overcome by every brand who seeks success in the digital world.
Do not think that you should avoid influence, because it will not be around in a year or two. This is definitely not the case. Influence will only grow, and is not limited by the growth of social media. It can be found in every corner of the digital world.
Maybe the question should be, “how do I become part of the growing bubble?”.
April 21, 2012
Digital Influence’s Powerful ROI
One of the most glaring issues with the entire web world revolves around the needed return on investment. This has been the case for a long time, but the truth is there is a substantial return on investment, but it is not as direct as other ventures. You have to view brand building online as a means to receive a larger reward than most advertising. Of course, building a digital brand takes a lot of time and effort. All successful brands have used influence to their advantage.
What influence does is it supplies your brand with direct channels to your primary and even your secondary audiences. As opposed to just publishing into the digital ether, you can speak directly into your audience’s ear from a trusted voice. If done right this will affect your bottom line more than most traditional communication tactics.
Maybe the issue is that the return on investment takes a great deal more patience to receive than offline tactics. The return can bear more rewards, but it is far from instantaneous for the most part. This is a real paradigm shift for brands. Influence is a way to maximize long-term profit and viability for a brand. It will never be about quick paydays. Some might cite viral videos as an example to the contrary, but most of these don’t come from brands, and overall are quite rare.
Every brand needs to fully live in the digital realm. To successfully do this over the long term, you need the help and power of influence. It will expedite all efforts and is the best bet to deliver a sound return on your investment.
April 18, 2012
Marketers listen Up!
It is fair to say (and has been said several times) that social media is the moneyball of the marketing and communications world. What this means in its most basic form, is that you can achieve without the budgets of the big boys. This might be hard to swallow but it is reality.
Since social media is money ball, then what does that make digital influence? In the world of social media, the real game changer is influence, because it is what mobilizes social media. So if social media is moneyball, than influence must be a great starting rotation. When you connect with your influencers you can make leap and bounds, and be able to influence buying decisions with much greater ease and frequency. Beyond influencing buying decisions, the trust you gain from your audience is invaluable.
Putting aside all of the baseball talk for a second, influence is really the tool that can be understood and utilized in a cost-efficient way. Unlike the majority of traditional advertising, the rewards you can reap are greater and the investment is more time than anything else. Marketers along with advertisers and public relations practitioners would be wise to forego the budgets for the more traditional avenues, and learn all they can about social media.
You have to think like Billy Beane and try to level the playing field. Influence can do this if it is done right. It’s time to beat your competitors and stop trying to finish in second place.
April 14, 2012
The Airline Industry Needs Influence
All industries can use influence, but right now there is one that really needs the proverbial shot in the arm. The Airline industry in North America has been in a decade long public relationships tailspin. If you scan through the forums, the level of negative conversations spewing from users is impressive to say the least.
Airlines would be wise to find their influencers, genuinely convince them of their offering and purpose and then put them to work. As of now, the influencers and those shouting the loudest against them are winning the fight, and being proven right.
Many airlines have a strong digital presence, but on the surface it looks like they need help. A bad flight naturally lends itself to logging on to your favorite social media forum, and sharing the story with all who will listen. The best best would be to invite those who you find to be the most influential (positive and negative), and invite them to enjoy your service and staff. By providing a great experience, they will no doubt report back to their digital networks.
The main selling point should be that other avenues have simply failed them. The press has not been kind, television and radio has worked to some extent but lacks a direct link to their audiences, and giveaways are only effective if the experience works. Unfortunately for the last point, it has been the experience that has led to such dismal opinions throughout the online world.
Ultimately, influence is a definite need for the airlines right now. By exploiting influence they can reap a lot of positive returns. The ball is in their court and hopefully they seize the moment.
April 12, 2012
Measuring Influence is Measuring Relationships
Too many brands are looking at influence in a bit of a backwards manner. Social media is fairly wild and unpredictable world, filled with activity and a lot of words; words that matter. The focus needs to shift to relationships when measuring the effectiveness of influence, along with the effectiveness of a brand’s overall web presence.
Social media and the web world in general need defining measurement tools, in order for brands to not waste their time and money. The basis of influence is about connecting to your audience through powerful voices. These voices have built strong relationships with your audience, so you need to work on building meaningful relationships with the influencers who matter to you.
Much like in the real world, relationships take time and can be undone in a few wrongly calculated moves. Understand what makes an influencer tick, and on the other hand you need to understand the behavior of your audience, and essentially why they are trusting certain influencers.
Most brands are still wrapping their heads around the concept of influence, how to measure it, how to market and communicate online, but they all know that it matters. You have to look at it through the same lens that you do with traditional marketing and communications. It is simply about connecting to those who matter, and getting them to advocate on your behalf. In a way, you are courting those who you think matter to your brand’s success and longevity.
Time, effort and the innate ability to listen and reflect will go a long way in not only building and wielding influence, but in measuring its success.
April 6, 2012
Successful Brands are Measured Digitally
The measure for a brand or company’s success has differed and evolved over the years. At one time, it was the amount of impressions an ad received, or even the amount of awards was seen as a measure of greatness. In this day and age, the only one true measure of success is how is your brand viewed and discussed in the digital world.
Mentions, shares and sentiment are the means in which we measure throughout social media; the arena in which your audience connects to. Amongst all of these means, influence is one of the most vital in order to be successful online.
While all of the above mentioned items are important, the thing to remember is that influence helps you achieve them. Influence on the highest level lets you connect with your audience in a much more direct and meaningful way. It is the gateway to future mentions, shares and positive sentiment.
Targeting specific influencers and getting them to believe and lobby in your brand, will pay more dividends that a lot of other tactics. If we are going to continue to measure overall success via the digital world, than you need to understand and utilize influence. It is that simple, but still so many brands have been slow to do what is necessary to find success. A brand could potentially be wasting their time and setting themselves up for failure, if they try to go at it without the aid of influencers.
By connecting with influencers you can control your message (not in a totalitarian sense by any means), and gain your audience’s trust. Trust in a brand is how one’s bottom line gets impacted. Influence may not be the quickest path to success, but it very well might be the most fruitful.
April 4, 2012
The Intersection of Influence and Communications
Time and time again this blog has touted the importance for the public relations industry to embrace influence. Well, it is time to get on the digital soapbox once again. PR agencies not only embrace influence, but they have to understand it and most importantly be able to sell it. The ultimate selling feature of influence is that it will connect you to the people who want to buy your products and/or services.
The business of PR is simple: communicate effectively with stakeholders to build or maintain your brand’s reputation. Influence allows you to not only plug into your audience, but to connect with the influential element which can mobilize the larger mass of people.
Embracing influence can actually make the job of communicating much easier and more effective. It is the required groundwork into an unknown area that is seen as an early detriment. All agencies are essentially asked to make the initial investment in both time and money. At first, this can put many agencies up in arms, but the truth is that this is an investment that will provide an return.
The onus is on you to put in the time and get trained on how influence works. Also, it is imperative to know how influence moves the digital world. Just remember there was a time when influence in the offline world was largely a mystery. Instead of embracing the fear, embrace the opportunity and the potential for a lot more business and effective communications.
The digital world and influence is still a shiny new toy, and trust me it will not be put into the back of the closet with unwanted Christmas presents.
March 30, 2012
The Laws of Consumerism Rely on Influence
As we all know consumers follow trends and patterns, and it all comes down to behavior. Brands need to understand these behaviors in order to market and communicate, and the avenue to achieve this is heavily slanted towards influence.
Influence is vital to this because it truly reflects the needs of consumers. Social media is the arena, but something needs to push the opinions and that is influence. Consumers look to social media to influence their buying decisions, but as well they look to influence on a much more direct level.
The laws of consumerism vary, but at its core the belief is that consumers want to be heard and appreciated. Brands need to use social media as a means to converse and connect, not just merely spout and orate. Once they make the right choice and use the technology properly, influencers are the means to achieve their goals.
It might seem on the surface that influencers are just a louder voice in the digital world. If a user has properly gained influence, then they have done more than just constantly speak about brands. In fact, they have gained the trust of consumers by listening and giving insight at needed times.
An influencer is really just a connected consumer who has the trust of his or her network. This trust plays perfectly into the laws of consumerism, and raise the viability to a heightened state, which is influence. It is not a complicated science in this sense, but actually reaching this level takes time, effort and strategy.
Consumers need influence and brands need influencers. That is the simple part of the equation.
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