9 Ways Influencer Marketing Can Exceed Traditional Advertising

Traditionally, online content was made to be delivered in a commercialized way, similar to pop-up ads and YouTube pre-rolls. But the problem with content like this is that it’s built with a brand’s perspective in mind, not a customer’s. This results in content that doesn’t resonate or engage with an audience.

To successfully resonate with a target audience, content must emulate something or someone that the customer relates to. The overwhelming nature of ads explains why marketing efforts through print, email campaigns, mainstream digital and TV are becoming less effective. But a new extension into the marketing world, known as influencer marketing, is making waves.

At its core, influencer marketing leverages people with heavily-engaged audiences to communicate a brand’s message. It breaks through the noise and connects to the masses, making it more likely to be seen, heard and absorbed than traditional advertising alone. 

As the founder of a global influencer marketing and talent agency that has launched hundreds of campaigns for brands, I’ve come to understand the value of the industry and how space really works. Here are nine reasons why influencer marketing is exceeding traditional advertising.

1. It’s Organic 

Brands that allow for influencers to have more creative freedom achieve incredible results with their content. According to data from Twitter, there is a 5.2 percent increase in purchase intent when users are exposed to both brand and influencer tweets, versus a mere 2.7 percent increase when users are exposed to tweets from brands alone. 

2.  It’s Shareable

Shareability is the driving force behind what makes social media as powerful as it is, as it takes word-of-mouth marketing to an entirely new level. For instance, it’s likely someone will feel more compelled to share a video of a lifestyle YouTuber conducting a beauty tutorial than sharing a product advertised on a YouTube pre-roll. In fact, 94 percent of people skip pre-roll ads after the five-second mark.

3. It Promotes Trust

Trust is the foundation that needs to be built between a consumer and a brand, and influencers assist in bridging the two. Consumers can feel comfortable relying on influencers for recommendations on a certain brand or product just as they would with a friend. 

4. It Can Tap Into Specific Audiences

Influencers can be the key to tapping into a target audience: This is because influencers aren’t unique to one area; they’re spread throughout the world. Each influencer audience differs significantly from one another, whether it be by location, age, gender, etc. More so, influencers tap into a variety of interests, including travel, food, art, sports, beauty, DIY, etc.

5. It Can Be Amplified by Paid Media

Paid media through social is a large part of many marketers’ current spend, and its landscape is ever-changing as platforms continue to transform. Paid media can be used to amplify influencer content on brand platforms or within the influencer’s channel.

6. It’s Cost-Effective

When compared to mainstream marketing, influencer marketing is more cost-effective in many ways. Traditionally, the costs associated with creating content can be extremely high, but influencers create content as part of the cost of leveraging their network. Content from creators is typically much more vibrant and engaging, thus achieving a more valuable result. Organic reach and the quality of the audience’s attention delivers more value than comparable media prices, with access to the same audience.

7. It Serves More Than One Purpose

Influencer marketing is not about merely posting to a large audience. Content produced by influencers can be reused for paid media, distribution, social content and commercials, just to name a few. Influencers have the ability to be multifaceted with a brand, just as content creators, strategists, brand ambassadors and spokespeople are. 

8. It Attracts a Younger Audience

Today’s generations aren’t engaging with advertisements on TV as previous generations once did. According to Think with Google, in 2015, 18- to 49-year-olds spent four percent less time watching TV, and 74 percent more time watching YouTube. Influencer marketing offers access to audiences that have been disengaged and grants more communication with them than ever before. 

9. It Connects the Consumer to the Brand

In traditional forms of advertising, there is little that ties the consumer to the brand. Influencer marketing has the ability to dramatically increase the way consumers interact with a brand, as influencers can create a voice for that brand. Consumers may also rely on influencers to dictate their decisions and preference. 

Ultimately, it comes down to this: Would you rather have a pop-up ad tell your story or a trusted voice? Influencer marketing is still overlooked and misunderstood in many ways within the media industry, but the amount of brands and agencies that are embracing influencer marketing continues to increase.

Source: http://huff.to/2cSmddV

How to Make Your Startup Dreams a Reality in 12 Days

With two simple goals, you can get your business momentum in less than two weeks.

Millions of people dream of becoming entrepreneurs and starting a business.

However, according to the 2015 Kauffman Index Report, only about three in every 1,000 people in the United States start a business every month. For many potential entrepreneurs, the outcome seems uncertain and the possibility of failure too great.

In many cases, procrastination kills entrepreneurial dreams long before would-be founders even land their first customers.

The key is to start small and take one step at a time. The goals in the first few days are simple:

1. Look like a real business, and
2. Land at least one customer.

The first six days should be dedicated to creating a brand and making your startup look and feel like a real business. You'll feel a sense of accomplishment and momentum that will propel you into the next six days of focusing on customers.

Here's what those first 12 days can look like:

Day 1. Define a minimum viable product or service.

What will your product or service be, at least in the short-term? What can you get out the door quickly? How can you immediately start servicing customers? Who will your customers be?

Day 2. Create your business name.

Pick a name that's simple and that has a direct connection to what you do.

I came up with a company name for my business FreeLogoServices and later renamed the company LogoMix. (We kept the original brand, but we needed another name to use with partners and different groups of customers.)

Don't waste all of your time trying to come up with the perfect name. You'll end up putting off starting your business and bringing in revenue.

Instead, just go with something straightforward and descriptive. If you're waiting to think of the perfect name, you're also waiting to start your business.

Day 3. Buy a domain.

When you search for a domain there are obviously a number of options available.

Think simple: (yourname).com, or (yourname).net if that is not available. You can also try (yourcompany)inc.com or (yourcompany)town.com.

Once you set up your domain, get a business email address such as yourfirstname@yourbusiness.com.

Day 4. Create a logo.

The "perfect" logo for your business probably doesn't exist, but a great logo is definitely achievable. Make sure you don't waste too much time looking for the perfect one.

You don't need fancy software or incredible design skills. There are a number of online services that make it easy to design your own logo.

Day 5. Set up a one-page website.

Keep it simple. Stick to one page with two pictures, a paragraph describing what you do, and a contact form.

Remember, the goal is just to start the process of branding your company. You can--and will--go back later and flesh out your website.

There are a number of free website builder tools and free stock photo services you can find online.

Day 6. Set up a Facebook page.

Social media marketing will be an important part of your marketing efforts--53 percent of small businesses use social media--so the small time investment it takes to learn will definitely pay dividends as you grow your business.

A simple Google search on quick tips for small business social media marketing can help you get started.

Day 7. Create business cards.

Use an online service to order business cards. Make sure to include your web address, Facebook page and business email.

Day 8. Create a list of 50 potential customers.

Whether you're selling a $1 or $100,000 product or service, you still need to talk to customers. You still need to determine their needs, their pain points, their objections.

Go through your personal contacts, and use LinkedIn and other social media points to determine a list of at least 50 people who may be interested in your product.

Then, get on the phone with them and discuss your product to learn if it is viable and how it can be improved.

Day 9-11. Get on the phone.

Dedicate a few days to calling customers and telling them about your product. Ask them to buy. Take notes on the conversation.

Making calls to customers is the toughest part of being an entrepreneur, but it is also the most important. Our initial calls helped us figure out what our customers wanted, and build a tool around that.

Day 12. Evaluate your calls.

Review your notes and evaluate what went well and what you can improve. Assess what is most important to potential customers. Change your pitch... and if necessary change your product or service.

Remember, most businesses never make it out of the idea stage. The goal is to start by overcoming procrastination and building a bit of momentum.

 Source: http://on.inc.com/2c43P4y

5 Quotes That Will Make You Question Your Marketing Strategy

Marketing fuels spectacular business growth, and great marketing matters today more than ever. The world of marketing has been disrupted by the transition to digital, empowering marketers with new tools, opportunities, and innovation.

Who better to discuss this topic than the author of 18 books, a keynote speaker, and marketing disruptor himself, Seth Godin. I had the pleasure of seeing Seth speak at Sales Machine back in June, and was magnetized by his words of tribes and purple cows juxtaposed with floor to ceiling visuals. The conversation went from the big, bold stage to the small and intimate studio setting in a recent Series Pass, where Tiffani Bova sat down with Seth for a live webcast.

Inspiration continued into this webcast, which addressed the topics and conversations that impact today’s marketers. Here’s a quick look at five Seth Godin quotes, explained.

1. “You can't buy mass anymore. It's not for sale, and if it is, you can't afford it.”

Back in the Mad Men days, TV ads were dramatically underpriced. If you bought a lot of TV ads, you were going to make a profit. As Seth Godin states, “All of the famous brands in our lives are not famous because they're better. They're famous because they bought a lot of TV.”

In the 90s through today, we’ve witnessed a giant splintering effect, where the number of options and offerings is endless. “The number of movies that Netflix offers, or the number of songs that iTunes offers, is more than all of the products sold in the old days by the Blockbusters and the Tower Records of the world,” says Seth.

Bonus app for marketing: Get B2B marketing attribution with Bizible, which helps you make the best marketing decisions. Bizible integrates with all online marketing channels including AdWords, social, retargeting, plus Salesforce campaigns for effective marketing attribution and measurement.

2. “Attention: Once it's gone, it's used up forever.” 

Now that companies are able to reach their audience in different ways, marketers have to be much more respectful of people’s time, and thoughtful about what’s truly the right thing to do. “When we sell a product that hurts someone, that's our responsibility. When we spam people, that’s our responsibility. When we promise one thing and give another, that’s our responsibility,” states Seth. “These are all our responsibility, our option, our choice.”

Great marketing can get attention, but just because you can, doesn’t always mean you should. There is a race for attention, but the most touchpoints don't always equal attention. It must be coupled with trust. “When you have attention and trust, then you can make connection and transaction,” shares Seth. “But if you're blowing the trust just to get attention, you're polluting the river we all drink from.” 

3. “It's not about finding people for your products. It's about finding products for your people.”

It’s human nature to organize. We find a tribe. We connect with a tribe. We listen to the tribe. We tell stories that spread, and then we repeat the cycle. As Seth states, marketing's job is a simple seven-word sentence:

People like us, do things like this.

“If you understand that people like you buy certain products, it’s easier to say yes. If you understand that teenagers like us, buy shoes like this, then it's much easier to go buy it there. The idea of getting the tribe to clap in unison is what marketers do,” says Seth.

4. “Do one thing: Overcome fear.” 

Fear comes from the unknown. If you know everything you need to know to buy, then there is no fear. If you’re wary, salespeople seek to address your fears. “Why are some things easier to sell than others? Because some customers are less afraid than other customers. Why are they less afraid? Because marketing has done its job,” says Seth.

Salespeople need to be there to teach, to inform, to a console, and to encourage people to do that thing that makes them nervous. That thing? According to Seth, “It’s to say yes. People are afraid to say yes. Yes feels riskier than no. Salespeople are in the yes business.”

Bonus app for sales: Change your team’s behavior with ThinkSmartOne, an automated motivation software for Salesforce to motivate salespeople with incentives and gamification. You can encourage your team to accelerate sales, input correct and relevant data in Salesforce, improve security awareness and training, manage your reward budget, and collaborate with other teams (including marketing) worldwide.

5. “Almost everything that happens, happens in our head. Get those big ideas out of your head and into action.”

The story we tell ourselves is the perception we have of how we want to be perceived in the world. If we stick to the status quo, if we’re the cog in the wheel, big change won’t happen. If you focus on what the company wants, then you’re not focusing on what your audience wants. Your audience wants their problem solved. “Solve my problem in a new way, a better way, an interesting way. Give me joy, give me meaning, give me the connection. That's what consumers are paying for now,” states Seth. “That's why in a survey of teenagers they found the typical American teenager would rather have a smartphone than a car.”

According to Seth, the place to start taking action is with your boss. This is the person who is going to support you. Find a boss who will let you share your ideas and try new things.

 Source : http://sforce.co/2asp1Dr

5 Social Media Marketing Rules You Should Live By

With the explosion of social media, any business owner who wants to cultivate a stronger relationship with their customers and earn more clients in the process should utilize social media marketing. With millions of people using social networking sites and apps like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram on a daily basis, using social media can give your business more exposure.

Things to Remember with Social Media Marketing

Before you launch a social media campaign, here are some of the most important things you must know to help ensure the success of your social media strategy,

1. Post on a regular basis

When it comes to social media, how often you post is very important. After all, the more your audience hears from you, the more likely they are to trust you. Also, it helps you stay relevant. Therefore, make it a point to post regularly on your social media accounts so you won’t easily fade from your audience’s consciousness.

2. Post relevant content

While it is true that posting regularly is important, it doesn’t necessarily mean that you should post just anything that catches your fancy. Remember, what you post matters, too. For better customer engagement, post content that is relevant to the products or services that you’re offering and can help solve your audience’s problems. Always consider your audience’s welfare and interest when choosing which type of content to post.

3. Share and retweet

A great way to expand your audience reach is to show that you’re a thought leader or an influencer in your market. One effective way to do that is to share and retweet relevant content produced by other people in your niche or industry.

4. Respond and engage

Social media won’t be fun if1 you’re the only one who gets to do the “talking.” To have a better and bigger social media presence, take the time to engage your audience or followers. Respond to their questions and comments. If you legitimately know a solution to one of their problems, be a darling and share it with them.

5. Learn from your mistakes

As with anything in life, learning from your mistake is one way to improve your social media presence. To determine what works and what doesn’t, take a look at your previous posts and see what makes them a success or a failure. Once you have a clear grasp of what sort of content your audience likes, make sure you refrain from posting content most of your followers don’t care about.

Source: http://bit.ly/29VcTHU

Expand your business with 5 creativity tactics

With so much PR and marketing advice floating around online, it’s important that you stick to an essential information.

Focusing on “the essential” can bring peace of mind—and can help you develop your business.

Business growth is not necessarily about getting more of everything. Instead, think of it as focusing your efforts to get more meaningful results.

Here are five ways to boost your business online:

1. Step up your social media game.

When marketers want to improve their brand’s presence online, they usually look to add a channel to their repertoire.

Although starting a Pinterest account seems productive, there’s little point in investing your time and energy into a channel that you don't enjoy using or don’t know enough about.

Instead, dedicate more time to the platforms you already use.

If you're actively sharing on Facebook but not using Facebook groups or ads, make those your next steps. If you're tweeting a lot, but aren’t using buffer to automate your tweets and reach users across multiple time zones, you're probably not maximizing your engagement.

If you're using Pinterest but aren’t seeing results, your next step could be taking a free Pinterest course or maybe a workshop at your local library or community college.

2. Repurpose your content.

This approach is beneficial if you’re overextended on a project or short on time.

When you write a series of blog posts, you can repurpose some of them as free opt-ins for white papers or parts of an e-newsletter.

If you’re creative, you probably don't want to use old content everywhere, but you should feel free to reuse your best work when you’re in a time crunch.

To start, ask yourself strategic questions such as, “Can I turn this series into something I can sell?” or, “How can I use this important piece of content in my welcome emails?”

The right questions can bring countless opportunities.

3. Package your services.

If you run a client-based business, you know the challenges of bringing in sustainable income. Luckily, there are ways to turn the famine into a feast.

I recently talked with a woman who runs a copywriting business. She's creative, but she struggles to get new business. I advised her to package her services, which means not to give clients an hourly rate of services but, instead, to offer "bundles.”

You shouldn't just put your services on your website and hope clients will find them. A better approach—as suggested in a recent webinar—is launching your services as you would launch a product. Try debuting a series of blog posts or emails as a way to introduce yourself to a new opportunity.

4. Streamline your processes.

So, what can you streamline? Start with your social media strategy, your sales channels or your list-building and networking.

Here’s how I streamlined my list-building process so it gets me a dozen new subscribers every day.

Most people find me on Twitter, where they can also find a link to my website. Once they're on my website, the home page sends them to any of three places:The Blueprint, my blog and the free guide. If they go to The Blueprint, they'll be directed to my coaching page. If they read my blog posts, there will be a link to my opt-in offer (free goodies for creative rebels), and if they go to the free guide, they'll see a sales page with a sign-up.

Every step of that process has a next step. You can achieve this by anticipating a potential client’s needs.

Many prospective clients will visit your “About me” before committing to an opinion. Make sure to introduce yourself in a way that makes them want to know more.

5. Invest in your business.

If you don't reinvest some of the money you make, your business probably won’t grow. The marketing and PR climate is very competitive, and it’s important to come up with ways to stand out.

I reinvest 50 percent of whatever I make on outsourcing tasks that I can't do alone, or on improving something in my business that lacks.

For example, you can budget for social media tools (buffer,Edgar, Tailwind), email marketing (Mailchimp or Convertkit), improving your website’s look (Squarespace), building your mailing list (LeadPages), and podcasting and webinars (microphone and webcam). You could also hire a virtual or physical assistant.

As online entrepreneurs, we can't just be creative and rebellious; we must also be savvy. It’s important to be strategic with your investments.

Source: http://bit.ly/22bUrvy

9 ways marketers can stick to their strategies

Consistency is important when you’re trying to implement a long-term marketing plan, so resist the temptation to abandon a strategy if it doesn't work immediately.

Give it time to work. These nine steps can help you make the most of your well-crafted plan:

1. Every day, be renewed by your vision. Your mind can be your greatest asset or your most tiring obstacle.

Begin your day by renewing your mind with the clarifying power of your vision. When W. Clement Stone and Earl Nightingale both said, “Whatever the mind of man can conceive and believe, it can achieve,” they knew these were far more than simple words on a page. There simply is no substitute for the power of belief.

When you believe, obstacles that would throw your entire day into chaos suddenly become bleeps that you just intuitively know how to solve without expending valuable time or energy. Don’t laugh this off as touchy-feely. This is one of the most inexpensive and profitable investments you’ll ever make in yourself. Just do it.

2. Focus on your niche. Become the expert in all things involving your niche. Don’t limit your knowledge to the services you offer.

The more you know about your niche’s priorities and challenges, the more valuable a resource you can become to them. Become familiar with other professionals who can assist your niche with challenges outside your expertise.

When you’re tempted to work with clients outside your niche, make sure the time and payoff will be worth it and won’t draw you away from your commitment.

3. Stay close to your ideal client. Networking, surveys, online community forums, trade magazines and associations are all great ways to keep sharp about the things that matter to your ideal client.

Stay on top of the news and ask yourself how your client’s needs will be affected by changes in the business and world environment.

4. Keep your eyes on your competition. If your clients stop think­ing that you offer a competitive advantage in addressing their needs, you lose and the competition wins. Enough said. Don’t be the last to know what your competition is doing.

5. Make sure you’re positioned to win. If you’re doing the first four steps, you’ll know when it’s time to change your tune, tweak your message and speak a new language that’s more in tune with what your ideal client needs.

Ask yourself, “Is my unique selling proposition still unique? Does anyone do it better? What one thing can I do to serve my clients better?” That’s how you stay unique.

6. Take action every day. Stick close to your plan. Follow your schedule. Complete the actions you say you'll complete in your daily sched­ule.

At the end of the week, give yourself a grade for effort. Then give yourself another one for accomplishment. If you’re getting A’s for effort and C’s for accomplishment, trouble­shoot.

7. Focus on one marketing project at a time. One of the greatest mistakes people make in setting goals is trying to work on too many things at one time. There's tremendous power in giving focused attention to just one idea, one project, or one objective at a time.

8. Ask yourself good questions. As you think about your goals, instead of wishing for them to come true, ask yourself how and what you can do to make them come true.

The subconscious mind will respond to your questions far more effectively than just making statements or wishes.

9. Congratulate yourself. You’re halfway home. You’ve done something that less than 3 percent of the population has done—set goals and create a plan for achieving them.

Every study on the subject tells us you’re far more likely than most to succeed with your plans if you'll only do one thing: Take action.

Be that external force. Plan your work—then work your plan—and you’ll have an unstoppable money making system that can grow your business beyond even your most amazing vision.

Source : http://bit.ly/1PTjFLG

6 content marketing trends to watch in 2016

It's that time of year again. Columnists, bloggers, prognosticators all publish their digital marketing "predictions" for the New Year.

Personally, no can do. I'm an analyst, not a clairvoyant. And I don't possess a crystal ball. But as someone who continually keeps a finger on the pulse of content marketing and content strategy, and who conducts multiple research projects on the topics (as well as updates earlier reports), I'm trained in pattern recognition. That's what analysts do, and while not infallible, research-based analysis is a better predictor of what's to come than crystal-ball gazing, tea leaves, or reading entrails.

That qualifier out of the way, here are the content trends I'll be watching in 2016:

The content stack (again)

The content stack will continue to evolve. Rather than hundreds of point solutions, marketers will soon be able to look to one-stop solutions for their content marketing needs that incorporate most (if not all) of the eight content workflow scenarios. This will simplify processes and enable tighter integration with earned and paid media.

Senior roles focused on content

Enterprises will begin to hire more senior executives to oversee content initiatives. If 2015 was the year of the content manager or director, 2016 will usher in VP and higher roles. Content is not a channel; it's related to every aspect of advertising, marketing, and communications initiatives. As such, it requires senior, strategic oversight -- something companies are coming to recognize.

A continued need for strategy 

Content strategy will accelerate, but not enough. My research findings correlate with other studies. Overall, we're finding that some 75 percent of enterprises regularly commit to content marketing while paying no heed whatsoever to developing and documenting a governing content strategy. Objectives, goals, systems of measurement, processes, and people -- all are secondary to the burning "we need more content, and we need it now" issue. I've been speaking with my peers who, like me, help enterprises develop content strategies. More and more often, they complain that prospective clients try to engage them to keep the blog bursting with content, but not to solve the "why" or "how" of that (and similar) initiatives. Mark my words, content marketers: without the strategy in place, you'll soon be spinning your wheels, not to mention creating excess costs in money, resources, and efficiencies.

Content measurement becomes more robust and meaningful

For too long, sales has been the alpha and omega of content measurement. Don't get me wrong, sales is the lifeblood of any organization. But it's not the only measure of success, not in content nor in any other marketing initiative. I've been researching how forward-thinking companies are measuring other crucial aspects of content initiatives. These aren't meaningless volume metrics such as "likes" and "follows," but ROI-related analysis you can take to the bank (or to the CFO). Companies wise enough to build content strategies have a huge advantage here -- they'll know what they can measure, as well as how to measure it.

Global content becomes a thing

My clients are working to figure out how to manage content on a global level. What should teams look like? What tools work for international cooperation? How much central authority should exist versus local and/or regional input? What channels, audiences, creative, and messaging can be the same, and what needs differentiation on different continents, or in different countries? As content rises in importance (and display advertising correspondingly diminishes), global content strategy will be a growing concern.

Content around new things

This is 2016's most emerging and nascent trend, but one that will be huge in subsequent years. As we move from mobile content into the Internet of Things, and into a world full of beacons and sensors, content will decouple from screens in many cases, yet be associated with a growing universe of objects and things. Content will permeate the customer experience -- the "who," "what," "when," and "where" of all interactions. Your car, printer, TV, refrigerator, fitness tracker, phone -- all these devices and more will interface, talk to each other, and share content. I'm fascinated by what kinds of content will develop in the next wave of technology, and will be keeping a close eye on the horizon of content disruption next year, and in the years to follow.

Source : http://bit.ly/1Rrspev