Jules Lund - Social Influencer Marketing presentation 2014
1. Thanks for joining me.
This presentation is the product of me asking a lot of questions about Digital Marketing over the last few
years, and trying to find the answers. I’m not an expert. I just think too much.
2. Now this time last year, I gave presentations urging the radio industry to make their digital platforms a
higher priority.
3. These were my slides.
I suggested that Social Media should no longer be used to JUST support radio shows. But rather,
treated like their own independent content channels. Because our ONLINE FANS didn’t like being talked
to as RADIO LISTENERS. Now this was a controversial statement. And I was nervous saying it.
4. And yet, just 12months on, rather than Online just amplifying Radio, I’m already answering briefs where
RADIO is used solely to amplify Digital Campaigns.
So last year’s message was HOW TO BUILD A TRIBE
HOW TO
BUILD A TRIBE
5. At this years conference, it was HOW TO BUILD A BUSINESS
Why?
HOW TO
BUILD A BUSINESS
6. S O C I A L
I N F L U E N C E R
M A R K E T I N G
Because over the next couple of years, I believe we’ll see SOCIAL INFLUENCER MARKETING go
super-nova.
What do I mean by SOCIAL INFLUENCER MARKETING?
9. From the 2yr old daughter of Roxy Jacenko promoting kids products to her 88,000 Instagram Followers.
10. Or a dog that’s bringing in $15K a month modelling menswear.
But it’s not just individuals.
11. At SCA, we use our RADIO TEAMS and RADIO BRANDS to amplify campaigns for our commercial
partners. In total we have 130 Influencer platforms across the country.
Now you might be thinking... “paying a Social Influencer is hardly a new concept. Not only has it been
around, but as a serious marketing strategy, it hasn’t really lived up to expectation”
12. SOCIAL INFLUE N CE R
MA RKETING HAS STALLE D
And I would wholeheartedly agree.
It seems, here in Australia, just as the industry acknowledged the power of Social Influencers holding the
attention of millions upon millions of eyes ...
The momentum stalled.
13. SEISMIC SHIFT
3 COC K-BLOCKS
K EY TO SUCCESS
Well, I’ll attempt to explain why.
First we’ll look at the SEISMIC SHIFT in the Social Media landscape forcing Influencers to now consider
monetising their Social accounts. We’ll then address the 3 major COCK-BLOCKS in achieving that;
Obstacles that have done my head in this year. And then I’ll offer some possible solutions. Including the
single most important KEY TO GUARANTEE SUCCESS.
14. 1. SEISMIC SHIFT
So what is this SIESMIC SHIFT in the Social Media Landscape?
15. Well sadly, 2014 will be known as the year your FREE MARKETING PLATFORMS changed the game
forever. They have well and truly MONETISED.
Let’s start with Facebook.
16. FACEBOOK
Last year, I shared the strategies we used on the Fifi & Jules page that made it the most engaged
BRAND PAGE in the country. Out of all categories. Not just radio. Seems obvious now, but it
revolved around curating the world’s viral content. Pics, clips and memes. These would drive your
ENGAGEMENT up. And when it reached fever pitch, we’d hit them with our own generated content.
17. This strategy ensured our personal content reached millions every week. The secret was QUANTITY.
But then something happened. The world caught up. And everyone was SPAMMED. So to protect the
user experience, Facebook developed technology that could detect and block memes circulating the
internet, and started REWARDING original content. I then spent my time racking my brain as to how I
could generate ORIGINAL CONTENT day after day, with a full time breakfast radio gig.
18. Then I had an idea.
I’d hire a full time animator and cartoonist. So that’s what I did. Phil Watson is still with me today. It was
PERFECT. I’d come up with the idea, and rather than me having to appear in a pic or clip... Phil would
just draw it.
19. So we split my desk in half at work, and went about animating the world’s biggest stories.
Like when Bieber got arrested.
20. And when Lorde won a Grammy!
Naturally we hashtagged them, to drive people back to the source.
21. We got 820 likes and 64 shares for our Lorde meme.
22. Rapper 360 however, got 79,000 likes and 3600 shares for it. 3600!
I got 64. Just from his page, our meme reached over 1.5 million people.
Sadly someone cropped out our hashtag.
24. Who ripped it from News.com.au. A ROARING SUCCESS. Just not for us. In fact, across the board, our
engagement had never been worse. I thought it was because last year, we had the ENTIRE PLANET
creating content for my page, now it was just us.
BUT THEN we heard Facebook killed off Edgerank. It’s formula for prioritizing content you enjoy.
25. Oct '13 Nov Dec Jan '14 Feb
4.04%
3.51%
2.97% 2.71%
2.11%
12.05%
11.58%
8.7%
7.7%
6.15%
All Pages
Pages w/>500k Likes
AVERAGE ORGANIC REACH ON BRAND FACEBOOK PAGES
And replaced it with a new algorithm that changed the game forever.
It effectively pinched the hose. And the ORGANIC REACH of every single brand page on the planet
started to dry up.
According to Social@Ogilvy engagement dropped to as low as 2%.
26. So if you have 100 fans... Facebook will ONLY show your post to 2.
So how do you reach more, you ask?
27. Write Facebook a cheque.
The business model we should’ve seen coming. Get almost every brand on the planet falling over
themselves to build a tribe. Let then reap rewards unlike anything they’ve ever seen. Get idiots like me
travelling the country yelling “A marketing platform where you can reach millions, and for FREE!”
28. But sadly, it was just your first hit that was free. And now that you’re dependent? Cough up, junkies.
People are pissed, screaming... “So I’ve spent thousands in marketing to get page likes! Thousands
more to generate the content! And now to get THAT content to THAT audience, I have to pay EVERY
SINGLE TIME?!”
You know what I say to Mark Zuckerberg?
33. But all of a sudden the TV SCREEN pipes up and introduces a PAYWALL.
So the only way the content on one side of the screen, reaches the audience on the other side of the
screen, is if CHANNEL NINE pays that screen a loads of cash.
34. That’s just for one program.
Imagine how much that TV screen would make from Ch 9 over it’s entire week.
35. Add Ch 7, 10 and all the foxtel channels.
Now imagine all the TV and cable channels across 196 countries.
36. Online it says 15,000 channels, all paying to reach their OWN audience. Shitloads, huh?
Well that is a piss in the ocean my friends.
37. Because Facebook isn’t limited to TV channels.
Every single brand page on this planet... 21 million of them! Rising a million a month.
All paying to reach their OWN audience.
38. “SHARING PICS, CLIPS, AND
ARTICLES WAS QUITE
LABOUR-INTENSIVE, NOW
EVERYONE CAN POST WITH
THE TAP OF A BUTTON.”
B R I A N B O L A N D
ADS PRODUCT MARKETING TEAM LEADER FACEBOOK
Now Facebook maintain it’s not about money, but user experience. Brian Boland makes a good point.
“SHARING PICS, CLIPS, AND ARTICLES WAS QUITE LABOUR-INTENSIVE, NOW EVERYONE CAN
POST WITH THE TAP OF A BUTTON.”
39. “COLLECTING MORE FRIENDS…
LIKING MORE PAGES. 15,000
STORIES COULD APPEAR ANY
TIME YOU LOG IN. SO
COMPETITION IS INCREASING.”
“COLLECTING MORE FRIENDS... LIKING MORE PAGES. 15,000 STORIES COULD APPEAR ANY
TIME YOU LOG IN. SO COMPETITION IS INCREASING.”
But here’s the kicker. You DON’T HAVE to write Facebook a cheque to reach more than 2%.
40. At SCA... With over 150 digital natives around the country, living and breathing social strategies, we cut
through the noise without paying a lot. In fact we’re thriving in this new landscape. Delivering client posts
that reach 50%, 60% even up to 300% of our community size.
41. We genuinely believe we can get more content, into more newsfeeds than any other publisher in the
country, because we’re obsessed with Social Engagement.
Organic engagement isn’t dead.
42. I reached half a million for a single FB post on my personal page last week.
Social platforms love this. They’ll always reward good content. But for those without the smarts, the
scale or the staff, you’ll have to pay.
43. That’s why Twitter has promoted posts, and their self-serve ad platform.
And their most controversial move, including tweets from people you don’t even follow.
44. Now Instagram is the hipster of the bunch. And the last thing a hipster wants, is to be like everyone else.
But Facebook bought them, and last month, here in Australia, they started rolling out ads.
45. Apparently their CEO, is personally reviewing every ad to ensure it looks like a cool Instagram post.
46. Pinterest, just announced it’s about to start rolling out promoted pins.
Like Insty... treading carefully, and are only inviting a select group of brands.
47. Snapchat? I read an article recently entitled ‘Snapchat’s complete inability to make money is the reason
its worth $800 million.’ But things change rapidly, and last month they announced ADS are on the way.
The irony of ths pic. I found it on Google images.
48. Now when Whatsapp began... it’s motto was ‘No ads, no games, no gimmicks’. Then FB bought them as
well. So another one to join the club.
But there’s also ANOTHER WAY these platforms are making cash.
49. B I G D ATA
BIG DATA.
And it seems we’ve all been swept up in this 21st Century gold-rush. Madly collecting data to sell
ADVERTISING more targeted than ever before. As marketers we love how much we can find out about
consumers. As consumers, we’re FREAKING out.
50. But it’s not just the Social platforms tracking your every move.
Raise your hand if you have an iphone? Take it out. Follow me down the rabbit hole.
51. Go to settings > Privacy > Location Services
Scroll down to System Services > Frequent locations > and have a look at History
52. On Phil’s phone, I can see exactly WHEN he’s been showing up to work and leaving.
Hmmm… 8 - 4pm? Except this day he left just after lunch.
Some of you may have already turned off this function. For the rest of you, the detail at which your
movements have been recorded is astounding.
Apple would argue that’s transparent. But who’s creeped out by that?
53. CLIVE DICKENS
D IR E CTOR OF DIGITAL & I NNOVAT I ON
So what is the happy medium of a data-rich world?
Well, Clive Dickens (our Head of Digital) predicts those who wanna remain ANONYMOUS will simply
have to write a cheque. Life will be more expensive for them. Whereas those who are happy to share
their data, will have a more content-rich experience and at lower costs. I for one, WELCOME IT. For a
start, I won’t have to sit through 400 tampon ads during The Bachelor Finale.
54. Soon my smart TV will detect my phone, and know I’m personally sitting in front of it. It will advertise the
new nacho pizza at my LOCAL take-away joint. It’ll feel like commercials in small country towns, saying
come down the road.
Now HOW DOES IT KNOW I like that Pizza Shop over the others?
Because my Location Services RECORDED how many times I’ve been there.
55. So if that’s their business model. For Influencers, what’s ours?
Because for most Brand Pages, these guys are no longer giving your content free-kicks. They want you
to pay to reach your fans. Or invest in high-quality content.
Either way, it’s a BIG INVESTMENT that EVERYDAY PEOPLE are now assessing.
56. So how do we recoup the costs? We monetize. YOUTUBE Influencers are all over this. And as you
know the blogging world is the fastest growing sector. But the strategy I’ve had most experience with, is
a PAY-PER-POST business model. Where BRANDS pay an INFLUENCER to post about them. But it’s
not without it’s challenges.
57. 1. LEGAL IMPLICATIONS
2. BETRAYAL OF TRUST
3. CONTENT VS COMMERCE
3 COCK-BLOCKS
So let’s explore, what’s currently holding people back.
Starting with...
1. The LEGAL IMPLICATIONS: As new media is still governed by old laws.
2. BETRAYAL OF TRUST: And being seen as a sell-out.
3. And the difficult balance between CONTENT vs COMMERCE
58. 1 . L EG A L IM PLICATIONS
So what are the LEGAL RISKS in Social Monetisation?
As you know, traditional media is heavily regulated when it comes to Cash for Comment.
The most famous case in Australian Radio involved John Laws, Alan Jones and 2UE, fifteen years ago.
59. ACMA, uncovered $18 million dollars in hidden sponsorships to promote Qantas, Telstra, Foxtel, Optus
and so on. The issue was these comments, didn’t sound like ads, they sounded like content.
From then on, Lawsie had to ring a cowbell to clearly identify money, exchanging hands.
60. “NO AUSTRALIAN LAW
REQUIRING SOCIAL INFLUENCERS
TO DISCLOSE PAYMENT.
BUT IT’S ONLY A
MATTER OF TIME.”
STEP H E N VON MU ENSTER
SOLICITOR & ATTORNEY
I’ve been working with Stephen Von Muenster, Australia’s leading SOCIAL MEDIA LAWYER, to get
clarity on the LEGAL RISKS.
Despite strict laws in the US and UK, Stephen says there’s currently NO Australian law requiring Social
Influencers to disclose payment. But it’s only a matter of time.
61. The most famous case is the Kangaroo Island Cash for Tweets controversy. South Australian Tourism
came under fire from MediaWatch, for paying celebrities to tweet positive things about Kangaroo Island.
I remember when radio mate was asked. He politely declined $500 per tweet. I narrowly escaped the
scandal for a different reason.
They didn’t f*cking ask me.
62. SARAH COURT
ACCC COMMISSIONER
“ I TH INK P E RSONALITIES
SH OULD BE VERY
CARE FUL A BOUT WHAT
TH E Y END ORSE AND
H O W TH E Y DO IT.”
So it’s not against the law, unless it’s MISLEADING or DECEPTIVE. If these guys, said they’d been
there and hadn’t, they’d be in breach of the Trade Practices Act. For that reason, the ACCC issued a
warning: “I think personalities should be very careful about what they endorse and how they do it.”
Stephen, our legal gun adds “You’re looking at penalties under the Australian Consumer Law of up to
$1.1million per violation. Lots of tweets = lots of violations = big bucks.”
63. 1. B E T RUTHFU L
2. WRI T E THEM YO U RSEL F
3. E N S URE THE BRAND FITS
4. DI S C LOSE PAYMENT
ST E P H E N VO N MU ENSTER’S
S URVIVA L TIPS:
Since there’s a risk, I asked Stephen for his survival tips for paid for posts. HIS TOP 4...
1. BE TRUTHFUL: Ensure your post reflects genuine views, opinions or experiences.
2. WRITE THEM YOURSELF: Because the risk increases if your post is scripted.
3. ENSURE THE BRAND FITS: Kangaroo Island was a bit left-field and hence why ears pricked up. 4.
And if you’re still concerned DISCLOSE PAYMENT: Unless you’re a well-known ambassador.
64. J E N NIFER LAM LORRAINE MURPHY SPIRO PISSAS
blogger blogger • agent vlogger • agent
I was at ‘Social Media Week’ last month, and asked a panel of bloggers, vloggers, and talent-agents for
both, if they felt influencers should disclose payment anyway.
It was a resounding YES!
65. #ad #spon #pp #sp
Here’s how they ring the cowbell on their posts:
Now I don’t do this. And I’ll tell you why later. But it leads me to...
66. 2. BET RAYAL OF TRUST
2. BETRAYAL OF TRUST: Our second block.
A lot of people are reluctant to monetise their social channels, because they’ll look like a sell-out.
They’ve built trust with their tribes, and now they’re profiting from them. I get that. It’s like my mate
who kept trying to catch up with me, because he wanted to sell me Herbalife products. You can feel
exploited.
67. LIKELY AUDIENCE
OF THE POST
But I only think that’s because it’s NEW.
And it ties back into the legalities, and why I wonder whether full disclosure will ever be enforced. As
Stephen pointed out, in order to determine a breach, the ACCC has to take into account the...
“likely audience of the post”.
68. And by the time a law is floated, the ‘likely audience’ will see a BRANDED-POST a mile off.
But “GENERATION LIKE” is far savvier than us. In fact, I’ll take it a step further, not only will young
people spot it, but they won’t give a shit. Let alone feel betrayed.
69. When I grew up, I expected Michael Jackson was getting paid for this.
70. There was also a time, movie audiences felt exploited with product placement. But my daughters and I
see this Subway drink and don’t give a shit.
72. Everything in the world when you’re born is normal.
Anything invented before you turn
thirty is exciting and with any luck
you can make a career out of it.
Anything invented after thirty is
against the natural order of things
and the beginning of the end of
civilization as we know it.
It gradually turns out to be alright
really.
DOUGLAS ADAMS
HITCHHIKER S G U IDE
TO THE GAL AXY
British writer, Douglas Adams, nailed it when he said this: “Everything that’s already in the world when
you’re born is just normal. Anything invented before you turn thirty is incredibly exciting and creative,
and with any luck you can make a career out of it. Anything that gets invented AFTER you’re thirty, is
against the natural order of things, and the beginning of the end of civilization as we know it, until it’s
been around for about 10 years when it gradually turns out to be alright really.”
73. For MediaWatch, Social Monetisation is “the end of civilisation”. But they have to say that, they’re the
ABC.
But my prediction goes EVEN further... I believe that not only will fans NOT CARE that Influencers profit
from them... BUT the biggest focus for a follower, will be how they profit from their own followers.
From what I can sense...
74. TH E LE M O NADE STAND OF THE FUTURE
IS YO UNG PEOPLE MONETISING THEIR
OWN SOCI AL INFLUENCE.
THE LEMONADE STAND OF THE FUTURE IS YOUNG PEOPLE MONETISING THEIR OWN SOCIAL
INFLUENCE.
And I stumbled across a documentary that supported this... ‘Generation Like’:
75. So how can ‘Generation Like’ monetise their social channels?
New products pop up all the time. ‘Bubblews’ and ‘Bonzo Me’ both give the users a share of their ad
revenue based on how engaging your posts are.
More likes = more dollars.
76. Tsu.com have created their own social platform and reward content according to how well it engages the
community.
77. And here’s an article from a few weeks back. Indy Clinton’s making thousands in brand-posts, and she’s
not even a celebrity. In 2012 MediaWatch VILLAINISED Influencers. Now we celebrate them.
Look don’t get me wrong. There are still plenty of followers in 2014 that will accuse you of selling out, but
they’ll get over it.
80. But then look here. 106,000 likes!
The safest way to avoid the hecklers? Get the BALANCE RIGHT.
Which leads me to...
81. Our 3rd block... CONTENT vs COMMERCE
The holy grail. Getting that perfect balance between ENTERTAINMENT and MARKETING MESSAGE.
And here’s the big secret you and I already know... It’s REALLY FUCKING HARD. I tell Influencers...
“If you don’t get the balance right, two parties lose...
CO N TENT VS COMMERCE
82. CO N TENT VS COMMERCE
And one of those parties is ALWAYS YOU.”
83. OVER-PROTECTIVE BRANDS
First lesson was that brands can be over-protective.
As we know, up until a few years ago, every message released by a brand was micromanaged. Then
Social Media came along.
84. ALL OF A SUDDEN A
BRAND WAS NO LONGER
WHAT THEY SAID IT WAS.
BUT WHAT CONSUMERS
SAID IT WAS TO EACH
OTHER.
All of a sudden a BRAND was no longer what they said it was. But what consumers said it was to
each other. A lot of brands are having unprecedented success demonstrating trust in consumers. For
instance, 99% of Apple, Lego and even Tourism Australia’s online content is created by fans. Armies of
advocates creating noise for free. In radio, we do this quite well with our own Social Super-Fans. But it’s
SCARY for brands. And understandably, they’re not all ready to hand over the keys.
85. Sadly this year, the success of countless social campaigns have been suffocated because the client
entered my conversation - with my followers - and forced me to speak in a different language.
Everyone loses.
86. Another difficulty I’ve had, is convincing the industry that SOCIAL has a completely different language to
Traditional Media. High-production value in SOCIAL doesn’t necessarily equal engagement. It can actually
work best looking amateur and authentic. I studied Graphic Design, Photography, Film-making and in the
early days, I would bust the balls of my Gen-Y digital producers, because their pics were not lit properly,
graphics were amateur, filming was shaky. But their stuff would go off! Just look at shitty memes.
87. ROUGH BUT AUTHENTIC
If it’s TV, radio, digital or print… Agencies should produce it. But when it comes to SOCIAL, my followers
expect me to make the content. And that’s exactly what I pitch to Berocca. They came to me with this
great campaign, their TVC was awesome. And they asked me to appear in a beautifully shot video of a
typically big day of mine. And share it to my tribe. I said, why don’t I just film real events on my iPhone as
they happen, and stitch them together. It’ll be raw BUT authentic. So we sent them a mock.
88. We went back and forth for a few weeks. Should it look more like the TVC, with SPIT and POLISH?
Or is the RAW ENERGY what makes it resonate.
Long story short, we split the diff, and everyone seemed happy.
But the SOONER we allow SOCIAL to have it’s own style, and stop measuring it against Traditional
views, THE QUICKER we’ll find a SOCIAL audience.
89. BRAND MATCH
But at the end of the day, the single most important factor in guaranteeing success in Social Influencer
Marketing is BRAND MATCH.
When Influencers team up with a brand that fits, a brand that they already endorse as a consumer, those
cock-blocks dissolve.
90. My kids and I love Luna Park.
When they approached me to join forces, I said of course, because here’s the KEY...
They weren’t buying my love, they were asking me to simply mention it.
92. LEGAL RISK? Nup, it’s truthful. Written by me.
BETRAYAL OF TRUST? No. Its consistent with what they expect from me.
Good balance of CONTENT VS COMMERCE?
Yep. Luna Park gave me creative control. So I used my own voice.
LEGAL RISK?
BETRAYAL
OF TRUST?
CONTENT VS
COMMERCE?
93. Another one, fashion brand... T.M.Lewin.
I was happy to show off their suits with a brandtag. Together we reached a million people in virtually
minutes, because they trusted me.
94. I also have a great partnership with JETSTAR. They wanted punters to enter a competition online
where they re-created childhood holiday snaps. My tribe loved this. THE KEY for both a BRAND and
an INFLUENCER is to spend more energy in the SELECTION phase. To save time and tension not
having to change each other. In the past month, I’ve said no to a tyre company wanting me to post on
Instagram. And a bank, asking for tweets.
95. It’s just not worth the cash. Because there’s an abundance of brands AND Influencers that organically
fit. I started listing all the brands I use in a day. I opened my wardrobe and gave up.
There are thousands of brands I’ve paid money for. There’s no more authentic endorsement than that.
IPHONE
WEATHER APP
NEWS.COM.AU
DAILY MAIL APP
DOVE SOAP
MILK SHAMPOO
G-STAR
INDUSTRIE
C K WATC H
RAY BANS
SIMON WEST JEWELLER
MYER
BONDS
BOSE HEADPHONES
CANON CAMERA
MILK SHAMPOO
SANDISK
MACBOOK AIR
5.4
CRUMPLER BAG
CARMAN’S MUESLI LIPTON TEA
96. S O C I A L
M O N E T I S A T I O N
So let’s sum it all up. SOCIAL INFLUENCER MARKETING has stalled in this country, and I believe
these 3 blocks are reasons why: Influencers are unsure of the legal implications, they don’t want to
look like a sell-out and branded content is difficult to get right. But because the organic reach has been
stemmed by the major platforms, Influencers will have to invest more time and money to reach fans, and
will TURN to monetization.
97. Opening up an exciting new world of Social Influencer Marketing that I believe has enormous value.
Here’s 9 reasons why.
98. 1. Because people connect with people. Not logos. As Suzuki’s National Head of Marketing, Andrew
Moore said best “No one wants to socialize with a car brand. They want to socialize with the Influencers
having a ball in one.”
2. Brands enter a conversation based on trust. The value is not just about getting your product in front of
people, it’s getting your product REFERRED TO THEM by someone they admire.
99. 3. Unlike Traditional Media, where you hire a face - Social Influencers are Content Generators. They are
EXPERTS on what their particular Tribe loves.
4. Therefore, your brand message will always be delivered in a completely UNIQUE and
PERSONALISED way.
5. Platforms like Instagram are incredibly strict with brands they let advertise. Teaming up with an
Influencer is guaranteed way to get around this, and stand out.
100. 6. Reach is cheap.
7. Reach is measurable.
8. Reach is immediate. The speed of distribution allows brands to create hype, with a sudden burst.
9. And finally, Influencers can provide the finishing touches on a broader campaign. When Curtis Stone
or Jen Hawkins post a pic of the hilarious billboard... it adds credibility, intimacy and appears more viral.
101. We’re super-proud of our growth at SCA. Having 6 of the Top 10 FB pages for engagement across the
country. And being branded by Online Circle ‘Australia’s Most Socially Engaged Media Company bar
none’.
102. So naturally, we would love to invite your brands into that conversation.
But proving that I’m dedicated to the category as a whole.
Soon I’ll have a free resource for marketers. A simple to use Search Engine for Social Influencers across
FB, Twitter, Instagram & Youtube, featuring their Tribe Size and Engagement.
103. If you’re keen to hear more, have any questions or want to share this presso… I’d love to hear from you.
Hit me up on LinkedIn or Twitter: @juleslund
Thanks again.