A few random thoughts about influencers and brand advocates from Michael Paredrakos The Curious Brain . Our presentation at the Brand Advocacy conference of Marketing week in Greece. A big thanks to www.theshelf.com/ https://blog.pagefair.com ,http://www.tapinfluence.com/ for their amazing info. Go check them out. Images are from all over the internet if one is yours and you want me to take it down just let me know :-) Stay Curious

1. So you
want me
to talk
about
your brand?

2. Nobody knows :-P
Michael Paredrakos @mpared
Managing Director
Who am I?

3. and I’ m here to talk to you from an influencers point of view!

4. If you are an influencer …
how come
we still don’t know you??

5. Well, you might know my “little blog”!
It is called ….

7. and for some strange reason ,that still eludes me, it became huge!
It has been online since 2009

8. It has made it on the list of :
Blogrank :Top 25 in the world for Trends, Advertising, Music, Animation
Brand Republic’sThe BR 200 : The web’s most influential bloggers
Used to be an Adage Power blog 150 ( top 50)
Plannersphere: Best Strategy blog in the world
It is featured in Alltop

9. Content
from
The Curious Brain
was reposted
in even more
huge sites
than mine
Mashable
Buzzfeed
Swiss Miss
Huffingtonpost
boredpanda
igmur
reddit
laughingsquid
thisiscolossal
itsnicethat
thisisnthappiness
brainpickings

10. Mega artists like Róisín Murphy,
Ellie Goulding, j.viewz,
etc have also shared its content online
Nowadays you can
even see me
sharing my content
live on tv at “L’Oeil
de Links” of canal+
in France

11. So a few brands/music labels/ agencies and artists out there
believe that my little blog has a major influence online that can help them
spread their message/ art/ music to a wider audience..

12. and so I get more than
a few emails everyday

13. But why brands want to use influencers like me ?
Influencers (not that I’m biased) are how in the the future most brands will spread their messages.
No one looks at banner ads anymore.
And more importantly...200 MMMMillion people are using ad blockers
and this is expected to increase in the future
In Greece adblock penetration now is almost 40%
Source : https://blog.pagefair.com/2015/ad-blocking-report/

14. Food/Drinks
$11.11/$1
Retail/Apparel
$10.48 /$1 Travel
$7.04/$1
With certain categories performing even better!
$1.00
Spend on Influencers $6,85
In return
=
More over according to recent studies
influencers yields killer returns for your brand!
Source: http://www.theshelf.com/the-blog/holiday-marketing-2015-infographic

15. Bloggers like me influence purchases.
Blogs outrank social networks for consumer influence
Source: socialmediaexaminer.com
According to data from a research study conducted
by Research Now:
Nearly nine in 10 consumers (84%) make purchases
after reading about a product or service on a blog.
Among consumers between the ages of 18-34,
blogs ranked as the most important source of information
to make buying decisions.
Among consumers between the ages of 35-54,
blogs ranked as the second most important source
behind friends, family, and colleagues
Source: http://www.corporate-eye.com/

16. But let’s see how I decide whether I will share something positive
about your brand in my blog and across my social media online.
3 Tell you pr team/ agency not to send them an email with subject
“ For Immediate Release” they usually go straight in my spam folder
The following
might be
pretty basic
1. Make sure that you initially contact an influencer in a language that he or she
understands
2. Don’t send them a generic email directed to all the bloggers out there.
Make your email personal and make sure that you know his name and what his/
her blog is about
4. If you are a brand or an agency don’t expect that an influencer will share your content for free
just because it is very “creative”

17. Are they any
definite ways
for an influencer to
share your content?

18. 1. They most obvious ways is to Include them on your media budget
( people with influence are very protective about their audience they
usually only share something branded if there is a payment or free
products involved)
3. Give them a world wide premiere or provide them with very unique
content to share
4. Include them if you can in your creative process. Respect their rules! They know
what works and what does not work for their audience. Let them tell authentic stories
5. Don’t ask for how much a post costs! Let them know your needs and your budget.
This usually works in your advantage and you get more free posts and social mentions
in return
2. If you can't offer to them money offer to them a unique experience,
a trip, a chance to mingle with other bloggers

19. But the most important way to get an influencer to share your content
is to have more personal relationship with him/ her
Don’t forget they are humans too! Go out for a cup of coffee or drinks.
Show them that you think of them as you publishing partners

20. How to choose
an influencer
that is perfect
for your brand?
There are 6 crucial things to always consider

21. Traffic
The easiest metric to rely on is blog traffic. If an influencer
has a lot of daily visitors, then you can pretty much
guarantee a certain amount of impressions.
But have you learned anything from banner ads?
Impressions don’t necessarily mean
engagement or conversion.
Social networks
It’s possible for an influencer to have a low or mediocre blog
following, but have a huge social media reach.
Total Reach
You must consider the big picture. Start by figuring out your
influencers’ blog traffic .Then move on to every single social
platform that the influencer is using.
Either combine total fans or ask the influencer for more
specific data about his or her reach.
H

22. Engagement
Influence is not just about numbers.
An influencer can have high reach but also a high bounce rate.
Are people commenting, liking, retweeting and sharing?
Fan demographic
Start with your own demographic data — what age groups, location
etc make up your biggest customer segments?
FInd influencers that have an audience that likely falls in those
specific targets you want. Make sure that those two audiences align
Content
The number-one most critical thing to consider when choosing
influencers is whether or not the influencer’s content, interests and
voice matches the interests and goals of your brand.
Whoever you choose to partner with
will be an extension of your brand. Make sure that you search
what your influencer shared in the past
Choosing an influencer with great content
is essential.

23. https://tweetreach.com/
https://klout.com/
http://www.alexa.com
http://alltop.com/
http://www.socialmention.com/
http://www.blogmetrics.org/
https://moz.com/followerwonk
There are also some free online tools
to determine the power of your influencers
http://buzzsumo.com/

24. 1.When you want to extend your reach and build a large audience especially in a new social media channel
2. When you want to associate your brand with a certain topic authority.
3. When you want to have high impact
in your advertising campaigns
Since influencers already have big
audiences and they’re trusted by their followers, the
content they create about your brand can have higher impact and potentially greater reach
and WOM than your mainstream traditional approaches
Source: http://www.tapinfluence.com/
When to use an influencer like me?

25. But are Influencers
really your brands advocates?

26. Influencers are not your brands advocates!
Usually they show zero brand loyalty .
Unless they are some incentives involved…they will never speak about your brand
The answer is probably

27. Brand advocates aren’t paid to talk or discuss,
they do it with their own free will,
because the love your brand
and to most people that feels more real and trusted

28. In my view a brand advocate is created through a combination
of high customer satisfaction and trust
and not so much through your advertising efforts
+ =

29. It has to do more with your brand values, your company ethos and how you treat your customers.
These are the things that build trust. Trust has to be continually earned but it creates happy customer.
And a happy customer is a customer who will tell others about your company

30. So ask yourself do your customers trust you?
Can they depend on you to deliver on your brand/ advertising/ product claims & promises?
If not you will never grow the base of your advocates!

31. Since trust in traditional
advertising is eroding especially
across Europe ,
brand advocates are no longer
a ‘nice to have’,
they are a ‘must have”
for most brands out there

32. Passionate brand advocates
can be powerful allies
for your brand
but you must understand
how to create them
or engage with them!

33. Give them some
extra incentives
to make repeat
purchases
Offer exclusive
previews of products
to make them feel
‘in the know’
of ‘first to try .
You can even
co -create with them
Empower your employees
to go above and beyond
to exceed customer
expectations
Focus on WOWing the
customer with amazing
branded experiences and
random acts of kindness
Publicly recognise
and thank them.
Focus on delighting
and pleasing
customer’s right from
first point of contact
with your brand.
Be honest, accountable and
operate ethically
We live in transparent times.
In my humble view you can do this
by making them feel valued
and by making them feel part
of your brand

34. When to use brand advocates?
2. When your strategy is to prioritise
one-to-one referrals over reaching lots of people.
Advocates have smaller reach but their influence on their
own small networks is stronger and more personalised
3. When you want to keep expenses low .
Advocates may not expect compensation, but will probably be
pleasantly surprised, and become even more engaged with
your company, if you reward them in a meaningful way.
http://www.tapinfluence.com/
1.When your strategy is to build long-term positive
word of mouth.
Brand advocates will continue to talk about your brand –
even outside of marketing campaigns but you need to
provide them with high customer satisfaction and trust.
That means continuing investment on creating positive
experiences with your brand/ product/service

35. So ending the difference between influencers and brand
advocates:
Advocates are long-term brand followers,
they don’t need to be incentivised so much, they have
genuine passion for your brand but you need to give them
reasons to talk to amplify your message
Influencers need incentives and have zero loyalty
So when thinking about who to use to spread the word about
your brand, make sure to understand the differences!
Thank you :-) Stay Curious
http://www.avakon.com/http://thecuriousbrain.com/