Influencer marketing can be a powerful tactic, but the practice is far too narrow, and often focused on wrong metrics. In this presentation, Rand expands on what marketing through influence can do, and shows examples of a higher ROI form of marketing through channels of influence (not just Instagram & YouTube "influencers")
[Expert Panel] New Google Shopping Ads Strategies Uncovered
Influence Not Influencers
1. Rand Fishkin | Founder & CEO
Influence…
Not Influencers
Marketing through influence must focus on finding the right customers, in
the right places. Here’s how to make the shift.
4. Identify Your Target Customer(s)
Physical Therapists
Gym Owners
Personal Trainers
People who Work
Out at Gyms
5. Discover All the Sources of Influence that Reach
Your Audience
Physical Therapists
Podcasts they
listen to
YouTube
Channels
they watch
Websites
they visit
Twitter accounts
they follow
Instagrammers
they follow
Emails they
subscribe to
Publications
they consume
Events they
attendBlogs they
read
6. Do Marketing of All Kinds in Those Places
Speak
Be a guest
Pitch stories
Get Featured
Sponsor
7. Earn Brand Recognition, Traffic, & Sales
Physical Therapists
All the sources of influence that reach physical therapists
11. The Consideration Problem:
Google Ads
Should we invest in…
Facebook Ads
Influencer Marketing
Content Marketing
SEO
All our competitors are
doing it!
Start an Influencer
Marketing Campaign
13. A Better Way:
Product awareness
among physical
therapists
Business Problem We’re
Trying to Solve:
1) Brand Advertising
Marketing Channels +
Tactics ThatAddress It:
Prioritized List of Experiments & Investments:
Web Search Social Media
Brand Advertising PR
Events Direct Sales
2) Direct Sales
3) Press & PR
4) Social Media
14. A Better Way:
Product awareness
among physical
therapists
Business Problem We’re
Trying to Solve:
1) Brand Advertising
Marketing Channels +
Tactics ThatAddress It:
Prioritized List of Experiments & Investments:
Web Search Social Media
Brand Advertising PR
Events Direct Sales
2) Direct Sales
3) Press & PR
4) Social Media
Influencer Marketing might be
a useful tactic for these two
16. IM Focuses on Behavior > Demographics
Your Target Audience
Behavior Demographics
What they read
What they watch
What they listen to
What they attend
What they engage with
What they pay attention to
How old they are
What gender they are
Where they live
How much they make
How many kids they have
What religion they are
17. IM Focuses on Behavior > Demographics
Your Target Audience
Behavior Demographics
What they read
What they watch
What they listen to
What they attend
What they engage with
What they pay attention to
How old they are
What gender they are
Where they live
How much they make
How many kids they have
What religion they are
These are vastly more
useful to efficiently reach
specific groups of
people
18. IM Focuses on Behavior > Demographics
Your Target Audience
Behavior Demographics
What they read
What they watch
What they listen to
What they attend
What they engage with
What they pay attention to
How old they are
What gender they are
Where they live
How much they make
How many kids they have
What religion they are
These are good for
broad targeting of
traditional media
19. Demographics and Psychographics Are
Useful to Media Buyers (maybe)?
Not so useful to marketers doing content,
search, social, email, PR, etc.
20. IM Reaches People Through Sources They
Know, Like, & Trust
e.g. Andrew’s an award-
winning mixologist and a
friend. This post isn’t
sponsored, but even if it
were, I’d probably still trust
his opinion.
28. Your Target
Audience
Podcasts they
listen to
YouTube
Channels
they watch
Websites
they visit
Twitter accounts
they follow
Instagrammers
they follow
Emails they
subscribe to
Publications
they consume
Events they
attendBlogs they
read
These Are All Sources of Influence!
Journalists they read
31. Targeting on Audience Size > Audience Match
4mm followers
Followed by 19% of profiles
that frequently talk about
“supercars”
32. What We Should Be Seeking:
Source of Influence
% of My Target Audience
That Engages Here
WebsiteABC.com
The ABC Podcast
ABC YouTube Channel
ABC Conference
@ABCOnTwitter
@ABCOnInstagram
ABC Email Newsletter
38%
31%
27%
25%
25%
22%
19%
33. Brands & Influencers Ignoring Owned Media
Completely subject to
Instagram’s algo,
engagement rates, and
editorial guidelines
Full ownership and
control of content,
visibility, UX, &
conversion paths
34. “They’ll take the scraps we give
them and they’ll like it!”
-Facebook
ViaSocialChain
37. Social
Follower
Email
Address
Avg
Engagement/
Post or Email
Ability to
Retarget?
Reach on
Other
Platforms
Ability to Get
Audience Data
Direct
Outreach
Possible?
20.81%*
* Via Mailchimp
Yes,Anywhere Yup. Tons. Yes.
1.73%*
Onlyonthat
Network
Nope. Onlywhatthe
networkgivesyou.
No.
* Via RivalIQ
38. Metrics Accountability
Via TheDrum
“I do campaigns for brands on a weekly basis
and less than half ever come back for metrics;
less than 50% ever want to know what’s
happened. That makes me think it’s PRs playing
a numbers game and once a campaign has
gone no one is really interested.”
40. If “Branding” and “Awareness” are your
biggest goals… Measure that!
Via Google Trends
41. Use Other Non-Owned Platforms Strategically
Seeking Brand
Awareness?
Optimize for
interactions
Measure on
Reach+Engagement
Seeking
Revenue?
Optimize for CTR +
Conversion Rate
Measure on
Conversions
Seeking Maximum,
Long-Term Benefit?
Optimize for high-engagement
streaks
Capitalize with
Conversion-Driving Posts
Measure on Comparative
LTV:CAC Ratio
Leverage Other High-
ReachAccounts
Boost with Paid
Promotion
42. When I have a low engagement post,
my next post has a harder time
reaching a big audience.
43. When a post gets high engagement,
FB boosts the reach of my next post
(unless it starts to show poor
engagement)
44. In this way, Facebook (& Twitter, Instagram,
LinkedIn, etc) reward high engagement
streaks and makes accounts w/ low
engagement invisible.
46. Rethinking Whether This Is the Best (or Only)
Process for Influencer Marketing
Via Contevo
Is paying “influencers” the best way to spread influence?
Should brands own & control the creative?
Is approval of content a net win?
Could other processes yield better results?
49. Want to Know Where to Reach Your Audience? Ask
Them!
50. Key Questions to Ask:
2: How Do You Currently Solve the Problem Our Product/Service
Addresses?
1: WhoAre You?
(B2C: demographics/psychographics, B2B: professional/behavioral)
3: What Do You Read, Listen To, Watch, Consume,Attend?
4: What Influences Your Purchase Decisions
(in the problem space of our service/product)?
51. Warning: It’s hard to design
unbiased surveys
e.g. When I editorially chose
these events, I biased survey
takers against ones that didn’t
appear
52. Struggling to Get Great Answers
(or to get them from the right people)?
1:1 requests are time-consuming, but effective
56. The Most FollowedAccount(s) that Match a Keyword Search
Traditional Influencer Marketing Seeks Out:
The Most-ReachableAccount(s) that Match a Keyword Search
OR
But That’s Not Really What We Want…
57. What You Really Want: People & Publications YourAudience Engages
With Most
Followed by 16% of people
who frequently talk about
“Italian food”
58. What You Really Want: People & Publications YourAudience Engages
With Most
Small overall following, but reaches
exactly who we want to reach!
60. Don’t get stuck thinking
only about ways to show
up here.
Especially when engagement
may be bigger & cheaper
elsewhere.
61. 8 Pay-to-Post Alternatives
2: Story Pitches (to cover a space, trend, data, or news)
1: Guest Content (editorials, blog posts, native ads)
3: Podcast, Interview, or Video Guest Pitch
4: Day or Week-longAccount Swap/Takeover
5: Research Project or Field Trip Sponsorship
6: Content Partnership Invitation
7: Email Newsletter Inclusion
8: Brand Co-Creations / Partnerships
62. 8 Pay-to-Post Alternatives
2: Story Pitches (to cover a space, trend, data, or news)
1: Guest Content (editorials, blog posts, native ads)
3: Podcast, Interview, or Video Guest Pitch
4: Day or Week-longAccount Swap/Takeover
5: Research Project or Field Trip Sponsorship
6: Content Partnership Invitation
7: Email Newsletter Inclusion
8: Brand Co-Creations / Partnerships
BONUS: Many of these
help with other channels
of influence, upgrading
their ROI
64. But, Rand…
When I ask directly for coverage,
amplification, links, mentions, etc,
I get nowhere
65. Direct Works Great Once a RelationshipAlready Exists…
Request for something
comes into my inbox…
Do I KnowThis Person?
Yes!And I
like them.
Never heard of
them.
No, but I know of them or their
company/organization
High
Likelihood of
a Yes
High
Likelihood of
a No
Depends on the ask, their brand, my
history, the relevance, timing, etc.
66. In Some Cases, Indirect is the Way to Go:
I want these things
Get more people to know, like, and
trust me (and my brand)
Links to my site
Create unique value that stands
out to your audience
Press coverage
SocialAmplification
What can I do that will deliver those?
Focus outreach on these goals first