Why should you include influencer outreach in your marketing mix? Because I Love Lucy!
Actually I don’t love Lucy or even know anybody named Lucy. I do know that in 1952, 67% of US households watched the TV show I Love Lucy every Sunday night at 7PM. And that little fact has everything to do with integrating influencer outreach into your marketing mix, for three important reasons.
#1 – Reach – Influencers are amplifiers!
I don’t need to tell you how this internet thing is catching on, or that people are spending an increasing amount of time on social networks. We all know that. And so the challenge in finding and reaching consumers, in their natural habitat, is getting tougher. Unlike the days when Coca Cola got everyone’s attention at the same time in a 30-second spot in the middle of I Love Lucy, Mad Man Style, we marketers need to work harder to reach a fragmented audience. Influencers are amplifiers that allow you to spread a story to their large following.
#2 – Influencers pull, advertisers push!
Ads on Twitter are like ads during I Love Lucy. They interrupt programming to insert a paid message. The message isn’t asked for and the interruption isn’t invited. This is not to say that ads don’t work because they do in many cases. I would only propose that engagement through influencers is pulled more gently. When a social influencer tells their personal story of an experience with your brand, they engage their audience in a different way. It’s more like word-of-mouth marketing (WOMM) than advertising.
#3 – Trust!
Speaking of WOMM, it is now widely understood and measured by Neilsen, that the most trusted source of product information is from someone we know. Further down the list is advertising. This has changed since 1952, when everything that came out of the magic TV, from news broadcast to 30-second ads, was trusted. Today’s consumer is much more cynical and has access to more sources of data, which they use to gain back power in their relationship with “seller”. The buyers are in control now and they trust close sources of influencers on social networks who they know (or feel like they know).
Your story, your promotion, or your message can easily be supported, reinforced, shared and amplified by trusted third party influencers on social networks where all your consumers are hanging out. Influencer outreach shouldn’t be used to replace other sources of owned, earned, and paid media. It should be integrated into your marketing mix, so that it can provide clarity and consistency, and amplify your campaign’s overall reach.
It’s time! Mix it up.
Interested in integrating influencer outreach into your marketing mix? Give us a shout ([email protected]).
Read more: Amazing Influencer Outreach