How To Avoid Costly Mistakes In Influencer Marketing With Shane Barker

How To Avoid Costly Mistakes In Influencer Marketing With Shane Barker Did you do a lot of stupid things when you were a kid? Did you get caught and yelled at? Was your #1 go-to argument: Well, my buddy was doing it first only to be told, â€Å"Well, if your friend jumped off a bridge, would you do it, too?† As a kid, there are certain people who influence and inspire you. As you get older, that doesn’t change. About 92% of consumers trust earned media, such as word-of-mouth and recommendations from friends and family, more so than any other form of advertising. The result: Influencer marketing. Today, we’re talking to Shane Barker, a digital marketing consultant who specializes in influencer marketing. He shares the top three things needed to execute a successful influencer marketing strategy, as well as pitfalls to avoid. Influencer marketing is the practice of using social media influencers to promote your brand, Website, or products Social media influencers have some type of influence over their followers, who trust and believe in them for information and guidance Don’t look at the follower count; number of followers incentivizes who is an influencer, but fake followers are used to make that happen Brands that use influencer marketing successfully include LinkedIn and LikeToKnowIt Software can be used to find influencers consider engagement rates and profiles, not â€Å"likes†; conduct research to build a long-term relationship Pitfalls to Avoid: Don’t go after the influencer with the largest following and spend time selecting and setting expectations for an influencer Measure success of influencer marketing via affiliate codes/links, Website/landing page traffic, brand mentions, engagement rates, etc. Future of Influencer Marketing: How to scale this type of marketing, develop a win-win strategy, and educate brands on how to find influencers Links: Shane Barker Shane Barker’s Email Content Solutions Global Trust in Advertising and Brand Messages LinkedIn The Sophisticated Marketer’s Guide to LinkedIn Liketoknow.it Grin Influence.co Fiverr Send suggested AMP topics and guests If you liked today’s show, please subscribe on iTunes to The Actionable Content Marketing Podcast! The podcast is also available on SoundCloud, Stitcher, and Google Play. Quotes by Shane Barker: â€Å"Influencer marketing is essentially the practice of using social media influencers to promote your brand, Website, or products.† â€Å"These people have some type of influence over their following.† â€Å"Not all engagement is good engagement. Is that an influencer you want to have your name associated with?† That’s one of the big questions is like, Oh, what do I pay an influencer? Well, it really depends. It really depends on the influencer because each one of them run their business differently.