In a world that is dominated by “push-advertising” and that includes an overwhelming choice of products and services that need to be evaluated by the buyer, it is increasingly hard to find ways to stand out from the crowd. According to many studies we are now facing a world that is so saturated with advertising that many companies are seeing diminishing returns on their traditional marketing efforts.
More often than not it is consumer generated content that gets favored by the readers when it comes to making buying decisions. In this context however, the term ‘consumer generated’ refers not only to peer reviews and end-user product evaluations but has to be seen in a broader context. Any form of content that is not (obviously) paid for and distributed by the business itself gets a bonus when it comes to trustworthiness.
But creating original content is only one side of the problem: With many channels – both traditional ones like TV, news magazines and post mailings and new ones like blogs, social media groups and peer networks – competing for the attention of the individual, it is equally important to choose the right channels for every kind of content to ensure that your message is heard.
The purpose of influencer relations in this context is to (in part) ‘outsource’ the responsibility for content creation and managing the communication channel to those individuals that are most influential in any given channel. The important part is to provide the facts and ‘building blocks’ needed to create relevant content featuring your business, products and services, thus significantly increasing your market reach and brand awareness. By establishing the right relationships with the relevant influencers (like business analysts, editors and bloggers) you can get the world to know what your business is about.
But finding out how to leverage the potential of influencer relations for maximum impact is a complex challenge. For this reason influencer relations agencies play a critical role in establishing the relationships to the influencers and are key to the success of the entire marketing mix. The reason for this is that influencer relations agencies focus both on creating original content and at the same time act as moderators and facilitators in the distribution process. By defining and managing the channels (e. g. public relations, social media or analyst relations) and deciding what type of content to make available to which channel and influencer, they take a central position in creating market mindshare for a brand.
Ultimately content marketing, supported by promotional items like branded bottled water from nevadabottledwater.com and distributed by the right influencers, will be a powerful marketing tool for any business.
This post originally appeared on MarketMindshare.Wordpress.com.
Ready for more? Subscribe to Kea Company’s Influencer Insights
Join hundreds of peers and get Kea Company’s latest blogs, webinars and downloadable content straight to your inbox. Enter your email address below:
Error: Contact form not found.
