92% of consumers believe an influencer over a traditional advertisement or celebrity endorsement.
Millennials have the highest levels of trust in online and mobile content.
In the world of public relations, whether your client’s message is in the form of a press release, media alert, pitch or social media post, the target audience is ultimately the consumer. As such, traditional public relations agencies are tapping influencers—who are made up mostly of Millennial, marketing-savvy digital leaders—to reach their audiences and tell the brand story in a creative and authentic way.
We’ve implemented the specialization across our client roster to include influencers in product pitch outreach, on guest lists to exclusive client and agency events, press trips and content creation opportunities. Most importantly is the time dedicated to fostering the relationships to execute all the aforementioned tactics.
Much like establishing a relationship with a journalist, courting an influencer takes time, a genuine interest (because influencers can sense inauthenticity from a mile away), and requires research on the receiving end. In order to partner with an influencer who is in accord with your client’s messaging, an agency must engage and understand their “beat.” Additionally, under an influencers’ “beat” are a number of hyper-targeted categories—like lobster roll lovers (interest), from Michigan (location) and 35+ (age group)—that make it possible to establish a client’s message through the right eyes.
Since we represent wine, spirits, and food clients, our proprietary list of contacts touches industry experts, trade personnel, writers and lifestyle enthusiasts that align with our brands. While the number of contacts exceed the thousands, each campaign or activation is focused on finding the right person; influencer marketing follows the same logic.
Just as media and influencers share similarities in relation to PR, there are differences between the two groups to note. One difference in particular is the value that each respective contact brings to a client. A journalist’s value rests in their publication affiliation, the depth of their work—i.e. round up vs. feature story—and perhaps even the rate at which their piece is syndicated. The value of an influencer to some, is greater, because a brand can go to them to create content, quite often for less than what they would spend on a traditional advertising campaign. Said content includes everything from blog posts, corresponding social media posts, video, Instagram Story mentions and even ambassadorship depending on the duration of the relationship.
One of the most interesting aspects of influencer marketing in relation to public relations is measurement. At the end of the day, clients need to see concrete deliverables. Reach and impressions fit the bill in that regard, while measurement of influencer campaigns expand beyond this. Things to consider when monitoring influencer analytics include the demographic of an influencer’s followers, an influencer’s engagement with their fans and overall, the influencer’s brand identity.
In short, influencer marketing is by no means replacing traditional public relations practices, but the new wave of marketing is definitely here to stay, and it’s shaking up the way in which brands are talking to consumers. Again, consumers trust their friends compared to brands and larger scale advertisement. Even though an influencer might have several thousand followers, the connection between the influencer and their followers are close. For some it might even feel like friendship, and that’s the sweet spot that influencer marketing creates.
So, who is an influencer? The simple answer, everyone. Even traditional journalists are playing the field, so in our eyes it’s a no brainer. 2017 is the year to experiment with influencer marketing.
If you are or know an influencer who would be a good fit to partner with one of our wine, spirits, or food brands, please email info@colangelopr.com.
