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What Is Influence Marketing Anyway?

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About Influence Pros Podcast:

Influence Pros is the weekly show where professionals learn about case studies and success stories in the fast-growing world of influencer and advocate marketing. Hosted by Heidi Sullivan of Cision and Julianna Vorhaus of TapInfluence, the show chronicles how B2C and B2B companies are working with online influencers and customer advocates to grow reach, engagement, and conversions. View all shows—including free downloadable resources—at InfluenceProsPodcast.com.

Todd Cameron, Head of Content and Strategy at TapInfluence, and Heidi Sullivan, Senior VP and Product Lead of Content and E-commerce at Cision, co-host the inaugural episode of the Influence Pros Podcast to explain exactly what influence marketing is all about and how businesses should be using it today.

Heidi Sullivan - InstagramIt’s All About Authenticity

The times, they are a-changin’. It can be difficult to keep up with all of the new tools and terms that pop up in marketing and PR, like “influence marketing.”
But do not fear, Todd and Heidi are here! The Influence Pros Podcast begins this week with your hosts, Todd Cameron and Heidi Sullivan, to keep us up-to-date on new tactics, news stories, and experiences in influence marketing. In our inaugural episode, we start with the basics: authenticity and a strong, consistent voice are the most important keys to any influence marketing campaign.
Strong influencers of their own, Todd currently leads the marketing team at TapInfluence, an influencer marketing automation software company, and Heidi is an SVP at Cision, the global media intelligence juggernaut. Together they have well over 30 years of experience in the marketing, content, and PR worlds. Join them as they dive into their passion: exploring the worlds of influence and advocate marketing.

In This Episode

  • Meet our diversely dynamic co-hosts, Heidi and Todd
  • What is influence and advocate marketing and why is it important
  • Why celebrities aren’t the only worthwhile influencers
  • How to identify and successfully engage with the best influencer for your company
  • Why authenticity and consistency in voice are key to successful influence marketing

 

Quotes From This Episode

“It was Dan Ariely, and he said it in 2013 about big data: ‘Big data is like teenage sex. Everyone talks about it, nobody really knows how to do it, everyone thinks everyone else is doing it, so everyone claims they’re doing it too.’ I think that’s where we’ve been with influencer marketing.” —@redfoxstrategy
“An influencer is literally anybody who creates meaningful content, relates to their audience, and is able to then share that content that then gets shared again and again.” —@redfoxstrategy
“I think the power and the authenticity comes from, ‘these are people just like me,’ so to speak. And that’s the way, on social media, people relate to these folks.” —@redfoxstrategy
“Everything that I focus on right now is really around, ‘What is the messaging that we put out into the marketplace. Is it authentic in what we’re trying to achieve?’” —@redfoxstrategy
“For me, the content shouldn’t be as much about us as it should be about answering the questions and addressing some of the challenges that prospects and our customers have, so that we can help them better do their job.” —@redfoxstrategy
“The way that news is coming to us is aggregated in real-time, customized to us. And it’s because of all of these voices that really resonate. So what traditionally would work as, ‘I just need to get mentioned on WGN news, or in my local newspaper, and I will reach the audience that I want to,’ we now need to find new ways to reach those audiences. And influencer marketing is such an important piece of that.” —@hksully
“Metrics as a whole is something that you either don’t have enough of, or you have too much. I think finding the right blend of knowing what’s important to measure is the key.” —@redfoxstrategy

Resources

 

Would You Rather

In this section, our hosts ask guests a few fun “would you rather” questions. Don’t worry, they’re all safe for work!

Todd Cameron

Would you rather wear a Cardinals jersey everyday for a month, or never watch another sports broadcast ever?
I would have to suck it up and wear the Cardinals jersey.
Would you rather live in Antarctica, or in a rain forest along the equator?
I’ll take living on the equator.
Lastly, would you work as a software developer or a sales rep?
I would have to be more of a sales rep.

Heidi Sullivan

Would you rather email an embarrassing email to the entire company, or eat an entire stick of butter?
I will take the butter, hands down.
Would you rather lose $10,000 or irretrievably lose all of the contacts in your phone?
I’ll lose the $10,000, very painfully.
Would you rather be stranded on an island with someone you despise, or stranded on an island alone?
I’ll take the person I hate.

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