The Power and Shortcomings of Influencer Marketing at Scale

Hosted By

Convince & Convert

About Social Pros Podcast:

Social Pros is one of the longest-running marketing podcasts in existence (10 YEARS and counting), and was recently recognized as the #1 Audio/Podcast Series by the Content Marketing Awards.

Our purpose? Making sure that we speak to real people doing real work in social media.

Listeners get inside stories and behind-the-scenes secrets about how teams at companies like Google, Reddit, Glossier, Zillow, Lyft, Marvel, and dozens more, staff, operate, and measure their social media programs. With 500+ episodes, the Social Pros Podcast brings the humanity of social media to the forefront, while providing incredibly useful marketing strategies that listeners can immediately implement.

Thank you to our sponsor ICUC Social.

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To inquire about becoming a guest, please email our Executive Producer, Leanna Pham, at leanna@convinceandconvert.com.

Apple Podcast Reviews:

The Social Pros podcast has quickly become a favorite in my feed! I'm consistently impressed by the engaging conversations, insightful content, and actionable ideas. I truly learn something every time I listen!

@Arlie K

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This podcast has become one of my staple weekly podcasts for learning about marketing! Love the conversations that they have and it's always enjoyable and educational!

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David Armano, Global Strategy Director at Edelman, joins Social Pros to discuss the relationship between word of mouth and influencer marketing.

Consumers Trust Influencers

Did you know that 63% of consumers trust influencers about brands more than they trust brands about brands? This has got to be one of the most undeniable proof points for the viability of peer to peer influence. Yet, so many brands still shy away from influencer marketing. This week we talk to David Armano about why you need to rethink this mindset.
The truth is that consumers are more likely to believe what they hear about a brand via word of mouth than what the brand says about themselves. Consumers listen to influencers because they trust them, and they’re entertained by them in some way. However, it’s not all sunshine and rainbows in the influencer space.
As David Armano cautions, the influencer marketing space has a lot of rampant fraud. Yes, brands can leverage influencers to get in front of the right audiences. But, technologies also have the power to drive fake followers and engagement using bot farms, which can damage the authenticity of the results.

In This Episode:

06:08 – How Edelman structures their social digital team
08:34 – How social campaigns have evolved over the last decade
15:36 – How much testing and experimentation brands should do in social digital
20:17 – How Edelman’s Trust Barometer works
25:07 – The relationship between influencer marketing and word of mouth
29:28 – How to assess whether a spokesperson is suitable for a brand promotion
35:48 – How issues in crisis communication has changed in the era of social

Quotes From This Episode:

“The price of operating in the social space is that it’s very iterative. You try something and then you know what worked and what didn’t, and you try it again. That’s the nature of the social space.” – @armano
Most of the influencers that we work with are paid or compensated in some way…but it's also about matching up your influencers with the right brand. So that it's not just transactional, because that comes through in their authenticity Click To Tweet
“Managing crisis is in three phases. It’s the initial damage control, then it’s the response, and then you can begin to do things that are meant to build trust back.” – @armano