Creating A Healthy Influencer Marketing Program

Creating A Healthy Influencer Marketing Program A.Emre Erşahin 2007

The Brief
Identify and recruit “brand ambassadors”
Word-of-mouth objectives
Influencers who have influence
Circle of trust
Acquire, satisfy & retain “brand ambassadors”
Penetration & seeding power
Extract actionable insight from “brand ambassadors”
Constant feedback mechanism & measurement
Periodic meetings

Target Audience
12-24 age group
High schools
Colleges & universities
Global web culture
Networked & hyperlinked
Short attention span
High consumption speed
Music, Sports, Cinema, Dating
Distinctive profiles
Childish Teenies
Techno Savvies
Sociable Technophobes
Trend Seekers

Underlying Concepts
Social Networks
Social Capital
Sociometry
Influencer Marketing

A social network is a social structure made of nodes that are tied by one or more specific types of relations
In its simplest form, a social network is a map of all of the relevant ties between the nodes being studied.
The network can also be used to determine the social capital of individual actors.
Underlying Concepts
Social Networks
Social Capital
Sociometry

Social capital is created by a person's location in a structure of relationships.
The core idea of social capital theory is that social networks have value.
It explains how some people gain more success in a particular setting through their superior connections to other people.
“ The spirit of community”
Underlying Concepts
Social Networks
Social Capital
Sociometry

Underlying Concepts
Sociometry produces a view, where the attributes of individuals are less important than their relationships and ties with other actors within the network.
Underlying Concepts
Social Networks
Social Capital
Sociometry

Underlying Concepts
Influencer marketing is a form of marketing in which focus is placed on specific key individual types rather than the target market as a whole.
It identifies the individuals that have influence over potential buyers , and orientates marketing activities around these influencers.
Underlying Concepts
Social Networks
Social Capital
Sociometry

Underlying Concepts
Influencers by definition have high social capital
Influencer marketing is investment management for social capital.
It requires identification of individuals in the network with high social capital to invest and to better influence the whole network.
Underlying Concepts
Social Networks
Social Capital
Sociometry
Influencer Marketing Sociometry Social Capital

Program Itself Emre Erşahin 2007

Influencer Program Outlook
Measure & classify influencers according to their social capital
Identify & recruit potential brand advocates with high social capital
Create a multilogue sharing platform for influencers
Cre ate & nourish desired behavior with awarding
Seed products, services, opinion s & trends
Create motivation for discussion, sharing & increasing usage
Gain and measure performance indicators & v aluable insight from influencer s
Measure Execute Create Discover

Execution Phases Measure Execute Create Discover Discover target audience and identify & recruit influencers Create influencer concepts & program Program implementation online & offline Measurement of the results and evaluation

How To Discover Social Capital? Social Circles Online Survey References Sociometry Discover Social Capital

How To Discover Social Capital? Social Circles Online Survey References Sociometry
An a lgorithm to identify and classify influentials in the brand’s network
Connectedness
Level of involvement
Geographic coverage
Online presence
Social network participation
Discover Social Capital

Online social capital survey
Attitudes, interests , opinions and activities
Digital trace : B logs, social network memberships, twitter, groups, forum s…
Check status, number of peers, rankings, ratings , etc…
Classify & segment target audience

What role do you usually play in deciding what to do with your friends?
I prefer to hangout by myself, so I can do what I want
I usually go along with what my friends decide to do
I voice my opinion and we make a decision together
I share my plan and often convince my friends to go along
I plan activities and my friends come along

Ask the participants about their friends!
Let them invite and comment on their friends
Ask the coolest, the most social, most popular person they know and move up the ladder.

Sociometry is a quantitative method for measuring social relationships
"Sociometric explorations reveal the hidden structures that give a group its form: the alliances, the subgroups, the ideological agreements, the ‘stars’ of the show“
The end result is the sociomaps explaining the connectivity

End Result – Meet the Influencers
Connectors
S ocial glue of networ ks
High connectedness, with h ighest number of nodes
Variety of nodes, connected to d ifferent kinds of people
Mavens
O pinion leaders, information brokers, curious minds, expert s
They tip connectors with valuable information. They search, read, write, complain, create, and accumulate information
Salesmen
T he persuaders ,t hey talk more
H igher outgoing traffic and more nodes than average
Connector Childish Teenies Connector Techno Savvies Maven Trend Seekers

End Result – Meet the Influencers
Select and introduce the chosen influencers to your company for approval at the end of the 1st phase
500 hand-picked dedicated influencers
Interviewed preferably face-to-face
Classified & clustered
Signed the terms&conditions
Influencers receive program kit upon joining
ID granting access to events, company, meetings
Program manual
Limited series apparel

1st Phase Complete! Measure Execute Create Create influencer concepts & program Program implementation online & offline Measurement of the results and evaluation Discover

How to Create & Motivate Social Capital? Knowledge Gaps Anticipated Reciprocity Increased Recognition Sense of efficacy Create Social Capital

Social capital lives on knowledge & opinion gaps between individuals.
Any platform where social capitalists can feed on knowledge gaps attracts social capital
Your brand should feed the Influencers with semi-classified info and opportunity to try new products/services

A person is motivated to contribute valuable information to the group in the expectation that s/he will receive useful help and information in return
Discussion starts on brand’s current performance and ideas about what it should do next...

All contributors are allowed to create profiles and as their contributions are measured by the community, their reputation increases.
For example, points, rating, ranking systems etc.
These points gain access to invite-only events & resources, while contributors receive expected points & unexpected gifts

Individuals may contribute valuable information because the act results in a sense of efficacy, that is, a sense that they have had some effect on the outcome
Influencers try, test, give feedback & provide new ideas on products/services, etc via moderated or non-moderated discussions
Contributions must be awarded

Program Concept - “Backstage”
“ Backstage Pass” by definition creates...
Knowledge Gaps
Sense of efficacy
Increased Recognition
Backstage is also an invitation-only website
The subscribers are only invited after social capital qualification (1st phase)
It is the sharing and meeting point of Influencers of your brand

Backstage is an online platform where selected influencers share & discuss habits, tastes, choices, consumption with other influencers
Influencers can do a lot in the “Backstage”
Write, Comment, Rate, List
Share, Recommend, Invite
Try, test, review
Earn points in exchange
Redeem points by select from privileged offers

Harry Potter 6 premier! Watch before everyone. Join
Listen to Kasabian latest album in London. Go
Join Raikonnen press conference before the race! Join
Talk to the marketing team for your ideas. Talk
Hello Emre! Haven’t seen you for a while... Last visit: 3 weeks ago 304 points. 23 backstage friends Edit profile Your Exclusive Video Messages
Help us decide which product to launch first?
Try the new website for a week!
Review the latest & rate previous posts
Invite friends over...
We want you to join our meeting!
You won a F1 ticket, collect more for VIP pass.
Re: Backstage Meeting on Saturday
Your Messages Your opinion needed! Collect points with your opinion!
Cem has been writing on rates. Read it.
Murat visited the company for a meeting. Ask him.
Ebru tried the latest product before anyone. Read it.
Catch Up with friends...
Active friends : Murat, Cem, Ömer, Emre, See all .
Friends who need wake up call : Ebru, Selim. Send SMS
Friends invited : Kerim, Ali, Can. Resend invitation
Your Friends Read Watch Rate Write Try Invite Exclusive offers for you. Redeem Points!
Listen to unreleased albums
Choose the name of the upcoming service
Help design the university events
Be the first to try new products

2nd Phase Complete! Measure Execute Program implementation online & offline Measurement of the results and evaluation Discover Create

How to Satisfy Social Capital? Context Rewarding Redemption Privilege Satisfy Social Capital

The context is important in social capital .
Close knit groups have the power to magnify the epidemic .
Facilitating and nourishing “Circle of trust” is key
Influencers from a city
Those who tried one product
Blogger influencers
Critic influencers

Sense of efficacy is not enough
Influencers must get instant awards by filling up questionnaires, posting, commenting, sharing, and by inviting friends to the invitation-only backstage
Existing brnad loyalty schemes can be integrated
Attendance is also rewarded
Offline & Online
Expected & Unexpected rewards

Instant awards aren’t enough
Music, sports events tickets
Last minute free tickets by surprise
Joining a company marketing meeting
“ Once in a life-time” experiences during sponsored events, etc.

Invitations to movie premiers
Access to restricted areas
Hand-shake with celebrities
Meet with company C-Level
Fast-lane to events
Mini concierge
New service trials
Semi-classified info
etc.

3rd Phase Complete! Measure Measurement of the results and evaluation Discover Create Execute

How to Measure Social Capital? Reach Decisions Human Capital Measure Social Capital Quality

How to Measure Social Capital? Quality Reach Decisions Human Capital Measure Social Capital
Measure brand usage & attitude
Are influencers still influencing?
Did we invest in the right social capital?
Are there better social capital investment opportunities?
Check portfolio strategy in terms of composition

How to Measure Social Capital? Reach Decisions Human Capital Measure Social Capital
What is the impact of our influencers?
How many people are we influencing?
Can we utilize and direct our influencer network better?
Geographically
Campus based
Cluster based
How many more influencers do we need?
Quality

Measure to justify visionary opinions by asking them
Quantitative ideas about services, products, etc.
Growing numbers of backstage influencers will enable test marketing
Panel measurement allows for discussion around certain topics and provides qualitative actionable insight
Quality

Convert Social Capital to Human Capital
Backstage is also a trojan recruitment mechanism
There is a constant job interview going on
Dedicated Influencers may be your employees should they prove to “make the most of influence”
Quality

4th Phase Complete! Discover Create Execute Measure

Thank You!
Just wanted to share with all of you one of my well thought presentations with the hope of inspiring a few brands for doing better influencer marketing programs.
Thank You!
A.Emre Erşahin
[email_address]

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Creating A Healthy Influencer Marketing Program

by Emre Ersahin on Apr 15, 2009

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