Thank you to Forbes for referencing us in this great article.
Millennials and other demographic segments, like Gen Xers and Baby Boomers, demand transparency and authenticity from businesses. If you don’t deliver both — or they discover you’ve been lying to them — you aren’t going to gain or retain their business, according to the “2016 Transparency ROI Study” by Label Insight. An Accenture study on company accountability concluded that brands must be honest in everything they do and say, whether it’s on food labels or in marketing claims.
That authenticity includes your influencer marketing strategy, regardless of whether you’re running a startup or an established company. In light of the recent backlash against fraud in influencer marketing, companies need to carefully vet their brand advocates before using them to engage an audience. Here’s why it’s so important to leverage credible influencers and how you can find them.
The Importance of Credible Influencers
According to the 2015 Nielsen “Global Trust in Advertising” report, 83 percent of consumers will trust a peer recommendation, well above any other form of advertisement. That’s because their peers aren’t trying to sell them something. Plus, these recommendations are based on actual experience with specific results.
Done correctly, influencer marketing can deliver an incredible return on investment. A Tomoson study noted, “Businesses are making $6.50 for each $1 spent on influencer marketing, with the top 13 percent earning $20 or more. A resounding 70 percent are earning $2 or more, with the rest either breaking even or failing to generate a return on investment.” The same study concluded influencer marketing was the fastest way to add new customers and the most cost-effective marketing tool.
Read the full article at Forbes.com.
