Influence Marketing

As stated in Wikipedia, Influence Marketing, is increasingly practiced in a commercial context, comprising of four main activities:

• Identifying influencers, and ranking them in order of importance.
• Marketing to influencers, to increase awareness of the firm within the influencer community
• Marketing through influencers, using influencers to increase market awareness of the firm amongst target markets
• Marketing with influencers, turning influencers into advocates of the firm.

Authors, Duncan Brown and Nick Hayes wrote Influencer Marketing: Who Really Influences Your Customer?

“This book explains why today’s marketing model is a very different playing field. ROI is high on the agenda. The power of the network enables emphasis on 1:1 conversations and choice, dialogues and communities, which in turn leads to honesty and transparency in messaging.” Jon Tutcher Head of Marketing, Sun Microsystems UK & Ireland

Venture Capital firms looking to help their expansion stage portfolio companies should look into influence marketing because, as Jim Cassidy, VP Marketing EMEA, BEA Systems explains, “Today’s market is truly ‘always on’. This is having a dramatic impact on the way that we market and sell to our existing customers and prospects. Influencer Marketing provides an excellent reference on how you can drive and achieve significant change in your traditional mindset to ensure that you can address the new and dynamic challenges that now appear every day’. Ask yourself, ‘Do I change or do more of the same?’ There is only one correct answer”.