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INFLUENCER  [in-floo-uh n-ser]  A person or who has the ability to influence the behaviour or opinions of others through social media.

Monitoring the impact of your influencer campaigns can help you understand your audience, create more effective content to engage and grow your customer base as well as measure the impact they are having on your brand. 

Influencer marketing can yield significant results, particularly on visual-focused platforms such as Instagram, Facebook and YouTube. Since the inception of Instagram in 2010, influencer marketing on the platform has increased exponentially with a growth in social action of 39 per cent in 2018 and a daily active user list of greater than 500 million. Influencer marketing statistics have indicated that 82 per cent of consumers are likely to follow an influencer recommendation and brands have found it to be an effective channel to promote and grow their brands.

At present, more and more brands are including influencer marketing into their overall marketing strategy in order to add value to their brand and better engage with their audience. And although it can be one of the more affordable channels to gain more customers, proper campaign planning is still required to ensure you get the most out of your investment.

According to Influencer Marketing Hub, 10.5 per cent of brands consider the audience relationship to be the most valuable factor when collaborating with an influencer and will more and more brands.

Measuring your success

Measuring the success of your influencers is crucial to understanding if your strategy is working. By utilising social media monitoring, you can monitor information relevant to your business. For example, you might want to track and measure:

• Brand mentions (with or without direct tagging)
• Relevant hashtags (branded and unbranded)
• Mentions of your competitors
• Keywords or trends applicable to your industry

Social media monitoring in our Mediaportal helps you track key social metrics such as brand awareness and social share of voice. With this information, you can use it to test social campaigns, track ROI and build on improving future campaigns.

The level of influence

As an influencer is an extension of your brand, it is important to seek out influencers that align with your brand values and align with your products and services. It’s also important to understand the different levels of influencers as their audience size can determine their engagement rate. Interestingly, once a social influencer reaches a critical mass of followers, audience engagement begins to decrease.

Micro-influencer 

The largest group of influencers are known as micro-influencers - holding approximately 500 - 10,000 followers. Micro-influencers are a good asset to brands as their followers are interested and engaged with the influencer, which in turn, results in a higher engagement rate - approximately 25 - 50 per cent.

Macro-influencer

Macro-influencers have around 5 - 25 per cent engagement per post with audiences ranging from 10,000 - 1 million. Although the engagement rate is lower than micro-influencers, macro-influencers can reach up to 10 times more people. 

Mega-influencer

These influencers could be a social media celebrity.  Although they can have a following of over 1 million, their engagement rate is approximately 2 - 5 per cent. 

Relevance, Reach, Resonance

Although there are many benefits of influencer marketing, influencers can also go awry if they fall out of favour with their audience or unexpectantly decide to move on from a brand. In addition, like any marketing campaign, there is financial risk with influencer marketing. Unlike the world of cost per click, cost per acquisition and cost per thousand, influencers don’t control who sees their content. Instead, influencers rely on ‘organic reach’, meaning their success is based off the algorithms of Instagram, Facebook and YouTube. Brands face the risk of engaging with influencers that do not have the right type of audience or do not continue to mutually align with the brands strategy. 

To mitigate risk when choosing an influencer, an influencer marketing strategy should be created, and the 3 ‘R’s - relevance, reach and resonance are areas that should be a key focus and making your decision.

Relevance

Ensure your influencer is relevant to your brand, one who has expertise and subject-matter credibility, as well as well developed, solid relationships with their followers. Identify the topics of influence that speak to your brand’s target audience and purchasers and determine if their audience is one you would like to engage with. The influencers demographic should also be considered to determine if they are relevant to your brand and will continue to be influential with their audience.

Reach

If you’ve chosen and targeted your influencer correctly, you not only gain the influencer’s responsive audience, you obtain that audience’s audience too. To mitigate damage to your brand reputation and equity, a natural alignment between your influencer and brand messaging is important and it’s crucial your influencer comes across as authentic and real.

Resonance

Seek out and research influencers that will be a good fit to your brand including content quality, reach, engagement, and an alignment of values with your brand

Also ensure all earned media is reviewed and identify which influencers work best for your brand. Repeat this to continue having a strong influencer marketing strategy.

Since influencer marketing is about building strong relationships, a strategy that values a mutually beneficial relationship is important as well as one that aligns with those who are active in the relevant verticals. By tracking conversations that are being had about your brand you can uncover what your audiences actually find engaging and continue providing relevant content tailored to their values, interest and needs.

If you’d like to learn more about social media monitoring or anything media intelligence related, get in touch with us today

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Good news travels fast; bad news goes viral. If you’re in the business of media, marketing and branding, it’s likely you’re keen to understand how a story unfolds; which platforms ignite and which ones placate an issue.

The question of what makes a story spread piqued the interest of storytellers long before the marketing and communications industry existed. It dates back as far as 350 A.D where Aristotle disclosed that so long as his writings adhered to the three basic principles of ethos, pathos, and logos - that is, if his words were credible, evoked emotion and appealed to reason - then they would spread freely from person to person.

Fast forward a few centuries and today we have an array of data that helps us to fully understand the patterns that underpin successful stories. Using complex algorithms coupled with machine learning, Isentia’s Stories engine is able to track the volume and reach of stories as they develop; drilling down to individual media items where necessary, across traditional, digital and social media channels.

In effect, one look at Stories, on any device, will let you identify the key issues of the day and the key influencers and outlets driving them. Often, the accelerator will surprise you.

Traditional versus social media

As marketers and communicators, we are often asked which platform is most effective in spreading a message - traditional or social media? This is mostly because brands want to know where to best invest their valuable marketing/ communication dollars. The short answer is, neither one nor the other is more effective. In fact, the interplay between the two is what generally prompts a story to ‘go viral’.

Take for example the media storm that engulfed South Australia’s energy woes in early 2017. The abridged version is that the sudden (and unexpected) shut down of ageing coal plants, in Victoria and South Australia, placed enormous pressure on power supply. The situation was covered sparingly in mainstream media, and less so on social: energy policy is not a topic that usually excites Twittersphere.

The issue prompted Tesla’s head of energy products, Lyndon Rive, to appear on ABC radio and suggest that Tesla could solve South Australia’s looming energy crisis within 100 days with high-capacity batteries. Over the next 24 hours Rive completed a number of media interviews on the topic, but the proposal didn’t take flight. That is, until a Twitter exchange fueled the conversation.

The Elon Musk Tweet that Flicked the Switch

When Australian tech mogul, Mike Cannon-Brooks, and Tesla founder Elon Musk began trading tweets a day later, suddenly the story went viral. The tweets were candid, novel and authentic, helped along by Musk’s 13 million plus followers. It should be noted that it is incredibly rare for social media to lead traditional, so what happened next could never have been predicted.

Tweets making news

Traditional media began reporting on the tweets which not only amplified but also legitimised the story. Four days later when Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull entered the conversation, traditional media coverage reached its highest peak.

The interplay between news reports and Twitter played out for over a week gathering more than 1120 news mentions across press, online, broadcast and social media, with the tweets referenced in almost half of the press and internet articles. The sentiment was remarkably positive, with 56% of coverage favouring the use of batteries to save power problems. Elon Musk was praised and renewable energy was widely supported.

In this instance, Aristotle would concur that all bases were covered; Rive’s battery storage proposal was supported by credible sources, it evoked emotion among frustrated bill payers and appealed to reason by offering a sustainable and cost-effective solution for the energy crisis. But no one could have ever imagined that such an open Twitter exchange would ignite an online news explosion that would prompt even the Prime Minister to weigh in. The secret? The tweet offered a rare insight into the world of business that the general public don’t often see. Appealing to our inner voyeur, the tweets between Musk and Cannon-Brooks gave us unprecedented access to boardroom conversations that are ordinarily mediated by press statements and publicists.

It’s highly unusual that one platform or person will make a story go truly viral. It’s when traditional and social media converge that the magic happens. Social media provides a platform for the public to weigh into debate, adding fuel to the already developing fire.

The take home message

Audiences are changing, society is changing, technology is changing and the business landscape is changing. The important lesson is to not be caught off-guard. We must be leveraging technology to keep pace with the news at speeds beyond human capacity. This will enable us to create strategies to maximise opportunities or minimise risk when a story goes viral.

Sean Smith leads the Media Intelligence at Isentia and is responsible for overseeing the delivery of this specialised service to 5,000 clients across APAC. With 15 years’ experience in the media intelligence industry, Sean has contributed to the growth and success of Isentia’s core business across ANZ, paving the way for Isentia’s successful expansion into Asia. He has extensive client knowledge across corporate, government and public relations sectors, now leading the charge on product development, client success and the implementation of new and emerging technologies.

Originally featured in Business First Magazine.

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The Internet of Things (IoT) has the potential to transform the way we work and live, saving money, time and resources. We’re about to see an explosion in growth as companies finally begin to deliver on its promises. Here’s what you can expect from IoT in 2018.

The convergence of the digital and physical worlds enabled by IoT is already being embraced by businesses making use of the 16 billion connected devices. By 2025, Cisco estimates there will over 80 billion IoT endpoints. That’s more than ten for each person on the planet.

The Internet of Things (IoT) bridges the physical and digital worlds, bringing them closer together. In 2018, Forrester claims there will be a shift from ‘experiment to business scale’ as businesses begin to harness the power of IoT at scale.

According to GE research, cost savings are the biggest driver for 69% of European businesses forging ahead with IoT. IoT isn’t simply about introducing new technology. It’s a process that involves using data and insight captured from the billions of connections to drive business change.

What can IoT do?

“At the center of everything we do is a product or a thing. You are either making that thing or you're connecting it.” Says Richard Spencer, Isentia’s CMO. IoT can be used to help businesses reduce manufacturing and operating costs, saving money through process. But it can do much more, Spencer says, offering businesses the “opportunity for true business transformation.”

Process reengineering using IoT can help businesses move ahead. Smarter, leaner and faster manufacturing has seen 82% of businesses who use IoT experience efficiencies, 49% having fewer product defects and 45% seeing increased customer satisfaction.

Rolls Royce collects data from 25 sensors embedded in its massive Trent engines to help it predict potential failures before they happen. In a business where margins are tight and downtime can destroy profits, the organisations Engine Health Management (EHM) team is using IoT to proactively change their business model.

A huge amount of data captured by Microsoft’s Azure IoT suite can be used to improve the relationship Rolls Royce has with its customers. They’re strategically deploying IoT to gain a competitive advantage by delivering value.

The insights gained from detailed operational information can be used to help airlines operate more efficiently, reducing their fuel costs and carbon footprint.

Stepping into the digital future

We’ve seen modest pace of adoption for IoT but things are about to speed up dramatically. In 2018, we will start to see intelligent IoT products and solutions across all business verticals as business step into the digital future.

Manufacturing

Businesses will increasingly use IoT to improve processes and procedures, saving time, money and resources. Centralised monitoring and predictive maintenance of manufacturing equipment can reduce downtime for manufacturers like Airbus, working across their European production facilities.

Travel & Hospitality

A cheap and simple RFID tag in a pallet is all that’s necessary for DHL to track its progress through its global distribution network.  Increased efficiency helps to save costs, with real-time data shared with customers increasing satisfaction.

Life sciences

Real-time monitoring through IoT technology can be used to help diabetes patients adhere to medical treatment regimes. Notifications can be used to keep patients, their families and carers informed and aware of what has been taken and when.

Retail and consumer goods

Wal-Mart throws away US$40 million worth of food every year. IoT technology is helping the food giant to reduce waste. A cheap sensor on a freezer door that can alert a member of staff if it’s left open can save hundreds of dollars in lost produce. Across their entire retail estate it can save millions.

IoT Security

The march of progress isn’t always inexorable; there are barriers to over-come. The biggest concern businesses and customers have with IoT is often security. Every endpoint is a potential access point to hackers. As interconnectivity increases, so does the potential impact of a hack. It’s not just business that are worried - 66% of those interviewed in a UK survey expressing high levels of concern about the security of their connected devices.

The Internet of things Security Foundation has suggested a series of principles for IoT security. Adoption isn’t mandatory, but as IoT develops at pace the systems, procedures and processes will need to become standardised. It’s likely we’ll see a greater push in 2018 for an IoT standard, and with it a greater focus on the security challenges posed by the billions of connected devices coming IoT.

Closer collaboration to solve security issues could help tackle a perennial problem that affects new tech: interoperability. Management consultants McKinsey estimate that 60% of the value that IoT systems may create could be locked by a lack of interoperability. In 2018 we’re likely to see the coalescence around platforms and the emergence of universal standards that can help to accelerate the adoption of IoT, and ensure that this value is captured.

Blueprint for change

The potential for IoT is incredible, but new implementations aren’t always successful. In fact, research has found that 60% of deployments don’t even make it off the drawing board.

2018 is the year that organisations need to start considering the full potential of IoT for products and processes, thinking more strategically about how it could impact and improve the way they do business.

The decision for businesses in 2018 isn’t about whether to start exploring IoT. “Either you are all in or your competition is going to eat your lunch” Spencer says. “It's going to be everywhere.”

Richard Spencer, CMO, Isentia

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Celebrities, cat videos, laughing babies – what makes a story go viral? It’s a question that has plagued marketers and brand builders for decades.

But very recent advancements in technology have given us unique insight into what makes content go viral. Suddenly, we have real data to understand precisely how or why a story suddenly takes off. Often, the accelerator will surprise you. Sean Smith on the cross-platform coverage that’s required to see a story truly go viral.

Using complex algorithms coupled with machine learning, Isentia’s Stories engine is able to track the volume and reach of stories as they develop; drilling down to individual media items where necessary, across traditional, digital and social media channels. In effect, letting you identify the key issues of the day and the key influencers and outlets driving them.

Traditional versus social media

As marketers and communicators, we are often asked which platform is most effective in spreading a message – traditional or social media? This is mostly because brands want to know where to best invest their valuable marketing and communication dollars. The short answer is neither one nor the other is more effective. In fact, the interplay between the two is what generally prompts a story to ‘go viral’.

Take for example the media storm that engulfed South Australia’s energy woes in early 2017. The abridged version is that the sudden (and unexpected) shut down of ageing coal plants in Victoria and South Australia, placed enormous pressure on power supply. The situation was covered sparingly in mainstream media, and less so on social. Energy policy is not a topic that usually excites the Twittersphere.

The issue prompted Tesla’s head of energy products, Lyndon Rive, to appear on ABC radio and suggest that Tesla could solve South Australia’s looming energy crisis within 100 days with high-capacity batteries. Over the next 24 hours Rive completed a number of media interviews on the topic, but the proposal didn’t take flight. That is, until a Twitter exchange fueled the conversation.

The Elon Musk Tweet that flicked the switch

When Australian tech mogul Mike Cannon-Brooks, and Tesla founder Elon Musk began trading tweets a day later, suddenly the story went viral. The tweets were candid, novel and authentic, helped along by Musk’s 13 million-plus followers. It should be noted that it is incredibly rare for social media to lead traditional, so what happened next could never have been predicted.

Tweets making news

Traditional media began reporting on the tweets which not only amplified but also legitimised the story. Four days later when Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull entered the conversation, traditional media coverage reached its highest peak.

The interplay between news reports and twitter played out for over a week gathering more than 1120 news mentions across press, online, broadcast and social media, with the tweets referenced in almost half of the press and internet articles. The sentiment was remarkably positive, with 56% of coverage favouring the use of batteries to save power problems. Elon Musk was praised and renewable energy was widely supported.

No one could have imagined that such an open Twitter exchange would ignite an online news explosion that would prompt even the Prime Minister to weigh in. The secret? The tweet offered a rare insight into the world of business that the general public doesn’t often see. Appealing to our inner voyeur, the tweets between Musk and Cannon-Brooks gave us unprecedented access to boardroom conversations that are ordinarily mediated by press statements and publicists.

It’s highly unusual that one platform or person will make a story go truly viral. It’s when traditional and social media converge that the magic happens. Social media provides a platform for the public to weigh into debate, adding fuel to the already developing fire.

What can we learn from this?

Audiences are changing, society is changing, technology is changing and the business landscape is changing. The important lesson is to not be caught off-guard. We must be leveraging technology to keep pace with the news at speeds beyond human capacity. This will enable us to create strategies to maximise opportunities or minimise risk when a story goes viral.

Originally featured in Marketing Magazine.

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