Uncovering the Power of Invisible Influence: Fours Revolutionary Approach to Influencer Marketing
- Four is an ambassador marketing company based in New York City
- They specialize in long-term and short-term programs with an ambassador mindset, focusing on real connections rather than fake loves
- They have a team of people that work to bring influencer marketing to life
- They introduced the term “invisible influence”
- It looks beyond vanity metrics and considers testimonials, blog traffic, newsletter subscriptions, trackable sales, engagement in DM’s, engagement and comments, consistent over delivery on campaigns and verified reach when looking for invisible influence
- Sophie Wood coined the term invisible influence and Heather and Alexa are members of the Four Community who demonstrate invisible influence.
Measuring Invisible Influence: The Benefits of Testimonials
- Engagement rate is often looked at as a measure of influencer success, but it does not always take into account the level of impact and influence an influencer has Testimonials are a better way to quantify and qualify invisible influence, as they require more effort from followers and provide more insight into connection and trust between influencer and audience
- Testimonials also show that an influencer has the ability to move their audience to action
- Without technology, one can still look for indicators of influence such as website sessions, open rates, testimonials, sales trackable or not, and how easily followers engage with posts.
7 Strategies for Audience Engagement in the Digital Age
- Audience activity can be monitored
- Blog traffic is still powerful
- Comment sentiment should be analyzed for deeper understanding and connections
- Ability to move an audience from one platform to another indicates invisible influence
- Podcast listeners are engaged and valuable
- Twitter following is indicative of strong connection
- High newsletter subscribers indicate deeper content engagement.
Introducing Calvin Walker and Heather Palapu: How Career, Gift Giving and Sponsorship Advice is Helping People Save Time and Energy Calvin Walker from the team at Four was introduced
- Heather Palapu, a multi-hyphenate and pharmaceutical company manager, was also introduced Heather started by sharing her blog, Pitha on the Go, which grew out of her travel experiences
- Heather’s goal with content is to give people solutions to save time and energy on things they must do and have time for what they want to
- Heather has experienced trust from her audience for career advice, gift giving advice, and sponsorships
- Heather uses testimonials as motivation when facing difficult times
Alexa: Skincare Creator Empowers Through Metrics & Meaningful Connections
- Alexa is a skincare Creator on Instagram, Tick Tock, Pinterest, and YouTube
- She started creating content while struggling with postpartum depression to find solace in her situation
- As a creator, she believes in tracking metrics to provide evidence of her influence on brands
- She believes in building long-term relationships with brands rather than one and done campaigns
- Brands should look for creators who have meaningful interactions with their audience through comments and stories.
Speaker Finds Identity and Community Through Skin Care Instagram Account, Reveals Invisible Influence of Content
- The speaker found an identity outside of being a mom by creating an Instagram account focused on skin care
- The speaker found a community through their openness and vulnerability
- Brands often focus on vanity metrics which neglects how influential content can be
- Followers may not purchase products immediately, but rather come back to them months later
- The invisible influence of content can have long-term effects such as one friend in a group buying the product and then all of them following the speaker
Uncovering the Lasting Benefits of Invisible Influence
- Invisible influence is not a short-term strategy
- It involves building awareness and brand recognition over time, without the expectation of immediate conversion
- This means that organic talking about products or services often cannot be directly tracked to ROI
- However, sustained and long tail increase in followers, customers, and repeat customers are indicators of success as well as likes in comments sections to gauge brand reception.
Prada Finds Success with Gen Z Through Influencer Marketing
- Brands have different KPIs for ROI
- Prada was one of the first companies to use influencers on a macro level, and found success with Gen Z Building desire takes time, and influencers can provide trustworthiness to create that emotional connection with a product
- ROl from this kind of marketing is often long-term perception and awareness