Influencer Marketing is becoming a force to be reckoned with in the online marketing world.

Marketing is changing at a rapid pace, and often without the public even realizing.

How many of us make our decisions based on online information rather than from traditional advertising? A significant amount I would suggest.

And this trend is exponentially increasing.

Welcome to the world of Influencer Marketing…

Influence Marketing Defined

The topic of Influencer Marketing is a little hazy sometimes, but Ron has helped me to define it, so we have a clear place to start talking about it:

Influence Marketing is the practice of identifying and building relationships with individuals who have influence over a target audience of buyers.

Basics of Influence Marketing, by Appinions

There are also various other words and definitions given to Influencer Marketing such as:

• Online Influence


• Influence Marketing


• Word-of-Mouth Marketing


• Brand Advocacy


• Brand Ambassadors


• Celebrity Endorsements


• Influencer Outreach


• Blogger Outreach

What Do Influencers Really Do

If we are going to discuss influencers, it pays to know what it is that they can and really do. Sure they influence, but what does that really mean?

Here are a couple of ideas of what they do with their influencer:

• Create Engaging and Market Specific Content


• Distribute Messages in Their Channels


• Amplify Messages of the Marketer

So fundamentally, they use their influence to market to us directly or indirectly.

The Objectives of Influence Marketing Platforms

Ron has identified the following as the main objectives of Influencer Marketing Platforms:

Identify, recruit, activate, engage, recognize, reward, measure and analyze

With all of the above  in mind, I asked Ron Sela to come on the podcast and give us the low down on Influencer Marketing.

Enter the World of Influencer Marketing

Ron Sela knows a lot about influencer marketing and in this podcast we discuss:

• A quick definition of Influencer Marketing


• Recent books on Influencer Marketing  (**list further down page)


• How do we measure online influence?


• How to find influencers?


• What is the process of working with influencers? (for all businesses)


• A rundown of the kinds of tools used for Influencer Marketing (**see tools list – next section)


• Make sure that you are in compliance with rules & regulations


• Where is Influencer Marketing heading?

Influencer Marketing Solutions/Tools (Ron’s List)

TapInfluence: Content Marketing Software for Brands

GroupHigh: Blogger Outreach Software

InNetwork: Find And Engage The Right Influencers

Triberr: Home of Influencers An Influencer Marketing Platform

Crowdtap: Social Influence Marketing Platform

Online Influence Scoring Systems:

Klout: Be Known For What You Love

Kred: The Social Network for Influencers

PeerIndex: The Marketing Tool for the New Age of Social

Blogger Outreach Tools:

Inkybee: Smart blogger outreach

BuzzStream: Link Building and Digital PR Tools

BuzzSumo: Find the Most Shared Content and Key Influencers

Influencer Marketing Platforms for Businesses:

Traackr – The Influencer Marketing Platform

Appinions Influence Marketing Platform

Little Bird: Influencer Discovery & Engagement

Commun.it: Twitter Community Management Dashboard

Google Plus Tools:

Circle Count

Thought Leadership Marketing in The Age of Online InfluenceCircleScope

Nod3x

Online Influence Books by Thought Leaders (Ron’s Reading List):

Influence Marketing – Danny Brown & Sam Fiorella

Return on Influence  – Mark Schaefer

The New Rules of Customer Engagement – Daniel Newman

Engage – Brian Solis

Ron’s Posts about Influencer Marketing

How to Get More Results Out of Your Influencer Outreach

Thought Leadership Marketing in The Age of Online Influence

Triberr Influence Marketing – Bloggers Pitching Brands

Influence Marketing is Moving Towards Mainstream

Social Media Marketing Insights for Influencers

Who is Ron Sela:

Ron Sela is a Strategic Content Marketing consultant, specializing in influence marketing campaigns, as well as inbound and outbound marketing strategies. You can find Ron blogging at RonSela.com where he shares his opinions, as well as social media tools and techniques that he is using.

Achievements

The Top 100 Bloggers on Triberr (#45)

50 of the Best Global Influence Marketing Blogs (#4)

Inbound Certified: HubSpot Academy

Accredited Professional: Bing Ads

Contributor: Yahoo! Small Business | Business 2 Community | BizSugar

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