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As we enter 2024, I told you we were going to dial in our pursuit of changing the mindset in the influence marketing industry to help brands and agencies focus on influence, not just influencers. So w…

As we enter 2024, I …

As we enter 2024, I told you we were going to dial in our pursuit of changing the mindset in the influence marketing industry to help brands and agencies focus on influence, not just influencers. So we’re going to have a lot of conversations with a lot of different people along the way to make that happen.We’re going to kick off the year talking to one of my favorite people. Krista Neher has been a leading authority on digital marketing for as long as I can remember. She’s a six-time best-selling author and found of Bootcamp Digital, an Education brand that offers digital marketing certi…

It’s been a minute. If you haven’t noticed, Winfluence has been on a bit of a holiday hiatus. Honestly, its a good thing for me … client work ramped up toward the end of the year and I simply di…

It’s been a minute…

It’s been a minute. If you haven’t noticed, Winfluence has been on a bit of a holiday hiatus. Honestly, its a good thing for me … client work ramped up toward the end of the year and I simply didn’t have enough time to fit in the weekly interviews and production to give you an episode worth listening to.Instead of rushing to crank out something mediocre, I opted to step back, focus on the client work and reassess what Winfluence is and can be. For the last few weeks, I’ve thought long and hard about the show. I even entertained the notion that maybe it had run its course and wasn’t…

When someone says they run an influencer marketing agency, what comes to mind? I’ve asked a few brand-side folks I know that question in the last week or two and have received a number of different …

When someone says th…

When someone says they run an influencer marketing agency, what comes to mind? I’ve asked a few brand-side folks I know that question in the last week or two and have received a number of different responses.Some people say they think of an ad agency only that only focuses on influencers. Others say a consultant or small shop that handles all that busy work for you. Another contact said they think of the team at the software company they use, like CIPIO.ai for instance, which does the cat herding as it were.The truth is none of those answers are wrong. The third party that handles some degre…

We’ve had a couple of episodes and conversations in the past that talk about gamers. The online video game industry is worth billions of dollars. Its content creators have some of the most captive a…

We’ve had a couple…

We’ve had a couple of episodes and conversations in the past that talk about gamers. The online video game industry is worth billions of dollars. Its content creators have some of the most captive audiences in any medium. Twitch is one of the biggest and most impactful social networks and it is dominated by video gamers who live stream themselves playing video games.And yet, this behemoth of a segment is still a mystery to most of us in the influence marketing space. Some consumer brands have played on Twitch and sponsored various gamers to some degree of success. But the businesses and agen…

Do you know what this show is about? If you said “influencer marketing,” you’re close, but not necessarily wrong. If you said “influence marketing” you’re more right. And if you said, the …

Do you know what thi…

Do you know what this show is about? If you said “influencer marketing,” you’re close, but not necessarily wrong. If you said “influence marketing” you’re more right. And if you said, the exploration of how brands can apply influence in all its shapes and forms, to aide it their marketing, you’re spot-on.But if you weren’t spot-on, that’s my fault, not yours. It’s an example of my marketing and communications with you failing to deliver the point.It’s an Exercise in Clarity. And Steve Woodruff is probably the person on the planet with the most expertise and focus on helpi…

We’ve been talking to some talent managers of late. They play an important role for many creators, managing the business of their influencer status while the creator, well creates. Many of them add …

We’ve been talking…

We’ve been talking to some talent managers of late. They play an important role for many creators, managing the business of their influencer status while the creator, well creates. Many of them add another perspective to the creative process, contribute ideas to shape partnerships into something more than they would be otherwise and are valuable to the brands and agencies in the equation as well.But allow me a moment to be rather frank. Those are exceptions to the rule. Most talent managers are in it for one thing: maximizing the take so they maximize their commission.Too many managers ask f…

Those of you who have watched or listened to Winfluence for a while know that I got my professional start in radio. I marched myself into the local radio station at 14-years-old and said, “I wanna b…

Those of you who hav…

Those of you who have watched or listened to Winfluence for a while know that I got my professional start in radio. I marched myself into the local radio station at 14-years-old and said, “I wanna be a deejay!” And for some reason they said, “Okay. You start Friday.”I pursued radio through high school and college, navigated the world of broadcasting and sports hoping to one day land at ESPN. I actually interviewed there the same week I interviewed for its parent company, ABC. My first full-time job out of college wound up as a producer at ABC Radio Sports in New York.My experiences inc…

The evolution of a content creator is something brands and agencies see, but don’t watch. Bear with me on this for a moment. It’s like the difference in hearing something, and actually listening w…

The evolution of a c…

The evolution of a content creator is something brands and agencies see, but don’t watch. Bear with me on this for a moment. It’s like the difference in hearing something, and actually listening with the intent of understanding.So we on the agency or brand side of things may run into a content creator we find on Instagram who is doing interesting things around the topic we’re focused on for our brand or client. We reach out to them, maybe do a sponsored post or some other type of trial run content collaboration. We appreciate their work and their, let’s say 50,000 followers there.And t…

There’s another “State of the Industry” report out this month. It actually came last week from Linqia, which is one of the enterprise influencer marketing software companies out there. These rep…

There’s another �…

There’s another “State of the Industry” report out this month. It actually came last week from Linqia, which is one of the enterprise influencer marketing software companies out there. These reports are always useful, so I like to report on them here on the show. If you want to read the full report for yourself, which I encourage you to do, you go to their website and sign up and trade your email address for their research. You become a lead in their platform … that’s how B2B marketing often works. But it’s a fair trade and, who knows? Linqia might be just what your company needs.…

Depending on where you are at the table in the influencer marketing space, your meal is slightly different. Creators can range from nano-influencers who barely consider themselves influencers or creat…

Depending on where y…

Depending on where you are at the table in the influencer marketing space, your meal is slightly different. Creators can range from nano-influencers who barely consider themselves influencers or creators at all … to those who achieve true celebrity status and have full production teams they employ to create all that content while they live off their personality and audience connection.For brands, you can be super nimble with your budget and work with the former of those. You can go big and work with the latter. But most find themselves somewhere in the middle jockeying around a mix of small …

What would you do if you didn’t have access to social media for a day? How about a week? What about three and a half months? How would that change your daily habits? How would it change where you tu…

What would you do if…

What would you do if you didn’t have access to social media for a day? How about a week? What about three and a half months? How would that change your daily habits? How would it change where you turned for information.How would it affect your business? Now, certainly for you social media content creators and brands that rely heavily on social media creators and content to drive customers, I’m sure if could be catastrophic. But really? Are there no other alternatives?Don’t get me wrong. I’m not here to advocate for a social media shut down, but someone did it recently and lived to tel…

If you’ve been paying attention to the goings on in the influencer marketing world, you know by now that there was a major acquisition announced recently. Sprout Social, long known as one of the top…

If you’ve been pay…

If you’ve been paying attention to the goings on in the influencer marketing world, you know by now that there was a major acquisition announced recently. Sprout Social, long known as one of the top social media management solutions in the space, acquired Tagger Media. Its main product, Tagger, is one of the leading influencer marketing software solutions on the market. It was once a regular sponsor of this program as well.Tagger was actually also responsible for bringing me to the Influencer Marketing Show a couple of years ago. Pete Kennedy, its CEO and I became friends with a shared visio…

Marketing automation is a topic that most people dig into when they’re in the enterprise or B2B space. It’s an approach to marketing that allows you to set up triggers and events using software to…

Marketing automation…

Marketing automation is a topic that most people dig into when they’re in the enterprise or B2B space. It’s an approach to marketing that allows you to set up triggers and events using software to drive leads, then work those leads down your funnel to conversion. When you think marketing automation, you almost always think of email. Set up sequences of emails for people who fill out a form on your website or register for an event. They get an initial thank you email, then you automate one that sends them an offer or interesting reason to reengage on your website a few days later and so on…

The influencer marketing landscape is changing. Now, that’s not a statement many people would find alarming. It’s always changing. But when you watch the industry like I do and for as long as I ha…

The influencer marke…

The influencer marketing landscape is changing. Now, that’s not a statement many people would find alarming. It’s always changing. But when you watch the industry like I do and for as long as I have, you see the tea leaves. And when they perk up a certain way, you sense a change is a brewin’. Mavrck is out this week with its annual Creator Compensation Report. It’s a yearly survey of several hundred content creators that asks specific questions about how much they make, what type of work fuels that revenue, what kind of brand deals are they working and the like. It’s usually an insi…

What are your goals? More importantly, do you write them down? How often do you refer to them? Or are you like me and have vague ideas of what you want to accomplish in your head, but they kind of mo…

What are your goals?…

What are your goals? More importantly, do you write them down? How often do you refer to them? Or are you like me and have vague ideas of what you want to accomplish in your head, but they kind of morph and change depending on the day?Certainly, we’re more disciplined about business goals. They typically have to be articulated in strategies and presentations, discussed in meetings and conference calls, probably ad nauseum. But they’re important to have, to revisit frequently and to refer to when making strategic decisions for your business. Debra Eckerling is a goals strategist. She help…

There are many ways to slice an apple. Or peel an orange. Or for that matter, there are many ways to get from your house to the office or grocery store … and just as many to get back. There are als…

There are many ways …

There are many ways to slice an apple. Or peel an orange. Or for that matter, there are many ways to get from your house to the office or grocery store … and just as many to get back. There are also many ways to approach influence marketing. If you’ve been listening and following along with Winflunce for any amount of time you know that we focus on influence marketing, without the R. While social media celebrities with big followings are one way to slice the influence apple, there are many other ways to ultimately persuade an audience to take action. Sam Katz knows this. He is an influen…

From time to time people find out in conversation that I’m a published author. It’s a monicker and fact that sits in my social media bios and certainly something I say proudly on my website and su…

From time to time pe…

From time to time people find out in conversation that I’m a published author. It’s a monicker and fact that sits in my social media bios and certainly something I say proudly on my website and such, but it’s not something that typically comes up on conversation. When it does, I get asked a lot of questions about it.Writing a book certainly had a big impact on my professional credibility and personal brand. Though anyone with an idea and the Internet, and maybe a little bit of Money, can self-publish, all three of my books have been with legit, business publishing houses. For Winfluence,…

Some of you may know I spent the first half of my professional career as a public relations professional in the world of college athletics. Back then we called the job being a sports information direc…

Some of you may know…

Some of you may know I spent the first half of my professional career as a public relations professional in the world of college athletics. Back then we called the job being a sports information director, or SID. The industry evolved to labeling the role something like athletic media relations or athletic communications or similar, but our job was to publicize the teams, coaches and student-athletes.The first sport I was ever placed in charge of as a student assistant at Morehead State University was the Eagle volleyball team. I hadn’t ever seen volleyball in person before going to college, …

You may have noticed I’ve been mixing in more content here recently focused on content creators. It’s not that you brand and agency folks aren’t the primary focus of the show. You are. But if yo…

You may have noticed…

You may have noticed I’ve been mixing in more content here recently focused on content creators. It’s not that you brand and agency folks aren’t the primary focus of the show. You are. But if you’re reading between the lines, the advice that some of our guests have had recently about helping creators build and grow their business … well, it applies to you, too. Kind of a two birds with one stone approach, if you will. In this episode of Winfluence, we’ll follow in that direction a bit. Dean Mercado is today’s guest. He’s a business coach who also happens to run a digital mark…

There’s a growing problem in the influencer marketing space with content creators. We’ve talked about it on this show before. But there never seems to be any great push to solve for this particula…

There’s a growing …

There’s a growing problem in the influencer marketing space with content creators. We’ve talked about it on this show before. But there never seems to be any great push to solve for this particular problem. The main focus of many an influencer today is creating videos for TikTok, Instagram and YouTube. For posting Stories on various platforms and engaging their followers and fans there. But those platforms aren’t owned by the creators. There’s a significant amount of risk influencers and content creators are taking by putting their main source of income on borrowed land.Montana recent…

We’ve been talking a lot about brand lately on the show. Recent episodes featuring Patrick Hanlon and Rick Ray have centered all of us, brands and creators, agencies and vendors alike … we’ve be…

We’ve been talking…

We’ve been talking a lot about brand lately on the show. Recent episodes featuring Patrick Hanlon and Rick Ray have centered all of us, brands and creators, agencies and vendors alike … we’ve become centered on telling a brand story. But we can’t leave it at that. We have to put that brand story into action.I happened to be in the audience at CEX, the Creator Economy Expo, in Cleveland last month, to see Jay Acunzo speak. He’s formerly with ESPN, Google, HubSpot and a few other places. He’s a content guy and a podcaster (subscribe to his show Unthinkable) so I wanted to see what he…

We spent some time recently with Patrick Hanlon talking about Primal Branding. Having that deep assessment of who you are as a brand can inform and even drive everything you do. I think we reached the…

We spent some time r…

We spent some time recently with Patrick Hanlon talking about Primal Branding. Having that deep assessment of who you are as a brand can inform and even drive everything you do. I think we reached the conclusion that spending time to deeply understand and define your brand is important, whether you are a content creator or have products and services to sell.The topic of branding is quite intriguing to me. When it’s done right, the brand is memorable, if not successful. So I wanted to continue the conversation, but add some different perspective to it.Rick Ray is the co-founding partner of br…

The influencer marketing landscape is big and ever-changing. You have huge agencies that with with big brands for big budgets. You have boutique firms and consultants that mix and match influencer app…

The influencer marke…

The influencer marketing landscape is big and ever-changing. You have huge agencies that with with big brands for big budgets. You have boutique firms and consultants that mix and match influencer approaches. You have niche players in the agency and software space that focus on micro and nano influencers. And at each of those tiers, you have speciality shops that are more like Hollywood Entertainment production houses, video-only tools … Honestly, it’s a big mess.The ever-changing landscape also impacts the power and effectiveness of creators. To many, the individual content creator is the…

If you follow the conventional Wisdom around an influencer’s lifespan, you know they start living their best life, then define a strong content niche and build an engaged audience. Then they do lots…

If you follow the co…

If you follow the conventional wisdom around an influencer’s lifespan, you know they start living their best life, then define a strong content niche and build an engaged audience. Then they do lots of brand collabs and make a fair amount of money. Then they diversify and get into creating their own products, services or even a full on media platform.Mr. Beast is an example of the latter. Jake Paul is another influencer turned big star. Lilly Singh went from YouTuber to late night TV star. Technically, you can add Justin Bieber, Carly Rae Jepsen, Megan Thee Stallion and many more big celebs …

There’s an argument to be made that influencers are the “IT” channel in marketing. That trusted, third-party recommendation or referral is extremely powerful and often far more effective at comm…

There’s an argumen…

There’s an argument to be made that influencers are the “IT” channel in marketing. That trusted, third-party recommendation or referral is extremely powerful and often far more effective at communicating big ideas and marketing messages to consumers. Big brands are eating it up. The influencer marketing industry is growing by billions of dollars per year. The creator economy is booming. One area where influencers and content creators can have a huge impact on a brand is their purpose-driven or cause marketing. But the impact can be both hugely positive or hugely negative. There’s a …

Whether you are a creator or represent a company, agency or other stakeholder in the influencer marketing space, you have a brand. It may or may not be a good one. Or at least one that is well-defined…

Whether you are a cr…

Whether you are a creator or represent a company, agency or other stakeholder in the influencer marketing space, you have a brand. It may or may not be a good one. Or at least one that is well-defined, clearly communicated and the like, but you have a brand. If you haven’t articulated what that brand is, you’re kind of leaving it up to those around you to define or even assume what it is. The more you can articulate what that brand is, what it stands for, what it strives for, the better chance you have of recruiting fans and followers. If you’re rather extreme in defining it, you can e…

I threw out one of my Winfluence tips a few weeks back. For those who aren’t aware, I’ll record little one-minute tips and ideas from time to time and post them as Instagram Reels or YouTube Short…

I threw out one of m…

I threw out one of my Winfluence tips a few weeks back. For those who aren’t aware, I’ll record little one-minute tips and ideas from time to time and post them as Instagram Reels or YouTube Shorts … sometimes on LinkedIn, too. The one I’m referring to was inspired by a friend who asked how one would uncover the influencers online who really have true influence. Not just followers or decent engagement rates. But the ones who can post something that drives people to actually do something or think differently about something.The answer to that question isn’t what most people want to h…

Without question the last 2-3 years have lit a fire under businesses, brands, governments and individuals with regard to how to think of and interact with diversity. In fact, the acronym of the early …

Without question the…

Without question the last 2-3 years have lit a fire under businesses, brands, governments and individuals with regard to how to think of and interact with diversity. In fact, the acronym of the early 2020s has to be D-E-I … Diversity, Equity and Inclusivity. While that refers to far more than just race, a good portion of the conversation around DEI circles around people of color. In the influence marketing space, that conversation has driven progress around the pay gap from white to black or brown creators, representation in influence marketing campaigns and sensitivities for businesses and…

We’re going to do something a little different today. I’ve always been fascinated with the origin stories and journey to content creator or influencers of those that I meet along the way. I’ve m…

We’re going to do …

We’re going to do something a little different today. I’ve always been fascinated with the origin stories and journey to content creator or influencers of those that I meet along the way. I’ve met and interviewed dozens who sat out be social media famous and monetize their content. I've talked to many who fell into by accident. But the constant thread in all those journeys is their stories are fascinating to me. A couple of weeks ago, I came across a local content creator, influencer and podcaster here in Louisville, honestly by happenstance. I knew who she was, of course. I like to kee…

There’s been a shift in the trade winds across the advertising industry in the last few years and the gusts are starting to come into our shores at an alarming rate now. Tighter economies lead to ti…

There’s been a shi…

There’s been a shift in the trade winds across the advertising industry in the last few years and the gusts are starting to come into our shores at an alarming rate now. Tighter economies lead to tighter waistlines, at least in the budget metaphor and what was once standard operation procedure goes out with a new way of thinking.The shift I’m talking about has to do with advertising models. The economy has forced brands to find more efficient ways to get the word out. Spend less, while doing as much, or even more. And while that makes perfect, smart business sense for the brand in question…

TikTok may be in trouble in the United States. Our Congress has no fewer than four pieces of legislation in motion right now that in some form or fashion could ban the use of the platform in America. …

TikTok may be in tro…

TikTok may be in trouble in the United States. Our Congress has no fewer than four pieces of legislation in motion right now that in some form or fashion could ban the use of the platform in America. Most constitutional law experts are skeptical such a ban could survive scrutiny of the courts because it’s a clear violation of freedom of speech, a first-amendment right in this country. Now, I’m the last person in the world interested in talking politics. I gave up on the possibility our elected officials actually represented the public’s interests in the 1990s. I keep informed so my vote…

If you haven’t been smacked in the face with a conversation about AI or Artificial Intelligence in the last month, and you’re in the marketing space, you’re not getting out much. The algorithms …

If you haven’t bee…

If you haven’t been smacked in the face with a conversation about AI or artificial intelligence in the last month, and you’re in the marketing space, you’re not getting out much. The algorithms and machine learning robots have gotten awfully good and at an awfully lot of things, including written content, graphic and image generation and all sorts of other tasks. But what does AI have to do with influencer marketing? And how will it impact what we do as brands, agencies, and creators? How will it impact the software vendors we work with?I wanted to explore that topic a bit with Daria Be…

Most of you know I spent the last five years or so at Cornett, a very good advertising agency in Lexington, Kentucky. Being an influencer marketing strategist at an agency is both fun and challenging.…

Most of you know I s…

Most of you know I spent the last five years or so at Cornett, a very good advertising agency in Lexington, Kentucky. Being an influencer marketing strategist at an agency is both fun and challenging. When you’re at an agency, you get work with a variety of clients, so you don’t get lulled into the same ole, same ole if you’re just working on one brand. But, clients need cajoling. Educating. They don’t always know how influencer marketing works. Sometimes they don’t even really believe in it. And more often than not, they try to turn it into a programmatic ad buy and say, “Just te…

We’ve got a special episode this week. You may recall a couple of weeks ago, I shared an episode of The Rise – The Community Commerce Marketing Show in which I talked to author and marketing thoug…

We’ve got a specia…

We’ve got a special episode this week. You may recall a couple of weeks ago, I shared an episode of The Rise – The Community Commerce Marketing Show in which I talked to author and marketing thought-leader Jay Baer about his Time to Win research. This week, I share another episode of The Rise for similar reasons.Mark Schaefer is another marketing industry expert and author-speaker type. He and I have been friends and collaborators for several years. I’ve always enjoyed his perspective on the marketing world. He actually authored one of the first big books about influence marketing called…

A friend of mine reached out recently and asked me if influencer marketing was possible for B2B businesses. Keep in mind this friend isn’t in the bubble of marketing and doesn’t follow along with …

A friend of mine rea…

A friend of mine reached out recently and asked me if influencer marketing was possible for B2B businesses. Keep in mind this friend isn’t in the bubble of marketing and doesn’t follow along with the same type of topics you or I do. He also probably didn’t give it much thought before asking.When I explained to him that not only is B2B influencer marketing possible, but in my opinion, B2B brands have been deploying influencer marketing in far more sophisticated ways than B2C brands for a long time. I asked him rhetorically, “Who do B2B brands call on to be guests on their webinars or co…

We’ve got a special episode today for a couple of reasons. First, my pal Jay Baer has new research out on the Time to Win. It’s a fascinating study on how responsiveness in all its variations real…

We’ve got a specia…

We’ve got a special episode today for a couple of reasons. First, my pal Jay Baer has new research out on the Time to Win. It’s a fascinating study on how responsiveness in all its variations really can be the difference between getting new business and not … and keeping business and not.Jay and I came up together as social media talking heads, if you will. His Convince and Convert blog and his awesome insights and ideas about social media catapulted him to become one of the most sought after speakers in the marketing space. His work took him through several themes, and best-selling book…

If you haven’t been thinking about user-generated content and how your brand can leverage it lately, well, you’re late to the party. UGC has become one of those three-letter abbreviations that eve…

If you haven’t bee…

If you haven’t been thinking about user-generated content and how your brand can leverage it lately, well, you’re late to the party. UGC has become one of those three-letter abbreviations that everyone instantly understands. At least in the marketing world. Why is that? Well, content from users … the normal, regular social media user who posts content about a product or service is, by definition, more authentic. We’re talking about your normal fans and followers here, not necessarily influencers or professional creators, though they cross over into the same space sometimes, too. That…

I want to know more about you. Actually, I need to know more about you. The more I know about you, the better I can make this show. The better the show, the happier you are being a listener.Of course,…

I want to know more …

I want to know more about you. Actually, I need to know more about you. The more I know about you, the better I can make this show. The better the show, the happier you are being a listener.Of course, in full transparency, the more I know about you, the audience, collectively, the better I can select sponsors or advertisers to bring to you. I don’t want a podcast ad to turn you off, so knowing you better allows me to say within some degree of reason that an advertiser either is or isn’t relevant for you to know.Either way, my focus on wanting to know more about you is to continually improv…

I’ve been using and reviewing social Technology software for almost 20 years now. One of the most frequent categories of software I’m either pitched or someone recommends I try is in the social me…

I’ve been using an…

I’ve been using and reviewing social technology software for almost 20 years now. One of the most frequent categories of software I’m either pitched or someone recommends I try is in the social media management category. These are platforms like HootSuite or Sprout Social where you’re able to plug in all your social media channels, manage your comments and message from each in one place, publish and set up calendars to pre-load content and such. Some of them add features like social listening. Most of them just have a social inbox and call it social listening, but that’s a different r…

I want to talk to you about leveraging podcasts for your marketing. No, this isn’t a pitch to get you to start a podcast, though I can certainly spell out dozens of reasons you should. I’m not her…

I want to talk to yo…

I want to talk to you about leveraging podcasts for your marketing. No, this isn’t a pitch to get you to start a podcast, though I can certainly spell out dozens of reasons you should. I’m not here today to wax poetic about Winfluence, the podcast, nor the Marketing Podcast Network which I run.I’m secure in the knowledge you understand that I’m deeply invested in podcasts. I think they’re a great tool for any marketing effort and I’m always happy to discuss that if you’re interested. But what I want to go over today is leveraging the ability and opportunity to be a guest on othe…

Before we get into the show today a reminder for those of you listening on the podcast that Winfluence is now available in amazing technicolor. If you’d like to see the magic as well as hear it, jus…

Before we get into t…

Before we get into the show today a reminder for those of you listening on the podcast that Winfluence is now available in amazing technicolor. If you’d like to see the magic as well as hear it, just pop over to the YouTube channel and subscribe. The easy way to get there is jasonfalls.co/youtube. Of course, you can also search for Jason Falls Winfluence or just Winfluence on YouTube and find it.The new video episodes will also be offered up on YouTube, LinkedIn and Twitter each Monday. We’re going to shift the publishing of the show to 11 a.m. ET so folks can join us for lunch, brunch or …

In a now exclusive audio commentary episode, Jason Falls takes on the sudden irrational reaction to the trend of #deinfluencing on TikTok and other channels. It has inspired many a creator to poke fun…

In a now exclusive a…

In a now exclusive audio commentary episode, Jason Falls takes on the sudden irrational reaction to the trend of #deinfluencing on TikTok and other channels. It has inspired many a creator to poke fun at the influencer marketing space. Some of them are poking fun at creators who do a lot of sponsored content. Others are making fun of brands who pay those creators. It’s causing a stir in industry conversations. But it shouldn’t. Jason explains why on this commentary episode of Winfluence Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Before we jump into this episode, a note for the listeners: Winfluence is now available as a video show. If you’d like to see the magic as well as hear it, just pop over to the YouTube channel and s…

Before we jump into …

Before we jump into this episode, a note for the listeners: Winfluence is now available as a video show. If you’d like to see the magic as well as hear it, just pop over to the YouTube channel and subscribe. The easy way to get there is jasonfalls.co/youtube. Of course, you can also search for Jason Falls Winfluence or just Winfluence on YouTube and find it.The new episodes will also be offered up on YouTube, LinkedIn and Twitter each Monday. We’re going to shift the publishing of the show to 11 a.m. ET so folks can join us for lunch, brunch or breakfast viewing on the stream. The audio po…

Live Streaming is becoming more and more popular for both creators and brands today. The ability to not only deploy video content to engage an audience, but do it live, in real-time, tears down almost…

Live streaming is be…

Live streaming is becoming more and more popular for both creators and brands today. The ability to not only deploy video content to engage an audience, but do it live, in real-time, tears down almost all the barriers social networks present to get to and engage an audience. The social network sites prioritize live video content over anything else in their algorithms. They even force feed pop-up notifications on you to tell you when someone you’re following is live while you’re there, hoping you’ll come over and watch. It makes the social network experience stickier. You stay longer. Yo…

Those of us on the agency or services side of the influence marketing industry covet one thing really: Insights from brand-side marketers, particularly those who are the decision-makers in the busines…

Those of us on the a…

Those of us on the agency or services side of the influence marketing industry covet one thing really: Insights from brand-side marketers, particularly those who are the decision-makers in the business. I would imagine talent managers and some creators also covet that since the brand’s investments in any of us is what makes the industry tick.In that broad category of brand decision makers, there are a wide variety of businesses and brands. You have Small Businesses, often mom and pop, local shops, who are regular businesses we encounter all the time. They’re probably not often called start…

We all like killing to birds with one stone, right? Metaphorically, of course. I don’t actually kill birds. Neither do you, I hope. But when you can learn amazing insights from someone who leads in…

We all like killing …

We all like killing to birds with one stone, right? Metaphorically, of course. I don’t actually kill birds. Neither do you, I hope. But when you can learn amazing insights from someone who leads influence marketing for a big brand, but that person also happens to be a content creator themselves, well now we can double our takeaways and smarts without having to go two different directions.Zeena Koda has been a content creator and media personality for the better part of the last 15-20 years. She’s been everything from a red carpet host on television to a voice-over artist to a podcast host…

If you don’t know the importance of acquiring and leveraging first party data in marketing yet, let me give you a quick recap. Consumers generally do not want companies like ours capturing and using…

If you don’t know …

If you don’t know the importance of acquiring and leveraging first party data in marketing yet, let me give you a quick recap. Consumers generally do not want companies like ours capturing and using their data without their explicit permission. Regulatory guidance like GDPR in Europe, and consumer-focused policy trends like not allowing 3rd party cookies to scrape data from website users are responding. Soon, places like Google that not only allows the use of 3rd party data for targeting, but helps you capture it, too, will sunset that ability. Other browser makers like Apple with its Safar…

I want to be painfully honest with you today, gang. What we do in the influence marketing space, or the marketing space overall, often seems to me to be superfluous. Will the world survive if marketin…

I want to be painful…

I want to be painfully honest with you today, gang. What we do in the influence marketing space, or the marketing space overall, often seems to me to be superfluous. Will the world survive if marketing died? Sure it would. Heck, some people would even say it might be a better place. Sometimes, I’m not sure those voices are wrong.Don’t get me wrong! I love what we do. And I do think that connecting brands to the audiences that can benefit from knowing them has meaning. While that might be a stretch for someone who markets luxury footwear. It becomes more relevant for those of us who do it …

We can talk about influence marketing or even influencers … or for that matter just social media marketing all day and it still doesn’t necessarily mean the C-level folks in your business are goin…

We can talk about in…

We can talk about influence marketing or even influencers … or for that matter just social media marketing all day and it still doesn’t necessarily mean the C-level folks in your business are going to understand and approve what we want to do.Some of us talk to the C-level. Some of us are at the C-level in our organizations. But the hard truth of the matter for marketers, even the CMO, is that those of us in the weeds of building marketing strategies and executions are seldom understood or even trusted by the CEO, COO, CFO and other executives in charge. That makes it harder to do our job.…

You already know we focus our attention here on influence marketing. That encompasses what many traditionally think of as influencer marketing (with the R) where a brand finds a social media content c…

You already know we …

You already know we focus our attention here on influence marketing. That encompasses what many traditionally think of as influencer marketing (with the R) where a brand finds a social media content creator with a large audience to post about their product or service. We expand that conversation to include anyone with influence … social media followers be damned … to help communicate your message. That brand-to-creator-to-audience style of influence makes up the lion’s share of how we think in the influence or influencer space. But then along comes a slightly different model that makes…