by Tom Ruwitch
My son Jacob is a great fisherman.
He fills his Instagram feed with photos of himself holding massive trout, salmon and other fish. (In case you’re wondering, he releases everything he catches except for the occasional salmon that he keeps for dinner.)
Other Instagram-ers like the pictures, and 1,660 of them follow Jacob.
That’s not a huge following, but it’s big enough to attract marketers’ attention.
In marketing-speak, Jacob is an influencer.
Whether you’re a fly fisherman in Colorado or a small-business person in St. Louis, you can grow your business by being an influencer or partnering with influencers.
Here’s how influencer-marketing works for Jacob: He ends the posts with hashtags to highlight the brands he favors: Scott Fly Rods (#scottflyrods), Simms waders (#simmsfishingproducts), Lamson reels (#waterworkslamson) and so forth. In so doing, he helps promote those brands to his followers.
Last year, a company that makes fishing nets wanted to hop aboard Jacob’s Instagram train. The marketing director contacted Jacob and offered to “sponsor” him.
The offer: They would send him free gear. He would use the gear. And when he caught a fish, he would post a photo that included the gear and a hashtag-shoutout for the net company.
Jacob agreed, and his new nets arrived a few days later.
After using the nets for two weeks, Jacob tossed them. They were junk. Not sturdy enough. Not light enough. Not worth using. Not worthy of his endorsement.
A few days later, the marketing guy at the net company called Jacob.
“Why aren’t you showing the net in your photos?” he asked.
“Because I prefer my other nets,” Jacob said.
“But you said you’d promote us,” the marketer growled.
“I’m sorry, dude. Your nets are not good enough to promote,” Jacob replied.
Way to go, Jacob!
He understands that his reputation depends on his integrity. He has worked hard to build a following of people who trust him. He doesn’t want to squander that by promoting junk.
What does this mean for you?
If you are an influencer, promote only products and services that you have vetted and that you value. Otherwise you’re just a shill, and your followers will eventually catch on.
If you sell a product or service, find the influencers who attract your target audience.
The influencers might have a blog that your prospects read; they might have a large social media following; they might be on the speaking circuit.
Wherever they are, find them and connect with them. If you offer a service, perhaps you can persuade the influencer to share content that demonstrates your expertise or describes the value of your service.
If you sell a product, perhaps you can persuade the influencer to use it and promote it.
But be careful: Choose the honest influencers, not the shills.
Tom Ruwitch is the president and founder of MarketVolt, an interactive marketing firm. For more business-building marketing resources by Tom Ruwitch, go to MarketVolt.com/resources.
Submitted 5 years 172 days ago