Andy Barr talks influencer relations

Influencer relations at #PRFest

I am really excited about talking at #PRFest on influencer campaigns, an event that I heard so much about last year that I really wanted to get involved with in 2017. Word on the street is that my talk is going to be the first talk of the event, no pressure.

 

inlfuencer relations at #PRFestComing back to my talk and the fun world of influencer campaigns, these are projects that I have personally been working on since I started my career nearly 20 years ago. Back then though, we just called it “public relations” – BLOWS YOUR MIND RIGHT!? This is just one of the reasons why I feel that public relations professionals are best placed to manage these kinds of campaigns; it’s something we have always done.

influencer marketing #PRFest

The world of influencer marketing can be described as “murky”, at best. It is packed with people wanting to be famous for being excellent in their chosen areas. From the obvious industries such as food and fashion, through to fitness and well-being, there is a niche for everyone on the internet (no, really) and brands are clamouring to get their products mentioned by these online superheroes. One of the reasons I describe the sector as being murky is because of the lengths that some internet “influencers” will go to, to try and manipulate the strength of their online presence.

This is one of the areas that I will be going through during my talk. I will be showing you the tools that we use in our influencer campaigns to make sure that the people we recommend to our clients are genuine and can deliver in terms of return on investment. Return on investment is another grey area in influencer marketing. Many of the campaigns that are showcased across the marketing industry look great but don’t give much away in terms of how much cash monies they have generated for their clients.

Obviously, and as you would expect a public relations person to say, influencer campaigns are not always about the pound return though. We have used these campaigns to help with negative search engine optimisation projects that we have worked on, as well as being part of a corporate social responsibility campaigns. That being said, the majority of influencer projects do require an uplift in product sales and my talk will showcase some of the tracking methods that can be used in order to measure the pound value.

giphy 3To take it back one step, my talk will go through the entire influencer campaign process. From finding people that you should be working with, be they the big hitters or the “emerging” names, right through to the best way to contact them and how much to pay them for getting involved and what you should expect in terms of what they will do for the money.

There are also wider areas to consider, such as deciding if you can realistically be expected to control the message once an influencer puts it out there and who will create the content that is required. All of these areas need to be addressed before you even get started.

In short, this post aims to make readers a bit nervous about running influencer campaigns so that you are more inclined to come along to #PRFest and learn from the master (I am of course referring to Stephen Waddington, not myself… he has a far more comprehensive influencer hack session later on in the day!) Looking forward to seeing you there.

Andy Barr, aged 40, Capricorn, co founder of 10 Yetis Digital

Click here to book your ticket now!