INFLUENCER/P.R.
Are you ready?

To me, the center of Influencer/P.R. Marketing is generating word-of-mouth or what’s perceived as a more organic form of buzz that reaches your audience on the most personal levels possible. This means having your brand seen sponsoring events that they go to, being recommended by people around their industry and interests, and having guests spots on their favorite shows and podcasts.

Influencer Marketing and Public Relations are just 2 popular ways of achieving close fellowship with your people, but there are others.

To name a few…

• I have created Affiliate Marketing Programs for ecommerce brands that have turned their loyal customers into their best salespeople
• I have put together review collection strategies (and proper responses to reviews!) that at the simplest level, puts businesses at the top of Google and Yelp results
• I have joined non-competing businesses in beneficial partnerships to create campaigns that expand both their influences to sister audiences, often with a campaign that generates authentic goodwill like joining forces to benefit a charity

Influencer Marketing

Influencer Outreach was the #1 marketing strategy in 2017 and has only grown since. It is no wonder since after 2020, the competition for traditional ad spaces has priced out many, long established and start up companies, that can’t pay to play. The price of ad space on any common platform has inflated 30-50% year over year (since before the covid pandemic in 2019). This has made more creative, organic, and guerilla-style marketing methods the only way to go and has put Influencer Marketing campaigns at the helm.

• In 2018-2019, Influencer Marketing generated $6 back for every $1 spent
• Customers acquired from Influencer Campaigns are more easily retained than that of other channels, with a reported 36% retention rate
• Influencer Campaigns generate 11x the leads when executed properly

*Statistics from an Influencer Outreach Course by The Six Figure Freelancer Academy (Created by Jenny Beres and Alex Grizinski of now Pink Shark P.R.)

Public Relations

According to Dictionary.com, the definition of P.R. is the professional maintenance of a favorable public image by a company or other organization or a famous person. I think it’s important to add that this may include but isn’t limited to how a company provides information to the public and most often takes advantage of ‘earned media’, instead of paid marketing.

Companies in a growth phase (profitable or scaling) should expect to invest in expanding into these more sophisticated marketing channels. I like to follow promising companies from their humble beginnings and watch them grow, many of them making the mistake of not getting an Image Management Company or Representative until it’s too late. Common PUBLIC mistakes include 1) Portraying themselves as less valuable/successful with their seemingly ‘D.I.Y.’ approach to P.R. This narrows their target audience to a lower budget demographic and makes their current customers less likely to pay more for their products and services. And 2) Making questionable, speculative, or downright unethical business decisions that garner more attention than any one CEO should handle personally. I see both these mistakes most commonly made in the Software and SAAS industry.

Professional Damage Control

Just as you would delegate parts of your business that could be done 80-100% as well as you could do yourself, you should delegate some, if not all, your Public Relations. ALWAYS consult an Image Consultant in the event you make a very public mistake. I, as a Professional Image Consultant, prefer to damage control at some of the lowest levels of business operations and marketing. This includes your customer experience and how it is handled internally, and how you respond to negative reviews as well.

There are Professional Image Management and P.R. services for every level of business. Contact me today to see what I can do for you!

Press Releases ● Media Kits ● Review Management ● Celebrity & Influencer Outreach ● Community Outreach ● Synergistic Business Partnerships ● Charity Events ● Media Opportunities ● Professional Damage Control

Let’s Get Started!