For a long time I’ve been wondering when Facebook would reach out and claim a slice of the huge and juicy influencer marketing money pie. With influencer marketing budgets growing at an astonishing rate year-on-year, it seemed like it was only a matter of time before the biggest social media platform in the world tried to take a cut. […]
Read more "Influencer Marketing: Facebook is Staking its Claim"The evidence shows that influencer marketing campaigns can increase discussion around a specific product. But the social web is a complex place, and in complex systems effects propagate in complex ways. Some fascinating research from Inyoung Chae, Andrew Stephen et al. shows that a brand executing product-focused influencer marketing campaigns might expect some side-effects – […]
Read more "Pushing Product, Hurting the Brand? Influencer Marketing’s Surprising Side-Effects"This is the text of a letter I sent this morning to my Member of Parliament in London: UPDATE: Victoria Borwick, my MP, answered my letter within a week. I’ll append her response after my text. Victoria Borwick MP House of Commons London SW1A 0AA Dear Ms Borwick, I am one of your constituents, […]
Read more "Letter to my MP: Stand Up for Democracy and the Rule of Law"This year we’ve seen a huge decline in trust across the globe. Trust in government, in business, in NGOs and in the media has dropped to some of the lowest levels seen in 17 years, as reported in the Edelman Trust Barometer survey of 33,000 respondents across the globe. What lessons can communicators draw from […]
Read more "Individual influence and the collapse of trust"For a moment, all has been quiet on the beach of history. The last wave has receded, and with it the blood has almost drained, hissing, into the dark foaming sea; the blood of Ypres and of Gallipoli, the blood of Moscow and Stalingrad, the blood of Normandy and Berlin, the blood of Iwo […]
Read more "A Manifesto of Openness"Social validation, not reach, is the main advantage of an influencer marketing campaign. Influencers can give a marketing or communications campaign an advantage that nothing else can. What is it? A lot of people say “It’s reach! Influencers are a great way of reaching my millennial audience.” Yeah, maybe. But I’d argue that an influencer […]
Read more "The Reach Delusion"The wave has peaked, and we’re sliding down the frothy slope now: people have realized that most influencer marketing is bullshit. Thank God. It’s about time the industry saw some sense. A bit of context: this article appeared a couple of days ago in Digiday, featuring some revelations from an anonymous social media marketing exec. With nearly 37 […]
Read more "Why most influencer marketing fails"