Streamlining Influencer Marketing

Diving into the vast world of influencer marketing can be intimidating and confusing for many brands, however it’s quickly become one of the most important factors in achieving consumer trust and gaining exposure, especially in a retail landscape that relies heavily on reviews.

Ranked as 2018’s Best Influencer Marketing Platform by Digiday, Mavrck is dedicated to matching brands with the right influencers, streamlining their social growth, and tracking their success.

To get a better understanding of how the platform works, the different types of influencers there are to choose from, and which industries benefit most from influencer integration, we chatted with Mavrck VP of Marketing, Liz Gottbrecht.

Why are influencer reviews so important in today’s retail landscape?

We discovered that consumers seek out and trust influencer recommendations on what to purchase. 43% of Americans say that ratings and reviews created by influencers are more credible. n=1,017 Gen Pop in the U.S answered "YES" to "If you saw a rating or review was generated by someone you don't know personally but who you trust and follow on social media, would that add credibility to it?"

How does Mavrck help clients to streamline their goals?

We try to take as much guesswork out of the influencer marketing process as possible through automation and end-to-end measurement of business value, like online conversions.

Mavrck is the only influencer marketing platform that enables marketers to forecast results before campaigns launch, and our influencer fraud and brand safety features save days spent vetting influencers manually. Also within the Mavrck platform, clients can customize campaign workflows, notifications, and influencer briefs based on that strategy. Our influencer workflow automation and influencer notifications then allow marketers to activate hundreds of different influencer personas for specific use cases that meet their objectives.

What advice would you give to marketers who are looking to source influencers?

We believe that marketers’ best influencers are sourced from their existing consumers. We always recommend that our customers begin with their own consumer base and/or employees (if relevant). Marketers, who have spent years building their CRM databases, subscriber lists, membership programs, and online traffic, don’t realize that consumers are the most valuable assets for influencer recruitment.

Influencers who already love a brand are the best fit across the board. Economically, they tend to be more flexible when it comes to compensation and are more willing to partner in exchange for product. The nature of the organic brand affinity that already exists also forms a more authentic foundation for long-term collaborations and higher quality content because the influencer is already knowledgeable about the brand aesthetic and culture.

Our Influence Plugin technology enables marketers to implement an always-on recruitment strategy and influencer referral program from any online or digital in-store presence, such as a brand.com, social media account, or loyalty program. Based on those personas or target audiences, if it’s a new product, marketers can also source influencers from the Mavrck Influencer Index—our proprietary database for marketers to discover, recruit, and curate new influencer talent for upcoming campaigns and programs.

What does Mavrck look for when recruiting influencers? Can you explain a little more about the different types within the industry?

Mavrck provides data about influencers' age, gender, location, interests, fraud risk, and brand safety, to name a few, to help marketers make their own decisions when it comes to influencer identification. We’ve identified six primary personas that comprise that mix.

This includes Mega-Influencers, figures like professional athletes, actors and artists who have celebrity influence. These influencers have the most reach, and are also the most costly. Macro-Influencers fall into the next tier, and are bloggers, journalists and YouTubers who earn their livings as content creators and have large followings. Micro-Influencers are similar, in that they might create content as a side hustle, and aspire to become Macro-Influencers.

Advocates on the other hand are consumers and employees who don’t produce content very often but are willing to do so for brands they love. Referrers are those will share content if they have the right incentives, however will usually just share a link. Loyalists are in the final tier, and they’re the people that love a brand and buy from it regularly but likely won’t share any content.

We also believe that marketers should own their relationships with their influencers, versus working through a marketplace where the relationship would remain between a provider and the influencers. Mavrck’s white-label capabilities enable marketers to brand the influencer experience entirely as their own and build their own influencer communities organically.

Are clients from all industries able to benefit from Mavrck’s services, or does the platform specialize in a select few?

Influencer marketing is a strategy that all brands should employ. While we are fortunate to work with a diverse clientele that ranges from health insurance to one of the world’s largest CPG brands, the majority of our customers are enterprise B2C brands. We just launched our first few employee influencer marketing programs, which may change that in the near future.