womma influencer guidebook - 2013...the womma influencer guidebook is a practitioner’s resource...

Brand Influencers WOMMA 2013

Influencer Guidebook 2013

What makes an influencer?

The WOMMA Influencer Guidebook is a practitioner’s resource intended to address the needs of the association membership. This is not an update to the 2008 WOMMA Influencer Handbook - this is a complete rewrite taking into context not only how much the digital and social landscape has changed, but also the nuance and sophistication of the now ubiquitous practice of influencer marketing.

Five significant advancements have been captured in this document:

★ The description of the attributes that make up an influencer ★ The classification of five categories of influencers ★ The inclusion of ‘key influencer’ and ‘influencee’ in the definitions

of influencer marketing★ The differentiation between ‘potential to influence’ and the

practice of empirically measuring ‘actual influence’★ A discussion of three levels of considerations when constructing

an influencer marketing program


Introduction

Intended use of this guidebook:This guidebook is intended to be an educational resource for marketers to better understand the mechanics and metrics of influencer marketing. This guidebook is not intended to offer industry standards or serve as a definitive statement on the ‘one right way’ to measure and conduct influencer marketing programs. Standards develop in industries over many years of productive debate, refinement and case studies. Additionally, academic research exists and continues to develop that further clarifies the importance of influencers, their effectiveness in achieving outcomes and the attributes and characteristics of individuals or groups suited to achieving those outcomes, as well as how one would best measure the potential to influence and the actions taken by influencees.

Getting started in influencer marketing:A practitioner should consider performing the following steps before embarking on an influencer program:

★ Identify time-bound objectives and goals for the program★ Assess the appropriate industry level factors★ Develop a benchmark understanding of the brand’s existing potential

influencers and those of the competition★ Create success criteria and determine those capabilities necessary to

measure success empirically★ Develop and execute a program to achieve a specific outcome targeted to a

specific category of influencers★ Measure and report results - adjust accordingly


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This guidebook will aid in the creation and implementation of these influencer marketing program steps.

Who is behind this effort?Both individuals and organizations have been instrumental in the creation of the Influencer Guidebook 2013. For a complete list of contributors visit womma.org/influencers. The principal active contributors to this document were (in alphabetical order):

Neil Beam – Director, MotiveQuest and Chair of the WOMMA Research and Measurement CouncilBill Chamberlin – Principal Consultant of Social Insights, IBMJane Collins – VP of Market Research, BlogHerSusan Emerick – Manager of Enterprise Social Programs, IBMMichael Fein – Director of Research and Analytics, FanscapeAmy Laine – Principal Market Insights Analyst, IBMAshley Libby – Principal and Founder, The Anca GroupDhara Naik – Account Supervisor and Digital Strategy, Social@Ovilvy

GR! Brand Experience was responsible for the design and layout of this guidebook and images were kindly contributed by Big Stock Photo.

Our friends and collaborators at #SMMStandards (The Conclave) helped develop the influencer definitions.

The tireless and diligent WOMMA sta�.


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Marketers and business communicators have been targeting so-called ‘influencers’ or ‘influentials’ for decades. It is a strategy born of experience and intuition - a sense that people are influenced by other people and that some wield greater influence than others. But there is wide variation in what people mean by ‘influencers’ or ‘influencer marketing’. The situation begs for a common language and conceptual framework to aid practitioners. WOMMA has developed the following definitions with an eye for academic rigor and practitioner utility. With this in mind, consider that there are more than seven billion people on the earth. While anyone can exert influence on others it is rarely practical for brands to focus on reaching everyone. Hence there is an interest in engaging those individuals who have disproportionate influence in the marketplace.


InfluencerDefinitions

The following definitions were developed by members of WOMMA in collaboration with members of other leading trade groups in the field of public relations and marketing. WOMMA defines In�uence as:

The ability to cause or contribute to a change in opinion or behavior. Where the initial actor is a Key In�uencer who is:

A person or group of people who possess greater than average potential to influence due to attributes such as frequency of communication, personal persuasiveness or size of and centrality to a social network, among others.


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Key influencers interact with others, and those they influence are In�uencees:

A person or group of people who change their opinion or behavior as the result of exposure to new information. Therefore, In�uencer Marketing is:

The act of a marketer or communicator engaging with key influencers to act upon influencees in pursuit of a business objective. Research shows a marketer is most effective when focusing resources on key influencers with the highest propensity to influence a population of influencees that are most likely to be influenced. Later, this document explores some descriptive Attributes of an influencer thereby enabling a program manager to identify influencers and influencees for effective program design. The attributes themselves are useful for characterizing five categories of influencers who each possess a unique attribute profile.


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The definitions of influence, key influencer and influencee are important and demonstrate the relationship between individuals. However, a practitioner needs tools to differentiate the qualities or ‘attributes’ of one influencer or cohort from another. Following are some practical attributes that a program manager can use to benchmark an individual’s or group of cohort’s potential to influence.


Attributes

Attribute Description

Affiliation with Brand The extent to which an influencer is affiliated with the brand. Are they seen as independent and unbiased or possessing bias? Is there a formal relationship between the individual and the brand? Are they compensated?

Reach A count of the number of people that the individual is connected to directly or indirectly via social media and off-line channels. This represents the potential number of people who could possibly receive a message from the individual.

Network Centrality The number and strength of connections between people in a social network. This is a statistical term and is readily modeled using software when data is accessible.

Intent to Influence The motive of the individual when communicating. While this is difficult to measure, the influencer’s intent can affect their perceived trust and the outcomes achieved.

Degree of Enthusiasm Often measured as sentiment. The strength of emotion expressed in a conversation for a given subject.

Venue Duration The length of time in which the individual is engaged in a venue (Facebook, Twitter, user group, community, etc.).

Topic Duration The length of time in which the individual posts on a given subject.


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Frequency of Content The number of repetitions of posting content on a given subject in a unit of time.

Content Quality The degree to which the content is well written, well timed, engaging, visually appealing and audience specific.

Content Engagement The extent to which other people recirculate or propagate the content: Virality; Number of comments; Retweets; Forwards; or Samplings.

Two-Way Engagement The extent to which the individual engages with others in a two-way dialogue. The degree to which the individual pushes content versus interacts.

Authority and Credibility The extent to which the individual possess expertise, trust and commands respect. Authority and credibility is earned or achieved through education, elections, experience or time. In some cases, it is bestowed by the community.

Geographic Reach Where the individual is effective. Consider global, national and local, as well as language spoken and online versus offline.

Improvement of an individual’s or cohort’s attributes may be an influencer program in itself. Consider ‘content frequency’ when an employee who is an ambassador for a brand who blogs once a quarter. Increasing the frequency of posting can increase this individual’s propensity to influence. Now consider ‘content quality’ and ‘two-way engagement’. By improving the attributes of an individual or a group of individuals the potential outcome could also improve.


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Let’s say you are tasked with developing an influencer program. Which category of influencer(s) are best suited to your your brand objectives? What program goals should you set? How do you measure success?

There are three logical program considerations that affect both the selection of a specific category of influencer on which one should focus and success metrics within that program:

1. Industry2. Brand3. Influencer Attributes


Three Levels of Consideration when Developing an Influencer Program

Industry Start with understanding your industry in context to influence and influencers. Is your company B2B or B2C? Are your goods durable or consumable? Durable goods such as automobiles, faucets, or airplanes have different channels, buying cycles and service needs. How your consumers interact with these products and services is dependent upon your specific industry factors.

Industry-Level Considerations:★ B2B★ B2C★ Durable goods★ Consumable goods★ Services★ Regional factors★ Regulated and non-regulated★ Channel and retail considerations★ Brand history, attributes and unique circumstances★ Macroeconomic factors★ Microeconomic factors

Brand What is the brand’s objective for the influencer marketing program? Are you attempting to affect customer acquisition? If so, where in the purchase funnel would influencers be helpful? Perhaps customer retention or brand reputation is the program objective, in which case influencers can amplify good sentiment


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towards the brand or dampen conversations that are negative towards the brand.

Brand Level Considerations:★ Improve retention★ Improve customer lifetime value★ Improve or accelerate acquisition★ Provide better customer service and support faster and to more people★ Improve brand reputation

Here one would also want to consider marketplace conditions relative to your objectives. For example, what are the influencer programs at the competitor? Also consider your existing capabilities of your influencer program. An inhibitor or enabler to your goals may be your company’s governance and regulations around social media and consumer engagement. The absence of a policy may be as much an inhibitor or enabler as the existence of a overly burdensome policy. Legal departments at some firms will require a policy to be in place before proceeding with an influencer program, should one not already exist.

Influencer AttributesThe third consideration set is influencer attributes themselves. One could start with a benchmark of existing influencer attributes for both your company and competitors. Have you identified key influencers? Are these influencers supporting your brand or your competition? What is their reach and degree of enthusiasm for the brand? Once a benchmark of these attributes is understood, an influencer program could be designed with the aim of improving the attributes of influencers. Should you improve the reach of an existing set of influencers or recruit new influencers who have greater reach? Can a program


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improve the frequency of content or should you design a program to encourage existing influencers to start conversations on a venue where prospects and customers (influencees) are more likely to engage?

Influencer Attribute Considerations:★ Improve the reach and connectivity of the influencer network★ Clarify affiliation, alignment and knowledge of the brand★ Improve the ability of individuals to influence: Improve content quality;

Biographical information; and Individual’s presence★ Optimize frequency and timing of content posting per venue★ Optimize venues: Are your influencers talking where influencees are

present? ★ Improve topic duration, the length of time someone is engaged and active

on a particular topic★ Improve the degree of enthusiasm towards the brand and topic★ Location: Global; National; Local; Language spoken; Online versus Off-line

Each Category of In�uencer, which will be introduced in the coming pages, lends itself better to some program considerations than others. The specifics are noted in the the detailed description of each influencer category. The job of an influence marketing practitioner is deciding which influencer program to run. This begins with understanding and documenting the program considerations unique to your business and then aligning these considerations with those of the population you wish to affect. The specific key influencer(s) you select are the link between the desired business outcome and the influencees.


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In this guidebook, we outline a number of steps that are involved in program design. In this section we discuss measurement considerations.

There are two distinct states of influencer measurement that are relative to the point in time an influencer marketing program begins:

1. The potential to influence (before)2. Actual, observed influence (during/after)


How to Measure an Influencer Program

These matter because potential and observed influence are distinct program states, both in terms of time and available tools utilized for measurement. Additionally, as practitioners of influencer marketing, we must always keep in mind that it is rare to measure actual influence. Instead, we observe proxies of influence in the form of outcomes or actions taken. For example, the redemption of a coupon that was given to a friend is an observed action (redeeming a coupon) of an earlier act where a friend influences a purchase (the giving of the coupon and any context around that transfer).

Measurement of potential to influence requires a methodology for determining who is influential in the network. While there are no certainties, your objective is to determine the key influencer or cohorts that will maximize the influencer program outcomes for your brand. Contemporary methodologies assess the people, the network and the content including:

★ The offline conversation volume and brand awareness★ Third-party scoring results★ The individual's or cohort’s sentiment towards a brand or topic★ Content quality and quantity★ Network size and centrality★ The individual’s or cohort’s authority, trust and credibility


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Consider the following example. Let's say that you have decided to launch a celebrity influencer program. You made this choice because you determined a celebrity influencer best addresses your business objectives and aligns to both your industry and brand level considerations - and you have budget.Having decided to use a celebrity influencer, you must then determine which celebrity is best suited for your influencer marketing program. To do this, you need a methodology to rank each potential celebrity. We suggest documenting the key attributes (found in the Attributes section of this guide) of each celebrity you are considering and evaluate the attributes against your brand and program goals. All of the quantities of these attributes can be used to assess multiple celebrities to indicate potential to influence.

Shifting now to measurement of actual, observed influence, practitioners typically measure the spread of influence or the outcome of actual influence. This is in contrast to the initiation of influence. There are several methodologies for measuring actual, observed influence. The two most prominent are:

1. Metrics attribution back to the influencer or cohort using web analytics, unique URL tracking and campaign codes

2. Observing changes in activity or attitude before and after a program or in absence of a program


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To document actual, observed influence you will need to gather metrics over time. These include:

★ Number of conversations about the campaign or topic of interest★ Number of people that share the influencer’s content★ Number of comments on the influencer’s content★ Number of actions taken on branded properties as a result of the influencer’s

actions (click-through rates, time on site)★ Purchases attributed to the influencer’s content★ Referrals attributed to the influencer’s content

The observed measurement of the conversations can include both web analytics and social monitoring (listening) measurement capabilities. In addition, you may also need to include off-line measurement techniques such as surveys, BrandEncounter® or TalkTrack® syndicated studies, among others. Attributing sales to the influencer campaign requires being able to link the purchase back through to the key influencer’s content or conversation.

To summarize, there is a distinction between the diagnostic and predictive measures of potential to in�uence from that of empirically measuring actual, observed in�uence. A methodology for determining both states of influence in influencer marketing program design is required.


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Ethics are a key consideration when engaging in influencer marketing. All WOMMA members are committed to five key ethical principles, which all come into play with influencer marketing:

1. Trust: Engage in practices and policies that promote an environment of trust between the consumer and marketer

2. Integrity: Abide by regulations, promote honesty and transparency in practices and methods and avoid consumer deception in marketing practices

3. Respect: Promote and abide by practices that focus on consumer welfare

4. Honesty: Consumers should be free to form their own opinions and share them in their own words and WOMMA members do not support any efforts that tell others what to say or how to say it

5. Responsibility: WOMMA members believe that working with minors in marketing programs requires sensitivity and care, given their particular vulnerability to manipulation and deception


Ethics

Communications platforms and tools are evolving rapidly and may not take all of these factors into consideration.

For more information, please visit womma.org/ethics for our updated Ethics Toolkit, Disclosure Guide and other resources. If you have questions or concerns about ethics in the WOMM community, please feel free to contact our Members Ethics Advisory Panel (MEAP) for help in addressing them.


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Not all influencers are created equal. We have identified five distinct categories of key influencers that brands can identify and engage in their influencer marketing programs. They are:

★ Advocates★ Ambassadors★ Citizen Influencers★ Professional/Occupational Influencers★ Celebrity Influencers In the following pages we define and describe these influencers. Please keep in mind that which category of influence an individual falls into is both situational and contextual. For example, a blogger could fall into any number of categories. One who derives her income as a food blogger would be considered Professional/Occupational. A blogger who is a foodie but has no affiliation and recommends a restaurant is an Advocate.

Each category of influencer demands a specific program and measurement technique while the type of influence each exhibits is distinct by audience.


Categories of Influencers

Advocate Ambassador Citizen Professional Occupational

Celebrity

An individual who shows support for, pleads the case of or defends a brand, cause, product or service while remaining formally unaffiliated with the brand and unremunerated

An individual remunerated by or otherwise ‘allied’ with a brand or cause; their actions are, in some manner, endorsed by the brand with an acknowledged and transparent affiliation that is mutually beneficial

The ‘everyman’ of influence. Citizen Influencers are otherwise average people who have greater than average likelihood to influence though their social network

Individuals, who by definition of their job function, are in the position to influence others directly through their authoritative or instructive statements

An individual whose name recognition commands a great deal of public fascination (‘celebrity status’) and has the ability to use their status to communicate with broad effect

Brand Influencers WOMMA 2013Brand Influencers WOMMA 2013

Definitions - Five Categories of Influencers

Advocate Ambassador Citizen Professional Occupational

Celebrity

★ Intermittent or one- time advocacy either about a brand or experience

★ Have positive sentiment towards the brand

★ Open and willing to share specific experiences with others

★ Independent from the brand

★ Sustained passion for the brand and the brand’s cause

★ Possess similar qualities and values of the brand - shares the brand mission

★ Strong team players ★ Teachable in terms

of methods and messaging to spread the word

★ Intrinsically motivated to support and endorse the brand and its purpose

★ Everyday people★ Social beings who

naturally talk and share information with people in their network

★ Share to help friends and colleagues, not necessarily a brand

★ Have a neutral or balanced stance in opinions and experiences, giving both positive and negative perspectives

★ Trusted by their network and considered authentic

★ Employed in their area of influence

★ Have a desire to share their knowledge and experience

★ Well established and highly regarded in their field

★ Credentials are earned either academically or though extensive experience in a particular field

★ Hold media attention and public fascination

★ Possess their own unique qualities that should either align with the brand, be desired by the brand or have appeal with the brand's desired audience

★ Are audience specific and belong to one of many verticals including entertainment, politics, business, authors, sports, artists, parenting, etc.


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Characteristics - Five Categories of Influencers

AdvocateWhoAdvocates are individuals who speak out during the natural course of their interaction with the brand. An advocate is not formally recognized by or affiliated with the brand.

What they doTypically, advocacy is the act of pleading or making the case for something. For a brand, this includes positive sentiment and one of

the following: A recommendation; A call to action to purchase; or Suggested usage or suggested change to opinion.

WhenAdvocacy occurs when a person has a high degree of emotional attachment towards something and is compelled to tell another about it. Advocacy can be one time or the individual can advocate over a long period of time.

Why relevant to the brand? There is a direct link between online advocacy and offline sales.

When advocacy increases, sales increase; when advocacy decreases, sales also decrease. Research by Jacquelyn Thomas at Northwestern

University stated that in certain cases 53% of a brand’s sales volume change can be explained by changes in online advocacy.


GoalThe goal of an advocate influencer program is to share the results of a positive (or dispel a negative) experience, create a position (a strongly held belief for a brand) and drive support for the position.

Potential to influence★ Degree of positive sentiment this individual displays towards the brand★ The extent to which the individual will defend the brand★ Length of time the individual has been discussing the brand★ Venues where the individual advocates and alignment of those venues to the

brand's target audience★ The degrees of two way engagement and content engagement others have

with the individual (thread depth)

Observation of actual influence★ Unique URL click-through to a website from advocate content★ Use of referral codes and coupon redemption★ Sentiment of individuals who interact with the advocates★ Sentiment of threads or sites where advocates are engaged


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General examples★ Brand advocates★ Legal advocates★ Healthcare advocates★ Political advocates

Specific examplesThe Toyota Prius has loyal advocates that stand for the car and its environmental protection.

Mini Cooper has loyal advocates that promote the brand and the ownership experience.

Tom Shoes has loyal advocates that shout out for the brand, its cause, and its one-for-one premise.


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WhoAmbassadors are individuals who are formally recognized to represent a brand and are able to speak and act on its behalf. There exists some form of acknowledged agreement between the individual and the brand.

What they doAmbassadors serve as an extension of the brand, however, may or may not work directly for the brand. Additionally, only individuals, employees or partners of a brand that possess desired attributes and characteristics would be selected to be public facing ambassadors.

WhenAmbassadors are committed to representing and serving the brand for the duration of their agreement. When a person acts as an ambassador, however, can be situationally complex. For example, an employee of an international brand is an ambassador when she serves as volunteer for a local non-profit. Here she is an ambassador of the non-profit, not the brand.

Why relevant to the brand? Effective ambassador programs tap into the passion of the individuals to enhance the brand's cause and to grow, strengthen


Ambassador

and amplify the community. Ambassadors can be a diversified resource to the cause that are bound by an agreement and not always compensated.

GoalAn ambassador program seeks to further the brand and its cause, whether through individual, community, or broad (regional / national / global) outreach.

Potential to influence★ A match of the individual's values to those of the brand★ Degree of strong emotion the individual displays toward the brand★ The individual's willingness to engage in a formal relationship with

the brand★ The individual’s prior ability and willingness to communicate with

peers and the public★ The individual's willingness to be coached and encouraged by the

brand

Observation of actual influence★ Boost in online brand buzz attributed to this individual, including direct link

back to person's presence or action and brand mentions★ Unique URL tracking or click-through to your website from individual’s

content★ Tracking of referral codes or coupon redemption unique to the individual

and program.


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General examples★ Employees★ Volunteers★ Contractors★ Affiliates★ Government official★ Business partners

Specific examplesThe Fiskateers are customer ambassadors for Fiskars Scissors and its crafting community.

Jared Fogle is a Subway customer turned brand and weight loss ambassador.

Select AT&T employees are brand ambassadors on Twitter.


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WhoA citizen influencer is a person who talks and shares information and opinions to their network of contacts, but does not necessarily advocate. They are not affiliated with the brand and are typically anonymous to the brand itself.

What they doCitizen influencers share information and their opinion. They will write reviews and recommendations to the broader public but are generally not concerned about the outcome of their actions. Citizen influencers do not necessarily have the intent to influence the masses; instead they talk or share to an individual or a small group of known people.

WhenA citizen influencer will talk and share during the natural course of their day.

Their influence is not necessarily intentional but an outcome or byproduct of their actions. Social media has amplified the

effectiveness of their influence depending on the number of people in their network and the visibility of their content.

Why relevant to the brand? A single citizen influencer may not affect a brand significantly,

however the cumulative affect of multiple citizen influencers taking action can be significant. Consider the affect of cumulative

reviews for a product.


Citizen

GoalA citizen influencer program intends to use local conversations and efforts to increase recommendations, referrals, and ultimately the brand's sales - or to increase awareness and further the brand's cause.

Potential to influence★ Ratings and reviews written by the individual★ The individual’s use of social networks and email★ Posts and comments on non-branded venues such as blogs and

Facebook pages

Observation of actual influence★ Links, click-throughs or purchase attribution from ratings and reviews★ Web analytics that attribute sharing button activity to actions taken on a site★ Partnership with third-party scoring companies to design and attribute

influencer programs


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General examples★ Neighbors★ Friends★ Coworkers★ Family members

Specific examplesMoms are citizen influencers on child care and children’s

products such as diapers.

Teenagers are citizen influencers on hot, trending topics such as new movie releases and music singles or albums.

Neighbors are citizen influencers on such subjects as lawn care, automobiles and light bulbs.


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WhoProfessional and occupational influencers are the individuals who derive part or all of their income from influencing people. Lifetime/career professionals, policy makers and bloggers are examples.

What they doIt is the role of these individuals to gather the facts and opinions of others and use their position and venue to communicate. The intent

of professional/occupational influencers is to make an impact on their audience and influence them.

WhenProfessional/occupational influencers are influential during the course of their work. They may also also influence during a speaking engagement, professional trade show or association meeting of peers and the public.

Why relevant to the brand? Professional/occupational influencers typically possess both authority and reach. Brands traditionally rely on their PR department to manage these influencers.


Professional& Occupational

GoalA professional/occupational influencer program aims to increase brand equity, brand awareness, adoption rates, sales or memberships. Another aim may be to affect the industry and environment where a business operates.

Potential to influence★ A review of the individual's expertise and accomplishments★ Quantity and quality of publications (blogs, articles, white papers,

books) authored by the individual★ Number of references to the individual author and publications★ Number and quality of previous speaking engagements★ Existence of a personal website that focuses around the topic area

Observation of actual influence★ Links and click-throughs from blogs, articles, books and

speaking engagement content★ Change in the dialogue or content resulting from the

professional/occupational influencer★ Commentary, links and click-through after a speaking

engagement and posted content★ Sharing by others of the individual's content


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General examples★ Journalists★ Physicians★ Policy makers★ PR professionals

Specific examplesThe president of the Orthopaedic Trauma Association is a professional influencer of orthopaedic trauma surgeons.

The President of the United States is an occupational influencer of policy and the political parties.

The editor of the local paper is an occupational influencer of the community.


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WhoAn individual whose name recognition has earned a high level of awareness and commands a great deal of public fascination (they possess ‘celebrity status’).

What they doFrom a program perspective, celebrities are paid and contractually bound to leverage their status to influence outcomes on behalf of the brand. Frequently they are effective at building brand awareness, perhaps stimulating discourse based on their involvement with a selected brand or cause.

WhenCommonly celebrities are contracted to work on behalf of a brand. If a celebrity is acting as an influencer outside of a paid contract, they would be considered an advocate or an ambassador.

Why relevant to the brand? Celebrities have a greater reach than most other categories of influencers. Their actions are typically easy to measure.


Celebrity

GoalA celebrity influencer program is designed to spread a message widely, increase awareness, and produce the brand's desired customer or fan response such as increase purchase rates or gain more support for a cause.

Potential to influence★ The degree of popularity of the individual as measured by name recognition★ Size of the individual’s social network and community★ The values, concepts and content to which the celebrity is aligned★ Amount of imitation of the individual's behaviors or style evident

in public★ Past negative and positive behavior as an indication of future

behavior

Observation of actual influence★ Boost in online brand buzz stimulated by this individual's association (direct

links back to the celebrity's presence or action and brand mentions) ★ Unique URL clicks to a website★ Referral codes or coupon redemption★ Media and other press coverage


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General examples★ Musicians★ Actors and actresses★ Authors ★ Athletes

Specific examplesJennifer Hudson is a celebrity influencer for Weight Watchers, influencing on the subject of weight loss.

Roger Federer is a celebrity influencer for Moet & Chandon Champagne, influencing on the subject of luxury goods and lifestyle.

Mia Farrow is a celebrity influencer for UNICEF, influencing to improve the lives of children worldwide.


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WOMMA updated its Social Media Disclosure Guide in 2012 to take into account regulatory investigations in the US and UK, as well as to address the changing landscape of WOM marketing in rapidly emerging platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Google+, blogs and more. There was a common misperception that disclosure was only required for bloggers and only when bloggers were being paid. Regardless of the platforms used or the type of relationship with an influencer, marketers have a number of responsibilities when engaging in influencer marketing.


Disclosure

Brands must institute a company-wide social media policy for their own employees and ensure that their agencies, partners, networks and vendors have policies that are in alignment with the brand’s policy or guidelines ensuring that influencers are educated, monitored and supervised accordingly. Furthermore, brands have a responsibility to ensure that their relationships to influencers are adequately disclosed in five ways.

1. Brands must educate influencers, agencies, partners, networks and vendors they work with on marketing campaigns about the circumstances in which disclosure is required and what that disclosure could look like.

2. Brands must reasonably monitor their campaigns to ensure that influencers are making the required disclosures and that claims by agents and third-parties are substantiated and not false or misleading.

3. If the required disclosures do not appear or claims are not in compliance, marketers must employ commercially reasonable efforts to address the situation, which may range from having influencers insert the required disclosures to requesting they pull the content in question. Brands should also have a policy or guidelines in place to deal with non-compliant influencers including ‘compliance training’ for first-time non-disclosers and dismissal for repeat non-disclosers.

4. Brands must ensure that their agencies, partners, networks and vendors who may be responsible for engaging influencers on their behalf have a policy that is in alignment with the brand’s policy or guidelines with regard to these responsibilities.


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5. Brands must educate their employees regarding the nature of required disclosures to ensure that when employees communicate about the products or services of the company for which they work, they appropriately disclose their relationship to that company and that they do not misrepresent themselves as ordinary customers in providing endorsements or reviews of the brands or products associated with that company.

For more information, please visit womma.org/ethics for our updated Ethics Toolkit, complete Disclosure Guide and other resources. If you have questions or concerns about disclosure in the WOM community, please feel free to contact our Members Ethics Advisory Panel (MEAP) for help in addressing them.


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Thanks for reading.

For more information on word of mouth marketing and influencers contact WOMMA or visit the links below.

Spread the word! womma.org/influencers


womma.org

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womma influencer guidebook - 2013...the womma influencer guidebook is a practitioner’s resource...

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