A survey of leading Auckland marketers conducted by influencer marketing platform Populr and The Marketing Association, has found that 40% aren’t satisfied with the return on investment from social channels.
Populr founder James Polhill says that he’s not surprised, as many marketers treat social media as another push channel, not realising the power is in building deeper engagement by building two-way conversations and leveraging influencer marketing as a long-term strategy.
“The world of social media is changing rapidly and influencers are at the heart of this change,” Polhill told M+AD. “Too many marketers are still engaging in one off pay-per-post arrangements with social influencers and are not leveraging the potential power of influencer marketing which is creating engaging conversations to ultimately drive sales.”
Social media has fundamentally changed the balance of power between consumers and brands because it enables peer recommendations to play a much greater role in purchasing decisions. A recent study by Nielsen on media trends showed that 74% of consumers use social media to inform their purchase decisions.
“The meteoric rise of the internet, more so social media, has meant that consumers now lead the charge forcing both marketers and brands to play catch-up. If brands want to remain relevant, then influencer marketing will need to become part of the marketing plan,” Polhill said.
“With consumers going out of their way to avoid advertising, influencer marketing can help brands tell their stories and influence purchasing behaviour.”
Populr has an impressive lineup of over 200 social media influencers, from the country’s biggest sports stars to musicians, actors and entertainers, through to bloggers and content creators. The business – with help from Lilly & Louis PR – is launching a new platform today with the ability to reach over 20 million people daily.
All Blacks star on board
Shaun Johnson, P-Money, Kayla Cullen, Frankie Adams and some of the biggest names in sport were quick to jump onboard from the outset and former All Black Ali Williams is a founding shareholder in the business.
“The team at Populr understand the importance of building our personal brands and stronger communities of fans,” said Polhill. “They know how to commercialise social media and the importance of authenticity to our growing number of fans and followers.”
“It’s more than peddling product. It’s about connecting brands with likeminded people and creating engaging conversations,” said Shaun Johnson.
Polhill has worked closely with the biggest names in the country to develop their social media strategies, successfully launching high profile rugby players onto Facebook, as well as commercially successful campaigns for the likes of Red Bull, Spark, SKY TV and Movember.
“We’ve been working closely with the team to leverage influencer marketing for a couple of years now,” he said.
Sky TV head of digital Kristy Simpson said: “They’ve strategically led the charge to innovate our communications in an ever increasingly competitive marketplace. They have brilliant relationships with all their talent and their agents, understand the power of building an online conversation and are experts at not only amplifying our offering online but fundamentally driving sales.”
Populr is a purpose built platform to connect influencers with brands looking for new ways to engage consumers and ensure they’re part of the online conversation as the media landscape changes. Polhill and the team have the ability to create a series of authentic conversations and content, that’s created, overheard, shared and interacted with on a mass scale across all social media platforms.
About https://populr.co
Populr is one of the fastest growing influencer marketing platforms in the country with access to the biggest movers and shakers in the game. A world-class technology platform to connect influencers with brands looking to harness the power of influencer marketing. Founded in 2012, shareholders include James Polhill, Jay Reeve, Ali Williams and Jose Alomajan, Shaun Johnson, Kayla Cullen and P-Money.
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