Imagine you’re the marketing lead at a small company and you’re gearing up to launch a product, service, or even the company. One morning, the CEO informs you, “The marketing budget is now $0, and we will figure out a way to get to market.” That’s one of 6 things that CEOs of small companies and start-ups should be saying … Read More
Right influencers and wrong influencers
It’s easy to fall into thinking that focusing on the top 15 or 25 or 100 influencers in a given market is a good idea for every company. That’s not necessarily so, unless you can vet their influence with decision-makers for your product or service in your market. Mack Collier points out a good example: his experience with the “Pepsi … Read More
Government influencers and business deals
One group of influencers is about to undergo sweeping change in the U.S.: government agencies and regulators. Government influence varies greatly by industry. Yet it is present to some extent in virtually all industries. In the book, Influencer Marketing, Nick and Duncan identify three likely roles for government agencies and regulators: proclaimers – those who mandate or “proclaim” how the … Read More
More analyst layoffs add to analyst relations challenges
Following on the heels of layoffs at Gartner and AMR Research, comes word that Yankee Group and iSuppli also reduced headcount. Yankee Group CEO Emily Nagel discussed the reduction in the company blog. Meanwhile, there is word of a reduction at iSuppli, a firm that just recently acquired Telematics Research Group (TRG). This much consolidation in the tech industry analyst … Read More
Building communities of one
Marketers tasked with building online communities learn quickly that size matters. Which would you rather aim for: building one community of 50 members, or 50 communities each with one member? Odds are good you’ll go for the one larger community. It’s a matter of survival, isn’t it? Your professional reputation, job security, and next quarter’s budget may hang in the … Read More
Events with uber influence: TED, SXSW and Obama inauguration
Some events are so saturated with powerful people discussing powerful ideas that they gain the stature of an uber influencer in their own right. Two of these rare events take place in the western U.S. in the early months of each year: TED and South by Southwest. This year, a 3rd event joins their ranks — and jostles right to … Read More
Finding influencers in your sales channel
When you think about the people capable of influencing your customers and prospects, take a good long look at your sales channel partners. A channel partner’s sphere of influence can extend far beyond their own customers and territory. Put their influence to work for you by incorporating them into your influencer program. Success depends largely on choosing the right channel … Read More
IDC: marketing budget cuts of 15% for 1H2009
Rich Vancil, vice president of IDC’s Executive Advisory Group, blogs a sad prediction: marketing budgets will be cut roughly 15% during the first half of 2009. He also makes an interesting point on the virtues of investing consistently in marketing: I have believed that good marketing investment policy has elements of a large inertial flywheel: let it stop spinning and … Read More
Coping with influencer attrition in 2009
It’s going to be a tough year to stay current with influencers. Under normal circumstances, Influencer50 research puts the attrition among a company’s top 50 influencers at about 20 percent per year. That means that in a 12-month period, 10 of the 50 will have changed jobs. It doesn’t look as though 2009 will offer normal circumstances. I would expect … Read More
Influencer Marketing Summit Feb 9-10 in London
Update, Jan. 19: this event has been canceled. My colleague Duncan Brown will give the opening presentation at the Influencer Marketing Summit next month in London. His presentation, “Capitalise on influencer marketing to accelerate brand performance and drive sales”, will focus on how to: Determine the effectiveness of your influencer marketing by knowing what to measure and when to measure … Read More