36 WAIKATO BUSINESS NEWS <strong>October</strong>/<strong>November</strong> <strong>2018</strong> Influencers: What are they and should you be using them? It’s a tale as old as time in the PR world. Find a famous person, send them your product, pay them some money, and watch as they tell all the people they know how great your product is. It’s a promotional practice called influencer PR and its sole purpose is to use the clout of popular people to sell products. And it’s not just for hocking skinny tea or waist trainers – influencers exist in every industry, even if you don’t see them on your Instagram feed. How did we get here? Remember at school when the cool kid got a new pair of jeans or some roller skates and you wanted to get them too after you saw how they were #livingtheirbestlife, so you begged your parents to get the jeans and the skates too? Well this is the same, it just happens to be a multi-bil- lion dollar industry now. In the influencer game, it used to be you’d send a media kit with your soaps and shampoos to a beauty columnist in the hope they gave you 100 words of coverage in their magazine. And if you happened to know them IRL (in real life), they might feel extra charitable and spread coverage to a half page. How times have changed Now, I’d be sending my soaps and shampoos to some Instagrammers with a big audience and paying them a fee to post something about my product. Or inviting an industry commentator to my event so they say nice things about it to their networks. Have a think – how many times have you seen someone appear “organically” on your feed driving a new car for a weekend getaway, going to a new restaurant, taking some nutritional supplements or stretching out in some new active wear? Did you notice #collab (collaboration) or #sp (sponsored) in the caption? Chances are, they’ve been paid to say that. Influencers can be a great way to get the word out about your product, event or initiative, and it also doesn’t have to exist exclusively on social (it’s just “social” now, by the way, not “social media” – keep up). Many influencers are likeable, authentic, and have great reputations and networks you can leverage and align your brand or cause with. Hell, some of them might even do it for free if they really love you. But that doesn’t mean it will work for every brand, and certainly not for every product. And like any successful PR campaign, you need to know your audience and what makes them tick. Here are five tips to keep in mind if you’re thinking of aligning with an influencer: 1. Know your target audience. This might seem obvious but… are they using the channels you want to reach them on? Remember, an influencer can still be, erm, influential, at an event or in media – not just on social. 2. Find out what your influencer likes to do. Don’t just assume they’ll do everything you want because they’re getting a kickback. An influencer can be a brand in their own right, so it pays to do some research to find out what they typically align themselves with, and how you can both work in partnership to achieve common goals. 3. Encourage creative connection with your brand/ cause. Can an influencer wear it, play with it, eat it? The more engaging and interactive your “kit” is, the better. 4. Know your budget and product category. Costs (money, time, or contra) can vary between influencers and each influencer has a stable of product “types” they prefer to work with (e.g. health and wellness, sport, food, parenting). An agency can help you whittle this down. 5. Have a plan. Influencers should be one part of your overall PR or communications strategy. Relying only on influencers for a launch or publicity can be tricky, especially if someone pulls out at the last minute or things don’t go according to plan. Make sure you have other tactics planned so there’s something to fall back on. And like anything else to do with PR and communications – plan, plan, plan! Have your objectives, strategy, key messages, audience, risks and mitigation, and success measures all sorted before influencers become part of your communications tactics. PR AND COMMUNICATIONS > BY NICOLA LEE Nicola Lee is an account manager and social team lead at award-winning PR firm HMC Communications. X The power of one – how leaders can drive or derail their company’s reputation <strong>Waikato</strong> business leaders will be the first in the country to hear the findings of new Australasian research into leadership at a learning lunch in Hamilton this month. Ngaire Crawford from media intelligence and insights company Isentia will present the findings from their new research series on leadership at CRUNCH (Crucial Conversations Over Lunch) on <strong>November</strong> 21 at <strong>Waikato</strong> Innovation Park. Ms Crawford, who is head of insight (NZ) at Isentia, will lead a discussion about the impact of CEOs on their company or organisation’s brand and reputation in the media, and how they can be a catalyst for change. The CRUNCH event will also feature a panel of local business leaders including Guy Howard-Willis, co-founder of Manta5 and e-commerce ventures Torpedo7 and 1-day. co.nz; Mat Mclean, head chef of award-winning Hamilton restaurant Palate; Vanessa Williams, managing director of the Hamilton Central <strong>Business</strong> Association; and Heather Claycomb, director of award-winning public relations firm HMC Communications. Panellists will share their insights and thoughts on leadership in the modern business environment and their tips on how to be an effective brand ambassador. The panel discussion will cover a range of leadership topics including the dos and don’ts of media engagement, leading through a crisis and the importance of ethical and transparent leadership. Ms Crawford says that there have been more than 150,000 news stories about leadership across Australia and New Zealand this year, driven by events in politics and challenging events. CEOs and business leaders are often the face of their company or organisation, and that’s both a responsibility and an opportunity. “It’s been a complex year for leaders,” says Ms Crawford, who cites the abuse of power in the legal profession and sporting organisations as one challenge for CEOs. “The vast majority of the news we consume and engage with focuses on the negative traits and failures of individual leaders and institutions. This is then compounded by the negative feedback loop on social media platforms. “The media’s focus on leadership and its importance to our lives has prompted us to think and analyse the nature of leadership more deeply,” says Ms Crawford. “We think there is an interesting discussion to have about how we measure our leaders and what we expect from them, and that’s why we are developing the leadership research, to create a platform for this discussion across Australia and New Zealand.” HMC Communications director Heather Claycomb says leaders play an important role in shaping public perceptions. “CEOs and business leaders are often the face of their company or organisation, and that’s both a responsibility and an opportunity,” says Ms Claycomb. “We see it time and time again with clients – leaders who are able to communicate their vision and tell their company’s story, whether it’s through traditional or social media, have a positive impact on their company’s brand.” Ms Claycomb said that effective leadership also means having a voice during a crisis, and fronting up to the media. “A CEO has an important role in this situation, to communicate in an ethical and transparent way.” HMC Communications launched its suite of CRUNCH learning lunches in late 2017 to support <strong>Waikato</strong> business leaders. The 90-minute sessions, which include a light catered lunch, are designed to help leaders navigate the pressures they Ngaire Crawford will present findings of a new Leadership Index. face from sources outside their business that can impact its reputation. The CRUNCH session on leadership takes place at <strong>Waikato</strong> Innovation Park on Wednesday <strong>November</strong> 21, from 12-1.30pm and places are limited to 40. Registrations can be made at www.hmc-communications.co.nz/page/crunch For more information on Isentia see www.isentia.com/ new-zealand
WAIKATO BUSINESS NEWS <strong>October</strong>/<strong>November</strong> <strong>2018</strong> 37 MUSIC FOR THE HEART OF THE COUNTRY STU & CAMILLE WEEKDAYS 5.30AM-10AM
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