Public Relations & Social Marketing Insight

How do you find, build, foster, and manage influencer relationships? Three subject-matter experts – all influencers themselves – offer valuable how-to tips.

A recent study by Oglivy suggests that social media users aren’t showing advocacy or passion for most of the brands that they follow.

What I want to do in this post is take a look at the research behind that assertion and posit an alternative explanation for the chasm between brand advocacy expression on social media and its expression in real life.

Methodology

This study looked at between 6 and 7 million social media mentions of 22 major brands and eight feature films in four countries (United States, China, Brazil, and the United Kingdom). They assessed five product categories: coffee, hotels, fashion retail, movies, and skincare....

As marketers, we create content in order to persuade and engage with customers. But modern consumers are skeptical and savvy. The moment something hints of “ad,” they lose interest and move on.

Whether you sell fitness and health products, tour packages, or home services, a single positive recommendation from a trusted source can trump even your most beautifully written copy or most engaging video demonstration. And while brand-crafted content is useful and can help build trust with customers, sometimes the most influential content comes from like-minded people that your customers know and trust...