In an increasingly crowded marketplace, where consumers face an overwhelming amount of information every day, word of mouth is more powerful than ever. We know it holds more sway than a billboard, a magazine spread, or even a TV ad. In fact, word-of-mouth marketing generates more than twice the sales of paid advertising, with customers having a 37% higher retention rate compared with traditional advertising. 

So, how can brands leverage word of mouth marketing to reach their consumer? Influencers. They’ve built loyal followings around shared values, experiences, and most importantly trust. And they’ve worked for that trust by creating content that establishes their authority in specific areas such as wellness, parenting, entertaining, and more. That combination of trust and expertise is what gives influencers their sway, and what ultimately leads to conversions and customer retention for their brand partners. 

Yet, many brands remain skeptical of the value of influencer marketing. As an industry, it’s facing a number of challenges including inaccurate data, partnerships that limit a creator’s creativity, and vague performance results. These issues have damaged its credibility and limited its potential. We need to find a way to get past them. We need a better way to help brands understand the value of influencer relationships, demonstrate their potential for success, and clearly define their ROI.

The power of good data

This is where technology comes in. We recently partnered with Tagger, an influencer marketing platform and social listening tool we use to run campaigns, research well-aligned influencers, and report meaningful results. Armed with nine billion data points and myriad ways to analyze them, we’re able to break down the value of a partnership, and help the brand understand how it’s met or exceeded their goals. Additionally, we can guarantee that those results are accurate owing to Tagger’s authentic access to the key platforms. 

We recently sat down (via Google hangout) with Tagger’s Director of Content, Kelsey Formost, to chat about exactly how the platform sees their role as a solution to the challenges influencer marketing faces right now, and how they envision partnering with agencies to shape the course of the industry and help brands succeed. “The keyword is strategy,” said Kelsey. “[Success] is about building an intelligent strategy around accurate data.”

We couldn’t agree more. It’s important to have a strategy in order to truly leverage the vast amounts of data available on Tagger. With the industry expertise needed to create targeted strategies, we’re able to use the platform’s database to make influencer marketing more approachable and transparent for brands. 

“What makes Tagger special is the ability to get incredibly specific with your discovery process,” Kelsey explained. “We help users connect with highly specific audiences by allowing them to discover influencers who are already predisposed to have an affinity with your brand.” In fact, Tagger’s analytics allow us to see how an influencer has organically interacted with a brand over time and understand exactly how that content has performed. And that allows us to accurately predict the success of a paid partnership. 

The future is real ROI

With the data necessary to clearly illustrate the results of a brand-influencer partnership, Tagger takes the guesswork out of influencer marketing and holds it accountable to measurable results—so brands can prove ROI. As Kelsey puts it, “Influencer marketing is the new frontier of advertising through the digital lens. It’s word of mouth marketing in a digital atmosphere.” 

With Tagger in our back pocket, we’ve begun to see a bigger and more impactful future for influencer marketing. We’ve doubled down on our goal to educate brands — to help them see what we see, and better understand that this industry is the solution to an advertising strategy that truly delivers. As traditional advertising loses steam (along with its outlets), influencer marketing is ready to step up to the plate. We’re here for it.

We’re here to exceed your goals. Leveraging the power of our third-party platform, we can identify your perfect brand ambassador, build you a targeted campaign, and deliver real ROI. Contact us to get started.