Remember the famous scene from the movie Wayne’s World? The one with all the ad placements? Hilarious, right? Businesses like Pepsi and Pizza Hut have used TV and movies to embed their brand and spread their message to a mass audience for decades. It was funny in the 90s. But it’s no joke today in social media.
A few years back, retailer Lord and Taylor employed a similar ad strategy, but this time on Instagram. What the retailer did was target 50 individuals who had a high number of followers and high engagement, to wear a specific dress at a specific time. The result? The dress sold out almost instantly and the brand exploded on social media, as AdWeek reported here.
To us, it’s a no-brainer. The future of advertising is in product placement.
So how do organizations, associations and small businesses get in the game? The most economical option is to develop an influencer network on your social media accounts. By leveraging your brand’s social following and its members, you can easily spread your message quickly and affordably.
But, it’s not all about money.
Establishes Your Association’s Authority and Expertise
By enlisting your members into sharing the same message or post, your brand will be established as an authoritative expert in your industry. In doing so, there will be stronger unity and growth within your organization.
Aligns Your Brand with Leading Voices in The Industry
When members share your message, you immediately vault into a position of trust and leadership. In this position, your words carry more weight and you have greater leverage through your actions.
Build A Larger Network of Followers
When Lord and Taylor started selling out of that one dress, users wanted to know what other items they offered. As users start to see your message more often, users within your industry will follow you to stay informed. This will rapidly grow your followers and extend your reach further.
Corroborates Your Pitch
With more of the same posts showing up on feeds, the content being shared is validated and deemed important.
Quickly Spread News and Information
As more and more users share your posts through your influencers on social media, timely news and important information can be spread more quickly to key stakeholders. Your brand now has instant communication for urgent notifications or events – or to sell the ugly sweaters that you ordered way too much of and it’s the middle of summer. We’re looking at you Tipsy Elves. Yikes!
So where do you start? Right here.
