“Brands have no better choice then having the influencers as their middlemen/women”
We were the middlemen…
Many years ago I worked for an international, Singapore-based company that managed import-export “trade deals.” We offered new, exciting, and profitable imported products/projects from India, China, and Taiwan to importers and dealers, and offered manufacturers (chemical, agricultural machinery, and appliance) export deals to those difficult to penetrate markets. It was fuuuuun!!
There was not one day without some interesting, exciting, dramatic, mind blowing activity!
We were the middlemen, and
… every day we had to prove why working with a middleman is a good idea vs trying to make the deal directly.
But at the same time (and since then too) I was debating with myself whether “middlemen” are necessary or not. I concluded (of course I kept this to myself!) that if you can do better business without middlemen (or middlewomen) then, cut them – just cut out the middleman.
And it can ALMOST always be done.
Lately (as someone who considers himself to be “an influencer on influencers”) , I’ve been thinking a lot ) about that question: can a brand cut out the Influencer, i.e. “the middleman” and get people to believe and trust them through direct persuasion?
My answer is – unfortunately for the brands – NO. You cannot cut that middleman/women out. Whether you want to or not, Influencers are here to stay.
Here is why:
People believe people. Brands? Not so much! Especially when the brand recommends… itself.
Direct communications via digital ads? No. We know by now that the new gen has found a way to ignore, dismiss, skip and block ads. Ads do not belong to this era, and it’s against what people want when they are asking, again and again, not to be pushed to buy something.
Influencers – our “middlemen” – are community builders by nature. They’ve created a community around a niche topic that is super interesting to that community. The community members are SUPER INTERESTED in the niche content and what the influencer has to say.
Check out Maggie of Once Upon a Pumpkin (the pumpkin influencer) and these niche #RedShoes microinfluencers:
Few of those on top can be your best ever Influencers.Few of those on top can be your best ever Influencers.
Their community members/followers are checking almost daily for what they have to say. They spend minutes, not seconds with their content. They trust them, they believe them.
Brands need those middlemen/women as a shortcut to build audience, because people believe people. Brands should not cut out that middleman/woman because third-party recommendations are exactly what brands need to start conversations, to be more trusted, to bring positive bias.
PS/ In my view, great influencers never do hard sales.
What do YOU think? Tell me your opinion, I would love to discuss.
Sincerely yours,
#DearMishuDad
Dear Mishu’s Dad is the Author of “Influencer Marketing MASTERY” — a guide for brands to identifying, finding, and working with Social Media Influencers, now Available as an Audiobook – Listen to it while you drive or at the gym
Once you are ready to contract an Influencer, you can download our Sample contract Influencer-Brand contract which has all the information you need to establish a win-win, productive relationship with Influencers
