I would like to start my article by addressing it to the courageous brands who can see the importance of genuinely connecting with people and taking part in their stories and daily moments. Added to those are the brands that see value beyond just numbers on their ads or sponsored social posts. Digital advertising is being driven by automation and data driven industry to reach audiences. It depends on the interaction of the audience with the brand’s ads or similar products. Hence, the challenge of automation is the bots, viewability and false interactions with Ads, as well as the essence of human element of why people have seen your ad and interacted with it or not. 

The social platforms that started as social networks where people connected with each other as part of our natural social behavior have now become platforms of self-expression. They have turned into platforms where people shared their skills, moments and connect with other like-minded people based on interests rather than just on real world connections.  Some of those self-centered social users are unique and specialized in specific skills or interests that stand out and attract more social fans around them.

These people move from being normal fans connecting with other fans into influencers who can move and mobilize crowds around with their talents or persona. At this point they’re still fans who joined social networks to connect with people they know and/or get to know; however, their persona or unique talent stood out to influence others. Influencers love what they do because it represents them and they see their lives within every post they create and share. They are free and spontaneous, expressing themselves without limitations, definitely special and unique to attract more fans & friends around their aspirations and dreams. Influencers are dreamers and achievers; they love what they do and are proud of it, they live their lives like everybody else experiencing pleasant moments and other challenging ones. However; what differentiates them is their power to influence more like-minded people to achieve their dreams & interests through their representation of their lives. 

Social influencers are individuals who are attached to what they love and believe in, therefore respecting their cause and what they share is crucial in connecting with them. Brands that see value in connecting with people’s normal life without interruptions are the smartest in selecting the most relevant social fans. These social fans are genuinely speaking, using, sharing or tagging the brand as part of their daily social experience; those are the social fans that can add value to a brand’s mission in connecting with people. Social influencers are unique fans and hence can create more impact and reach than normal fans; influencers have created niche groups of like-minded fans. So brands have to be smart in selecting the right influencers who represent the brand in many of their posts and be proud to sponsor their content and take part in their conversations with their fans.

Influencers are social individuals who represent cultures and aspirations of specific people and act spontaneously to share their moments. Such aspects have to be considered from the brand’s perspective to see influencers as individuals with aspirations and part of the social context they represent.

As a technology media platform we enable brands to connect with influencers, therefore the “why” is not our call rather it’s the brands’. Brands have access to enough criteria to select social influencers relevant to their campaigns. We provide the tools that support brands with data about each social influencer’s channel with access to the content that they share; hence the formula to select the right influencer is on the brand. They can see how much such data & content of the social influencer is aligned with their campaign’s message and decide upon it. We support brands with most of the ingredients for a successful collaboration with influencers. 

The question that would rise from brand marketers is how we measure success and what the true metrics to connect with social influencers are. The answer to this is not in one criterion rather in many aspects of connecting with humans who act as relevant factors to the brand’s success. In addition to building a relationship and collaborating to get influencers, who would keep learning and advocating for the brand, into the brand’s media ecosystem. Being part of their conversation and moments is a success to any brand.