By Nikita Geldenhuys

Popimedia, a social media ad tech company, has been hosting educational sessions as part of its Ad-Tech Academy initiative throughout the year. In the latest session, Sharman discussed the importance of social proof and partnering with the right influencers.

She explained that influencer marketing is not a new concept. Influencers have been impacting the purchasing decisions of people for some time and have become an asset to brands looking to target specific audiences.

While this concept has recently been expanded to apply to social media marketing, it relies on established principles. According to Sharman, the six principles of persuasion have become the basis for most sales and marketing strategies. Theorised by the academic Robert Cialdini, these principles are also known as the six key principles of influence.

The first principle is reciprocity and involves one party “giving something” to another. The principle is based on the idea that the receiver is more likely to return the favour, as explained by Hubspot. The second concept, commitment and consistency, involves getting people to commit to something.

The third concept, social proof, suggests that if a social media user or influencer likes a specific product, their followers are more likely to do so too. Liking, as a principle, involves consumers buying from brands that they like. Sharman pointed out that this means brands should be more personable.

The concept of authority also has the ability to persuade as people seek guidance from others, like influencers. In Sharman’s opinion, the sixth principle, scarcity, is based on the fear of missing out, or FOMO.

Technology streamlining influencer marketing

Webfluential, an influencer marketing platform, is helping brands via artificial intelligence, Sharman explained. The platform is able to indicate whether an influencer is right for a brand by analysing personalities on social media.

“There’s influencer marketing, then there’s influencer tech,” she said. “Influencer tech helps marketers to be more effective when they run influencer campaigns.” The Webfluential platform measures sentiment, including whether brands and influencers are cautions or curious; easy going or organised; reserved or outgoing; contentious or agreeable; and confident or sensitive.

Sharman recommended that at least 70% of these factors should match up in order for an influencer to be a good fit for a brand. She also pointed out that brands could use an influencer that is more outgoing in nature than itself as a way of reaching a new target market.

New partners in ad tech offering

Webfluential recently announced a partnership with Popimedia, among other companies. Its partner programme started in October and will allow South African clients to access an extended product offering through its new partners.

Popimedia also announced that it will be partnering with Hootsuite. Popimedia’s product will integrate into the social media management platform and enable businesses to manage both social advertising campaigns and organic social channels from a single platform.

Lisa Steingold, marketing manager at Popimedia, concluded the Ad-Tech Academy session by commenting on the developments; “Each partner [Webfluential and Hootsuite] brings specific key capabilities.”

She also noted that the Ad-Tech Academy events will be expanded next year to include events in London and Nigeria. “We will also be doing research with marketers to help them overcome challenges.” 

For more information, visit www.popimedia.com and www.webfluential.com.