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Once upon a time, I was a fairly knowledgeable guy about social listening. (I still am, I think. But in the early 2010s I was kind of known for that.) Analyzing online conversations to mine for consumer insights became such a focus for me that I started a company around the practice. The Conversation Research […]

I’ve been using Julius for influencer marketing discovery, campaign management and measurement for several years now. Its user interface, functionality, feature set and the curated information Julius’s research team loads into the platform make it a superior choice, in my opinion. Julius is the software I mention in my book more often than others for […]

For much of the last year or so in the influence marketing space, there has been a growing trend to move away from mega-influencers in favor of micro- and nano-influencers. Those with fewer than 50,000 or even 10,000 followers. The reasons, as we’ve discussed with several of our guests, is that the smaller the following, the […]

One of the fascinating new trends in the influencer space is that of influencer houses. You may have heard The Hype House, probably the biggest example in the U.S., is queued up for a Netflix distribution deal after starting on social media channels. There’s another in the U.S. called the Sway House, yet another called […]

I’ve had the good fortune to have built a respectable audience over the years, creating and sharing content on social networks, writing blog posts and articles, speaking at conferences and the like. My primary platform for much of that time has been Twitter. And the way I built a nice following there was by sharing […]

Nothing gets me excited quite like finding like minded people who are interested in and knowledgeable about the same things I am and having a good conversation. That’s why I started this podcast. I feel like I eat, sleep and breathe influence marketing these days. So I love talking to smart people who do the […]

When the first inklings of what we have come to call influencer marketing emerged in the late 2000s, Instagram, TikTok and SnapChat didn’t exist. Facebook was actually barely a thing at that point, because only college-tied emails initially earned access to the platform. YouTube existed, but web video was still complicated and cost-prohibitive for the […]

It’s pretty obvious that you believe in the power of podcasting. Or at least you’re willing to give it a shot or you wouldn’t be listening to this, right? Yes, podcasts are a great way for someone like me to share ideas and interview interesting people for people like you. Ideally, you find the episodes […]

People don’t solve problems in a vacuum. At least most people don’t. Problems are usually solved when two or more people get together and collaborate on ideas. That’s the nugget of truth behind the concept of networking. You get together with others to share ideas, but also challenges, tapping into the crowd for resources, solutions […]

There is a force at play in the influencer marketing space that puts the entire industry in danger. If that force isn’t reckoned with, and soon, the practice of leveraging individual content creators with attractive audiences on social networks for brands will die. This particular group isn’t killing influencer marketing intentionally, mind you. But they’re […]

What’s the sexiest medical device you can think of? I recently discovered that eyeglasses are technically considered a medical device. And that puts them squarely in the crosshairs of style and fashion. Marissa Cundiff is the vice-president of marketing for Kenmark Eyewear, a manufacturer that supplies some of the most recognizable sunglass and eyeglass collections […]

Last month the Screen Actors Guild and American Federation of Television and Radio Artists or SAG-AFTRA in the trade, unveiled a plan to account for influencers in its union. My initial take was applause for the move because it meant that an influencer or content creator now had at least a path to health benefits […]