Tag: Outer

Everyone knows that word-of-mouth marketing is the most effective and efficient way to attract new customers to a brand or a store. Yet before the widespread adoption of social media, word-of-mouth happened by accident and was not something easily managed.

Then along came Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram and brands discovered new ways to manage word-of-mouth marketing and make it work. A multi-billion-dollar industry – influencer marketing – was born.

A recent Association of National Advertisers study found some 75% of marketers are using it to raise brand awareness and drive traffic to websites and stores.

But consumers caught on pretty quickly that influencers’ social media posts weren’t necessarily authentic endorsements. They get paid to do them.

The mercenary nature of influencer marketing dramatically reduces its influence. Some 57% of consumers say there is an authenticity