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vietzuko · 4 years ago

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if we used to share a discord server, this post is for you!

hello! i am going to try to do this as anonymously and non-confrontationally as possible. i do not want this to be a spectacle or call out post, but i will say that i am quite disturbed by the way situations have transpired on the server.

in case you didn’t notice, i left! when i left, i wrote a little goodbye post in #general, which has since been deleted. either the mods deleted my goodbye or they banned me from the server (which automatically would delete my message). in case you didn’t see it, here was my goodbye message:

hi everyone, i’m leaving the server. if you’re a POC who is interested in joining an ATLA server where POC can talk about ATLA and critically discuss race, feel free to PM me for a link! otherwise, this is goodbye. see you all around.

i won’t rehash everything that happened in the events leading to this, nor will i name names in this post. if you were on the server, you probably saw what happened publicly or you can message me personally, either here or on discord. if we know each other through the server and you want some clarity over names/events in this post, please PM me.

if you are a POC in the ATLA fandom who is concerned by the events of this post and you would like me to clarify which server i’m talking about, please PM me.

i just wanted to share the very long message that i sent to the mods (on their prompting!) because i feel that it shows my perspective on what transpired. unfortunately, this message did not result in any meaningful change, except for me getting banned/my messages removed from the server. i suppose that’s a type of meaning! haha.

anyway. here’s the message. cw for racism, yellowface

hi MOD 1 (and presumably the other mods who will read this message)! thanks for reaching out. i’ve had some time to dwell on the situation and discuss it with other people in the server who witnessed it and reached out to me personally. this is going to be an unbelievably long message, so i apologize in advance and thank you for your time in reading it.

i think the first thing i’d like to do is give some context for the incident and to give my perspective on why i said the things i said.

i have PMed a mod about a racist incident in the server exactly once. it was when i first joined, and i saw a picture of a white person in yellowface in the cosplay channel. i didn’t know any of you personally yet (and this was before some of you even joined on as mods). i have since told SERVER MEMBER 1 about this incident and i’m pretty sure they mentioned it to you because i noticed you’ve changed the yellowface rule. but i think that the context of me pinging a mod about a racist incident and then witnessing another (although less egregious) instance of racism by the mods might explain why i am, in general, hesitant about talking to mods about racism on the server. i am just trying to live my life and experience as few micro-aggressions as possible.

i also think the fact that i regularly educate and push back against white people’s racially harmful messages in the server is also important context. i realize none of you likely know this, but about every two weeks i receive an unsolicited PM from a different white person apologizing/asking for forgiveness/asking for reassurance/asking further questions about their racism on the server. i’m glad people are learning from me, but this is a huge amount of emotional labor that i put into the server and its members because of course i have to reply and explain things and tell them not to worry and thank them for apologizing, etc. i know that these messages aren’t your fault, nor am i asking you to do anything about this. but it feels important that you know the price that i (and perhaps other poc in the server, although i can’t speak to that) pay in order to share space with you.

MOD 2 has even messaged me personally to thank me for educating people in the server and responding to racist messages, saying: “really appreciate how much effort you put in and everything, i was trying to type something up but floundering badly.” it was a nice message, and i appreciated it a lot! it also led me to believe that the mods would prefer if i engage with racist messages myself, rather than ping them, because it felt like i was just going to be more able/willing to articulate a response anyway.

so when SERVER MEMBER 2 messaged the zukka channel “thought that lives in my head rent free: Sokka's hairstyle in canon is just a warrior's hairstyle and has meaning because of that. Sokka wearing the same hairstyle in a modern AU is undisputably queer-coded” and nobody replied for a while, i assumed that it was because they had seen what i had seen-- a racially insensitive message that totally ignores sokka’s indigenous heritage and the history behind indigenous hair-- so i decided to step in with what i thought was a balanced response.

SERVER MEMBER 2 then replied with a cheery “Fair enough! I will defer to your greater knowledge,” which i couldn’t tell was sarcastic or not, but i decided to be generous and to believe they were genuinely thankful for my reply, so i responded with a “you too can have great knowledge. i only know things because i read things. anyone can read things and learn,” which is something i firmly believe and also a way to divert the conversation away from SERVER MEMBER 2’s mistake, which i felt was the most dignified solution for them. i suppose this message could be read as aggressive because i didn’t use exclamation marks? but that feels unfair and ungenerous because i genuinely did not mean this message in a harsh way.

then SERVER MEMBER 3 jumped in and asked a few questions, which i read as a request for clarification, so i tried to continue to explain my point. it felt like SERVER MEMBER 3 wasn’t understanding what i was trying to explain, or at least i wasn’t able to articulate myself well enough, which was making me a little tired and stressy (and i was also thinking about my own race and queerness in stressful and triggering ways), so i decided to tap out of the conversation.

me: dude i love u and i respect u and i truly believe that u are trying very hard to understand, but this conversation is making me kinda heated

SERVER MEMBER 3: I’m gonna step back from it because it’s not my conversation to insert myself into, which is what I did initially and apologize for

me: i think it's so important to engage + ask questions & i appreciate that u respect my opinions on these things, but i think i'm just. i have said what i need to say and now must sleep. much love to all.

to me, this felt like me expressing that i was feeling tired and upset and leaving the conversation, while still attempting to reassure SERVER MEMBER 3 that i still admired him as a friend. i felt like the conversation had ended peacefully!

i hope this helps explain why MOD 3’s message came as such a surprise.

“the escalation to defensiveness and accusation regarding the original (relatively benign) statement was unnecessary and exaggerated. There’s an atmosphere of purity policing that’s been growing, which is why I took away the squick channel, as I assumed that a space that encouraged no repercussions was facilitating irresponsibility aggressive arguments. “

i truly didn’t believe i was being defensive. i was very careful not to accuse anyone of anything. in fact, i tried as far as i could to coat my language in “i” statements-- “i would personally not choose…”, “i would just. stay away from…” in order to avoid “accusations.” i was also trying very hard not to be aggressive, and i (and other poc that i have spoken to about this) believe that the idea that my messages were aggressive is racialized. just because a poc is upset about racism, it doesn’t mean they’re attacking you personally!

i feel so hurt that my messages were wilfully interpreted in this way, instead of being read generously and from a more compassionate perspective, especially since i voiced my own upset and discomfort during the conversation. it distresses me to think that me expressing negative emotions is seen as aggressive, rather than a cause for empathy or care, and i do believe that this is because of my race.

if a mod had asked me to take the messages to the DMs or to squick or even just let me know that someone was interpreting my messages as aggressive, i would have changed my behavior. (like i said earlier, i spend a HUGE amount of energy coddling white people on this server. i am very used to it.)

instead, i got the shock of 45 minutes after the fact, being publicly chastised and labeled as aggressive and being told that my conversation was “something nasty or unwanted.”

the idea that SERVER MEMBER 3 was de-escalating a “clearly escalating situation” feels untrue to me. i was ready to move on after i sent my message to SERVER MEMBER 2, but he kept engaging me on the subject! (no hate to SERVER MEMBER 3 on this.)

i think one of the most painful parts of this whole situation is the implication that i was attempting to “purity police,” as though i am a person who picks fights just because i want to feel good about picking fights?? or to act holier-than-thou???? i do not do this. if you have witnessed ANY interaction i’ve had with a racially insensitive white person on the server, you will know this.

i am simply a person of color trying to live my life. i do not want to fight about racism. i want to chill out and watch my cartoons. unfortunately, sometimes, someone will say something that i consider racially insensitive and i will do my best to engage and explain why i find this insensitive. that is all. (it is important to note that most of the time, when i see racially insensitive things on the server, i do not say anything because i am tired and it is a lot of effort to engage. i truly only engaged this time because nobody had replied to the message and i was just like, oh, fine, i guess i’ll educate, since no one else has!)

this whole incident has honestly made me really hurt and disrespected. i have enjoyed my time on the server and i have made some good friends there. however, it feels clearer and clearer to me that the server is a space where white feelings of safety (not being criticized for their racist content) are prioritized over poc’s feelings of safety (not having to witness and experience racist content). i sincerely considered myself to be an active and enthusiastic member of the server, maybe even friends with some of you, but it feels to me that all of our previous positive interactions have been displaced by this idea of me as an aggressive, overzealous purity cop who calls things racist for fun.

i don’t even know how to repair my relationship with the server after this because i really do feel horrible and sick about the whole thing. i have spoken to other poc who also expressed their concerns about the way the mods handled the situation, even if these other poc weren’t directly involved, and some of us are considering leaving the server, if we haven’t already. (i would also like to note that these people reached out to me, unprompted, to make sure i was doing okay after what they and i interpreted as a micro-aggression by the mods. like, we independently read the situation in this way.)

(also, not sure if this matters, but i talked to SERVER MEMBER 3 the morning after the incident because i wanted to make sure he was okay, and we both ended up apologizing to each other and having a really good and productive talk.)

thanks again for reading this. i hope that you’ll be able to better understand my perspective on what occurred. i truly appreciate the work that you put into the server (especially as someone who also puts work into the server lol), and i know it’s difficult to mod a large server (i also mod an atla server!), but i continue to feel hurt about this. i know it’s hard to read tone over server messages, but i really wish that my (and SERVER MEMBER 4′s and SERVER MEMBER 5′s ) server messages had been read with greater compassion.

...

and that’s all folks! i’m going to be remaking my blog soon, partially because this whole experience has exhausted me and partially because i have been meaning to anonymize my internet presence for some time.

#felix.txt

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scuttleboat · 6 years ago

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It's gonna be hard, it is gonna hurt, but Bellarke can and will grow beyond this.

(a comment on this post where I mention it’s impossible to classify ‘regret’ on tv)

(FYI record this kind of general-thoughts comment doesn’t need to be anonymous, you can just send it with your name on it. I’d prefer that because then we can have future conversations and I will know who I’m talking to.)

*smacks hands* OKAY MANY THOUGHTS HERE

I more or less agree with you that probably neither character truly regrets their actions, because they think that they were necessary. The show made it crystal clear why both of them thought they had to act to protect their loved ones, at least to this viewer typing now before you. So ‘forgiveness’ may not unfold for Bellarke this time the way it has in the past.

LIMITS OF THE MEDIUM

The thing is, with television one can only go to a certain level of understanding a character's inner feelings. With a book you can explain EVERYTHING they feel. With a musical or voice over, you can explain most of what they feel. With a traditional drama like t100, we can only go so-so deep. There's the script, the acting, the cinematic atmosphere, the music, and the editing. Each of those factors is subjective; even the script is up for interpretation as for how candid it is about a character's true feelings vs their presented feelings.

It's pretty unlikely that we're ever going to get a full explanation of how each Clarke and Bellamy are feeling about what happened, and that's fine. For myself, as a writer my natural inclination is to immediately build up headcanons for what I guess that each of them may be going through, such as I might turn into a fanfic. What I come up with is going to be a lot more specific and multilayered than what the show could possibly communicate through the screen medium. Sometimes I think people in fandom trick themselves into thinking that a show can explain it all, and when it doesn't, they think it means that character isn't feeling those things. The character isn't showing enough sadness, or not showing it the right way, for example. But there's only so much television can do, and the fact that we must fill in the rest is kind of... our privilege. That's where a viewer has the power to create their own experience in the story. So I could talk for ages about the micro nuances for how I think Clarke is feeling, but most of that will be my headcanon, at the end of the day. Which means it won't match up with everyone else.

REGRET, REMORSE, AND ALL THAT JAZZ

People put a lot of weight on words like "regret" or "sorry" but those can be complex emotions. Also, side rant, I think people really mean remorse, not regret. I think Clarke and Bellamy both felt extraordinary pain this episode, but I also think that overall, both of them would stand by their choices and their reasoning (Chash has a fanfic up right now actually that explores this dilemma thoughtfully.) However, looking at how the episode actually ENDED, I think its possible to have regrets that you did something, now that you've seen it fail. Like when you start a thing, you hope it will work and you feel justified in doing it. But then it fails and you're up shit creek! Might actually be executed! Lost your BFF! Those are major and valid reasons to regret doing something. Time machines WOULD BE SO USEFUL TO UNDO THAT WHOLE MESS. But feeling "omg if I'd known it would end like this I would have done something else" does not invalidate the logic path or the emotional context of why you did it. It doesn't mean you weren't making what you thought was your best choice in that moment, given the information you had.

That's where I think Bellamy and Clarke will be at next week. Bellamy probably regrets his plan for the fact that it ended so badly--but he won't apologize for trying to save his family and do the right thing. Those motives were not wrong, to his eyes. But yeah, if someone had prophesied "btw if you try this Clarke will get out and flee with Madi and instead of a peace alliance you'll just end up in a death ring" then of course he wouldn't do it. Similarly, if back in 508 someone told Clarke "Hey this plan to kill Cooper will start a chain of events where Bellamy puts the Flame in Madi, you leave him to die and Octavia wakes up worse than ever" then of course she would not do it. I'm sure she's regretting the hell out of how all this went down. But that doesn't mean Clarke would ever apologize for prioritizing her daughter, or that she would /regret/ trying to sabotage the Ascension. Clarke has achieved her immediate goal of stopping Madi from being Commander, and to Clarke that is worth anyone's life, even Bellamy's. Clarke sees being Commander as a death sentence, especially for 11-to-12 year old nightblood children. It was like three days ago that she stopped Gaia from murdering Niylah over this. People were already willing to kill to put Madi in power or to keep her out of power; the threat is real. Clarke won't regret escaping with Madi. But I do think, if I were writing a story about her inner thoughts, that she's gonna be plagued with remorse that she didn't do it sooner, that she didn't have a better plan or anticipate what was going to happen. Clarke loves Bellamy and leaving him to maybe be executed is a terrible thing. She could spend A LIFE TIME replaying the last couple days in her mind and speculating how both she and Bellamy could have made better choices. Smarter choices. Choices that didn't take them to this awful end.

In a response to another post that I wrote, @jeanie205 described Bellamy in 509 as "making one seemingly reasonable but ultimately unsuccessful decision after the other." I think that's an excellent way of looking at all of their choices over 508 and 509: The plan to kill Cooper. The plan to destroy the worms. The plan to put Octavia in a coma. The plan for Indra to lead a surrender. The plan to make Madi Commander. The plan to stop the Ascension before Madi is chipped. All of these were founded on the logic and emotions that the characters had at the time, and all of them were unsuccessful. The worst outcomes happened instead. On t100, mistakes have life & death consequences.

I think that Clarke and Bellamy have a lot to regret about the decisions that they made to take them to where they are now. But I don't think either of them regret doing everything that they can to save their loved ones. I don't think Clarke needs to aplogize for picking Madi's life over Bellamy's life. I don't think that Bellamy needs to apologize for trying to save Raven, Echo, Murphy, and Emori from being consumed alive by worms from the inside out. How do you apologize for pain you've caused someone without conceding that your motives were somehow wrong? Because what if your motives WEREN'T wrong at all... But you're still so fucking sorry that someone you love is now suffering? And there's always that gem t100 goes back to: How do you respect yourself when you will sink to any depths of behavior to achieve your goals? When you manipulate and mortally endanger a child that trusts you, or leave a man you love behind to be held for treason and likely execution...can you forgive yourself? Can you at least suck in your breath and swallow your pain and endure til tomorrow?

GOING FORWARD

This is where Clarke and Bellamy are gonna be, headspace wise. Struggling to absorb the internal conflicts. Struggling to move forward past these terrible things while knowing that they partially brought it on themselves and each other. Also accepting that some of what happened wasn’t their fault because they couldn’t control the actions of others who would do them harm.

They've both been in these situations before. They've accepted and moved on before, and the foundation of love between them hasn't changed. It's gonna be hard, it is gonna hurt, but Bellarke can and will grow beyond this.

#the 100 meta #bellarke #clarke griffin #bellamy blake #the 100 season 5 #the 100 5x09 #bellarke meta

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awkwardbreakdance · 8 years ago

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Get ready for a ride

Regarding the Adventure Zone discourse that has erupted as of late:

I get having criticisms about racial issues. I’m a bisexual black woman raised by a family who grew up during the Civil Rights Movement. I’m extremely aware of, and have been a victim of, micro-aggression and outright bigotry.

I am not trans, latinx, nor am I Jewish, so I cannot come at these concerns from those angles

Even trying to create a 1 to 1 comparison between the black experience and those of latinx or Jewish folks isn’t possible. But I can speak of the large amount of TAZ fanart I’ve seen by creators that have headcanon’d the characters as black. Because I don’t know the creators, I have a gut reaction every time I see a black Taako being his normal rude boy self, because that is something that is heavily equated to blackness. When I see black Magnus, I feel the same way, because black people are so stereotypically violent brutes. When I see black Merle, I get sus because black men leaving their families is a HUGE stereotype. I feel these things because I feel safe in assuming (according to my typical interactions with most folks) that they have no idea/don’t care that what they’re doing can be harmful, or that it is subconsciously within them to make those connections.

When I see people going for the McElroys’ throats, I get it, but I don’t. I understand being disappointed by seeing a part of yourself portrayed a certain way, believe you me. But the McElroys have constantly put themselves out there to try and do right by their incredibly diverse listener base. All of them have done so much to be transparent and try and do the right thing. Off the top of my head:

Retcon Taako’s taco quest and his last name; also Lup’s name

Attempt to rectify the “bury your gays” with Hurley and Sloane

Explicitly established POC/LGBT NPCs in canon

I understand that it is frustrating to see certain played out tropes/stereotypes. Don’t get me started about the fact that there are 2 women whose deaths have been for the advancement of a man’s character.

But I ask that you all remember that this started out as a bullshited DnD podcast that none of them thought was going to last this long or have such an impact. They created characters with familiar stories, ones of lost loved ones, lost connections, lost fortunes and fame, and those stories came about through the McElroys’ personal worldviews, ones that they have attempted to adapt so that more than just people like themselves could appreciate. And that is a hell of an endeavor. The story isn’t perfect; no piece of media ever will be. And that’s why thoughtful discussion is important. Consume the media, understand its flaws and why they are such. But I have never seen anything, any fandom I’ve been in before, have creators that have so attentively listened to their fans with open hearts. I want you all to think on your fandoms. How many of them have gone up in smoke because the creators were so dead set on things being one way, or were so far up their own asses about their perfect narrative?

TAZ is nothing like that, and I believe with 100% certainty that the McElroys have never come from a place of hatred or racism.

So, to all you people (a lot of whom I’ve seen being white folks who are truly and greatly out of their depth/out of line for crying racism over POC voices) who are prepared to burn everything down because one artists non-canonical representation of Taako has green skin, or because Lup and Barry being canon isn’t true LGBT representation because it’s a straight ship (or are upset that the ship is getting more attention than gay ships), the people who raise the McElroys up on this impossible to reach pedestal (let’s be honest, you guys are like this with them because you found some non-threatening white dudes that are uwu smol soft boys or some shit) only to shit all over them when they don’t reach your standards:

The way ya’ll are acting, I honestly hope Griffin doesn’t make another campaign. He’s put so much heart and soul into this and people nit-pick him to death over it. He’s trying to do right by all of us, but for some reason, he’s not allowed to make mistakes along the way. People have complained so much that I can’t imagine that they’re having as much fun with it as they should be. Griffin was so nervous about this arc coming out that I don’t understand how he managed to work up the courage to do it. These dudes are some of the MOST receptive to other peoples’ concerns, but there is a line, one that a lot of you crossed. Bring up concerns or let them know how you feel in a respectful manner? Yes! Please do, it has been the driving force of positive change and some wonderful story elements. Make assumptions about them, harass them, or call them things that they aren’t because you don’t know how to conduct yourself? Absolutely not.

#the adventure zone #taz #taz discourse #honestly this is insane #like i've been watching critical role (another dnd podcast) and there's been nothing like this in the years it's been going #i get that it's important that everyone feel safe and welcome but jesus christ ya'll

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devontroxell · 4 years ago

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Getting Started with Influencer Marketing

Influencer marketing is a misused and misunderstood buzzword. Some think it means to call up a Kardashian, pay them a bunch of money, and get them to share an Instagram post about your product or service.

While this is an example of influencer marketing, it is more of an outlier, especially for smaller businesses. Small businesses have much better options when it comes to influencer marketing.

First, what is influencer marketing? Here’s a good definition from the influencer marketing platform, Tapinfluence…

Influencer marketing is a type of marketing that focuses on using key leaders to drive your brand’s message to the larger market. Rather than marketing directly to a large group of consumers, you instead inspire/hire/pay influencers to get out the word for you.

This form of marketing is one of the most effective ways to reach and engage audiences not normally available to your business.

Street Teams

I play the drums and have a bunch of friends who have gone on tour. Do I regret never trying to be a touring musician? Maybe, but let’s stay on task here, ok?

Back in the day (which for me was the early 90s), there was no such thing as social media and the Internet was still in its infancy.

Touring bands would have to do everything by phone. They would call up venues or have a booking agent who did this for them. The shows were their only opportunity to engage with fans and future fans.

The smart bands would set up street teams in every city where they played. They would ask fans in each city if they would be interested in being on the band’s team. Sometimes, the team members would get free merch or tickets to future shows.

In exchange, they would be expected to hand out flyers and plaster the town with posters for upcoming shows. So, as they prepared a new tour, they would mail out flyers, stickers, and maybe some free tickets to their street teams.

Doing this got these bands exposure in advance of their shows and helped them build their fan base. More fans = more ticket, merch, and CD sales.

This was an early example of influencer marketing, in a sense. Street teams consisted of fans of the band who had an influence in their community when it came to what shows people should attend.

Influencer Marketing Today

Your brand is now looking for its modern-day street team. Social media influencers can be your boots on the ground, so to speak. They can get the word out about your business and help build your fanbase.

The most common misconception about this type of marketing is that you have to work with social media influencers who have millions of followers.

It could actually be a mistake to go after these heavy hitters. The problem is that they are so popular that they don’t have a real connection with their followers.

So, while you might get some good exposure, the chances of building a solid fanbase through these personalities are very small. You’re better off focusing on what influencer marketing expert, Neal Schaffer, calls micro and nano influencers, influencers having 10,000 and 1,000 followers, respectively.

Getting Started with Influencer Marketing

Any new marketing venture can be overwhelming. You’re faced with some familiar questions…

Where can you find these micro and nano influencers?

What social media platforms will work best?

What tools and platforms will you need?

Who will manage these efforts?

Why would they work with you?

What are your goals?

The last two questions are the most important, in my opinion. If you have solid answers to both, the rest will fall into place. Let’s take a deeper look at each…

Why Would an Influencer Work with You?

Going back to our street team example, the bands would approach fans for help. Imagine a musician going up to a completely random person and asking for that person to be on their street team.

This would be ludicrous for lesser-known bands. Similarly, the same is true for brands trying to court an influencer. Sure, a bunch of money could convince an influencer to work with you, but it will be hard to convince their followers that they truly value your brand.

Plus, they would have to disclose the fact that they are being paid for their promotion efforts (follow these federal guidelines to avoid any serious imperial entanglements).

Influencer marketing is most powerful when the influencer is truly a fan of the brand. Fandom doesn’t occur overnight. Fandom takes effort.

A solid foundation of positive brand recognition and reputation will make for more successful campaigns. You can build this over time using…

Quality content that entertains and/or meets Google’s E-A-T standards

A consistent and helpful social media presence in target channels

A consistent brand presence

Basically, you are building brand authority so influencers will want to work with you. If you do not have sufficient brand authority, you better be super cool or cutting edge, otherwise, it will be difficult to convince these people to consider your offer.

Your Influencer Campaign Objectives

In addition to brand influence, you’ll need a clearly defined set of goals before approaching an influencer. Your campaign will be more successful if you and the influencer both clearly understand the campaign objectives.

For example, the campaign could be centered on building registrations for an event.

Or maybe the goal is to build awareness around a new product launch. Whatever your goal, make sure it is clear, attainable, trackable, and will justify the time and expense of working with an influencer.

Choose a goal that is focused and not some nebulous goal like “building awareness” or “growing followers.” These are legitimate goals in a sense but harder to quantify and track.

You’re better off starting out focusing on a goal with money attached to it, especially if you will need to show any sort of ROI to the higher-ups.

Develop an Influencer Profile

You have your own brand authority, and you’ve identified an appropriate goal. Great! Now it’s time to figure out what the perfect influencer looks like.

“Um, her name is Kayla and she has like, a gazillion followers on ShapChat!” Yeah, not that.

This exercise is similar to developing customer personas. You are creating an archetype of the perfect influencer. You might have influencers in mind already, which is great. Use them as the model in case they don’t want to work with you.

Detail the following in this profile…

The ideal number of followers (remember your micro and nano crowds)

Target platform where they hold influence

Level of engagement and authenticity (are people into them, like, for reals?)

Is a natural match for your brand

Remember, we’re talking about real people with organic reach and influence who would be open to working with your brand.

Finding Influencers

Now it’s time to find you an influencer. Again, if you had one in mind all along and they still make sense after going through the exercises above, reach out to them.

If you don’t have someone in mind, you’ll need to find someone. Buzzsumo is a great option for this. Of course, you can also just go looking.

Search for keywords or hashtags relating to your industry on the platform and see who is talking about it.

You can also divide and conquer. You may even find that someone on your team either knows of the perfect person or might even be that perfect person themselves.

Just don’t settle on one. Take the time and get a solid handful of candidates before moving on to the next step.

Landing Your Influencers

Now, set up calls with potential influencers. They will likely be flattered that you’ve reached out to them as an “influencer,” especially the nano-influencers. But, flattery will only get you so far.

Don’t lead with the carrot here. There are a few things they might be interested in…

Great content they can share with their audience

More exposure by aligning with your brand (if your brand has good authority)

Money, gifts, freebies

Fame and fortune

That last one is a joke, kind of. The point here is that they might be interested in working with you just to get access to more content they can share with their followers. If you lead with money, you’d miss this potential arrangement.

If they do want something of value from you, make sure you can afford to give it to them. Remember, you will likely be asked to show ROI if you want to continue with influencer marketing. Make sure you will come out net positive.

Measuring Success of Your Influencer Campaign

Never do any digital marketing unless you can track it. You’re wasting your money and time otherwise. Influencer marketing is no different.

Make sure you have the tools in place to track the success of your campaigns. And remember, more likes are not a success. You want to track whether or not you’re achieving those tangible goals.

The actual mechanics of tracking are pretty simple and can be done with free software like Google Analytics and your social media stats.

Some of the hooks you might want to use include…

UTM codes in URLs

Hashtags (there are tons of tools to help with this)

Landing pages with tracking codes

Marketing automation tracking codes

You’d be fine with any of those four, but don’t limit yourself. We recommend using marketing automation as the backbone of any digital marketing strategy. But that is another post altogether. Oh, wait, here it is.

Influencer marketing is not just a buzzword. It’s a powerful way to amplify your marketing efforts. And it isn’t just available to large companies, small businesses can get in on the action too.

I like memes, sue me!

Remember, build your brand authority, establish goals for your campaign, profile the perfect influencer, set up a mutually beneficial relationship, and track everything!

If you’re serious about influencer marketing, I highly recommend reading Neal Schaffer’s book, The Age of Influence.

Getting Started with Influencer Marketing published first on https://wabusinessapi.tumblr.com/

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