VizSense Insights

In a previous post, I wrote about the insights and large-scale impact that Twitter provides. More than seven years after news of a US Airways plane landing in the Hudson River and the earthquake in China broke on Twitter, the social media network continues to take a front row seat with events like the recent earthquake in Ecuador, terrorist attacks in Paris, and the announcement of Beyonce’s latest project. Twitter sits at a critical crossroad in its state as a publically traded company: Either listen to Park Avenue “analysts” and traditional business perspectives demanding more users, or return to its roots and reinvent itself by exploring alternative revenue sources like I propose below.

Much has been written and said about the ROI of influencer marketing, to the point that 84% of marketers are using it in their marketing strategy this year. If you’re among the 84%, then you’ve implemented an influencer marketing program and are engaging influencers to help you promote your brand, product or service. Great! But how do you know it’s working? It may be awhile until you see an impact in product movement, subscriptions, etc. but there are other indicators of the success and failure of your influencer strategy. Here are four signs your influencer strategy may be on the road to failure:

Do any of these concerns resonate with you?

• Influencers in my category, for my competitors and for my brand are changing everyday. They sometimes seem to come out of nowhere overnight.
• The CMO has challenged us to have more insights on how influencers can help us move the needle, yet the CFO has challenged us to be more cost efficient while doing it.
• There are so many analytics platforms out there. I have no idea where to start.
• We’ve purchased several suites of tools and I’m already overloaded with data.

I’m sure there’s more. These were just the ones that came to-mind before you had your first cup of coffee today, right?

I just landed back in Dallas from a whirlwind three days at MarTech: The Marketing Technology Conference in San Francisco. As usual, the insights shared at Scott Brinker’s conference did not disappoint.

Whether you were able to attend the conference or not, here are my six takeaways for visionary marketers like yourself. 

I don’t know Jack Dorsey or anyone else at Twitter. I don’t own Twitter stock. In fact, while these tech pioneers were working kinks out of lines of code in 2006, I was in a 3rd world country that made Tijuana look like Monaco, doing counter-terror operations. Nonetheless, I believe in the idea. I believe in the product. I believe in Twitter. Why?