All of the hype around influence marketing over the past 2 years has been impossible to ignore. It's one of the primary strategies for expanding brand awareness, while also helping that influencer to build their brand and reach a new audience. But what do the influencers themselves think about influence marketing? Find out in this presentation of 50 influencer quotes!

1. 50 INFLUENCERS
on
INFLUENCE
MARKETING
A QUOTE
COMPILATION
BY WISHPOND
W

2. On Strategy

3. “Have an influencer strategy.
I would say 99% of
businesses that say they
want to partner with
influencers actually have no
strategy. Start with why you
are engaging with
influencers (what it is going
to do for your business).”
Joe Pulizzi
- Founder, Content Marketing Institute

4. Lee Odden
- CEO of TopRank Online Marketing “Grow your influencer
network long before you
need them. The day to create
an army of influential
advocates isn’t the first day
of the war. Find common
interests and develop
rapport.”

5. Lee Odden preaches when working with clients
on influencer marketing. “Work with an influencer,
they’re friends for a day. Help someone become
influential, they’re a friend for life.”
“With scarcity of time, many
influencers are being more
selective about what they
say “yes” to. They make
these choices not just for
efficiency but also to ensure
quality of association.
Factors like how well known
the brand is, the quality of
the project, and
compensation all factor into
decisions about
participation in an
influencer marketing
program.”
Lee Odden Also Says
- CEO of TopRank Online Marketing

6. “Rather than simply blasting
[Influencers] with email,
work on developing a
relationship first by
interacting with them. Start
by leaving comments on
their relevant blog posts,
replying on Twitter, [...] etc.
Once you have taken the
time to actually get to know
them, when you do
approach an influencer
about covering your product
or service, it will not seem
like a cold call pitch.”
Brett Relander
- Founder of Launch and Hustle

7. “Do your research. Don’t just
leave it up to the affiliate
network or PR firm to vet
bloggers or social media
users for you. Take a look at
the influencer’s blog and/or
their social media presence,
and only add the ones who
truly resonate with your
brand to the outreach list. ”
Jess Estrada
- Fashion Blogger

8. “If you can engage the
influencer’s passions, and
work with them to craft a
compelling logical appeal,
then you can leverage the
credibility of the influencer
to actually sway hearts and
minds.”
Tom Webster
- Vice President, Edison Research

9. “Social media is not just an
activity; it is an investment
of valuable time and
resources. Surround yourself
with people who not just
support you and stay with
you, but inform your
thinking about ways to wow
your online presence.”
Sean Gardner
- Social Media Influencer

10. “Influencers hold the keys to
the readership kingdom, but
engagement doesn’t start
with a pitch. Make a list of
people who it’s possible to
build relationships with that
would benefit both of you.”
Alex Turnbull
- CEO and Founder, Groove

11. “The future is not about
marketing to influencers - it’s
about marketing with them.
Treating influencers as an
extension of your company -
rather than a distribution
channel - will result in a more
impactful experience for
influencers and consumers
alike.”
Emily Garvey
- Dir. of Marketing, Starwood Hotels.

12. “What we sometimes forget
is on the other side of every
social media profile is a
human being. Start more
conversations for
conversation-sake. Maybe
initial conversations don’t
directly benefit your
marketing strategy, but they
let the human on the other
end know you’re interested
in them.”
Ginny Torok
- Social Media Strategist, Traackr

13. “Think about adding your
influencers to your CRM to
manage your contacts and
outreach activities. You can
use the system to store pitch
ideas and also set up nurture
campaigns to stay top-of-
mind with your influencers.”
Amanda Maksymiw
- Content Manager, Lattice Engines

14. “When it comes to
measuring influence, it is
important to remember that
the primary objective of an
influencer program is not
just to influence the
influencer. The real objective
is to influence the influencer’
s network, as this is the point
at which the impact of
influencer engagement is
both felt and measured.”
Tim Williams
- Founder, Ignition Consulting Group

15. “A cold request to “promote
my stuff” is not the highlight
of your influencer’s day.
Engage influencers before
you need them. Be helpful.
Promote their stuff first.
Mutual value increases
receptivity.”
Ardath Albee
- B2B Marketing Strategist

16. “The hardest thing is when I
get a request from someone
I’ve never heard from before.
They haven’t tried to build a
relationship at all, but they’
re asking for my time. For
me, time is money. I love to
give back and help, but I’d
also appreciate the flip side
of that.”
Ardath Albee
- B2B Marketing Strategist

17. “If you want your content to
stand out from the noise,
you can do that in four ways
- use drama, use humor, use
celebrities or use influencers.
[Influencer marketing] is not
going away and it shouldn’t.”
Jason Falls
- Digital Strategist

18. “I feel like it is a duty to
present unique points of
views on the questions we
are all asking as an
industry…
For me it just comes down to
whether I feel like I have a
point of view on the topic or
not. When I do, I am honored
to chime in.”
Michael Brenner
- Head of Strategy, Newscred

19. On Giving to Get

20. “If you want an influencer to
be a shiny cog in your
content distribution
machine, be one of the
hardest-working cogs in
theirs.”
Doug Kessler
- Co-Founder, Velocity Partners Ltd

21. “One key in influencer
outreach is the research you
put in before you reach out
and ask. Have a very good
feel for where they’re
headed, what their goals are,
and what they care about.”
Robert Rose
- Content Marketing Institute

22. “When activating an
influencer, ask yourself how
you’re helping them
accomplish their own goal. If
you don’t know, find out; if
your ask helps them, you’re
gold; if it doesn’t, you should
probably think hard before
engaging them.”
Pierre-Loic Assayag
- Founder and CEO, Traackr

23. “The cornerstone to success
for influencer marketing is
relevance: relevance of the
influencer around your topic,
brand or issue set, and your
own relevance to the
influencer.”
Pierre-Loic Assayag Also Says
- Founder and CEO, Traackr

24. “It’s important to focus on
finding ways to help the
influencer.
Help them build their brand.
Help them reach a new
audience. Help them gain
access to insights and
content for their audience.”
Michael Brenner
- Head of Strategy, Newscred

25. “If you want to connect with
influencers, you need to
understand what they want
most and give it to them, no
strings attached. Often,
influential people love to be
exposed to new audiences,
see their name in lights and
share their wisdom.”
Michael Stelzner
- CEO, Social Media Examiner

26. “Sometimes marketers
confuse influencer
marketing with
manipulation, bribing or
worse.
Influence is something you
deserve by being relevant for
others.
The support of an
influencers needs to be
deserved by marketers as
well. Indeed, by being
relevant.”
J-P De Clerck
- Digital Marketer, I-Scoop

27. “Adding influencers to your
content initiatives in the
form of quotes, callouts, and
short interviews help
validate your own good
content while helping to
promote the influencers in
your industry. It’s a win-win-
win -- for you, the
influencers and, ultimately,
your audience.”
Jason Miller
- Manager of Content, LinkedIn

28. “The biggest key to
influencer marketing is
building relationships, and
having a real exchange
between the company and
the influencer. Too many
focus on what the influencer
can do for them rather than
how they can help the
influencer. ”
Ann Handley
- CCO, Marketing Profs

29. “The key is that the
influencer has to get
something more out of it
than just free stuff. When
done right it is a two way
relationship that is ongoing.
Both sides get something out
of it and it feels like you are
being respected and
appreciated by the brand.”
C.C. Chapman
- Founder, Never Enough Days

30. “Companies need to realize
that the influencers they
want are busy people and
thus their time is valuable. If
they are going to give up any
time to attend an event,
create content on behalf of
the brand, or be expected to
do anything really, they need
to be compensated in some
way or another.”
C.C. Chapman Also Says
- Founder, Never Enough Days

31. “I love that people care
enough about what I think to
ask me to participate and
quote me, though most
requests are done the wrong
way. That being said, a good
number are simply delightful
in their approach. I love
that.”
David Meerman Scott
- Keynote Speaker and Author

32. “You don’t want to stop
talking with an influencer the
minute you have his/her
email address and they start
sharing your content.
Continue to contribute to
your site, continue to talk
with them at conferences,
and continue to share their
material [...] You have to
remember that these
relationships need nurturing
to be successful.”
Amanda DiSilvestro
- Content Marketer, HigherVisibility

33. On What
Not
To Do

34. “Too many [marketers] make
presumptive requests with
little upside for the person
they’re asking. Too many
have ridiculously high
expectations or (sometimes)
ridiculously vague
expectations.”
Ann Handley
- CCO, Marketing Profs

35. “Quite a few [marketers] are
outright liars. They said they
‘read my blog’ or ‘love my
work’ but the nature of the
request clearly indicates
they found me from some list
and are emailing a lot of
people.”
David Meerman Scott
- Keynote Speaker and Author

36. “You can’t find a list of
influencers, reach out, and
check them off as boxes and
expect them to engage with
your company or product.
Like any relationship, it
takes time and real
interaction for someone to
become comfortable and
trusting of you or your
brand.”
Mike Fraietta
- Social Business Strategist, Social Edge

37. “I’m happy to participate [in
influencer programs], but
generally speaking all
companies would be better
off building relationships
with and amplifying
advocates who REALLY care
(like your customers,
employees and business
partners) than trying to
hitch their wagon to people
who have already been
amplified.”
Jay Baer
- President, Convince & Convert

38. “We need to move beyond
public personas and into
micro influencers; and we
need to stop confusing
popularity and amplification
with influence.”
Danny Brown
- Author, “Influence Marketing”

39. “Communication and
relationship building is easier
than it has ever been. You can
easily get started with social
media or blog conversations,
and that's great. Don't
overlook the power of the old
fashioned way though. More
personal interactions still have
the biggest impact.”
Eric Enge
- CEO, Stone Temple Consulting

40. “Pay-to-Play” as a substitute
for “Love-to-Play”: Many
influencer marketing players
focus on incentivizing
industry influencers to
engage with a brand.
Although this could give a
brand high reach and
exposure in the short-term,
it is not authentic. Using
incentives to buy advocacy
from influencers has not
proven to be a sustainable
strategy.
Branderati
- Advocate Influencer Marketing

41. “The biggest mistake
marketers make with their
influencer marketing
strategies is focusing solely
on people with high Klout
scores [...] Unfortunately, an
influencer can have a high
Klout score but zero
influence over your target
audience.”
Sam Fiorella
- Partner, Sensei Marketing

42. “Stop ‘big name hunting.’
They’re all ego-trapped out.
Focus instead on next-
generation leaders and you’ll
have them all to yourself.”
Joe Chernov
- VP of Content Marketing, Hubspot

43. Words to Live By

44. “When you align with an
influencer, not only do they
bring their audience, but
they also bring their
audience’s network as well.
Because of the loyalty of
their audience, an influencer
has the ability to drive traffic
to your site, increase your
social media exposure, and
flat-out sell your product
through their
recommendation or story
about their experience.”
Kristin Matthews
- Marketing Manager, GroupHigh

45. “It’s a virtuous cycle. Brands
identify those who are
influential. That strokes the
egos of the influencers while
also helping to perpetuate
their influence by building
their personal brands. Those
influencers are then more
open to contributing or
authentically helping the
brand. And the cycle
repeats.”
Michael Brenner
- Head of Strategy, Newscred

46. Lee Odden preaches when working with clients
on influencer marketing. “Work with an influencer,
they’re friends for a day. Help someone become
influential, they’re a friend for life.”
“Work with an influencer,
they’re friends for a day.
Help someone become
influential, they’re a friend
for life.”
Lee Odden
- CEO, TopRank Online Marketing

47. “Those looking to employ
influencer marketing should
choose wisely and also
broaden their universe and
help new influencers emerge.
And, [as influencers] it’s even
more incumbent on us to
help those new influencers
emerge.”
Robert Rose
- Chief Strategy Officer, CMI

48. “I’m not sick of being asked
to participate, because that’
s really a
#FirstWorldProblem, you
know? It’s kind of tough to
keep a straight face when
you utter the words, ‘my life
sucks because too many
people want to know what I
think.’”
Jay Baer
- President, Convince and Convert

49. “In many respects,
influencers are key to
making sense of the billions
of pieces of content and
words that are published
throughout social media
services. They are the ones
we follow, trust and
ultimately help decide what
will succeed or fail.”
Mark Evans
- Principal, ME Consulting

50. “No actual influence occurs
until the influencees produce
a measurable action. If real
influence depends so much
on the influencees, why are
most vendors still so focused
so much on the influencers?”
Michael Wu
- Chief Scientist, Lithium Technologies

51. “An influencer to me isn’t
just someone who can
increase my shares on
Twitter, but people who buy
my product or service
actually look to for advice.
These influencers may not
be widely popular on social,
but can move the needle for
you.”
Jesse Noyes
- Director of Content, Kapost

52. “People build relationships
face-to-face. By making real-
life connections your
communications become
P2P content that breaks
through the clutter in their
inboxes and on social
media.”
Heidi Cohen
- President, Riverside Marketing

53. “It’s about finding
opportunities to build
relationships with people
who touch your potential
customers in some way.
These are the people who
will help you achieve more,
with less. If you earn their
trust, you will be invited into
those new audiences you
crave.”
Evy Wilkens
- VP of Marketing, UNYQ

54. “Influence marketing is an
art and science. The art is
the crafting and creation of
content that adds value to
people’s lives, personally or
for their business. The
science is the tactics and
tools of building tribes and
followers on the big social
networks.”
Jeff Bullas
- CEO, JeffBullas.com

55. “People are overwhelmed by
information density and look
to social proof for guidance
on who to follow. But in the
long term, lasting influence
comes from trust, not your
number of Twitter followers.
“
Mark Schaefer
- Marketing Consultant

56. ● http://www.business2community.com
● http://simplymeasured.com
● http://feldmancreative.com
● https://blog.kissmetrics.com
● http://www.searchenginejournal.com
● http://moz.com
● http://curatti.com
● http://launchandhustle.com
Sources:

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