tosino creations
Coming into this month's course, New Media Marketing, I had a relative amount of experience in working with influencers and ambassadors. In previous positions, I had worked with content creators that operated in both areas. In one company, we utilized both, to varying degrees of success.
One of the biggest things that stood out to me was the difference in results that each delivered, and New Media Marketing helped put context behind the reasons. To briefly give an example, a previous marketing manager had started working with a young, attractive content creator who drew in younger adults who enjoyed watching products being created. However, our target demographic was their much older, more established business owners. The issue with this influencer was that we ourselves didn't make end-point products, we sold the machines used to create those products. By utilizing an influencer from a different audience and point of production, it entirely missed the intended goal: selling machines. The people watching her content were interested in seeing cute embroidered designs, not paying $15k-50k for the machines to do it.
Conversely, I helped launch an ambassador program for existing customers who were business owners. They created content based on uses and maintenance of the machines, as well as experiencedtips and guidance. They would then provide affiliate links for their viewers, with them getting a percentage from every closed sale. By working with creators who specifically targeted the operator and owner of the machines, it was a much more successful campaign.
The New Media Marketing course helped to put much more context behind these results. Though I understood the differences in approaches, Ididn't turly appreciate the nuances of specified metrics and long term planning. It gave me excellent insight into the significant differences between influencers and ambassadors, something I didn't appreciate fully. It helped me understand that each played a significant role, but each also worked better for some campaigns and businesses than others. Its in learning these nuances that I realized utilizing influencers would be a better option for my chosen company, as opposed to ambassadors as I had found in my previous one.
I believe this has left me feeling better prepared for any future campaigns I may undertake. My general career trajectory isn't reliant on new media or influencers and ambassadors, but the infomration is no less pertinant. Since we never know where life may lead us, I'm glad to have gained this knowledge and understanding. Though I don't foresee diving deeply into it myself, it also gives me the knowledge to relate to any specific marketers or social media managers I may encounter in my own professional journey. Understanding what others within your field face can only lead to better transparency and communication, so I am glad to have taken it.
