Why Mega-Influencers are Just a Mega Waste of Money

TL:DR; The fa?ade of “mega-influencers” is starting to get old. Understanding how ideas travel throughout your target market can help you drive the desired results.

One of the things that I think about a lot is Influence.

I write about it a lot as well and it is on my mind now because I saw this article Social Media “Mega” Influencers Are Reportedly Losing Value.

Granted, it may be confirmation bias here, but it’s good to see other people seeing that the so-called “mega” influencers don’t really do all that much.

Marketing, I believe, comes down to 3 components.

1. Awareness
2. Perception
3. Leads/Activity

While it’s true that the “mega-influencers” can be good for awareness, it is my contention (and there’s plenty of data to back this up) that getting a mention from them doesn’t really do all that much to move the needle of your business or project.

It feels good and it’s a great way to say to others “hey, look Kylie Jenner endorses us,” but if it’s paid, then it’s not particularly valuable.

More valuable, instead, are the micro-conversations that go through networks and networks of networks, moving 1 by 1 from people you trust on a given topic to you and beyond.

It’s not as sexy and not as easy to put into a PowerPoint deck for investors or analysts, but it works.

The key, I believe, is to figure out how to help the micro-conversations get catalyzed.

Or, perhaps, more accurately, how ideas spread through networks to get to the point of mass adoption.

I suppose that my initial thinking on all of this was formed, in large part, by my original marketing hero, Seth Godin, in his book Unleashing the IdeaVirus.

As you build a marketing plan, everyone thinks about influence, which is why the first marketing investment that many start-ups make (even before a marketing plan or marketing hire) is in PR.

They think, mistakenly I believe, that a big PR push is going to help them drive adoption.

The mistake I made 8 years ago was underestimating PR’s role. It is important, but it is not THE most important thing to get things rolling.

Finding the influencers IN YOUR NICHE is the way to go. That’s who the press, analysts, and early investors listen to.

One quick example to bring this home.

I’m an advisor to ARK. They have a really innovative approach to blockchain interoperability. In my estimation, there are probably only about 100 people in the entire world who can knowledgeably write about blockchain interoperability with any coherence.

Our game plan is to

1. find them
2. engage them
3. share the ARK story

Now, if the ARK story and vision is as powerful as the team believes, then those 100 people (or even a subset of them) will “get it.” They will write about it (because that is what they do) and then, when the next round of people start caring about blockchain interoperability, whose stuff will they read?

Yep, those 100.

That’s how influence works.

The PR can augment that because it provides “social proof,” but it’s not the main catalyst.

At least that’s my opinion.