Back for another year, the 2016 Canadian Internet Marketing Conference (CIMC) will feature a powerhouse line-up of more than 30 of the world’s top minds and movers of the digital marketing industry. FreshGigs.ca got the awesome opportunity to have a pre-conference brain-picking sesh with each of the keynote speakers and panelists. Today’s Q & A is with Emily Fonda, Director at the Sociable Society.
How did you come to be a part of The Sociable Society?
As a Public Relations consultant, I’ve worked on a number of campaigns over the years that tapped the power of influencers. Reflecting on this success, a close colleague and I got to talking about how working with influencers brought real results to brand exposure and campaign value. We then started talking with some key influencers and started to realize how archaic the approach is to working with influencers.
Influencers have spent many, MANY years building their audience, devoting their own time and money in developing their niche story and most importantly, spend HOURS every day writing and engaging with that audience. This is what makes working with an influencer so appealing to many brands. They can reach a loyal, niche audience through the voice of someone their followers respect and trust. What influencers say and do can even impact the behaviours and attitudes of their audience.
As PR professionals, our mindset is to seek earned media placements vs. paid media placements, and influencers end up in the bucket of earned media. But the game has changed. Unlike traditional media, you are asking the influencer to speak with their voice to endorse your brand. They need to align that message with their own values to the audience they have created, and that takes time and work. That is paid media.
I firmly believe there will be a significant industry shift in the next 12-18 months where majority of brands will allocate funds to influencer marketing and the need for Agencies with ready to go rosters of influencers will be sought out.
Our goal at The Sociable Society is to help influencers work out which brands align with their own personal values for long-term endorsement opportunities. I personally love that we support influencers to keep telling the stories that are personal to them and inspiring for their audiences. We want to maintain the integrity of their platforms and the trust of their audience. By doing so we naturally create compelling campaigns that brands want to be a part of and the influencers actually enjoy participating in.
Popular/well-known brands aside, what things determine the scope of a company’s/individual’s influence? And how does the Sociable Society amplify that influence?
With respect to The Sociable Society, we work with individual influencers, such as bloggers, social media kingpins and YouTube stars. Our role is not to amplify the influencers influence, they do that already. Our goal is help them make a viable business model from their platform and generate income so they can continue to do what they do best. Think of us as an agent, we connect them with brands and potential clients to collaborate together on digital marketing campaigns. We’ll brainstorm with both parties to come up with creative ways to introduce the brand/product to the audience and maximize different online tactics to boost creativity and success. Then we help them manage their “back-office”, from contracts, time management and conflicts.
What’s the most challenging aspect of your job?
I believe we are in a very interesting transition in the PR and digital marketing sphere, where there is a big shift towards capturing online audiences through influencers. And The Sociable Society is at the cusp of this shift, so our role is challenging at the moment as we are educating clients about our role and the power of influencers. I firmly believe there will be a significant industry shift in the next 12-18 months where majority of brands will allocate funds to influencer marketing and the need for Agencies with ready to go rosters of influencers will be sought out.
At The Sociable Society, you work with influencers. Who or what influences you?
I am influenced daily by the people who surround me, by their hard work, passion, creativity and sheer drive to push the boundaries in whatever it is they are doing. I am very fortunate to have a community of friends, clients and mentors that inspire and influence me every day. This is why I do what I do, and I love what I do.
Emily is a communications and brand maven, who has combined professional experience with creative passions that culminates into a distinct marketing methodology. Specializing in entertainment, digital media and non-profits, she is the director of Public Relations firm Pisco Media Group, as The Sociable Society – an agency that connects high-profile social media influencers with top brands for the purpose of direct consumer marketing campaigns that target niche socially engaged audiences. Emily’s business style is enriched by her work as an actress.
The CIMC runs April 14-15, 2016 at the West Coast Railway Heritage Park in Squamish BC, Canada. For more conference and ticket info, click here.