Solo session led by Melissa Salas of Indi.com

1. HOW TO BUILD A STRONG
CONTENT MARKETING STRATEGY THAT'S
ORGANIC AND AUTHENTIC
Melissa D. Salas, Indi.com
melissa@indi.com
With the rise in Influencer Marketing today, consumers are becoming more
concerned with the authenticity of their beloved influencer's posts, do they really
love it or are they being paid to say that? In this session, I will review these concerns
and give the tools brands needs to build a strong content marketing strategy that's
organic and authentic.
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2. INTRODUCTION
Who I am and what we do quickly. With visuals.
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3. WHO WE ARE
Indi is led by a team of ecommerce veterans
Former:
• Executive Advisor noon.com
($1B funded ecommerce in Dubai)
• CEO & Chairman Bluefly.com (sold)
• Executive Officer Rakuten
• CEO Rakuten North America
• CEO and President Buy.com
• Sold Buy.com to Rakuten for $250M
• Operating Partner Clearlake Capital
• Board Member Coastal.com
(sold for $400M)
• Board Member Linkshare
• Board Member Rakuten USA
• Board Member PrimeSport (sold to Carlyle)
Current:
• Board Member Intercollegiate Tennis
• Ranked #1 in US in Men’s Doubles Tennis
(past 10 years in age group)
N E E L G R O V E R
Current:
• Global Brand Development & Marketing
Director for Indi.com
Former:
• Senior Director of Marketing for Swiss
Watch International
• On-Air Personality and Co-Host for
Buy.com TV Show
• Director of Marketing & Public Relations
for Buy.com
• Advisory Board Member, Affiliate Summit
• Public Speaker & Emcee
• Filmed over 5,000 product review videos
M E L I S S A S A L A S
Hi I’m Melissa and …..
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4. BRAND ADVOCATE, VIDEO REVIEWS, CONTESTS &
CONTENT SHOPPING
Your associates and customers are the best and most
authentic influencers you have no matter how many
followers they have. Our performance-based solution
engages them to become a virtual sales force.
Customers earn rewards and make money through sharing in social.
Engage your customers to submit content directly to you and then
share into their social media to leverage their reach. You own all the
content and data, while they drive your brand awareness
Embedded in Brand's Website and Apps Linked to INDIvidual Social Streams
Your Customers, Employees and Influencers Direct Traffic and Sales to Your Website!
All Powered by Indi
Part of quick intro of who I am and the company work for…. Only mention of
company
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5. LET’S GET STARTED
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6. B R A ND S
YOUR BRAND’S BEST INFLUENCER IS YOUR
EXISTING CUSTOMER WHO ORGANICALLY AND
AUTHENTICALLY LOVES YOUR BRAND.
Customer word-of-mouth advertising remains the
richest path to authenticity, new customers, and ROI.
Say the slide. Customers have the TRUE influence to get you NEW customers.
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7. 92%
of consumers TRUST
peer recommendations
over advertising -Nielsen
25%
of US online adults
CONSUME UGC related to a
product or service daily - Forrester
Millenials & UGC
• 30% of their media diet isUGC
• 70% prefer endorsements peer over celebrities
• Find UGC to be 35% more memorable and
50% more trusted than traditional media
THE POWER OF THE PEER
USER-GENERATED CONTENT
UGC is TRUSTED, CONSUMED & ENGAGED with at record levels
It’s the power of the peer. 70% of millennials prefer peer recommendations over
celebrity endorsements because its authentic. More and more people are sharing
every aspect of their lives in social, insta story to facebook stories and snapchat. The
conversions are there not only because it’s 100% authentic, but also because the
conversations last beyond the post. At the gym, at work, girls night, weekend bbq’s…
you get the idea.
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8. 79% of people say UGC highly impacts
their purchasing decisions, yet only 13% said
content from a brand is impactful and a mere 8% said professional
influencer-created content would highly impact their purchasing
decision.
Source: SocialMediaToday.com
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9. Brand Awareness Product SalesPrizes, Free Product, Product Commissions or Gift Certificates **Photo/Video
Your content isn’t being seen. Brands receive less than 1% organic engagement on Social Media
CURRENT NETWORK EFFECT WORD OF MOUTH EFFECT
INFLUENCERS
CELEBRITIES
BRAND
CUSTOMERS*
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FRIENDS
FAMILY
FOLLOWERS
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FRIENDS
FAMILY
FOLLOWERS
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FRIENDS
FAMILY
FOLLOWERS
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FRIENDS
FAMILY
FOLLOWERS
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FRIENDS
FAMILY
FOLLOWERS
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FRIENDS
FAMILY
FOLLOWERS
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FRIENDS
FAMILY
FOLLOWERS
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FRIENDS
FAMILY
FOLLOWERS
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FRIENDS
FAMILY
FOLLOWERS
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FRIENDS
FAMILY
FOLLOWERS
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*FRIENDS
FAMILY
FOLLOWERS
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FRIENDS
FAMILY
FOLLOWERS
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BRAND
FRIENDS
FAMILY
FOLLOWERS
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*
FOLLOWERS
~0.25 - 5%
FOLLOWERS
*Social Referral Programs Have Driven Over 150% Conversion Increase Compared to Direct Site Conversion. Source: Indi.com
SOCIAL NETWORK EFFECT
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10. INFLUENCER MARKETING
PAY SOMEONE TO SAY THEY LOVE YOUR BRAND?
PAY SOMEONE TO SAY THEY LOVE YOUR BRAND? Or PAY SOMEONE WHO REALLY
DOES LOVE YOUR BRAND!
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11. PROFESSIONAL INFLUENCER MARKETING IN FLUX
“I'm very pessimistic about it. We don't just want to buy them with money. That's
not going to be sustainable.”
“The more I encounter our local marketing programs and sometimes I see huge budgets for
influencer marketing... no, no, no. Sometimes it's necessary, but it’s more a real
person, your neighbor, that we're looking for.”
“This generation wants [brands] to be more real, authentic and organic”
-Samsung Global CMO, June 19, 2019 The Drum
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12. ROAD TO AUTHENTICITY
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13. BRAND ADVOCATE
PROGRAM
UGC REVIEWS
UGC LOCATION
BASED
UGC CONTESTS
Engage your shoppers with authentic product video
reviews and testimonials by your customers and
embed on product display page, which can
increase conversions by up to 80%.
Your associates and customers are the best and most
authentic influencers you have no matter how many
followers they have. Engage your customers to become
a virtual sales force.
Digitally engage with all your app customers when in-store.
This is the perfect time to collect UGC and reviews from
customers. Educate customers about your Brand Advocate
Program whereby customers can receive rewards for
promoting their content and driving new app downloads and
sales.
Engage your customers to submit content directly to
you and then share into their social media to leverage
their reach. You own all the content and data, while
they drive your brand awareness to win a prize.
AUTHENTIC CONTENT MARKETING
Key takeaways for road to authenticity in social media and your website when using
UGC (user generated content). Then I break down each one.
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14. BRAND ADVOCATE MARKETING
YOUR CUSTOMERS CREATE CONTENT, DRIVE
TRAFFIC AND SALES TO YOUR WEBSITE VIA THEIR
SOCIAL CHANNELS
1.
Everyone in this room loves products and services they use on the daily. Even last
night you may have been bragging about a product you use, a service you’ve
experienced or a restaurant you went to here in NYC, or, even your Marriott hotel
stay in social media and to your colleagues. What if I told you that everyone in this
room COULD earn commissions for the sales you influence? But you’re not an
influencer? Yes you are! That’s brand advocate marketing.
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15. CUSTOMER CONTENT CREATORS
YOUR GREATEST SALES FORCE
OWN IT, TRACK IT, REWARD IT
CONVERSIONS ARE THERE BECAUSE REAL CONVERSATIONS HAPPEN
E V E N A F T E R T H E P O ST
79% of people say UGC highly impacts their purchasing decisions, yet
only 13% said content from a brand is impactful and a mere 8% said
professional influencer-created content would highly impact their purchasing
decision. Source: SocialMediaToday.com
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16. VIDEO PRODUCT REVIEWS
2.
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17. indi.com/p/C58A0BBD/gd6rv
WHEN CUSTOMERS POST, IT IS MORE AUTHENTIC
Existing Customer New Customer
1. Existing Customer
receives email to submit
a review
2. Customer submits
and gets their link to
share on social media
3. Friend sees post on
social and clicks link to
purchase
4. Brand gets new
customer sale
indi.com/p/C58A0BBD/gd6rv
Discuss how to acquire new customers via customer influence
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18. PRODUCT PAGE VIDEO | PHOTO REVIEWS
Video UGC
has been proven
to increase sales
by up to 80%
*FORBES
REAL PEOPLE. REAL REVIEWS.
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19. LOCATION BASED ENGAGEMENT
TARGET YOUR CUSTOMER
RIGHT IN YOUR STORE!
3.
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20. Example: Geofenced Nekter Stores
Digitally engage with all your app customers when in-
store. This is the perfect time to collect UGC and
reviews from customers. Brands can also educate
customers about their Brand Ambassador Program
whereby customers can receive rewards for promoting
their content and driving new app downloads and sales.
IN-STORE AND GEO TARGETED ENGAGEMENT
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21. PHOTO/VIDEO CONTESTS
4.
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22. STARBUCKS – VIDEO AND PHOTO SOCIAL CONTESTS
How To Reach New Audiences
1. Upload great photos or videos
2. Once approved, they share via social media
3. They get their friends to watch, like, and share.
Incentivize your customers and employees to create
great content and share it to win.
Track all views, time watched, all social shares and
interactions on all social platforms to generate the leader
board of results and winners.
*Engagement Challenges Have Increased Social Reach
By Up to Tens of Millions of Additional Brand
Impressions Over Brand’s Social Reach Alone
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23. DATA
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24. BRAND ADVOCATE MARKETING IS MEASURABLE
EVEN WITH PRIVATE SOCIAL ACCOUNTS
HAVE SOCIAL BRANDING, INSIGHT, TRANSPARENCY, TARGETED REACH, TRAFFIC & SALES
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25. THANK YOU
melissa@indi.com
@melissadsalas
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