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It’s 2017. At this point in the game, if your brand isn’t engaging with influencers (or in influencer marketing), you’re missing out one of the biggest opportunities to connect with their audiences in an authentic way. In 2016 alone, over 66% of marketers had already hopped on the influencer train, with an additional 50% of those left planning on introducing it to their strategies in 2017.

[bctt tweet=”50% of marketers plan to introduce influencer marketing into their strategies in 2017.” username=”@meetsoci”]

It’s like the saying goes: If you’re not influencering, you’re not paying attention.

(Influencering [in-floo-uh n-ser-ing] noun the act or process of working with influencers to increase your brand awareness and engagement.)

Facebook is Changing the Influencer Game

Recently, Facebook released a new update that makes it easier for brand and influencers to work together while adding in some much-needed (my opinion) transparency. Far too many time have I found myself in this situation:

  • Scan my FB feed
  • See Mark’s post raving about hot wings.
  • Think to myself: “Why is Mark so stoked on hot wings, all of a sudden?”
  • Click through to article.
  • Realize: “OHHHHH Mark’s an influencer working with a brand. Got it. I wish I hadn’t clicked through to that link. Because now I want wings but I’m supposed to be on a paleo-cleanse thing. Mark is so cool…”

Who’s with me?

In the new update, brands on Facebook can now capitalize further on influencer marketing engagements by giving them the ability to directly boost the post as it appears on the creator’s Page versus having to share the creator’s post first, then boosting it. That’s sure to save some time for the social media managers out there that are having to monitor influencer mentions and recreating said content to post. The best part about this functionality? It retains the authenticity of the original mention. The whole point of working with influencers is to showcase how your brand is “for the people,” right?

Facebook boosted post influencer

Let’s Talk Reputation Management and ROI

With social media updates come a slew of what-could-possibly-be negative side effects. Facebook seems to have taken this into careful consideration with this influencer marketing update. According to the social media giant

In order to ensure their affiliations are properly represented, marketers can now choose to authorize which creators can tag them in a branded content post in their Page Settings.

In addition to selecting who and who cannot tag a business in a branded content post, and for those that are constantly trying to prove the efficacy of influencer engagement and marketing efforts, Facebook has some new tools for the analytical side of your brain.

Facebook Analytics Insights

While high-level insights for branded posts have aren’t anything new for the social platform’s reporting, now social media managers have transparency into:

  • Detailed tool-tips and explanations to more easily view and understand results
  • Total spend from both the creator and the marketer on each post
  • Separate summaries of total spend and CPM—in multiple currencies, if needed

What’s Next?

As influencer marketing tactics gain more momentum, and as traditional ads are being blocked by 47% of online consumers (and rising), brands have little choice but to invest heavily in influencer identification and collaboration campaigns.

[bctt tweet=”Traditional ads are being blocked by 47% of online consumers (and rising).” username=”meetsoci”]

Is your business equipped to work with these new decision makers?

Oh, and speaking of brand management, our latest guide walks you through how to protect your business on social:

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