I find this interesting. I’m not sure I would go as far as the article you linked states, that traditional marketing is on the way out. We still use print – for example – with some of our clients, even though digital/online is critical.

This is similar to content marketing, which we do daily, but with a twist. Good topic!

Posted by L. A. ‘Tony’ Kovach

Agreed! GHMC has been pioneering Influencer Marketing for years. Our business has evolved naturally from traditional advertising and marketing campaigns into wider-ranging CRM programmes, leveraging the opinions, hearts and minds of all the key recommenders throughout the whole channel. We’re now firmly in the business of ‘influencing the influencers’. Where I would disagree with you is in your assertion that traditional marketing is on the way out. Remember when Direct Mail was going to render every other marketing discipline redundant? What actually happened was that the industry learnt to think ‘direct’ and marketing evolved into something smarter and more precise. At GHMC we don’t see Influencer Marketing replacing traditional marketing, but rather giving proven techniques a whole new lease of life. We’re now combining the power of peer reviews and word of mouth with classic shopper marketing, DM, CRM and sales promotion to create Influencer Marketing campaigns that change the way consumers and businesses behave and ensure that everyone involved makes the decisions our clients want.
Posted by Ed Hughes

I went to your website and tried to go through the demo wizard but it froze on me. So I can’t give any feedback about that, but from going through the rest of the site it looks like your company definitely has the right approach to influence marketing.

I’m going to keep following Awedience, I can’t wait to see how it evolves as influence marketing becomes more prevalent.

These are excellent points regarding the changing landscape of traditional marketing.

As you pointed out, the digital age makes it so much easier to connect in a meaningful way with the influencers in our market.

And to answer your question, I use influencer marketing a lot in my business. It’s the best way to gain credibility by association!

~Christine

Nice article! We are definitely seeing a huge step-change in people’s attitude to traditional marketing. However, it’s still VERY early days. The majority of companies still devote a large proportion of their marketing budget to print advertising, let alone digital! Thanks for helping spread the word about influence marketing.

I’d love to get your feedback on our approach to influence marketing at awedience.com please.

Many thanks,

Chris Arnold
Awedience Founder

On the flip side, how do publishers work to counter this type of marketing? Or, what can traditional and online trade publications offer that follows this model?
Posted by Matt Parish