Finfluencers can be ‘instrumental’ part of any marketing strategy
If used correctly finfluencers can be an “instrumental” part of any marketing strategy, according to Chris Blower, telco and finance client partner at Awin.
Speaking to FT Adviser, Blower described influencers as ‘good allies’ but stressed the importance for them to adhere to best practice and brand compliance.
Awin is a platform and acts as a “conduit” between advertisers and publishers who work together to promote goods and services.
It has a number of finfluencers on its platform and Blower said it was about businesses ring fencing and vetting any partnerships they want to have before choosing to work with financial influencers.
With the advent of AI and how that’s going there has to be ongoing [compliance] measures
Blower described himself as being on the “pro-side” of finfluencers and said businesses on the banking and insurance side were increasingly looking to tap into this area of the market.
“It’s about making sure that you work with [finfluencers] in a very safe and compliant manner and bring them on the [marketing] journey quite early doors,” he explained.
There are different types of finfluencers businesses can choose to work with, ranging from micro and nano to macro level where individuals have thousands of followers.
The key for Blower was for firms to build trust and a rapport with the finfluencers they choose to work with.
Compliance
In terms of ensuring finfluencers on the Awin platform are genuine and are compliant in the content they are producing, Blower described the process as “two-fold”.
“To even get on to the platform, affiliates and publishers must sign up stating what social media accounts they use and what websites they own.
“There’s a lot of background checks that are done by the publisher team internally as well. There’s a lot of manual and also automated compliance that happens at that first step,” he explained.
Publishers then do checks twice a day to see where their name has been mentioned, if all the content that has been put out is good it is ‘green’.
There’s not going to be a one size fits all for a lot of businesses out there, there has to be some sort of trial and error
However, if any content is put out that does not adhere to the brand’s guidelines, Awin reaches out to the said finfluencers and depending on the severity of the issue, they could be taken off the platform immediately.
“With the advent of AI and how that’s going there has to be ongoing measures like making sure that we’re scanning websites indefinitely, and making sure there’s that compliance piece,” Blower added.
‘Two way’ relationship
Blower highlighted the key considerations businesses needed to take before deciding to work with a finfluencer.
He said it was important for organisations to be clear on their objectives, in terms of what they want to achieve by using a finfluencer.
“Having a clear sense of what you want to do and where you want to go is important.
“Once you’ve been able to outline those goals, you then need to start thinking about what the easiest way is to reach out to a group of finfluencers.
“Then it’s about making sure from the outset there’s a strong connection, and there’s a strong a two-way street in terms of working collaboratively,” Blower said.
He also highlighted the importance of having a robust review process.
“It’s about asking, ‘Did that meet the objective? What actually happened? How can you track those performance results to make sure that it was a success, or not?’
“As influencers can have a presence across multiple social media websites and multiple websites, there’s not going to be a one size fits all for a lot of businesses out there, there has to be some sort of trial and error,” Blower added.
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