The Future of Social AND Media is the Individual

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This week’s issue is sponsored by Blockworks.

A couple weeks back I mentioned Blockworks, the fast growing media company helping investors understand Bitcoin and digital assets.

Hopefully you had a chance to read a few articles on their new website.

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If you took a college marketing class on branding today, a professor would put some logos on a screen and ask you what each makes you think of.

Nike? Athletics.

Tesla? Future tech.

Apple? User friendly.

Ford? Power.

Chase? Money.

But none of these attributes are necessarily “trust.” Sure, you might trust that Ford cars are powerful, or that Apple’s new phone will be easy to use, but you’re anthropomorphizing those characteristics onto those brands. And that’s exactly what they work so hard to get you to do.

But how do you get someone to trust a brand? A brand is just an idea.

Trust is the most important element to any relationship, whether it’s your bank or your neighbour, your sister or your lawyer. Trust is at the center of every relationship you will ever have, including those with companies and brands.

We’ve already spoken a bit about influencer marketing and how important it is to leverage influencers who carry the same values as your core audience. Having someone who speaks the same rhetorical language as your customer helps build confidence that you, a brand, also carry those beliefs, too.

But what does the consumer data say?

1. 44.2% generally trust the recommendations from influencers [source]

2. 61% find info from “a person like me” to be credible or very credible [source]

3. 49.3% made a purchase based upon an influencer's recommendation [source]

4. 49% of consumers depend on influencer recommendations [source]

An interesting thing about the crypto industry is that many projects have used a founder or a team member as a kind-of in-house influencer. In marketing talk, these people are referred to as employee advocates. They are the public spokesperson, they are the Twitter influencer, and they are the one announcing new products or features.

For example, one of the key drivers to the success of The Block was the early investment in Twitter journalist influencers like Frank Chaparro. You also have Messari, whose founder Ryan Selkis is an early Bitcoin adopter and a former Managing Director from the early days on Coindesk.

This particular trend of employee influencers has a heavy presence in media, where you have companies like Morning Brew (like Austin, Alex, and Kinsey) and Barstool Sports (Dave Portnoy, Dan Katz, and so on) using their employees’ audiences as the primary growth channel. This idea is ingrained into their business models. And the trend is catching on.

In crypto for example, the trend goes beyond that. This idea that personalities are key drivers of brand has some of our favorite crypto companies to turn their own employees into influencers. For example, Lolli has done a great job elevating their Head of Comms Aubrey Strobel as not only a public face for the brand, but also an increasingly influential member of the crypto community.

Some brands have even taken this to the next level, headhunting new employees based on their skill, but also online following. Kraken, for example, has hired multiple popular Crypto Twitter personalities to their ranks.

This isn’t just trend-based speculating, there’s data behind this strategy. According to Matter, 61% of consumers are likely to trust recommendations from a friend, family member or influencer on social platforms but only 38% are likely to trust recommendations from a brand. On top of that, 51% of consumers say that less than half of brand content resonates as authentic.

And most importantly, content from employee advocates receives 8x more engagement (!!!) than content shared by brand channels. Wow.

My point here is that investing in your employees as part of your brand is a growth hack. Before we move on, let’s summarize why:

1. Trust is the most important element to gaining brand evangelists

2. People trust people they know

3. Consumers like to follow individuals because people are much more dynamic and easier to relate to in ways brands can never be

4. When people trust your employees, they will trust your brand

5. Brands are increasingly trusted less than individuals

Plus, it’s free. Marketers love free.

I also want to point out another interesting trend on this topic -- social media platform the refocusing of the individual and pivoting from the brand. All the new social platforms are designed to focus exclusively on personalities, rather than brands. TikTok, Clubhouse, and even Twitch are optimized with this in mind. Think about it.

That tweet really turned on a lightbulb for me. He’s right.

On TikTok, brands haven’t really found a way to break through. Even with the fantastic Washington Post account, the focus really is on Washington Post TikTok Guy, rather than the publication itself.

See what I’m getting at here?

The future of brand marketing is the people behind the brands. Companies that turn their employees into brand influencers are forming the best practices of tomorrow. If you’re in a leadership position at a crypto brand, this is the best ROI you’ll see from your brand efforts. Give it a shot, your employees will thank you for it. 🔺

Who’s Hiring Marketers in Crypto?

• Email Marketing Lead @ eToro US [APPLY]

• Account Manager (Clubs) @ eToro US [APPLY]

• US Growth Marketing Manager @ Bitstamp [APPLY]

• Blockchain & Digital Asset Partnerships @ Mastercard [APPLY]

• Marketing Manager, CRM & Email @ CoinDesk [APPLY]

• Sr. Business Development Representative @ The Tie [APPLY]

Thanks for reading! Don’t forget to share Market Mix with your friends. 🔺