The Mutual Friend: How Influencers Are Connecting Brands and Consumers

Picture this: you’re at a cocktail party, and despite it taking some serious persuading from your friends to DVR your favorite Thursday night shows and join them, you’re there and you’re ready to mingle.

Just when you think, you know what, I’m glad I decided to come, a complete stranger, suited up like Barney Stinson, approaches you and proceeds to list off all of his most brag-worthy talents and personality traits without invitation. At the end of his spiel, he looks at you and asks, “So, did I convince you to be my friend?”

What does this have to do with marketing?

As crazy and unlikely as this sounds within a social setting, this is, in essence, what a brand does every time it tries to win over a consumer.

Now, take the same scenario, what if one of your friends had introduced you to this person as a friend of theirs? Wouldn’t you be much more willing to interact, and maybe even trust, someone who wasn’t a stranger, but a mutual friend?

Lucky for brands, the marketing version of a mutual friend already exists: Influencers. When it comes to consumer behavior, there’s one universal truth: the thing that people trust the most isn’t a billboard or a TV commercial—it’s other people.

But, how can this strategy be put into practice?

When it comes to embracing the power of influencer marketing, the fashion industry seems to be leading the pack. One brand in particular—Marshalls—has placed this brand advocacy approach at the center of its marketing efforts.

In fact, Marshalls has created an entire campaign, Project Fab, that features an exclusive group of fashion and lifestyle bloggers showing off their Marshalls-inspired looks.

Instead of making the brand the protagonist of the story, Marshalls is using real people to appeal to real customers. And instead of using video to showcase the inside of its store, it takes audiences on a tour of the inside of the closets of fashion bloggers, like Devon Rachel.

This is a perfect example of just how effective influencers can be when they are truly passionate about a brand and its offering. It’s this almost-tangible level of passion that can be transferred onto the consumer that can be the difference between being forced to listen to branded messaging and wanting to engage with a brand.

It’s just like Jay Baer said, “True influence drives action, not just awareness.”

The Mutual Friend: How Influencers Are Connecting Brands and Consumers