In April, some of the Digital Voices team took a business trip to New York! We were there to launch the new US office and set up a base. It was also a great opportunity to meet our US clients in person and make new connections in the industry.

Whilst we were there we had a stand at the Influencer Marketing Show and hosted an exclusive panel event for marketers at Soho House. Our CEO, Jenny took to the stage at both events and shared her knowledge and gathered fantastic insights from the panellists. It became clear that for client-side marketers and agencies alike, there were key topics of discussion. 

Here are the top 10 takeaways: 

1. Break down silos in marketing teams - Influence should not be an independent department. Invite everyone to kick-off calls!
   
2. Senior-level buy-in is key! Educate those who hold the purse strings. To combat ROI questions (particularly on awareness campaigns), benchmark CPMs across other departments such as PR or TV or paid advertising.
   
3. Scale Influencer Marketing in verticals, deliverables, long-term partnerships and new markets - rather than just growing numbers!
   
4. Continue to maintain close personal relationships with creators. Be wary of just sending a script to 100s of creators instead of a briefing process. The best work is produced with human contact!
5. Analytics are key to learning and developing. Be aware that benchmarks are different depending on each brand! Make sure your agency is using specialist data tools to source influencers.
6. Remember marketing is an art and a science. Tangible metrics are important but don’t forget to measure the quality of content quality.  Find a value to access storytelling, creativity and winning trust!
7. Keep innovating in this space. Consider a test and learn department to trial growing platforms such as Twitch, Discord and TikTok.
8. Localising Influencer Marketing campaigns is vital. Cultural nuances and the customer understanding of a product can vary. Implement different strategies and use different creators. Shoehorning creators into a set global message will not convert
9. Test, test, test! In particular A/B test your CTAs! For performance campaigns, this is imperative and easy to track, but A/B testing should also be taken into account for brand awareness. Test how you are integrated into different types of creators' content, verticals, etc.
10. Work with agency partners! This can be helpful when localising, or when testing a new vertical or platform. 

If you would like to find out more - or have an Influencer Marketing campaign in mind please get in touch!