Jeff Yapp is a corporate entrepreneur with a broad skill set and an impressive breadth of experience. His company, Wutznxt, is concerned with marketing and influence in retail and media development.
Before founding Wutznxt, Yapp worked for Viacom as the Executive Vice President of Program Enterprises. He was responsible for the brand visions of MTV, CMT, VH-1, and the Logo network. He established the movie studios of these networks, creating a great deal of growth in their revenues.
One of his most influential projects was the genesis of the games Rock Band and Guitar Hero. He was able to take advantage of trends in the music gaming segment, parlaying these games into major hits. He also made the deal for Beatles Rock Band.
Leveraging digital influencers
Jeff Yapp has a unique ability to leverage digital influencers, playing on their strengths to make sure that they reach their full potential. Yapp understands how digital influencers using such platforms as Instagram and YouTube can play their ready-made audience into lucrative marketing agreements.
According to Yapp, influencer marketing is beginning to shift from macro influencers with millions of followers to micro influencers with only a few thousand followers. Consumers are beginning to look at the biggest influencers with a jaded eye, believing that their messages are not sincere. Consumers are beginning to believe that macro influencers are taking advantage of their followers to market products.
Ads and partnerships with smaller-scale influencers are seen as friendlier and more authentic than the messages from the largest influencers. In fact, the smaller influencer is equally motivated by financial gain. Their smaller footprint gives them an easier way to connect with each visitor, making their efforts seem more sincere.
Marketers can partner with smaller influencers using products like foods, apparel, and cosmetics. When the influencers use these products and share their experiences in their posts, their followers are more likely to want to try the products for themselves. This is the simplest kind of marketing and is similar to word-of-mouth.
Why micro-influencers?
Working with micro influencers has many advantages over working with the largest influencers. The most important consideration for most brands is that micro influencers are much less expensive to work with.
Micro influencers also have the advantage of being able to create a grassroots experience for a growing brand. When these brands are promoted by micro influencers, there is great potential for organic growth. Using these influencers across platforms provides a coordinated approach to marketing.
Micro influencers are frequently better content creators than their major influencer counterparts. They are more likely to share exciting original content with their followers, including video, multimedia, visual art, or the written word. Marketers can easily dovetail their strategies to put these content categories to work.
For example, the wife of a popular actor may have her own Instagram account. The content she provides is an enticing peek into the “behind the scenes” life of the followers’ favorite actor. She can use her own leverage to market products and experiences, piggybacking off her spouse’s fame to do so.
Since media consumers are so excited by the prospect of getting to know their favorite actors better, they are more likely to swallow the marketing that is inherent in these posts. Followers may feel that they know these influencers, making their product placement organic and friendly.
Micro-influencers FTW!
Jeff Yapp understands the power of influencer marketing. His experience allows him to help brands leverage their influence among social media accounts. It takes a great deal of strategy to market brands through influencers. Experienced consultants are the best people to help a brand reach its full potential. Turning away from the largest influencers means that brands can project a friendlier, more grass-roots approach to marketing.