Digital Ads ≠ Digital Influence
Advertising. It's one of the loudest things in the Marketing arena. Since the 60's, advertising has been the sold as the number one way to increase your sales. And honestly, in some industries it works.
If you're selling soda, or potato chips, or beauty products, it can be a great way to show a LOT of people what you have.
But advertising isn't about a relationship.
It's a one-way announcement to the world.
And nobody builds a relationship off of advertising.
In fact, it doesn't even directly contribute to industry influence. Even IF you have the most advertising (or LOUDEST) advertising in the market.
And...it costs a pretty penny.
So, if you're looking to drive digital influence, and advertising isn't the thing that does it (even if that's what all the Ads Managers are selling you), then what does?
Let's take a look at what DOES drive digital influence, and how being distracted by advertising is leaving your market full of content but NOT full of contracts.
Definition of Influence
I'm sure this is somewhere else in a previous post, but let's bring it back into focus here (from Oxford Languages):
The capacity to have an effect on the character, development, or behavior of someone or something, or the effect itself.
Advertising is great at CAPTURING attention. But capturing attention is where it ends. Which is why it doesn't contribute to the actual influence component.
Did that Doritos ad you saw during Super Bowl (which cost who knows how many millions of dollars to air) change your character? Did it help you develop a new skills? Did you run right to the store and buy a bag (aka impact your behavior)? I doubt it.
And that's fair. Because that's not actually it's job.
It's job is to capture attention.
It's job is to add a brand to your consideration set.
It's job ISN'T to sell you something.
The problem with advertising, especially digital advertising which is infinitely cheaper, is that businesses USE it as a digital influence / sales tool instead of what it was made for, which is an attention catching tool.
And then we measure it's effectiveness on how many sales it drove.
But advertising isn't (never has been and never will be) about selling. There needs to be something ELSE in your process that creates the relationship. And that's what we're going to focus on in the rest of this article.
Real People
Digital influence is created in a human to human relationship. It's about people being REAL people.
✅Having bad days
✅Making mistakes
✅Celebrating huge wins
✅Being parents
✅Being helpful
✅Asking questions
Wondering what they wonder. Being human. NOT being perfect 😉
When businesses show up in the digital space thinking "advertising", they end up focusing on creating something that's "perfect". Something that all people will resonate with. And in so doing, they create generic "brochure-ware" that doesn't actually resonate with anyone.
A person doesn't build a relationship with a brochure.
People build relationships with people. Not Ads.
Real Connections
I guess the good thing about this one is very few people actually believe that advertising creates a real connection. So let's focus this section on WHY real connections create influence.
Let's start off by understanding the difference between a REAL connection and a "connection".
In the digital space, most people take "being connected" literally. I am literally "connected" to you on LinkedIn.
But let's take me as an example. I have 6500+ followers on LinkedIn. But how many of those people do I actually KNOW?
Now, I don't like to base this on actually meeting in person. Because there are people I've met online who I've only ever talked to on Zoom, who I know more about than my own sisters.
When I say "know", I mean "remember something unique about". It might be a story about their favorite Christmas gift as a child. It might be where they grew up. It might be what type of socks they would be if their personal brand was a sock. It might be their favorite job. Or favorite movie. Or kids names. But SOMETHING that is specifically unique to that person that specifically stands out to you.
In general, things you learn through a conversation.
Now, again, perhaps that conversation happens in a DM, or a chat. That's fine. There are no rules where the conversation has to take place. Although I do believe that seeing someone's face, whether in-person or on Zoom, adds to the memorability.
But either way, it comes from 2 people investing in time with each other to learn about each other. THAT's a real connection.
And it's something that your marketing resources CAN do...with the right intention.
On-Going Conversations
Just as a real connection is instigated through a conversation, influence doesn't come with a single interaction. It comes from recurring interactions.
Interactions that allow you to continually go deeper.
Know more.
Build trust.
Let's go back to the part of the definition of influence that speaks to, "having an effect". Think about the things that have had an impact on you like that. How much trust did you have in the party that created that?
Usually quite a bit.
And this doesn't necessarily have to do with a certain amount of TIME investment. As in, "it doesn't always take 10 years to build a trust-based relationship".
Trust isn't quantifiable like that.
I have 2 people I would consider "best friends". One of them I met when I was 12. One of them I met when I was 36. I trust both of them equally.
Neither is trust quantifiable by the number of interactions.
I have people who, no matter how many times I interact with them, continue to prove to me they are un-trustworthy. And I have people who I have trusted from the first interaction.
Trust is a FEELING based on depth. And honestly, it's driven by the investment in diving into a relationship.
Specifically, a TWO-WAY relationship (unlike advertising which is wholly one-way).
Remember, a conversation doesn't exist in you just talking AT someone. It includes listening - and CARING - about the other party. And when people feel THAT from you, they are much more likely to WANT to have another conversation with you 💞
Authenticity + Connection + Conversation = Influence
The formula is simple, really. It's the execution that becomes tricky.
Why?
Because Advertising is so much easier.
I can just make an Ad and spam it out to millions of people. Sure, it will cost you some time to create it, and probably a fair amount of cash, but it's DONE.
I can check it off my list and move on.
But what have you actually gained?
Building influence is an on-going investment
✅It takes you revealing enough about yourself to be seen as a person.
✅It takes you putting your self out there; to which people might say NO.
✅It takes an on-going effort to build relationships with people.
These are the primary reasons why companies DON'T do it.
Because as much as we think we're not...we're still going for the "easy win".
Marketing activities have become about checking the boxes.
Counting the number of THINGS you do.
But if the things you do AREN'T building what you're trying to build, then what's the point.
More and more, "salespeople" are being eliminated from the equation (according to Gong Labs recent report). But buyers are still looking for "sense-makers" and "confidence-builders". This is what CAN be achieved with a digital influence-focused strategy.
What if YOUR team were the "sense-makers" in your industry?
What if every team member acted as a "confidence-builder"?
It's possible. Let's talk about how it's possible for YOU 💖
