Why Real-Life Influencers Help Drive Sales Even More Than Kanye or Steph Curry

Millennials and Generation Z want more than just unique experiences, digital convenience and great storytelling when shopping for footwear; they demand authenticity.

Enter RYPL, a new customer acquisition solution by digital marketing company GlobalWide Media that focuses on “everyday influencers” instead of celebrities. While Kanye West might be an asset for Adidas and Stephen Curry may generate buzz for Under Armour, RYPL uses an audience modeling approach that takes into account those closely surrounding a customer (for example, a friend or colleague). The solution pays attention to who impacts a customer’s decision-making as well as the target customers themselves.

“Our goal was to come up with a differentiated solution,” confirmed Zack Cantor, director of decision science at GlobalWide Media. That more famous (and often compensated) brand ambassador is no longer viewed as the only — or most important — influencer, he acknowledged. “Increasingly, you are looking toward everyday people to give a more authentic review,” he said.

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The solution is embedded with an array of features — from partnering with social listening tools that provide clues to companies about social media relationships between consumers, to delving into co-location data, to an algorithm that determines influencer versus “influencee” relationships. RYPL’s variety of capabilities enable it to target the appropriate consumers.

“Let’s say there is a pattern of you purchasing something after your friend does. We are going to message you because you are a target consumer — and we will also now message your friend, knowing that will increase the probability that you will go ahead and make a purchase,” Cantor explained.

He reflected that solutions like RYPL are critical in connecting with today’s consumer. “Advertising is just as important in reaching the end consumer as it is in just keeping the conversation going,” he said. “It is important to build not just a consumer base but also brand advocacy and awareness through advertising.”

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