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Influencer Marketing Strategy

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Rutgers the State University of New Jersey

Influencer Marketing Strategy

Instructor: Greg Jarboe

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6 modules

Gain insight into a topic and learn the fundamentals.

196 reviews

Intermediate level

Some related experience required

Flexible schedule

3 weeks at 10 hours a week

Learn at your own pace

92%

Most learners liked this course

6 modules

Gain insight into a topic and learn the fundamentals.

196 reviews

Intermediate level

Some related experience required

Flexible schedule

3 weeks at 10 hours a week

Learn at your own pace

92%

Most learners liked this course

Skills you'll gain

Tools you'll learn

Digital Marketing Tools

Details to know

Shareable certificate

Add to your LinkedIn profile

Assessments

12 assignments¹

AI Graded see disclaimer

Taught in English

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There are 6 modules in this course

Influencer marketing is the practice of engaging internal and industry experts with active networks to help achieve measurable business goals.

This course is about strategy. Although there is no all-purpose, one-size-fits-all influencer marketing strategy template, you will learn how to tailor one for a wide variety of B2B, B2C, and nonprofit organizations using the two-step flow model of communication. But this course is also about tactics. I believe, “Strategy without tactics is the slowest route to victory. Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat.” So, you will learn both in this 6-week long course. Your final project for this course is to create a pitch deck for a social media influencer strategy. The purpose of your final project is to give you a concrete artifact that you can use to demonstrate your mastery of new competencies and skills to either the executives in your current organization or to prospective employers.

On average, businesses are making $6.50 in revenue for each $1 spent on influencer marketing. In fact, 70% are earning $2 or more, and the top 13% are earning $20 or more. But, 30% are either breaking even or failing to generate a return on their investment. So, learning how to overcome the main challenges when rolling out an influencer marketing strategy can significantly improve your return on marketing investment (ROMI).

What's included

14 videos4 readings2 assignments1 peer review

14 videosTotal 85 minutes

Video welcome to this Influencer Marketing Strategy course.9 minutes
Avinash Kaushik points out an ugly truth6 minutes
Creating remarkable content is critical3 minutes
Interest in influencer marketing is spiking3 minutes
Definition of influencer marketing; “Influencer marketing is the next big thing”7 minutes
What is the value of influencer marketing?; How do you improve the odds of success?6 minutes
Challenges when engaging influencers5 minutes
Fewer journalists are the right influencers; Identifying the right influencers is hard6 minutes
Some engagement tactics may not work; Some engagement tactics only work once6 minutes
Measurement is key to bigger budgets; Measure key performance indicators (KPIs)8 minutes
Can influencer marketing be automated?6 minutes
Measuring ROI vs. ROMI5 minutes
Tracking influence vs. custom campaigns; Influencer discovery vs. identification9 minutes
Vetting influencers vs. letting go of control; Can influencer marketing be automated?9 minutes

4 readingsTotal 40 minutes

Welcome to this course on Influencer Marketing Strateg10 minutes
Explain the ugly social media marketing problems that an influencer strategy solves10 minutes
Describe the main challenges when rolling out an influencer engagement strategy10 minutes
Question assumptions that an influencer marketing platform can automate an inefficient operation10 minutes

2 assignmentsTotal 60 minutes

Explain the ugly social media marketing problems that an influencer strategy solves.30 minutes
Describe the main challenges when rolling out an influencer engagement strategy.30 minutes

1 peer reviewTotal 120 minutes

Question assumptions that an influencer marketing platform can automate an inefficient operation.120 minutes

Influencer strategy isn’t as effective or successful without content marketing. Great content is at the center of the value exchange between a business, influencer, and buyer. Incorporating influencers in your content facilitates reaching new audiences with brand messages that are credible and trusted.

What's included

8 videos6 readings2 assignments1 peer review

8 videosTotal 68 minutes

The hypodermic needle model7 minutes
Model ignored the role of influencers; 1940 study of social influence; The 2-step flow model; Influencers must look over their shoulders10 minutes
Creating content worth sharing is the key; Creating content worth sharing for NACA; Created a compelling documentary; Influencers got a link to the documentary; NACA got 360,000 participants in 8 cities13 minutes
Video content is more influential than text; Emotional ads drive business results8 minutes
Which emotions did people feel?; Did the ads make people smile?; Did the ads change people’s hearts and minds?; and Did the ads made the cash register ring?7 minutes
Creating compelling content with influencers; Influencers are more influential than brands; Best practices for influencer collaboration8 minutes
Influencers tell GE’s story in their own voices; The Slow Mo Guys break down GE science; Creator-in-Residence demystifies geeky topics; Sponsored video content; GE is now sponsoring 150 social videos9 minutes
Artist created paper airplane with GE engines; GE is creating and sponsoring video content5 minutes

6 readingsTotal 60 minutes

Illustrate why creating content worth sharing or ideas worth spreading are also key10 minutes
Identify the top emotional responses to video content Unruly uses to predict shareability10 minutes
Tool tests emotional impact of video content; Deep emotional intelligence10 minutes
John Lewis’s “BusterTheBoxer”; Sainsbury’s “The Greatest Gift”10 minutes
Toyota “Good Odds” Tops Unruly’s 2018 Super Bowl Effectiveness Chart10 minutes
Justify employing top influencers and micro influencers to create sponsored content10 minutes

2 assignmentsTotal 46 minutes

Illustrate why creating content worth sharing or ideas worth spreading are also key.30 minutes
Watch the Super Bowl 2018 Edition of Unruly’s Ad Effectiveness Chart, which ranks ads based on their EQ scores – a combined metric that scores ads on their likely emotional, social and business impact.16 minutes

1 peer reviewTotal 60 minutes

Justify employing top influencers and micro influencers to create sponsored content.60 minutes

Identifying the right influencers is hard. In this course, I will show you how to use 3 different tools to discover the most relevant influencers for your campaign. Why so many tools? Because each one has different strengths and weaknesses. And a decade ago, I used a fourth tool, but the company that made it has closed. So, I don’t want you to become too dependent on any one tool to find the right influencers.

What's included

13 videos3 readings2 assignments1 peer review

13 videosTotal 74 minutes

How to identify the right influencers; Don’t become the tool of your tools5 minutes
Use BuzzSumo to find the most shared content; It also shows you what isn’t being shared; Find influencers with topic in their Twitter bios; See what content an influencer shares9 minutes
BuzzSumo analyzed 100 million headlines; Expert reflections and advice; How to write engaging B2B headlines7 minutes
Expert reflections on the research3 minutes
Learning objective: Diagram Traackr’s methodology for identifying social media influencers in a topic area2 minutes
Identifying influencers for Recipe.com; We used Traackr to find and rank influencers6 minutes
Keywords defined relevant conversations2 minutes
Keywords defined relevant conversations; Traackr identified top 50 recipe influencers3 minutes
Traackr showed relevant posts on topic; “Dessert recipes” top trending keyword5 minutes
We invited top influencers to a webinar; Page views grew 500% to 30.6 million a month; Facebook referrals up 59%, Pinterest up 180%8 minutes
DealMaker tracks sponsored content globally; Every brand must have an influencer strategy; Influencers dominate social video ecosystem10 minutes
Is your goal to drive views or engagement?; Tubular’s 5 principles of influencer marketing9 minutes
Jungle Creations is a digital media company; Jungle Creations creates content for brands; Performance of organic Oreo content; Performance of sponsored Oreo content; DealMaker helped Twisted win a big deal5 minutes

3 readingsTotal 30 minutes

Use BuzzSumo to identify influencers, bloggers, and journalists in your industry by topic.10 minutes
Diagram Traackr’s methodology for identifying social media influencers in a topic area10 minutes
Rate DealMaker's strengths and weaknesses in finding social media influencers for a project10 minutes

2 assignmentsTotal 60 minutes

Diagram Traackr’s methodology for identifying social media influencers in a topic area.30 minutes
Rate DealMaker’s strengths and weaknesses in finding social media influencers for a project.30 minutes

1 peer reviewTotal 60 minutes

Use BuzzSumo to identify influencers, bloggers, and journalists in your industry by topic.60 minutes

In this course, I will share several examples of influencer outreach best practices, which I call “schmooze optimization.” This is the process of making casual conversation with influential individuals who can help you to achieve measurable business goals. And it’s worked for a wide variety of B2B, B2C, and nonprofit organizations.

What's included

13 videos3 readings2 assignments1 peer review

13 videosTotal 83 minutes

Finding the right engagement tactics is hard; Find sponsorship opportunities for Celebrities7 minutes
Create value for an Authority’s community; Help Connectors grow their networks; Help Personal Brands build their reputation; Provide an Analyst with new data and insights8 minutes
Provide an Activist with access4 minutes
Bring Experts in for their advice; Engage an Insider in a healthy debate5 minutes
Boost Journalist’s readership with a juicy story5 minutes
“Schmooze optimization” is a process5 minutes
“Do you have any video?”10 minutes
“Best PR pitch so far this year”; The optimized schmoozing of “Johnny X”7 minutes
“It is going to be kinda big”3 minutes
New way to use boosted posts on Facebook4 minutes
Engaging influential bloggers for Parents; We shared photography tips a second time; We also thanked 7 influential mom blogs; Parents got 129,155 potential subscribers8 minutes
Traditional influencer marketing campaigns; “Always-on” influencer relations programs; What business challenge did Orange face?; Leverage influencers to launch a new product;Segmented audience into 4 communities8 minutes
Influencer relations plus influencer marketing; Marketing & Communication influencers; Lifestyle & Design influencers; High Tech and Connected Home influencers; Performance of influencer relations program10 minutes

3 readingsTotal 30 minutes

Analyze 9 types of influence to find the best engagement tactics for these influencer categories10 minutes
Test engagement best practices and use influencer outreach tactics that work often10 minutes
Develop an "alwayson" influencer program that strengthens your influencer relations10 minutes

2 assignmentsTotal 60 minutes

Analyze 9 types of influence to find the best engagement tactics for these influencer categories.30 minutes
Test engagement best practices and use influencer outreach tactics that work often.30 minutes

1 peer reviewTotal 60 minutes

Develop an “always-on” influencer program that strengthens your influencer relations.60 minutes

This course will teach you how to measure the success of your programs with the appropriate key performance indicators (KPIs). If it’s brand awareness, then you will want to learn how to measure brand lift. If it’s engagement, then you will want to learn how to measure applause, conversation, and amplification rates. If it is lead generation, then you will want to learn how to track influencer campaigns in Google Analytics.

What's included

11 videos3 readings2 assignments1 peer review

11 videosTotal 76 minutes

If brand awareness is a goal, then measure it; Gross rating points (GRPs) are bogus metrics8 minutes
Advertising value equivalency (AVE) is bogus8 minutes
Brand lift is one of the right KPIs to use3 minutes
Brita saw a 36% lift in brand favorability; Google Surveys can also measure brand lift; Meredith saw a 33.8% lift in brand interest10 minutes
How should you measure engagement?5 minutes
Applause rate; Conversation rate; Amplification rate8 minutes
TrueSocialMetrics was inspired by Avinash; TrueSocialMetrics has competitive analytics6 minutes
Best social media metric: Economic value; Connect Google Analytics to TrueSocialMetrics; Select goals from a template; Set the goal value8 minutes
Find your most effective social networks; Use Campaign URL Builder for tracking12 minutes
Find your most effective influencer post4 minutes
Apply what you have learned to write a 5-paragraph essay that evaluates a range of key performance indicators for measuring influencer marketing3 minutes

3 readingsTotal 30 minutes

Compare gross rating point (GRP), advertising value equivalency (AVE), and brand lift10 minutes
Assess applause, conversation, and amplification rates as "the best social media metrics"10 minutes
Evaluate a range of key performance indicators (KPIs) for measuring influencer marketing10 minutes

2 assignmentsTotal 60 minutes

Compare gross rating points (GRPs), advertising value equivalency (AVE), and brand lift.30 minutes
Assess applause, conversation, and amplification rates as the “best social media metrics.”30 minutes

1 peer reviewTotal 60 minutes

Evaluate a range of key performance indicators (KPIs) for measuring influencer marketing.60 minutes

Your final project for this course is to create a pitch deck for a social media influencer strategy. The purpose of your final project is to give you a concrete artifact that you can use to demonstrate your mastery of new competencies and skills to either the executives in your current organization or to prospective employers.

What's included

10 videos3 readings2 assignments1 peer review

10 videosTotal 89 minutes

What’s the return on marketing investment?; How to calculate the ROMI of Kim’s #ad10 minutes
Measuring performance for Rutgers; Gave influential blog strategic insights; Gave journalist story in advance; Optimized and distributed a press release; Used ROMI to measure program; Calculate the return on marketing investment (ROMI) of an influencer program12 minutes
Develop the business case for launching a series of influencer marketing campaigns; the secret formula for success; Build your budget from the bottom up; Agencies charge more for the same person10 minutes
Turn influencer marketing into a profit center; Finding the right micro-influencers is also key; PiperSport case study10 minutes
Influencer marketing strategist; Team included a social media content creator; PiperSport unveiled on Jan. 21, 2010; PiperSport video got 132,241 views; 12,782 people liked PiperSport fan page7 minutes
PiperSport Twitter feed got 758 followers; Influencer was briefed on the first online order; 15 online orders for a $140,000 product; Piper Aircraft got ROMI of 9.58 minutes
This is a “be careful what you wish for” story; Develop the business case for launching a series of influencer marketing campaigns that lays the foundation for building an “always-on” influencer relations program6 minutes
Guy Kawasaki’s 10/20/30 rule; 10 slides5 minutes
20 minutes; 30-point font; Learning objectives vs. purposes of pitch; Influencer Marketing Strategy; Problem/opportunity; Value proposition; Underlying magic; Business model11 minutes
Go-to-market plan; Competitive analysis; Influencer marketing team; Projections and milestones; Status and timeline; Summary and call to action10 minutes

3 readingsTotal 30 minutes

Calculate the return on marketing investment (ROMI) of an influencer program10 minutes
Develop the business case for launching a series of influencer marketing campaigns10 minutes
Create a pitch deck for a social media influencer strategy as your final course project10 minutes

2 assignmentsTotal 60 minutes

Calculate the return on marketing investment (ROMI) of an influencer program.30 minutes
Develop the business case for launching a series of influencer marketing campaigns.30 minutes

1 peer reviewTotal 120 minutes

Create a pitch deck for a social media influencer strategy as your final project.120 minutes

Instructor

Instructor ratings

(64 ratings)

Greg Jarboe

1 Course58,971 learners

Offered by

Rutgers the State University of New Jersey

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Reviewed on Sep 23, 2019

Very important to what I'm doing for my job & had some insightful lectures. Sometimes it can be repetitive, but I saw that as a chance to reinforce important points of the strategy.

Reviewed on Jan 27, 2021

As an influencer, I found all of this information to be very valuable in learning the business perspective. The processor did a great job!

Reviewed on Mar 6, 2025

It is a very complete course, I learned and enjoyed it a lot, it even helped me expand my vocabulary in English. Thanks

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Frequently asked questions

Q: Is it worth paying Kim Kardashian West $500,000 for a single Instagram post?

A: Good question. In this course, we will take a close look one of Kim’s Instagram posts, which says, “#ad Excited to be partnering with @sugarbearhair to share their amazing hair vitamins with you! These chewable gummy vitamins are delicious and a favorite part of my hair care routine #sugarbearhair.” You will learn how to calculate the number of orders that Kim’s sponsored post needed to generate for SugarBearHair to get a positive return on marketing investment (ROMI).

Q: How do I identify the right influencers?

A: Identifying the right influencers is hard. In this course, I will show you how to use 3 different tools to discover the most relevant influencers for your campaign. Why so many? Because each one has different strengths and weaknesses. And a decade ago, I used a fourth tool, but the company that made it has been closed. So, I don’t want you to become too dependent on any one tool to find the right influencers.

Q: How do I find the right engagement tactics?

A: In this course, I will share several examples of influencer outreach best practices, which I call “schmooze optimization.” This is the process of making casual conversation with influential individuals who can help you to achieve measurable business goals. In 2012, Mark Huffman, the Integrated Production Manager at Procter & Gamble, said that his key takeaway from the conference where I coined the term was the concept of optimized schmoozing. And it’s worked for a wide variety of B2B, B2C, and nonprofit organizations – although I will share the story of one brand which is used to treat “jock itch” that my agency wasn’t able to help because we couldn’t find any key influencers who wanted to promote their content.

Q: How should I measure the performance of my programs?

A: It depends. Which marketing goals will your organization focus on over the next 12 months? This course will teach you how to measure the success of your programs with the appropriate key performance indicators (KPIs). If it’s brand awareness, then you will want to learn how to measure brand lift. If it’s engagement, then you will want to learn how to measure applause, conversation, and amplification rates. If it is lead generation, then you will want to learn how to track influencer campaigns in Google Analytics. And if it is being successful at tracking ROI, then you will want to learn how to calculate return on marketing investment (ROMI), which is different than ROI.

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