Results Leadership > Thought Leadership

Who the hell cares about thought leadership if it doesn't turn into results?

We publicly introduced our New Rules of Influencer Marketing back in January but, even as we did, we had already spent months talking with clients and rebuilding our processes, strategy, briefing, and execution around this new way of thinking.

It is only natural and fair, given the practical opportunities to put our ideas to the test (as well as the time and distance to look back and take inventory of their efficacy), to ask the essential question—is it working?

We were recently able to pull some quarter-over-quarter reporting for one of our clients for whom we had rebuilt their strategies around the New Rules.We looked at the combined results across campaigns in Q4 of 2023 and Q1 of 2024. Due to increased holiday spends and January always being a slower month, we were starting at a deficit with a 13% decrease in spend from Q4 > Q1. That said, even with less budget, we were able to increase viewership by 50%. That performance meant the brand got 10 million more eyeballs for less money during the same period of time.

Implementing the New Rules can mean different things for every brand. What follows are some of the specific ways we applied our rules to get these results for this particular client.

1. Increased focus on trend-based, quick turn-around content.

2. Launched a "Hook Academy" for the creators, coaching them on the psychology of hooks and how to best use them in their content.*

3. Revised the brand’s contracts to privilege flexibility, enhancing our client’s ability to priorities partnership with those creators who are performing best at any given moment.

4. Brought creators to the drawing board more, granting them the ability to pitch concepts and thereby lend our client theirauthentic ideas and voice(s).

5. Pitched the brand on some out-of-their-comfort-zone 'Big Swings'.

6. Expanded and performance moderated our bench ofTrust Partners. 

*Interested in our "Hook Academy"? Comment below and I will share it with you gratis. 

PERSONAL CORNER

• My absolute best days start or end with a little apartment dancing, this ten year old track from Frazey Ford is perfect for just that.
• Last year I read The Soldier's Truth about the life and work of Ernie Pyle, the most famous war correspondent during World War II. Recently, I have been working through a book of his collected columns and am once again floored by his prose, humanity, and the incomprehensible debt owed. He said this about our soldiers: “They seemed terribly pathetic to me. They weren’t warriors. They were American boys who by mere chance of fate had wound up with guns in their hands, sneaking up a death-laden street in a strange and shattered city in a faraway country in a driving rain. They were afraid, but it was beyond their power to quit. … And even though they weren’t warriors born to the kill, they won their battles. That’s the point.” If you haven't, read his D-Day and Captain Waskow columns.

Cheers,

James Nord

Founder & CEO