Influencer marketing faces increasing scrutiny due to some brands paying excessive fees to ‘lifestyle influencers’ with fake followers that result in questionable ROI. The fact is, one-off paid influencer campaigns represents only a small segment of a much larger picture and, unfortunately, discredits genuine brand collaborations. When executed properly, brands partner with relevant influencers to drive true business outcomes across wide-ranging areas such as product launches, product development, and corporate reputation management. As influencer marketing matures and ‘goes global’, new opportunities will emerge for brands to partner with local influencers to grow their businesses in foreign markets due to the credibility and authority established from these trusted voices.

In this session, Joel Backaler — growth marketing strategist and author of the new book, “Digital Influence: Unleash the Power of Influencer Marketing to Accelerate Your Global Business (Palgrave Macmillan)” — will share key findings from his interviews with 100+ brand executives, agencies, marketing technology vendors and influencers to shed light on what’s working, what’s not — and most importantly — what steps you can take to grow your business at home and overseas by effectively implementing influencer marketing into your business strategy.