So Who Influences the Influencers?
We all know the most effective advertising is a personal review from a friend or relative. It is the most trusted source for information. That has been true since humans first communicated.
What is also beginning to become obvious is that a group called “influencers” (tastemaker consumers) is becoming just as important. These are the people we follow, read their blogs, “Like” on Facebook and we emulate in clothing, style and mannerisms. Typically, these are celebrities and other pop icons. The people who dominate the top 100 most-trusted people each year are mostly movie or TV personalities or the very rich.
This trend of influencers is the most notable with teens. However, we are all susceptible even if we will not admit it. But what or who do the influencers turn to for their information? According to an Influenster survey (Feb 2017), most are turning to YouTube.
For teen influencers, prefer to watch on YouTube:
- Product review videos 77%
- Unboxing videos (unwrapping new products from their package) 71%
- How-to videos 67%
- Haul videos (feature someone showing and describing products purchased during a recent shopping trip) 76%
- Vlogs (video blog) 45%
- Style collection videos 42%
Millennials and Gen X also had these in the top videos as well. Teens were watching more videos and had more visits to YouTube than the rest of the survey respondents. So who do the influences the influencers—you do if you are using YouTube correctly.
Mark Mathis
Mark wrote his first direct-mail fundraising letter in 1981 for the University of Iowa Center for Advancement. The effort raised a few million dollars in undiscovered wills and legacy gifts. From that day forward Mark discovered a love of the big idea that moves the needle.
After 12 years at KWWL, Mark became a business owner as a co-founder of ME&V — rebranded as AMPERAGE in 2015. After 25 years of leading creative teams in video production, graphic design, PR, writing and web development, Mark transitioned out of ownership in 2021. Today he serves in an employee role as special projects consultant.
He is creatively ambidextrous — son of an artist and engineer — and famous for distilling complex ideas down to a few words and a few visuals. Mark is a writer. When he found that many nonprofits struggled with complex branding puzzles, he wrote the book, “NonProfit-NonMarketing .” He also wrote a novel called “Reenactment.”
Mark is an active blogger OneMinuteMarketer® with nearly 1,000 readers each week on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter. One of his most popular YouTube videos is on “How to Look Good on Zoom.”
One of Mark’s fondest business memories was being named to INC 500 two times and attending the INC 500 conference with other winners. Mark is considered by some a Civil War expert (and that explains his novel). Mark also served as an adjunct professor in the business and in the communications departments at Wartburg College.
Mark is a graduate of the University of Iowa and is currently vice president of the University of Iowa Journalism and Mass Communications Advisory Board.
Mark is married to state Sen. Liz Mathis, and the two love to travel, even when it means being trapped by a volcano in the Czech Republic for three weeks.