Influencer marketing is one of the most powerful tools we have, yet it is also one of the most misunderstood. And the rise of digital media has become one of the distinct entities that are contributing to its success. However, as the world is becoming more data-driven, businesses are too busy focusing on digitalization and its analytics. Within such numbers, automation, data, and quant reports, we forget that human trust and influence is the primary ingredient to the business’s marketing success.
Amanda Russell, Professor at Northwestern University – Kellogg School of Management understands the said human connection in marketing and is taking the concept of influence in order to build a relationship and nurture it. As a widely respected leader in business education alongside being an accomplished scholar, Amanda has taken the world of influencer marketing by storm.
The Start of an Understanding — Human Recommendations
Amanda started her YouTube channel way before the platform was popular among the masses. It was a time when phones didn’t have cameras and people were more interested in building communities. Then and there, Amanda had a eureka moment that opened a world of possibilities in front of her. Here’s how she describes it:
“I became obsessed with what appeared to me to be cult-like followings. These regular people there (YouTube) were building and thought ‘are we putting the cart before the horse? We are developing products and services and then trying to push them out there to an audience? Here these people, with these communities around them that would buy into a lot of what they would recommend!’”
With her bulb of ideation ignited, Amanda started a channel with ‘fitness’ as her ‘product.’ She showcased her passion for all things ‘getting in shape’ without running as she was going through a three-year career-ending injury.
That YouTube channel soon became a partner of the then known Maker Studio. Amanda’s nest partnership with Trium Entertainment further scaled and built her channel into one of the first online fitness subscription platforms. “The channel was launched at a time when buying physical products online wasn’t yet all that common, let alone digital products. Hence, I learned more about business and influence from that experience than I ever did in business school or working for a big consulting firm!” she recalls.
And to reach where she is now, Amanda collected all the seeds that collectively grew into the idea of ‘investing’ in people. According to her, it all turned out to be the understanding that a business is all about relationships, and the biggest benefit that comes from strong relationships cannot be quantified.
That’s the exact reason why Amanda seeks out influencers who see the bigger picture. Not those who consider it a job and go after paychecks. She tells the importance through the example of a Chinese poem that reads— “You can’t see the mountain from the mountain.”
Today, Amanda finds people who are born with an appetite for adventure and are comfortable with risk and change. Those who want to build things and make their mark with a collectively shared vision, mutual goals, and adventure.
Teaching the Ways of Influential Marketing
To disseminate the right knowledge of human connection, Amanda has shaken her hand with Northwestern’s Kellogg School, which is the #1 marketing school in the world. From early this year, she has joined forces with the highly regarded Emeritus certificate program to launch a first-of-its-kind marketing program for global MBA and executive education beginning in September. Amanda labels the program as a movement.
She will be leading the programs by helming all the related duties, including creating, directing, and leading the advancement of the program. By her side stands Mohan Sawhney, the Associate Dean of Kellogg and Director of the Center of Research and Technology.
With the program, Amanda aims to set the record straight about influencer marketing and the future of business. Formed of a hybrid live and online style, the program will teach novel ways of thinking about how to grow and create real influence along the way.
Bringing together the best of academia and industry in an actionable way, the program will endorse individuals and companies who have made an impact in their relevant industry while simultaneously imparting expertise to others.
“The Influencer Code”
With her most recent book, The Influencer Code, Amanda Russell has established herself as the official go-to resource for influencer marketing for educational programs throughout the world, replete with proprietary case studies, exemplary techniques, and original frameworks, among other things. In 2021 she also launched the podcast ‘School of Influence,’ with the widely celebrated marketer Neal Schaffer.
As described before, the digital world brings forth a ton of digital metrics where businesses forget the essence of marketing. Hence, through her book, Amanda calls influencer marketing a long-term strategy that involves collaboration. Its core revolves around investing in people and creating real relationships.
“We have to replace the thought process of competitive advantage with collaborative advantage. Marketing is changing more than anything, and those who aren’t ready to entirely change the way they think about it and approach it are incredibly vulnerable.”
Amanda also notes how such a marketing style is not about going digital or allocating money from traditional channels to social media or B2B vs B2C. Instead, it’s about figuring who or what influences your market and mastering all areas of your strategy to ensure your message garners that influence.
She clearly states that when you analyze how we have progressed in digital media and how social media is progressing, the only way for businesses is to leverage the people’s power and not spend bottomless dollars on advertisements.
Guiding the Big Names and Beginners in the Industry
Amanda consults with some of the world’s most well-known brands on influencer marketing, including Lamborghini, Cedars Sinai, and Lionsgate. She also speaks on influence and the future of marketing around the world, with a particular emphasis on building, leveraging, and scaling a brand’s community of followers.
In addition to having a wealth of international experience, she has taught at some of the world’s top business schools, including Harvard — ongoing visiting professor — Wharton School of Business, The University of Stockholm Business School, The University of Cologne in Germany, New York University, and HEC in Paris. She also serves as a board member and advisory council to several global organizations including Lamborghini and The University of Richmond Business School.
And for the smaller names who are yet to be known in the industry, Amanda advises them to be a marketer who is humble. The one who can accept being wrong in the situations and frequently deal with the irrationality of human decision-making and behavior. Furthermore, they also need to be humble to predict trends as the current digital world is precepted to be disrupted often.
For them, Amanda shares the utmost advice. She says, “People love the convenience and personalization that technology enables, which at the same time requires you to give up some data. As marketers, we must remember that we are not just looking at consumers. Consumers are humans, who are also citizens, parents, and members of the community; these technologies have both an upside and a downside.”
Connecting More People
Till now, what has made Amanda the strongest in the field is her minimal focus on technology and more on understanding people’s underlying needs, desires, dreams, and aspirations. According to her, these qualities tend to change less frequently than technology.
And for the future, the same is going to be Amanda’s mantra moving ahead. She cites the future of influencer marketing as being an authentic partnership between brands and influencers. Exhibiting her clairvoyant skills, Amanda Russell even predicts that the term ‘influencer’ will simply no longer be associated with a celebrity or social media star, but rather the force that has the power to facilitate the chosen behavior from the desired audience.
