Before we jump into this episode, a note for the listeners: Winfluence is now available as a video show. If you’d like to see the magic as well as hear it, just pop over to the YouTube channel and subscribe. The easy way to get there is jasonfalls.co/youtube. Of course, you can also search for Jason Falls Winfluence or just Winfluence on YouTube and find it.

The new episodes will also be offered up on YouTube, LinkedIn and Twitter each Monday. We’re going to shift the publishing of the show to 11 a.m. ET so folks can join us for lunch, brunch or breakfast viewing on the stream. The audio podcast will still be there for you, just a couple hours later than it normally fires. 

Regardless of where you’re listening or watching, thank you for being here and following along our journey to understanding more about influence and influence marketing.

Now on to today’s show. 

There’s a lurking problem in the influence marketing space today. I’ve noticed it and mentioned it a few times on the show. A few others are starting to see it, too.

The problem is not with the mechanisms, softwares or logistics of influence marketing. Brands engage creators they probably find via software. There’s an exchange of value … the influencer is compensated somehow and the brand gets exposure or content or both. All of that is well and good. But all of that is becoming a commodity of sorts. 

The problem is the thinking behind most influence marketing efforts today is, well, meh. A brand says, “here’s product and money, tell your fans to try it.” The creator puts on their best happy face and gushes about said product and cashes their check. The audience sometimes buys it. Sometimes not. (The product or the pitch.)

That failure is why I originally launched a consulting firm. I wanted to focus on the strategy and creative concepting that was so blatantly missing from the industry. It’s also a part of why I pivoted to join CIPIO.ai because we go at influence from a different perspective. Plus, I can still bring that strategic thinking and concepting to the table for our customers. 

But I’m not the only one who sees the gaps.

Noah Eisemann is a similar thinker in the space. He’s the partnerships lead at Lumanu, a software company that is building infrastructure pieces for the creator economy. They’ve been working on some innovations in approach to payments I found pretty interesting. 

But Noah also thinks there are shortcomings and shortfalls in how brands engage with creators, creators engage with brands and the folks in the middle like agencies and software companies are playing. I invited him on the show today to fill those gaps with me. We also touch on what Lumanu is up to.

A good conversation about what needs to get better in the influence marketing space is coming up.

Winfluence is made possible by Cipio.ai – The Community Commerce Marketing platform. What does that mean? It’s an influencer marketing software solution, but it has additional apps that function to tap into your brand community to drive commerce. Community Commerce Marketing moves beyond influencers to fans and followers, customers, employees and more. Try its generative AI application, Vibe Check, with a two-week free trial at cipio.ai/vibecheck, and generate a library of social captions in minutes you can use right away.

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