Relationship-building is essential for exponential growth

Progressive influencer marketing and branded content company Cycle fosters growth through inclusion, transparency and quality

da India Fizer , AdForum

Laundry Service
Advertising/Full Service/Integrata
Brooklyn, Stati Uniti
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Cycle Media
Brooklyn, Stati Uniti
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Corey Smock
VP, Business Development, Cycle Laundry Service
 

As an agency partner, Cycle utilizes its unique positioning to invest in innovative marketing strategies and relationship-building with influencers and content creators. Corey Smock, Cycle's VP of Business Development, explains how this helps brands partner with talent in new ways that drive business results.

 

When searching for growth opportunities, how do you determine what is the right fit for the agency?

Cycle is an influencer business and we think about growth in two ways. One is building out new, differentiated products. We make sure to prioritize opportunities that are complementary to our existing products and services. This is powerfully informed by understanding market demand, what’s trending in the space, and where we can add value in new ways to our partners. 

Another is proactively fostering new relationships with potential clients that align with our values as a business: inclusion, transparency and quality. We’re not targeting brands based on category or geography; we’re targeting brands that we feel we can truly do great work for and who we think understand our industry best. When there’s a natural synergy between agency and client, we can ideate in a more unconventional way, and be progressive and forward-thinking with our marketing strategy.

 

What does exponential growth look like for your agency? For example, project work vs AOR pitches, geographic, interdisciplinary, etc.

We’ve always been a project-based agency partner from an influencer / creative economy standpoint; recurring client business has provided the primary means of growth. With that said, we’ve increasingly been able to demonstrate the value in an “always-on” influencer/creator agency with our partners.

These light-weight retainer teams provide creator strategy, creative development, influencer sourcing, management, amplification and measurement, plugging in directly with our client’s overarching marketing strategy and/or agency team – so the entire support structure is seamless.

 

What are the key challenges and / or opportunities for brands in today’s marketing economy? 

It’s becoming more important to evaluate the true ROI of your investments, and that presents new challenges: This applies across content, partnerships, agencies, etc, which aren’t always easy to measure. Prioritizing partners that offer transparent pricing models and working media solutions provide an advantage.

Another challenge is that people would rather interact and receive marketing communications from influencers and content creators far more than they want to hear from brands and publishers. Yet, many marketers still view influencers purely as a distribution channel, which can lead to very transactional relationships and content. Invest in relationship-building and give influencers a seat at the table. The results will generate better, more authentic content that helps build equity with consumers.

 

Given the uncertainty of the past couple of years, are there any trend predictions you have about where the ad and media industries are headed?

In our specific space, we continue to foresee the lines becoming blurred between traditional marketing channels and influencer marketing channels. Influencers have driven interesting disruption. We’re going to start seeing more and more brands investing in the creator economy. Every brand wants to build community; no one builds community better than content creators. 

Make the time to invest in relationship-building. Evaluating and partnering with creators that align with your brand DNA will truly be the most efficient, effective marketing strategy moving forward.