If you want Kylie Jenner to mention your product on an Instagram post, it will cost you $1 million.

It may seem like an outrageous price tag, but in the world of marketing, brands are increasingly leveraging individuals who have become influential through digital mediums.

Digital Strategist Shane Barker has kept a close eye on the effectiveness of influencer marketing over the years. And while a Kim Kardashain West Instagram campaign would be beyond most companies' budgets, Shane suggests micro-influencers and niche bloggers may be the perfect solution for a strong ROI.

In today's 20 questions, Shane dives deep into the world of influencer marketing by explaining who is considered an "influencer," how much influencers should charge for their services, and whether or not there are any risks associated with having an influencer represent your brand.

He also touches on how blockchain technology may disrupt the digital marketing sphere in the future and what it's like having Gary Vaynerchuk as a follower.

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20 questions with Shane Barker

1 - How would you describe yourself in one sentence?

Shane - I would describe myself as kind, funny, charismatic, full of energy, and very motivated.

2 - What is the most interesting thing about being a digital strategist?

Shane - The most interesting thing about being a digital strategist is that this space is ever-changing. Everything from platforms to strategies is always changing and there is always something new to learn and experiment with.

Brands and marketers test interesting strategies every day to compete and win in this digital space. It’s very exciting to be a part of this fast-paced digital world.

3 - In your opinion, what is the biggest mistake businesses make when it comes to online marketing?

Shane - One of the biggest digital marketing mistakes that businesses make is to rush the process of launching their campaigns.

Successful digital marketing campaigns demand a lot of time and effort. You need to identify your audience, determine your campaign goals, and create a strategy that aligns with them. Before you launch a campaign, you need to ensure that everything is in place - from your landing pages to a performance tracking process.

Not taking the time to strategize and put all of the elements in place can lead to numerous lost opportunities and lower ROI.

4 - How has influencer marketing evolved over the last year?

Shane - The needs of consumers evolve, which means that influencer marketing needs to evolve too in order to help brands meet those needs. Earlier, consumers were celebrity-influenced. But now they are more likely to trust and favor bloggers and influencers in a niche.

To meet the expectations of consumers, brands and marketers have evolved their influencer marketing game over the last year.

Rather than one-shot deals with numerous influencers, brands now invest into more long-term partnerships. They choose micro-influencers who match their brand’s style, values, and voice and have engaged followings.

With freebies being common, brands are adopting more creative approaches to attract influencers. Many successful brands such as REVOLVE host events and getaways for a highly curated group of influencers to mingle and enjoy themselves. This gives influencers an opportunity to share their experiences and also encourages them to say good things about the brand.

5 - What types of businesses should be focusing on influencer marketing in 2019?

Shane - Brands belonging to the fashion, beauty, fitness, food, travel, and hospitality verticals should definitely focus on leveraging influencer marketing in 2019.

6 - At what point is someone considered an influencer?

Shane - Anyone who has the power to influence the purchase decisions of a decent audience can be considered an influencer.

Usually, influencers have niche-specific followings and create authentic content that their audiences actively engage with. Not only do audiences like their content, but they also heed their recommendations.

7 - How can influencers know how much they should be charging brands that approach them for their services?

Shane - The amount you can charge as an influencer depends on a number of factors such as:

Popularity

Follower count

Engagement rate

Content quality

Potential ROI of the campaign you work on

Costs also depend on the expectations that brands have. This includes:

What type of content do they expect you to create - videos, stories, or image posts?

How many posts do they need?

Do they need standard usage rights to repost and repurpose the content you create?

How much time do they provide you with to create and publish posts? Tight deadlines allow you to demand higher fees.

Most mid to top-tier influencers charge more than micro-influencers. For example, Kim Kardashian reportedly charges over $720K for a sponsored post.

8 - Is there a risk in linking your brand or product to an influencer?

Shane - Influencers represent your brand online so it’s extremely important to choose the ones who are trustworthy and a good fit for your brand’s niche, values, and voice.

Collaborating with the wrong influencers can put your brand’s reputation at risk.

9 - You've worked with various celebrities with a focus on their digital reputation. What's the biggest fire you've had to put out?

Shane - I had a celebrity client who had something come out on TMZ about him. It was about a statutory rape, 18 years after it happened. He was 17 when it supposedly happened and he was 35 at the time of the TMZ post, and had just become famous.

They wrote stuff about the situation saying, “Hey! We know what happened 18 years ago.” And many media outlets picked it up. The story published on the TMZ almost crushed his career.

We took to the media and pushed that bad content down as a part of our online reputation management services for him. It was an interesting campaign as we had to push down a lot of negative stuff about what happened 18 years ago. Stuff that should have never come up again.

10 - What is another important digital trend we should be on the lookout for in 2019?

Shane - The rise of voice searches and artificial intelligence (AI) will lead to a lot of changes in the digital space. Brands should optimize their sites for voice searches and focus on improving customer experience with an effective use of AI.

11 - Which social media network do you think will dominate in 2019?

Shane - I would say Instagram will dominate the world of social media in 2019. This visual platform reached a milestone of one billion monthly users in June 2018. And it is indeed the most powerful marketing channel to engage with Gen Z-ers, who are the next generation of consumers.

12 - This interview is being posted on a social media blockchain called Steemit, where users can upvote posts they like and popular content is rewarded with a cryptocurrency called Steem. Is this a platform you'd ever consider blogging on?

Shane - I haven’t tapped into it yet. But I would love to leverage your platform to unleash the maximum potential of my curated content.

13 - How do you see blockchain technology impacting the digital marketing sphere?

Shane - With information stored digitally, blockchain technology will help increase transparency within the digital marketing space.

Blockchain technology is likely to affect the sharing of consumers’ data too. Brands will have profiles for each of their customers based on their visited sites, conducted searches, and purchased products.

More than that, the use of blockchain technology can help you prevent hacking and leaks of the personal data of your consumers online.

14 - You talk about being driven by the "finish line." What would you say to someone who argues it's more about the journey than the destination?

Shane - I would say that everything is a journey. When I mention the “finish line,” I talk about milestones.

The idea being, if I want to become a millionaire, I need to set certain milestones to get to that point. Say, I would start with making 10K dollars, 100K dollars, then half a million dollars, and eventually make a million dollars.

It’s definitely all about the journey because you want to enjoy all of the little wins, (or I should say milestones). These finish lines actually help you get to your bigger goal.

15 - Where's your favorite place to run?

Shane - McKinley Park in Sacramento or any lake in the outdoors. I am a huge fan of running.

16 - Who inspires you?

Shane - My mom inspires me every single day. She worked as a nurse for 35 years and is a very gentle and caring person. She just does good things for the world and I try to be like her more and more. I think that probably makes me a “momma's boy” too.

17 - When you were in fifth grade, what did you want to be when you grew up?

Shane - Not sure if it was when I was in fifth grade, but the thought of becoming a fireman attracted me at one point as a kid.

18 - There are some big names among your 27K Twitter followers (such as Gary Vaynerchuk). Who are you most stoked to have as a follower?

Shane - Gary V. is obviously a good one to have as a follower.

Honestly, I don’t know everybody who is following me. I haven’t really looked at my count or figured out who’s following me. I do know that I have some big influencers interacting with my content.

I don’t prefer any one over another. I am a fan all of them… ;)

19 - You get to have dinner with three people, living or dead. Who are you eating with?

Shane - I would like to eat with Bob Marley because I like his vibe, music, and the way he thinks. The second person I would have dinner with is (ummm...this is a hard one...) JFK. He’s someone I would be really interested in.

For the third one, I’d like to go with Elvis as we would have fun, talk about stories and stuff, and rock and roll.

20 - What is one thing very few people know about you?

Shane - It took me 10 years to complete college. Most people don’t know that, or at least they didn’t… until now. ;)

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Thanks so much to Shane for sharing his knowledge in this edition of 20 questions.

As always, thanks to all of you for taking the time to read.

Who would you like to see me throw 20 questions at? Drop me a comment below and I'll work on setting up the interview.

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