When the best aspects of earned media, which organically results from building a fan base for your work, and paid media, or paid advertising, blend together you have a Trust Engagement. Integrity between Influencers and their communities on behalf of businesses in these engagements results in a win/win/win scenario where the ultimate form of word of mouth marketing is born.

When Influencer Marketing is done right, the targeted audience receives information about products and services they are potentially interested in, the influencer gets compensated for sharing the currency of trust they’ve built, and the brands receive access to an active, passionate, interested community.

An influencer knows that her reputation is her currency and she won’t jeopardize that for a little fast cash unless she’s an idiot.  (If she was an idiot, she probably wouldn’t be influential though.)  She would only share or promote something that she believes in and that she knows her audience will be thankful to learn about.