I recently started speaking, which means my social following has been growing steadily and I’m connecting with more people than ever on Instagram and my other social media channels.
This is incredibly important to me. Building a ‘fanbase,’ even though I’m only considered a ‘micro-influencer,’ (influencer on a smaller [less than 10,000 followers] scale) leads to more friendships, leads, and connections. There’s no denying the incredible power that influencers today hold – we all saw how Kylie Jenner made Snapchat’s stock plummet after tweeting that she hardly uses Snapchat anymore, and how Taylor Swift’s posts on Instagram about voting crashed the voting registration site. But, the path to becoming an influencer with a handful of true fans has become increasingly difficult despite options such as social advertising (promoting your posts on Facebook and Instagram) because of the surge in the number of influencers and dreaded I
So, when I heard that Next Gen member Swish Goswami was working on a new social media analytics tool that would change the game for not only influencers, but marketers, I was excited. Swish is a sharp entrepreneurial mind, a renowned speaker, and an all around wonderful person. He first came up with the idea for Trufan after CEO of Cogent Marketing, Mark Zablow, asked him if he had a tool that could help NBA all star Chris Paul determine who his most loyal Houston-based fans were. He recently launched it (Trufan) his team, which includes Aanikh Kler and Tim Hyde.
Trufan is an enterprise Saas that allows influencers to build a direct relationship and connection with their strongest advocates to engage them and concomitantly, form a community. Trufan aggregates the audience that is truly listening; there’s no more ‘shouting into the void’ of followers, because you know that the audience you’re speaking to is already engaged. This makes it much easier for influencers and marketers to identify and scale their tribe.
Think about it: the impact of knowing the segment of your followers that are your ‘true fans’ allows you to better market to them – to host events and invite them, to launch new products and sell to them, and just to speak to them and build that relationship. It’s a tool of unprecedented community engagement and connection, which is quite timely. 2018 is a day and age grounded in social media followings and online connection. The Trufan team has recognized the needs of influencers to identify their most committed followers, and risen to the occasion.
Others are just as excited about Trufan – their investor lineup is quite impressive, and has yielded $500,000 CAD in its second pre-round from investors such as Kyle Kuzma (the Los Angeles Lakers forward) and Manny Padda (Canada’s Angel Investor of the Year). Celebrities from Kevin Hart to Gucci Mane have beta tested the app, and their board of advisors includes Hootsuite CEO Ryan Holmes.
The beta has been rolled out to brands such as McDonalds Canada, Western Union, Under Armor, and more – an exciting burst of momentum that contains great promise for the future. The Next Gen Community can’t wait to watch Trufan unfold, and I personally can’t wait to try it, myself! Swish and his team are truly changing the tide for today’s influencers, bringing more people together in a more effective and mainstream way.
To learn more about Trufan and get early access, visit here.