Creating Campaigns People Want to Share w/ Michael Africk [Episode 485]

Messaging and generating buzz is not just the responsibility of the marketing department. In sales, messaging is part of your every day existence.

Michael Africk, Serial entrepreneur, and CEO/Founder at Inmoji, and a recording artist, joins me on this episode.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Michael tells the story of his past as a recording artist, and touring with Britney Spears and ‘NSync. Those moments set him up with a feeling of entrepreneurism and driving towards success, no matter what.

Music is a very fertile space for creative minds and the entrepreneurial spirit. Michael describes his ventures, and his network, that inspired them to launch Inmoji with Perry Tell.

Michael picked up hustle from his music experience. He believes he was born with the entrepreneurial spirit. He compares live performance to sales. You need to have a thick skin, and you have to scratch and claw until you get there.

People’s use of emojis inspired Michael and Perry to see that emojis could be clickable Trojan horses, linked to any sort of content, dropped into a message. They saw an opportunity to make an SDK for messaging apps with huge user bases.

Emojis are tied to typed emoticons. Stickers are branded emojis. Inmojis are applets. When a sender clicks an Inmoji, it brings up brand information the sender can choose to include. The receiver can click on it for the same experience.

Michael explains the process. A vendor runs a campaign. The SDK offers up their Inmoji in subscribing messaging apps. The sender clicks the Inmoji for rich media, and sends it to another, who can click it for the same content.

Inmoji’s clients buy space in the SDK, and then the subscribing message app displays the client Inmoji, and tracks clicks, both of the sender and of the receiver.

Inmoji charges per click, not per exposure, so the click is qualified. Michael gives a use case example. There are potentially several clicks per use. People can listen to songs or watch trailers multiple times, all within the messaging app.

Michael says all sizes of companies use the service. A self-service portal just launched at create.inmoji.com/eq. You can select a precise geographic area to release your Inmoji.

Michael talks about B2B applications. A tax accountant received great results from a targeted campaign. The portal is easy to use for this. Michael gives another use case example.

Engagement rates and authenticity make Inmoji the most effective way to advertise, in Michael’s view. Everything is referral-based and pre-qualified. The person you text clicks on it every single time.

Michael talks about expansion. He would love to be on Facebook, for example, but they are on some huge apps.

The Sales Enablement Podcast with Andy Paul was formerly Accelerate! with Andy Paul.