Bloggers and podcasters come from all walks of life — techies and entertainment celebrities, as well as single moms, educators, farmers, and more. They share a passion for community journalism, thoughtful discourse, and commitment to change. They are influencers.
And here’s an interesting statistic for trend-watching futurists: according to a 2019 study by the Washington, DC-based market research firm Morning Consult, 86 percent of people ages 13-38 would like to become social media influencers.
But before a brand can capitalize on the increased reach, engagement, advocacy, authenticity, and lead generation of influencer relationships, experts say a solid outreach strategy based on authentic relationships has to be in place.
Finding the right influencers requires more than simply searching for people with the most social media followers, according to strategic communications and marketing expert Munira Koshen. She recommends social listening, blog research, mining and filtering databases, and committing to long-term, multi-stage leverage.
Social listening. Find out what social media channels your audience/industry engage the most, and follow relevant industry-related trending keywords, hashtags, and topics across those networks. Get to know thought leaders driving conversations in your space. Check out the most active, well-connected members in communities such as Twitter chats and LinkedIn groups.
Research the blogs that talk about your industry. Do a Google search for “top 10 blogs in the X industry to follow,” then look up each blog’s author on Twitter. The number of people who follow and engage with them can be a good indication of readership and influence.
Use a social influencer marketing database to filter your searches. Find the needles in the haystack by filtering according to area of expertise, language, geographic location, community size, past brand relationships, and other parameters.
ARTICLE: “Seven best tools to find influencers on social media” (source: www.searchenginewatch.com)
Leverage influencers throughout the entire customer funnel. At the top, look for influencers who can drive reach and awareness by, for example, co-creating a webinar or co-branding white-paper content with you. To form the purchase preference in the middle of the funnel, partner with blogger/vlogger influencers who can help buyers evaluate your produce/service via reviews.
Learn everything about your influencers: How do they communicate with their audiences? Do they promote other brands? What are their likes and dislikes?
Among the PR pro forecasts on trends in the year ahead published in the January 2020 issue of PRSA’s Strategies & Tactics, Pittsburgh-based PR and marketing strategist Bridgette Borst Ombres piqued my interest with her remark about the rise of the use of micro-influencers, the non-celebrity, everyday people who have decent followings.
“These influencers have such a deep connection with their audience, and there’s a readiness to follow influencer advice. This is changing the game in so many ways,” Bridgette said.
Her sentiment echoed a key point shared by MMI Agency CEO Maggie Malek during her keynote presentation at the PRSA Houston Chapter’s luncheon last November.
MMI Agency CEO Maggie Malek PRSA Houston | November 2019 |
WATCH: Maggie Malek on the pros/cons of working with high-reach influencers vs. micro-influencers.
To build genuine, sustainable relationships, interact with them on social media, comment on their blogs, share their content, ask them questions, and deliver value to their audiences to show them that you fully understand what they do and what their community is about. Engage with them to slowly build a relationship of mutual respect over a period of time, not at the last minute when you need them.
Decide what kind of opportunity is going to be the most mutually beneficial. While some influencers expect payment, others are willing to opt for other incentives, such as free access to your product.
Experts advise be prepared to give up some freedom with brand messaging when working with influencers; they’re very unlikely to copy and paste your key points verbatim. For authenticity, their social posts need to be in their style, so try to let go and trust that they know how to communicate with their audiences.
For campaign measurement and analysis, using UTM codes will enable sales conversions and other metrics from the URLs where influencers are sending people to be tracked and captured. One way to do this is by pairing Google’s UTM builder with Google Analytics.
(Reference: “Finding, Nurturing, and Sustaining Influencer Relationships,” by Munira Koshen.)