INFLUENCING THE INFLUENCER - Amazon S3trust the information coming from a brand. According to the Edelman Trust Barometer1 2016, people trust academic or industry experts or a person

Finding and building the best influencer relationships

INFLUENCING THE INFLUENCER:

MARKETINGDIVE.COM PLAYBOOK

BRAND STUDIO2MARKETINGDIVE.COM

here is so much great content

available on the Internet today to

help consumers make decisions.

Unfortunately, the content you work hard to

create about your company, products and

services is buried in it. How do you break

through the noise? How do you ensure your

customers and prospects know who you are

and why your products and services are better

than the competition?

Consumers trust influencers more than they

trust the information coming from a brand.

According to the Edelman Trust Barometer1

2016, people trust academic or industry

experts or a person like themselves more than

they trust the CEO of a company. Influencers

also have a large network of people and can

easily and quickly spread your content and

story further and faster than you might be able

to.

So how do you find the right influencers and

get them to work with you? And how do you

make the most of those relationships once

you’ve established them? This playbook

will look at some examples and offer expert

advice on working with the right influencers to

improve your PR and content marketing.

1 http://www.edelman.com/insights/intellectual-property/2016-edelman-trust-barometer/

TPeople trust academic or industry experts or a person like themselves more than they trust the CEO of a company. Edelman Trust Barometer 2016

Influencer marketing has been a critical

piece of digital marketing strategy since the

beginning and it shows no sign of diminishing.

It is a way to partner with people in your

industry -- bloggers, journalists, analysts,

thought leaders, industry experts, social

celebrities and so on -- who are willing to share

your story and promote your products and

services over social and digital media channels.

Partner with an influencer.

http://www.meltwater.com/products/?utm_detail=industrydive&utm_sasource=Influencing_The_Influencer_Playbook


inding the right influencer is not

simply about finding the people with

the highest number of followers on

Twitter, YouTube or some other social network.

So what do you look for?

According to Mark Fidelman, Managing

Partner of Evolve!, Inc., an advertising

agency specializing in brand management

and marketing strategy, you want to look for

influencers who are on the same channels as

your customers and show high engagement.

It’s not about the number (of followers)

Fidelman suggests that different social

channels are better than others when it comes

to finding high-value influencer relationships.

For example, he says that YouTube subscribers

are better than Twitter subscribers because

YouTube has greater SEO value. YouTube

videos are emailed out to subscribers, and

they are available forever (or as long as they’re

on your YouTube channel). While it certainly

offers its own benefits, Twitter, says Fidelman,

is fleeting and unless you do it 50 fifty times a

day, it won’t deliver much SEO value.

It’s not just about the right channel, though.

The best influencers have credibility and

integrity, says Debra Lavoy, CEO of Narrative

Builders, a consultancy that builds narratives

F



that convey the power of your business,

product or idea. Do the influencer’s interest

and expertise align with your market and what

you are selling? How many people refer to and

share their work or social posts?

The right influencer will know your market well

and be able to tell and share your story in an

authentic way, not simply rehash your brand

words. An influencer who is willing to sell

anything to anyone is not an influencer with

whom you want to associate.

Key steps to connect with the right influencer:

• Listen on social media for keywords, trending hashtags and topics related to your market, and get to know potential inf luencers based on what they talk about and/or where they work.

• Look for communities or groups on social channels that center around topics that relate to your brand and identify their most active members.

• Research media sites that talk about your market/industry and look for bloggers and journalists who cover your market extensively.

• Search across blogs, media sites, and even competitive websites to find analysts, bloggers and journalists you might want to reach out to.

• Prioritize your list of influencers by number of followers and how much content they share. Determine if these inf luencers talk about other brands in your market (not only what they say, but how they say it).

Key TakeawayKnow what social channels your customers and prospects are use, then look for inf luencers who know your industry well. Look at reach, but more importantly look for expertise, credibility and integrity in how they communicate and share content.

While the number of social followers isn’t the

most important factor, it does matter. Reach

and popularity are not the same things as

influence, but they play an important role in

how well an influencer can spread your story.

While this information can be found through a

manual process, keep in mind there are media

intelligence tools available that will make it

easier to sift through all the channels and

potential contacts.



ou’ve done your homework and

found the right influencer. Now how

do you get them to work with you?

Your first contact with a potential influencer

should not be about you, but about them.

Comment on one of their blog posts or articles;

share their content over social media. Show

that you’re informed about them and that you

understand what they talk about and do. The

key is start slowly building a relationship of

mutual respect.

You can then approach them about covering

you. There are many different approaches to

working with an influencer.

Partner with inf luencers

Some influencers are paid. It’s a common

practice, particularly among celebrity

influencers, analysts and others. Lavoy says

the dynamics are different between a good-

will relationship and a paid relationship. If you

are paying an influencer, be certain they want

to work with you, and will invest themselves in

your campaign.

Some influencers aren’t interested in money,

but would accept other incentives, such as

free versions of software, sample products,

paid trips to conferences and so on. Still other

influencers are interested in gaining exposure

for themselves through working with your

company.

Y



Partner with influencers to share or create

new content. Invite them to co-author a paper,

participate on a panel, contribute quotes

or blog posts, perform and write a product

evaluation, and more.

When trying to convince an influencer to work

with you, prepare a summary sheet about your

company including any impressive highlights,

your reach and engagement across social

media (Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram

and others), blog subscribers, newsletter

open and click-through rates and more.

Demonstrating that you can promote them

shows the relationship is a two-way street with

benefits to both.

Fidelman recommends demonstrating that

the relationship will support something the

influencer is already doing. If the relationship

you want to build helps them further their

goals, they will partner with you.

It’s best to get an influencer involved from the

beginning, sharing your specific business goals

and getting their input.

Influencers can be leveraged throughout the

entire customer acquisition funnel. The key

is to determine at which point in the funnel a

particular influencer provides the most benefit.

For example, the top of the funnel is about

building awareness for your brand. In this case

you’ll want to demonstrate thought leadership,

so look for influencers who are considered

experts in your market and bring them in to

help with awareness campaigns (a webinar, co-

authored whitepaper, advertising, etc.).

Demonstrate that the relationship will support something the influencer is already doing.Mark Fidelman, Managing Partner of Evolve!, Inc.



The middle of the funnel is where purchase

preference is formed and more details about

your product or service are desired. Here you

want influencers who can provide evaluations

of your product, write about your specific

market/product type and demonstrate why

your product is the best choice. It’s important

to remember that a good influencer will be

authentic and not force your product on their

audience.

Key TakeawayIt’s not all about you. Influencer marketing requires an investment by both you and the influencer, so it’s critical to demonstrate what’s in it for them. Involve inf luencers early on to take advantage of their knowledge when building your campaigns, not just executing them. Also determine where influencers provide the most benefit at each point in the customer funnel, and which inf luencers can support that content the best.


Influencer relationships are built over time, not overnight.


anaging influencer relationships

is not exactly like managing PR

contacts, but there are similarities.

Fidelman says that influencers are inundated

with requests, so developing a friendship will

be challenging. Typically an influencer has

a lot of interests and people tugging them

in different directions, which often makes it

difficult to hold on to them for the long-term.

He advises instead to look at influencers

on a project-by-project basis. Develop the

relationship around a particular campaign

and work with the influencer to ensure they

are successful. Do your best to maintain the

relationship over time but don’t expect it to

last forever. Fidelman says if you do it this way,

you’ll be able to build enough value around

your brand to have an impact.

Lavoy suggests some good ways to maintain

the relationship, including putting them on a

VIP list of new announcements, and treating

them the same way you would treat a valued

partner, advisor or customer. She also suggests

making an opportunity to meet in person.

Of course, if the influencer is paid, managing

the relationship is easier. Paid influencers are

required to do specific things to earn their fee,

so you can put tighter parameters on how the

relationship works and the expectations you

require.

Managing the inf luencer relationship

M



It’s important to recognize that you don’t

control how the influencer speaks about

your brand. While you can provide guidance,

the influencer must be able to speak their

language, or anything they write will appear

forced. The key is to ensure the discussion is

always positive and ultimately enforces good

brand and product discussions.

Influencer relationships are built over time, not

overnight. Consider developing an influencer

funnel, similar to a customer funnel, where you

identify a number of influencers you’d like to

work with, then slowly engage with them and

build relationships over time. As opportunities

arise to leverage an influencer, you’ll have a

number of options available.

Key TakeawayYou need influencers to help spread your story in an authentic and engaging way, not just repeat what you say. While some inf luencers have sustained inf luence and reach, others will come and go. It’s important to continually look for new voices to help share your story while maintaining relationships with long-standing industry inf luencers.



s influencer partnerships gain

momentum, how will PR and

Communications need to change to

support them?

Fidelman says brands will face a dichotomy.

They will have to decide to become a media

organization themselves and be influential,

which is what some are, or they will have to

partner with, or hire, influential people. Not all

organizations have the time, budget or focus to

become a media organization, but they can still

work with influencers as part of their content

marketing strategy.

The dividing line will be clearer though -- either

get lost in the sea of content and social media,

or work with people who already have a large

trusted community that can help you rise above

the noise.

The future of influencer marketing in 2016

Key takeaways for 2016: • Prioritize the influencers you want to

work with based on who will have the most impact in your preferred channel, or the largest reach and inf luence.

• Develop relationships over time and make it easy for inf luencers to work with you by focusing on a specific campaign or group of campaigns.

• Be sure to give inf luencers a degree of control by involving them in the process early on and giving them flexibility in their approach to sharing your story.

• Remember that influencer relationships are a two-way street. Clearly demonstrate what you offer them in return for working with you. This is a relationship, you do not control them, but want to empower them to use their channels and voice to further your goals and theirs.

A


Meltwater helps businesses drive growth and build brands. Our online intelligence platform analyses billions of digital documents and online conversations daily to extract precise, timely business insights that help more than 20,000 companies understand their markets and engage customers. With offices in 27 countries, Meltwater is dedicated to global service built on local expertise.

For more information, please visit www.meltwater.com.

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INFLUENCING THE INFLUENCER - Amazon S3trust the information coming from a brand. According to the Edelman Trust Barometer1 2016, people trust academic or industry experts or a person