“Marketing via influencers” builds on the trust consumers have in others’ recommendations, whether the suggestions come from family, friends, or authority figures in the industry. It seeks to find influencers willing to share a product or service with their audience because they believe in the product or service.
Connecting with Key Influencers
For marketers, influencers are powerful connections because they trust an audience. An influencer’s recommendation creates credibility and greater awareness for the recommended product or service. Some marketers find this the most successful marketing technique they can employ. Depending on the mode of the recommendation given, a recommendation from an influencer may result in the following:
- A powerful, authoritative backlink
- Traffic to your website
- An increase in brand awareness
- An increase in sales
This technique, however, requires companies to identify, connect with, and ask influencers for recommendations. Below is a guide on using the power of influencers for marketing.
Who is an Influencer
An influencer is anyone who has a relevant audience that trusts them. The audience may be as small as a single-family member or as large as a nation, and the degree of trust will also range. Companies benefit most from connecting with influencers with large audiences and are highly trusted. These people can be found on blogs, social media, or even recognized celebrities.
How to Identify an Influencer
Manual research is one way to identify influencers, but it is a resource-intense method. Many tools now help companies reduce the labor involved in finding and identifying key influencers. Tools like BuzzSumo, Tap Influence, Klout, and others range in features and prices. These tools crawl social media platforms to find influencers and identify their audiences. These programs present marketers with the metrics used to identify influencers through a dashboard.
How to Engage an Influencer
Influencers rarely recommend unfamiliar products from companies they do not know. Engaging an influencer requires building a relationship with him or her. Most successful strategies start with sharing the influencer’s work with others, commenting on their blogs or social media pages, and interacting with their audience. Only after the beginnings of a relationship have been forged is it appropriate to reach out and ask for a product or service recommendation. However, some influencers engage in affiliate marketing, so that you could explore this as an offering depending on the nature of your industry.
Influencers on News Websites & Blogs
A specific kind of influencer is good old fashion journalists and reporters. For TV, newspapers, and of course, online magazines and blogs. Finding key media contacts relevant to your business by geography or niche is a powerful method for gaining quality coverage. These media pros often create stories relevant to your business and could use some inside insights. As with other influencers, you will also have to build a relationship with these professionals. Some platforms help you identify and connect with these media professionals, and some PR agencies offer this service.
Read our page on targeted press release distribution to learn more specifically about engaging new reporters and journalists.
Bottom Line
Gathering a list of influencers in your company’s industry and building relationships with them can accelerate your company’s marketing efforts. Remember, reaching audiences through key influencers is all about building relationships.
