There's a lot of talk right now about how organizations should be getting involved in influencer marketing - finding out who your key influencers are, and engaging with them to get them talking about your brand. but simply knowing these influencers and then getting in touch may not be enough to achieve your goals - how do you convert these influencers into brand advocates.
Identify the right influencers
Topical influence should always be taken into account when identifying which influencers to engage with - Justin Bieber might be popular on Twitter, but he's probably not the pest person to talk to about your B2B SaaS solution. Online tools can be used to identify who is most influential within topics relevant to your brand, and get you off to a good start.Listen and learn
What are your influencers talking about, and how can you engage with what they're saying? Knowing what is front-of-mind amongst your influencers at any one time is essential for understanding how and when to engage, and lets you know where they sit along the path to advocacy.Engage!
Turn your insight into action by matching relevant marketing content to the right influencer at the right time. Timely, targeted collateral can be used to build brand awareness (and ultimately loyalty) among influencers. Offline engagement, such as organizing events or meeting (if possible) for lunch, is also very important to consider when developing your engagement strategy.Stay engaged and engaging
Remember that at the core of influencer engagement is a relationship with a real person. Sending a white paper or product sample to blogger and then forgetting about it doesn't count as engagement! Staying relevant and nurturing this relationship moves an influencer closer towards becoming an advocate as they gain a deeper understanding and appreciation of your brand.
Measure
Measuring the results of influencer engagement is critical for understanding which types of activity are having the greatest effect on your key metrics. It also helps if you need to convince your boss that you are actually getting a return on that investment.Follow the steps above and you should be well on your way to turning your influencers into advocates. Developing a successful influencer relationship does take time and effort, but online tools and analysis can be used in each step to help along the way.
