How to Master Influencer Relations

Influencer Marketing has been quite the buzzword over the past several years. But, what does it really mean?

First, I want to establish the definition of an “Influencer” that I personally use. Many consider an Influencer as a person with a large number of followers. However, I believe influence is about expert-level knowledge on a topic and a proven followership based on more than just numbers. What happens when followership is the only criterion? Well, we all saw the Instagram Influencer with 2 million followers who couldn’t sell 36 t-shirts. Embarrassing. To me, Influencers not only have decent followership, but they also have dedicated and engaged audiences. Some call folks with smaller, but more engaged social media followings “Micro Influencers.” But, to me, micro Influencers are simply influencers.

Smart companies are now building programs to engage with and leverage industry influencers and thought leaders to support their businesses. The more mature teams, however, have figured out how to leverage these industry leaders in multiple aspects of their businesses. They have created holistic programs.

Before you begin, make sure the program infrastructure in place. You’ll need to know which influencers are in your space. Organize the list in an Excel spreadsheet with the following information: name, company, title, link to blog, links to social media accounts, follower numbers, location, email, phone, topics of interest, and mediums of interest. Update the list regularly.

Next, you’ll want to create a strategy. Make sure to include activity budgets and times per year. Remember to include any major industry or company events. You’ll also want to determine your key performance indicators (KPIs) in advanced. Basically, how will you measure whether the program is successful or not related to each of the program’s activities?

Alright, now onto the “what.” Here’s how to incorporate industry influencers into your marketing, sales, CX, and even product development programs.

How Influencers Can Support Marketing

First, and probably most obvious, leverage influencers to create content for your business. Influencers are great for both external and internal – both of which increase brand awareness. External content like mentions on an Influencer’s blog or social media get your company’s name out to the Influencer’s followers.

Influencers for Content Marketing

One way to partner with influencers is to have their executives guest post on the Influencer’s blog. Internally, companies can hire influencers to turn traditional first-party content into pseudo third-party content. This is great because it add credibility to the 1^st party content, but also allows you to collect leads. Content can include things like social media and blogs or even to whitepapers and webinars.

Influencers for Lead Generation

In addition to the increased lead-generating efforts, the boost in credibility assigned to co-authored content can help support content for sales. Hubspot recently reported that 90% of sales content created by marketing goes unused and Demand Gen reported that “96% of B2B buyers want content with more input from industry thought leaders.” Sales wants more credible content. Influencers can help!

Influencers for Event Marketing

Further, Influencers can also play an awesome role in events – whether speaking or producing content at workshops, vendor conferences, or industry events. When hiring influencers for your events, pay them. Comp their ticket. Pay for their travel, food, etc. Pay for their time.

Influencers Enhancing Product Development

How can Influencers help improve your products? Well, the neat thing about Influencers is, in many cases, they aren’t just influencers for your business. They are also thought leaders for your competitors. Sure, this can be scary. However, this can also be great.

Let me explain…

• Influencers have unique access to your product.
• They have unique access to your roadmap.
• They have unique access to your vendor conference or company events.
• Influencers meet your team, including executives, product leaders, marketing pros, etc.

Your competition does the same.

Who better to request product feedback from the folks who know the ins and outs of every product in the industry? Who better to have roadmap conversations with?

Influencer Relations that Drive Sales and Customer Success

In my recent post, Influencer Marketing and Sales: Why 3rd Party Marketing Programs Are Essential to Your Business, I… well I think it’s pretty self-explanatory. (If you need a quick refresh on the why, read that first and then come back!) In addition to helping marketing creating better Sales content, as mentioned above, Influencers can help your Sales and Customer Success teams strategize. While Influencers are helping your business or competitors improve their products and roadmaps, they are doing the same for your competitors. That means, they know both your and your competition’s strengths and weaknesses. Hire Influencers to consult with your Sales and Customer Success teams to help them understand the market from someone with a more holistic point of view. Your team will be prepared to win more deals.

When leveraged in a holistic manner, industry thought leaders can provide significant value to any company. They can support sales, marketing, customer success, and even product initiatives. Why not make the most of your investments and programs?