Influencer marketing can be a powerful way to increase your company’s visibility, build your credibility within your industry, and position yourself as an expert in your field.
This article will teach you eight ways to become an influencer in your industry, find other influencers and use your influencing abilities to get people to pay attention to what your words have to say.
Let’s first discuss what influencer marketing actually means before we get into all that.
What is Influencer Marketing?
Influencer marketing allows you to use the status and reach of an individual in your company to raise the profile and standing for the whole organization. Many influencers use their power and reach to start their own businesses or consult firms.
Many of the most influential people in the world are also known by their companies’ names. Larry Kim, WordStream’s founder and Chief Technology Officer is a influencer within paid search, content marketing and social media. Larry speaks frequently at conferences all over the globe. His extensive search knowledge and thought leadership has helped to elevate both his profile and that of WordStream.
Influencer marketing strategies doesn’t just focus on a person’s image to increase their sales. Influencer marketing is more about making that person a trusted authority in their field and creating conversations around that topic. In Larry’s case this was paid search, content marketing and social media.
If influencer marketing refers to using one person’s status to influence others but it isn’t just used to increase sales or gain leads, then what exactly is this? How do you become an influential person? How can you market to industry influencers?
These eight influencer marketing strategies will help you increase your visibility and get more people to know about your industry.
Influencer Marketing Strategy #1 – Find Influencers within Your Industry
You may already know who the key players are in your field. However, it is important to identify and follow these people to understand their perspectives.
How to locate influencers
The easiest way to find influential people is through social media. Search by topic to see conversations that are being had and who is speaking up. Follow influential people and see who they follow. Regular conversations about your industry are encouraged (e.g., #ppcchat on Twitter).
You can also use online tools such as Topsy and BuzzSumo to find out who is sharing your content or anyone else’s, as well as their influence. Topsy allows you to enter the URL for a piece or content and view the results.
BuzzSumo users can identify influential people and share their content just as easily. Click the “Influencers” tab at the top and enter your search terms (“PPC”) to see the results.
You can sort results by many criteria such as page authority and domain authority, followers and average number of retweets.
You can also identify influential people in your industry by doing other things. Look for conferences relevant to your industry. Then, check out the speaker list. Did you know that many of the same people appear in industry publications as guest posters and columnists? These people are likely influencers. Which names are you most likely to hear in your field? What articles are linked to constantly?
#2 Influencer Marketing Strategy: Shape the Conversation
It is important to understand that advocating for causes or a subject matter is not the same thing as being an influencer. For example, you can be the biggest content marketing cheerleader in the world, but that does not necessarily make you an influencer.
You must create and shape the conversation in order to be considered an influencer in that area. Are you asking new questions or repeating the same old ones? Are you genuinely presenting a new perspective on a topic or just repeating the same old content? Are your opinions and ideas challenging existing industry conventions? Or do they get lost in all the noise?
#3. Own Your Niche: Influencer Marketing Strategy
You must be an authority in your field to become a leader. You can’t just know a lot about many subjects. You need to be able to focus on a single area and make it yours.
Larry began to discuss the AdWords Quality Score algorithm a few years back. His work on Quality Score was dismissed by some, who claimed it wasn’t worthy of the attention Larry was giving it.
They were wrong.
Larry’s analysis of Quality Score and its implications for AdWords advertisers is a great example of how to own your niche. Larry decided to publish content, host webinars and speak at conferences about paid search. He also focused his attention on Quality Score, which allowed him to own his niche. Larry is today a respected expert on paid search. However, he was already an expert in a specific topic and began to prove himself to be an expert in that area.
Larry states that AdWords would prefer to keep the secrets of the auction’s operation secret, and not reveal the details. “Our research revealed some obvious loopholes in their literature, and they were forced into updating it. How do you know this? They didn’t update the Quality Score information for six years. They released a white paper called “Setting the Quality Score” just a few months following my Quality Score bonanza. (I believe we published about 50 articles on the subject, plus a few dozen sessions at conferences). Although I am not mentioned by name in this refresh, they refute or confirm certain points I have raised in the past.
Influencer Marketing Strategy #4 – Aim to Influence Influencers
Many people believe that in order to be an influential and well-respected figure in their field, one must reach as many people as they can. But things can get a bit more complicated.
Influencer marketing strategies doesn’t mean reaching lots of people. It’s about reaching only the right people. If you want to see your ideas gain traction, then you will need the implicit endorsement of experts in your field.
This does not mean spamming Twitter with links to your most recent blog post. It means making sure that the right people are able to see and amplify your content. First, you need to do the following: Share the content of other influencers.
Larry says, “First, you should take an interest in amplifying the content of other people.” “Reciprocity is the principle that people will be more inclined to take an interested in your stuff if they take an interest first in their stuff.”
Remember that influence is not the same thing as reach. It is more important that your content reaches the right people rather than reaching the most people.
Influencer Marketing Strategy #5 – Do what works for you, not your peers
It’s easy to copy tactics and strategies of your peers or personal heroes when you want to establish yourself as a leader in your field. Although this may work in some cases, it’s not always the best way to go about influencer marketing. It could damage your reputation and your personal brand.
Instead of trying to imitate other influencers’ methods, you should be focusing on the content that you are creating. But don’t just produce quality content for your audience; create compelling, original content that attracts the attention of industry influencers.
Influencer Marketing Strategy #6 – Build a Happy community
We’ve seen that both sharing content from other influencers and creating your own content is crucial for influencer marketing strategies. However, many people fail to recognize the value of community within their industry.
Communities – Armeries of cheerleaders (or an angry mob with torch and pitchforks)
It is important to target influencers when creating content. But don’t forget the “little people”, the blog readers who sign up for your newsletter, retweet and comment on your posts.
Although the small-business owner who reads your content every day might not be the most influential, she is still an important follower. But without her you will struggle to become an influencer. Although a large following doesn’t necessarily mean you have the ultimate goal, it does help. Remember that negative interactions spread much faster and have a greater impact than positive ones. You could regret it if you blow someone off.
Not all communities are alike
You need to remember that different people interact with your brand and content in different ways. You should create content that attracts the attention of influencers. However, it is important to understand the industry and the people who use it.
Influencer Marketing Strategy #7 – Be Genuine, Accessible and Responsive
The way people interact online has changed dramatically thanks to social media. People expect to be able directly to the people they respect and follow, regardless of whether it is misguided or not.
While I don’t recommend that you reply to every tweet or personally respond to every mention on Google+ every time, I do suggest that you try to avoid being the influencer who tweets only links to their content but never interacts with followers. You’ll be able to identify these broadcasters if you use the social media analytics tool .
A positive image of accessibility can make a big difference in improving your standing and visibility in your field. While social media can be a powerful tool for influencer marketing strategies, don’t forget to include the “social” aspect of social media. Be active in the community and interact with your followers.
Influencer Marketing Strategies #8: Be Patient
Influencer marketing is a place where success rarely comes overnight.
Being an influencer in your field is akin to content marketing. Many potential influencers quit out of frustration after sharing the best content possible for a long period of time with no tangible results. This is why content marketing fails.
Many businesses abandon content marketing before they see the payoff. However, many potential influencers don’t have the discipline or patience to keep publishing.
You must be willing to work hard to make a name for yourself in your chosen field. It is hard. You may be tempted to give up. But, if you want to succeed you need to persevere. You will get good things if you wait.
Two Influencer Marketing Examples
Let’s now look at some examples of influencer marketing in action.
1. An example of Influencer Marketing: Seth Godin
Seth Godin is a great example of a thought leader and influencer in the marketing and entrepreneurial world. Seth has been blogging about business and marketing for more than a decade. His blog is read by thousands of people every month. It’s rare to find long blog posts at his blog, because he spends so much time writing best-selling books. However, this doesn’t diminish his influence within the industry. Seth Godin’s perseverance, insightful opinions and subject matter expertise make a powerful combination.
2. Influencer Marketing Example: Bryan Eisenberg
Bryan Eisenberg is a key influencer marketing example that should not be missed on any list. Bryan Eisenberg is widely regarded as one the most respected authorities on conversion rate optimization. He speaks at conferences all over the globe, publishes books and hosts excellent webinars about all things CRO. People listen when Bryan speaks and his blog worth checking out (if not already a regular reader).
These Influencer Marketing Strategies and Examples are a great way to build your online presence.
In today’s highly competitive market, influencer marketing is a powerful tool. There is no single approach to influencer marketing that works for everyone. It is important to be open to trying new things in order to find out what works and doesn’t work for your niche.