Amplify Your Content Marketing Strategy..

“Influencer marketing is getting others to share your story, generate interest, and make your case.” – Ardath Albee

The method of tapping into influencers to help amplify your content marketing strategy is otherwise known as “influencer marketing.” It’s a pretty straightforward concept when you think about it:

 Influencers have a pre-established audience who are already receptive to their ideas and recommendations; they are valued by your consumers;

 Influencers have a built-in level of trust with their readers, one that’s essentially impossible for a brand to build. So, they will forge these strong connections on your behalf and help you build credibility;

 They can help you create the right content that really meets your consumers needs, because they have “on the ground” experience and perspective; and

 By partnering with them, you’re able to get your brand messages out in the right way, at the right time, to the right people

Influencers can come in many different forms. From inside your organization outward, they can take the form of:

 Bloggers

 Customers

 Members of a purchasing group

 Industry experts and analysts

 Business partners

 Internal team members or expert

Does your influencer marketing program ever feel like a spiraling rabbit hole? It’s because there are so many potential paths you can take, and the potential pool size of influencers to tap into can feel somewhat overwhelming. Here’s what typically runs through a marketer’s mind when beginning to launch such a program:

 Who do we even reach out to?

 How do I know “who’s good” and who has powerful influence?

 How do I even manage influencers once I start working with them, especially this influx of content?

These unknowns can feel daunting for any team, of any size and any level of experience. To help get you started, these are the next three steps we’d recommend taking when kicking off your influencer program.

1) Build a small pool of potential partners and learn more about them.

2) Begin your influencer outreach.

3) Test, assess, and optimize.

The first step to building your pool of influencers, after setting your objectives and identifying the influencer “types” with whom you want to work, is to sit back and listen. Sounds pretty passive, but taking the time to truly understand what your potential influencer’s focal points are will be crucial in understanding how you can work together. 

Ways to identify potential influencers: Amanda Maksymiw and others have suggested steps for building your potential list of influencers:

 Use your listening tools to identify people talking about certain topics based on keywords. Ask your customers or others in your industry (never underestimate the power of word of mouth).

 Search on social media platforms, especially LinkedIn.

 Network like crazy. Attend events in different areas – get out of your bubble. Talk to customers, partners and sales.

 Ask peers in your marketing, product development or sales teams.

 Ask other influencers. You’d be surprised as to how many of your top tier influencers work together and recommend each other.

 Get involved in the forums and discussion boards/groups discussing your content. Joining Twitter parties, webinars and even reading through the latest industry reports or blog posts can quickly make you aware of who the key players are in your space.

Your influencer marketing program, no matter how vetted, robust, and thriving, will go nowhere if not measured and assessed. Now is the time to think back to the objectives you outlined in section one: How will you report out on these?

First, show some quick wins right away: From positive quotes from your community or influencers themselves, to attendee/registration numbers or blog post views, circulating some quick wins informally versus waiting for a robust report will help you raise awareness and build momentum around your program internally, while staying top-of-mind with your leadership and peers.

Also consider building relationships between your influencers and other members inside your organization (i.e., don’t think of them as only someone that marketing can use). Think back to the ideas of bringing influencers in a product test group: Bringing them to your facility in-person, introducing them to team members during events, and other methods that will allow your company see the real person behind the curtain will help grow your relationship (and their loyalty) even more.

Here’s an idea of how to set up your KPIs depending on the objectives you established at the onset of your program:

Regardless of what you choose to measure, be on the look out for some areas for potential improvement, especially in the beginning. No program is perfect, and the ability to grow a truly robust influencer marketing program takes a lot of time and effort. By showing more than just your superficial successes, you’ll demonstrate the thoughtfulness you’re putting behind growing these working relationships into something meaningful for your company. It’s not always pretty, and like any relationship can mean some “give and take” for everyone involved, but at the end, these strong voices projecting your company messages for you, without solicitation, will have an ROI that far exceeds many of the other programs in your marketing mix.

Copywrite free excerpt: Joe Pulizzi Founder, Content Marketing Institut

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 Any opinions expressed are those of the authors.

Published by #NHGBe 2022-12-06 - CEST 09:30 AM 

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💥 I am Paul Van den Brande.

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