30 Nov How to Reach Out to Influencers
The Internet is a big, crowded place. Nowadays, you can’t just build something and expect people to come. You’ll need to put in the work before you can be seen as a leader in the space.
Gaining the support of relevant influencers through social outreach and a planned engagement strategy is one of the best ways to build credibility online. This simple 4-step process will have you reaching out to influencers and building lasting relationships in no time.
1. Find Them
Dig deep and put together a list of 50-75 key individuals with meaningful reach online. Don’t make the mistake of choosing influencers based on their number of followers or fans. Above all else, your influencers need to be relevant to your brand and your market.
Consider appropriate trade associations, magazines, bloggers, speakers and academics to help you get started. Influencer identification software tools also exist if you need some more suggestions.
2. Follow Them
In order to reach out to your social influencers, you have to hang out where they hang out. So once you’ve identified who they are, you can start following them using various social channels.
Remember to do your homework: read their posts, follow their tweets, and study their blogs. Get to know your influencers. Listen to what they’re saying and stay up-to-date on what’s new.
3. Engage Them
Find ways you can jump in and contribute to the conversation. Add comments to your influencers’ posts and answer their questions. Engagement is what puts you on their radar.
Think about your responses and craft them to be helpful, informative, and interesting. This social outreach helps to build authority and trustworthiness on the topic, as well as momentum and brand visibility. Gaining respect and attention from your influencers’ communities will assist in building your own.
Remember, much like yourself, influencers do not want to be spammed with pushy sales offers or meaningless content. It’s all about building sustainable and meaningful relationships. So, be sure to only reach out with valuable content that provokes conversation.
4. Share Their Content
What is relevant to your influencers is also relevant to you. Share or retweet their interesting articles, updates, and posts with your community. By sharing this content, you are making the influencer more aware of your brand and its interests. It will build a connection and let them know you appreciate what they have to say.
By regularly engaging in your influencers’ conversations, they will be more motivated to engage in your conversations and share your content in return. As a result, you may see an increase in website traffic or leads (mission accomplished).
This can be a slow process. So once you’ve built the relationships on social media, look to connect with the influencers via email. Ask about guest blogging opportunities, Twitter party opportunities, contesting opportunities – whatever works for your brand.
One of the best ways to get in touch with influencers is to become one yourself. While you’re waiting for your influencers to take the bait, be sure to focus on developing your social brand, offering interesting and topical content, and building your own network.
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