How to Influence Your Influencers

Influencers matter because they validate your brand and communicate the benefits of your product or service to other groups of consumers. Because influencers are doing this for you, your business saves money on marketing campaigns yet still leaves a powerful impression. People, after all, feel better about hearing things from the mouths of others rather than the brand itself.
 
The question is, how can you find influencers and get them to validate your brand? Even though you may be selling your product or service to hundreds or thousands of people, how many are actually willing to share their experiences with others? Well, you may be pleasantly surprised.
 
Let’s take a look at several ways you can influence influencers.
 
Start with a List
 
First thing’s first. You need to hand pick your influencers and add them to a list. Potential influencers may be those who have already interacted or engaged with your brand. They may have left you a positive review or participated in a contest. Include each influencer’s name and contact information on your list. Then start building relationships by communicating with them on social media or email.
 
Engage with Your Contacts
 
Now that you have a list of influencers, it’s time to start interacting with them. Build relationships by liking and sharing their content, engage in conversation or leave a comment on social media. Tread lightly, though. You want to be genuine, not a suck up. A great network to get started on is LinkedIn, as this platform is designed specifically for professional networking.
 
Promote Your Best Content
 
Every marketer has some content that is better than others. Put your best content forward and share it with your influencers. Both Facebook and Twitter have targeting capabilities that allow you to promote your content to specific audiences. LinkedIn has them, too. Use these tools to get your content into the right hands.
 
Build Personal Connections
 
Not everything has to be all work and no play. Get to know your influencers by building personal relationships. Find topics that interest the both of you such as cooking, pets, travel or parenting. When you build these connections, it helps influencers remember you. If you see that one of your influencers shares a parenting mishap on social media, for instance, you can share your own related experience and bond in this way.
 
Influencers are very valuable to your business, and the fact that they can validate your brand in a genuine manner is extremely important for consumers. The best part is, this confirmation doesn’t come with a price tag. Instead, it comes from establishing strong connections with those who love what you do.