Engaging users and maintaining a relevant audience on social media is both time-consuming and challenging. Luckily, buying followers isn’t the only option out there anymore. Today, the easiest way to give your brand and profile a boost is though influencer marketing.
With their large amounts of followers and legitimacy in their respective industries, influencers such as writers, business leaders, artists and celebrities can have a massive impact on your branding and advertising strategy. In fact, a single well-chosen influencer endorsing your brand could lead to what we now call an “Ellen DeGeneres effect” or “Oprah effect”.
The Ellen DeGeneres or Oprah effect refer to the colossal commercial influence and power of these two women on a product’s commercial future. Oprah and Ellen are both TV personalities whose shows have several millions of viewers. If a product or book received an endorsement from one of them, it would subsequently sell extremely well and get incredible media exposure.
1. Finding, following and connecting with relevant influencers
When developing your networking strategy, finding, following and connecting with influencers from your industry should be one of your main goals. Obviously, connecting with Ellen, Oprah or Kim may be a long shot. Here are some tips to find and connect with those more within your reach:
· Find and follow influencers relevant to your specific industry Start by finding influencers with active social media profiles and whose views and philosophy align with those of your brand and company. The easiest way to begin this process is by commenting, sharing and liking the content they regularly post.
Engage them through “ego bait” interactions Don’t hesitate to quote them and tag their names in your social media and blog posts. You will be amazed with what can be accomplished through ego baiting.
These influencers may be tempted to share your tags and posts with their followers, opening your profile and brand to a whole new pool of potential users. With a little help from lady luck, they may even link to your content or follow you back.
2. Building and deepening relationships with influencers
The best way to build and deepen a relationship with influencers is to reach out to them directly. Compliment their pictures and the content they post. Share and like their posts on social medias.
If push comes to shove, you can even contact them directly and ask if you could commission content posts for your blog or website. Having one influencer talk about your brand and company even once could give you a huge exposure and legitimacy boost. Even better, it could help you contact and attract other influencers.
If creating relationships with influencers is a good way to start your whole social media strategy, don’t lose sight of the ultimate goal: becoming some kind of influencer yourself.
The influencer status will offer you not only unrivalled exposure but also legitimacy and credibility among your industry peers.
3. Becoming a social media influencer yourself
Let’s just be realistic here, becoming an influencer yourself will be highly time-consuming. It will require posting high-quality content frequently and relentlessly networking with other influencers and industry specialists.
Good news, you can learn a lot from those who have already gone through the journey amd here are a few suggestions to get you started:
· Frequently produce and post high-quality content (both pictures and texts) · Find out where successful influencers in your industry post their content and pitch some your best material on the same platforms.
· No matter how brutal or negative, consider your first rejections and negative comments as learning.
· Answer all comments and likes; engage others by discussing their content and sharing their replies.
· Always mention your name on every piece of content you produce and don’t be shy about posting pictures of yourself. The entire media influencer strategy is based on building recognition.
· Don’t neglect the physical world. Attends networking events, conferences, meetings, gatherings. Get people to know your name and remember it.
To learn more about influencer marketing and user engagement, don’t hesitate to check out www.villagehouseproductions.com
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