It is hardly a secret anymore that influencers have come to have more clout with regard to buying decisions than most traditional advertising methods. For your SEO and social media marketing strategies to grow and thrive, you must be able to garner the branding power of the influencers in your profession or industry. In fact, recent research done by Twitter found that around 50% of those they asked rely on the judgement of certain influencers when making a buying decision.
- They are the ones that are putting the awareness in brand awareness. Attracting and securing influencers onto your SEO and social media marketing team is no easy task and it is hardly an instant ratification situation. It will take money and time to develop these relationships. Once secured, however, they can bring brand awareness to your company that you have not likely seen before.
- Bigger is not necessarily better with regard to the influencers you try to attract. Their audiences are huge but their loyalty lies with the influencer, not you. At least not yet. You must try and locate influencers in your industry or profession who might already be fans of yours. When you find them, you must work closely in collaboration with them so that they can effectively get the word out to their audience.
- Attract as many influencers to your business as you can and make the commitment to work with them for the long haul. Invest the time it will take to build the audience and create the buzz. This, like your SEO efforts, is a long term investment. Gather in as many as you can regardless of audience. The numbers will add up for you in the end if you are sincere and you convince the influencer that what you have to offer is in the best interests of their audience.
- The influencers want to give their audiences more than they expect so you must think outside the standard social media marketing content box. Create videos that give people a tour of your company and your people as well as behind the scenes looks so that they get to know you on a personal level. Have seminars and live events going on that the influencer will want to make his readers aware of.
- Remember, as always, like your SEO, finding and working with the influrncers is a full time and long term investment in the future of your company. Getting several on board with your company can have a huge affect on your brand awareness, traffic and, of course, your conversions.
-Written by Kevin Sawyer
