Having an airtight influencer strategy can greatly change the direction of your brand campaign. Think of how much of a difference it can make, for example, if you get one Big Personality or Thought Leader with 50,000 fans to follow you–versus trying to seek out a few hundred fans on your own?
Here are some ways to forge relationships with influencers in your field using the “Surprise and Delight” campaign–without being spammy, annoying, or unprofessional:
Use Blog & Twitter Search
Step number one is to use industry-specific keywords and a highly efficient tool like Tfollow or WeFollow to get a general sense of who else is out there promoting in your field. Use keywords that could help you identify direct competitors, media personalities/journalists, other users of Twitter in your industry, etc. Then, investigate who is following, mentioning, and retweeting them. Don’t just blindly pick the most famous tweeters in existence and expect them to be your influencers, either. Narrow your selections down to a few, then choose your influencers based on their credibility, as well as the frequency of their social media usage.
Engage Your Top Picks
Once you’ve decided on a list, its best to cautiously and gradually engage your picks, lest you risk spamming or alienating them right off the bat. Make sure that your chosen influencer regularly retweets and tweets about the kind of content/product/service you produce. Begin retweeting his or her links or quotes and linking to any articles he/she has authored–making sure to inform your audience why the article is relevant/interesting/timely. Ask him/her questions and try to establish a friendly rapport.
Use similar tactics with your chosen influencer’s friends, if necessary, to get attention; your message might get passed along. Once a relationship has been established, feel free to offer your influencer a gift–whether in the form of exclusive opportunities, special service offers, or products. Try and make it as personal as possible. Don’t expect anything in return, however.
Monitor for the Follow-Up
This is key. Once you’ve given a gift, make sure you watch your influencer’s Twitter like a hawk–you’ll need to thank him/her for any posted mention in public. Make sure to continue your relationship and look for opportunities to gift other influencers.
Key Large Scale Examples
Edge Shave Gel Anti-Irritated Campaign
Edge Shave Gel’s “Anti-Irritated” social media campaign was a great study in customer gifting and Twitter engagement. Edge sent Twitter users that were “irritated” about something a gift to soothe their problems, using the #soirritating hashtag. David Berkowitz, a social media strategist, Director at 360i, and “influencer” with over 14,000 Twitter followers, was sent a tremendous supply of cereal after tweeting that he had ran out–again.
Berkowitz: “I’m still eating the cereal they sent me, so the positive brand association continues.”
Users have received iPads, computers, Spanish/English dictionaries, and computers–and gained 1,500 followers in three months. (It now has 8,500 followers.)
PretzelCrisps Social Sampling
PretzelCrisps’ PR team embarked on similar campaign; they targeted customers and sent PretzelCrisps as a way to reach out to them. Pretzelcrisps specifically listened in on customers that were hungry, throwing a party, or eating snacks that tasted good with PretzelCrisps (like hummus.) The company now has 3,800 followers on Twitter.
PopChips Pop It Forward
PopChips’ Pop It Forward campaign began by sending 1,000 special care packages to “key influencers”–many acquaintances of the company–and asking them to “Pop It Forward” by filling out an online form and choosing three recipients. More than 2,000 packages went out–and sales in 2010 amounted to more than $40 million. PopChips’ Twitter account has more than 20,000 followers.
