Customer Success

How to Identify Your Brand’s Influencers

June 10, 2011


This is a part of a series that was created to help you define build the practice of influencer marketing into your company. This series will walk through the process, necessary roles, in addition to guides for each role to get started with influencer marketing quickly.
For the next several weeks, I will share a how-to for the influencer marketing specialist.  This week, let’s focus on how to identify influencers.

High Flyin' Kites

Once you have a good understanding of your company’s target personas, target segments, goals, and system for managing leads, you are ready to begin the research phase to build your influencer database.

Influencers may include the following:

  • Bloggers (and microbloggers)
  • Business and trade journalists
  • Journalists for major publications
  • Buyers groups, purchasing lists, and procurement authorities
  • Commentator
  • Consultant
  • Conference and event speakers and organizers
  • Consumers and consumer groups
  • Industry analysts
  • Peers (role-based, industry-based)
  • Value-added resellers (VARs), distributors, and similar channel partners
  • Venture capital firms/investors
  • Participants in online forums and user groups

How do you identify key influencers? A good place to start is with secondary research. You can find a great deal of information online for a relatively low cost.

Here are some tips for identifying influencers online:

  • Develop a good list of a variety of keywords to conduct general searches. Use Google to identify experts within your company’s space by using these keywords. This is a generic tactic that may help you find a wide range of influencer types…bloggers, analysts…you name it.
  • Use blog search engines such as Google Blog Search and Technorati to find the key bloggers for your company. Use a few different keywords to ensure the best results.
  • Look for influencers on Twitter by using the search feature or use a tool like TweepML to find lists of people interested in a certain topic.
  • Explore LinkedIn. There may be well-established groups within your industry. These groups are often composed of multiple types of influencers.
  • Review the Tekrati database to identify analyst firms.
  • Set up multiple Google Alerts for your company and competitors, as well as five to 10 keywords to get the news as it happens. This may also catch anything you may have overlooked.
  • Use PR tools such as Cision and Vocus. These tools can help you find influencers as well as manage the engagement process.

Primary research is also an excellent way to find key influencers. Invite your current customers and prospects to participate in an online survey or phone interview and ask them where they go for information within your industry. If you’re doing outbound prospecting, ask your prospects questions to uncover their influencers. Most will be excited to engage with your company and offer up the information without resistance. All you have to do is ask.

Here are some questions to ask:

  • Where do you go for information on (industry/topic)?
  • Do you read any online/printed publications?
    • Which one(s)?
    • Do you read any blogs or other websites?
      • Which one(s)?
      • Do you get your information via word of mouth?
        • Analysts? (get names)
        • Other network administrators? (get names)
        • Industry experts? (get names)
  • Who do you talk to in order to get more information on (topic)?

Additional resources:

Introduction to Influencer Marketing: Who’s Really Influencing Your Customers?, Influencer 50

B2B Decision-Maker Influencers, Barbara French

How to Identify Influencers, MarketingVOX

Influencer Marketing, Duncan Brown and Nick Hayes

Power of Persuasion, Meg de Jong

Identifying Influencers by Apparent Importance vs Real Trust, Barbara French

Next week, I’ll discuss how to segment your influencers.

Content Marketing Director

<strong>Amanda Maksymiw</strong> worked at OpenView from 2008 until 2012, where she focused on developing marketing and PR strategies for both OpenView and its portfolio companies. Today she is the Content Marketing Director at <a href="https://www.fuze.com/">Fuze</a>.