6 Tips for Creating Influence Pitches

Your company’s message or brand is a huge component of any influence marketing program. Be sure to convey it successfully in your influence pitches.

Editor’s note: This post is a part of a series that was created to help you define and build the practice of influence marketing into your company. This series will walk you through the process, necessary roles, and best practices to get started with influence marketing quickly and effectively.

You can also download a the complete series in the form of our free eBook, The Value of Influence: The Ultimate Guide to Influencer Marketing.

The program’s success will depend on how your company’s messaging resonates with the key influencers. As with any marketing campaign, it is important to determine the position of your company so that it stands out from the competition. If your company does not currently have strong messaging or position, meet with the executive team to work toward finalizing it.

Once there is messaging and positioning in place, test it against your target personas and target influencers. Keep in mind that just as your company has buyer and user personas, it too will have influence personas. Different influencers have different needs, goals, and preferred methods of communication. While he or she is doing the initial research on influencers, your influence relations specialist should be able to develop influence personas and segment the influencers as much as possible in order to craft and deliver targeted, effective pitches based on each segment’s needs.

Remember these tips while developing your pitch:

• Do your homework first. Try to understand your influencers’ point of interest, beat, editorial calendar, etc., so you can approach them with targeted pitches that they will be more receptive to. Be sure to read their work (if applicable) before reaching out.
• Incorporate your value proposition or competitive advantage into your pitch. This will help you stand out from your competition. It will help answer the question, “Why should I pay attention?”
• Have a relevant customer success story on hand to keep your influencer engaged. Most influencers prefer to hear about your company from the perspective of the end user, not the marketing VP. Save yourself some hassle, and be armed with facts when you make a pitch.
• Deliver your pitch over the phone. By doing so, you’ll have the opportunity to receive instant feedback.
• Adjust your pitches regularly. Not every pitch or technique will work every time. Remember that influencers are people. Use your intuition and interpret the feedback that influencers provide to adjust your strategy accordingly.

Additional resources:

Value Proposition, Positioning and Messaging

Positioning

Power of Persuasion, Meg de Jong

Next in this series: how to determine what system you should use to manage your influencer marketing program.