Be sure to do your prep work for your influencer marketing initiative

Last week, I discussed delivering targeted pitches to your influencers. After giving this topic some additional thought, I wanted to share a few insights you should consider BEFORE delivering the pitch.

In this post I will explain some best practices in terms of prep work for an influence marketing strategy I have learned while providing operational support to a portfolio company as a part of OpenView’s business development services.

Research the following (for each influencer):

• Beat sheet or bio
• Editorial calendar
• The influencer’s work (i.e. articles, blog posts, reviews, etc.)
• Any mentions from your influencer about your competitors
• Social networking sites (i.e. Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc.)
• Frequency of the influencer’s engagement on your company’s industry

As I mentioned in the last post, you may want to have a quick chat with your influencer before you pitch your story. If you take this path, try a few of the following interview questions to help shape your conversation:

• How often do you report on this space?
• What do you look forward to writing about?
• How do you typically gather information before writing an article?
• What do you need to know before writing an article?
• Are you attending any tradeshows or conferences within the next few months?

Once this prep work is complete, you will feel more confident in delivering the pitch.