How to turn influencers into your brand advocates | socialexcerpts.com

Social media for businesses – this is nothing new to you if you are already a part of digital marketing or a business owner. We often use social networks to promote our businesses, but ignore the fact that a major part of success in any online venture depends on how well you connect with the industry thought leaders. By saying this, we mean social media influencers in your niche.

Unfortunately, we often go wrong while approaching a thought leader. Social media is a no-push-selling zone, where subtlety is the key. And always remember the old saying, “Slow and steady wins the race, always”

Let’s start then!

Find influencers in your community:

Search all the social networks, you are present on and look for influencers, who are currently added to your business community. Keep an eye on the conversations within your community in order to mark their social authority ranks. One thing you have to remember here. No matter how influential one person is, if he does not belong to your industry, he can get you nowhere. However, there are tools like Followerwond that can help you.

Look for influencers outside your network:

There must be hundreds of influencers outside your business network. Make a list of 10 to 15 people and try to connect with them. Here you need to remember one thing. They are industry leaders and experts in a domain. They would not be interested to connect or interact with you, if you fail to prove your authority. No matter, if you are new in the business, focus on your content, so that they cannot doubt your credibility.

Keep an eye on your competitors’ influencers:

Social media is transparent! Isn’t it great? From Google to your closest competitor, you can track everything, a brand is doing. See who are your competitors’ brand advocates and do a competitive research. This is important because your competitors belong to your industry and so are their influencers. Try to connect with them. DO NOT try to sell your products or try to establish how better you are. Build a relationship first.

Remember social media don’ts:

Many brands go wrong when they try to sell their business ideas and services to these influencers. The mantra of success, here, is NO direct selling. Connect, interact, comment, discuss and share ideas with them. Concentrate more on relationship building, than on anything else. Give it some time and you will discover how they turn into your brand advocates gradually.

Reach out to them:

Do not be afraid to reach out to the think-tank, who you may not meet in real life ever. For instance, if you are a fan of Matt Cutts or Danny Sullivan, do not hesitate to comment or share your views with them. You never know, you might just get a response. The only key is, value-addition.

Some tips and tricks:

• If you want to attract someone’s attention to your blog, write a good post and include his opinion in it and hyperlink his Twitter handle or blog. This will notify him instantly and he might comment back on to your blog.
• Instead of replying to a person directly, you can add your reply as a retweet comment. This will show your retweet to all the people, who follow you both.
• Create a relevant Twitter List and add all the influencers in it. Post interesting updates, ask their thoughts and start conversation.

Your social media growth does not depend on the total number of followers you have, rather it is all about the community that is passionate about your industry, and eventually your brand. When it comes to adding influencers in your community, the more you have, the better!

Do not forget, influencers have your customers’ ears!