Influencers, What Do You Think?

Influencers, What Do You Think?

In today’s society the title influence becomes more and more common. An influencer can be anyone who knows something about your product, your market or your business. All that matters is whether they recommend your product or service. It used to be that communication flowed top-down from key spokespersons on your message and if it was credible, it flowed through the chain to media and ultimately the public. Social media has absolutely remade this model into a time where “the minnows are feeding on the sharks” as Katie Paine states. Influence is no longer held by one firm or individual. It is actually found in whatever communicate, Facebook page or Twitter conversation that is talking about your marketplace.

However, we also know there are influential figures in every industry who write more, say more and speak in public more. Katie Paine exaplains it best when saying, “These are the people who others turn to for advice and recommendations. In hair care, it’s the hairstylists. In high-tech, it’s the key industry consultants. In automobiles, it’s the car enthusiast. Every industry has them, and if you don’t have a good relationship with them, it will be very hard for your organization, your products or your job to survive.”

Building a custom list of the top 100 influencers in your marketplace can be truly valuable. To do this, you need to determine all the people who may be influencing purchasing decisions within your industry. First, you want to see who and what matters to your target audiences. You can start out by choosing the blogs that mention you or your marketplace most. You’ll want to have a listening tool to grab three to six months worthy of data to start. Then, you will want to verify that the blogs and bloggers are actually important. Go through not only how many times they say your name but by what the mentions were focused on, you or your competition. Next, you take the sources and run data to find their reach.

After all is said and done, this list can be a very valuable piece of work in your professional career. Establishing an understanding of who is influencing what and how to work together can be very important.