@NatashaNDavies Natasha@moonrakerweb.com

Influencer Relations on the Social Web

taught by Natasha Netschay Davies

Today’s Agenda

• What are Social Media Relations?

• What is a social influencer?

• Today’s top social networks

• Finding & identifying influencers

• Monitoring the Social Web

What are Social Media Relations?

Make a connection with:

• Stakeholders: Media, analysts, investors, industry

• Influencers: Tweeters, bloggers, social groups, brands, associations, competitors

How?

... by participating in a conversation

…with a tweet, a post on a wall, a comment on a blog, a comment in a group

…emailing a blog author

…appropriate messaging for each type of social network

What are Social Media Relations?

• More than one-way, more than 2 people

• Web 2.0

• Participatory Sites

• Social Networking

• Collaborate

• USG = User Generated Content

Social Media Characteristics

Different technologies have created different Web 2.0 sites. They are:

•Usually unofficial

•Volunteer-run

•More honest, less credible?

•New rules demand transparency

 

Fear of social media

Evolution of Social Media

Blogs Wiki technologies ex: wikipedia.org

Social Networks: YouTube, Facebook,

Flickr Social Share News: Digg,

Delicious, StumbleUpon Microblog: Twitter, StockTwits

Social Web Social Commerce

Social Relationship Management

“SRM”

Use of social media

• 79% of Fortune 100 are present and listening, using at least of one of main social platforms to communicate with their customers.

• 72% of social media users say that after an online search, they communicate with others about a product or service with face-to-face communication

• more than 4 out of 5 people are activein creating, participating or reading some form of social content

Current numbers

• 500 million Facebook users

• 145 million Twitter users Tweet & ReTweet

• 3 million people are checking-in on FourSquare

Social Media relations involves:• Community development

• Modify messaging to suit medium: tweet, wall post, group thread, comments, images, videos

• Find and participate in conversations

• Redirect to more resources

• Develop campaigns

• Inform/Announcement (link to news release)

• Highlights from news release – quote, fact, results % (link to news release)

• Share industry insight…on a new product, on a challenge

• Provide industry resources to current issues/challenges (link to whitepaper)

Today’s top social networks & trends

• Guest blogging/posting - blog outreach programs

• Twitter – listening, conversing, redirecting, pitching, news bites

• Facebook – Company Page, Group Page, Events, Panels

• YouTube – channels, comments

• Reputation management

• Monitoring misinformation

Social Media Networking

• Blogger Relations

• Influencer Relations

• Social Web Relations

• Social Media Relations

What is an online influencer?• Are using a social platform that has reached “critical

mass” (ex: Twitter)

• Has a following (subscribers, followers, likes, friends, faves, check ins)

• Has engagement on their profile (comments, conversations, mentions)

• Can be an individual, group, brand, company, cause

Types of influencers

• Bloggers

• Tweeter Feeds

• Social Networks: Facebook, YouTube, Flickr, Ning, Bebo, MySpace

• How do you find them?How do you know if they are influential?How do you “rate” them?

Developing an Influencer Outreach Plan

1. Research influencers (bloggers, Twitter feeds, Facebook)

2. Develop messages for each type of influencer

3. Adapt media materials to suit the social platform

4. Outreach

5. Monitor, Listen, Follow up

Blogs

A type of web site that publishes a variety ofcontent including: 

• News / Journalism

• Analysis

• Personal Diary (amateurish, popular with teens)

• Personal commentary / thoughts / opinions /insight

• Links to other media

Blogs: Distinguishing features

• Casual personal writing style/voice; chatty, brief, to the point

• Run by one person; or a group sharing a similar view

• Includes links to other blogs/articles/sites

• Most recent entry always top of page

• Interactive (comments, instant feeds, trackbacks, categories, archives, search)

• Niche audiences

• How are they different from official news sites?

• Unedited, not fact checked

• Unaccountable, credible?

Corporate Blog

• Industry news: what’s the competition doing? Talk about it, honestly; link to it.

• Express opinions and write editorials – cause controversy or something to chat about

• Include tips and tricks about your products

• Use social news about your company as it “humanizes” your company

• Don’t reprint press releases – summarize them, offer more details

Exercise: Blogger Relations

Finding influential bloggers

Pitching bloggers

Treat bloggers like the press: pitch to them in a lighter way

Target industry blogs and consumer opinion blogs

Blogger Relations:TELUS Case Study

• Introduced self and client

• Highlighted why blogger should be interested/how pitch is relevant to the blog: “As your blog covers smart grid news, you may be interested in some findings from IDC’s white paper on the subject.”

• Provided supporting details: stats from report, links to more info

• Offered interview opp w/TELUS Intl VP, list topics he can speak to

Blogger Relations:TELUS Case Study

Results:

17 stories on leading industry blogs and websites

25 tweets on these articles, with URLs

linking back to the stories

Twitter, tweets, tweeple

Twitter is a form of microblogging. You have only 140 characters per “tweet.”

 

Why use Twitter?

• Pitch to journalists/govt/funders/customers

• Follow your community (research)

• Share your news

• Snap commentary (communicate/participate)

Does media prefer Twitter?

“I’ve stopped accepting email pitches. Please follow me on Twitter and pitch in 140 characters or less.”

Dennis Howlett, media, technology analyst, blogger

• How many journalists feel this way?

• How many bloggers?

• Ask your media list how they prefer to receive pitches

Tweeting: when, why, how

• Your tweetstream is your organization’s live newsline:

• Give the inside scoop

• Immediate reaction to industry news

• Build interest, suspense to upcoming announcement

• What is your team is up to? Where are you?

• Live-tweeting = conference coverage (hashtags); sharing of ideas

Exercise: Twitter Relations

• Set up account twitter.com

• Find people

• Search.twitter.com

• Follow each other

• Follow me @NatashaNDavies

Twitter 101: Broadcast and announce

Tweets werefocused onraisingawarenessof the DaffodilDay event

Twitter 301:Response to spontaneous tweets

Twitter: Broadcast and announceAirport Type: Airport competing with neighbouring airports

Stakeholder: Travellers

Objective: Provide info to travellers

Tactic: Broadcast and announce

Content: Weather conditions, delays

Facebook Uses

• Company Page

• Advisory councils

• Blog, study, research pages

• Petitions

• Mascots Pages

• Group

• Fundraising, recruiting

Finding Influencers on Facebook

• Search by clubs, groups, organizations, associations, governments, generations, interests.

 

• Invite them to your Page/Group/Event by sending them an email, posting on their wall, or FB invite.

• Befriend industry orgs, industry experts, bloggers, tweeters etc. via your Facebook profile(s ).

Community Development: CCS

How is a SMNR different than a news release:

• Update or reminder memo

• Get right to the point

• Write in simple, straightforward sentences

• 200 words should be the maximum (summary/abstract)

• Don't try to cram in too much information; LINK to it!

• Headline / Subject Line MUST have gist of story

• To the point – keep header under 60 characters

• Links to related stories, or further background information; other media stories

• Links to multimedia (audio, video, buttons to access in languages)

• Add subheads

SMNR Template

Monitoring

• Monitor conversations/news that provide opportunity to participate or respond

• On mainstream news (comment on news stories)

• In Twitter strings, on trending topics

• On Facebook Walls

• In social groups/channels

Outreach results

• A tweet, blog mention, submitted link = easier to attain than coverage in traditional media

• More viral and immortal compared to print media

• A news release may or may not get traditional media coverage

• A fact, a quote, or a digital connection can live longer, remain searchable/archiveable

• ROI: Builds YOUR influence overtime

• @mentions

• Retweets

• Comment approval

• Comments on comments

• Wall discussions

• Monitor competition tweets/ FB posts 

Social Web Hotline

natasha@moonrakerweb.com

@NatashaNDavies

@PeakCo