Veronica AthanasiouYou got the Influencer’s attention on Social Media: Now what?
One way to keep your content moving is to share relevant posts from influencers in your line of business. Any piece of content coming from an authority on your subject will surely be taken seriously by your followers. The cherry on the cake is when one of your own articles or social media posts gets shared by an influencer, as it gets in front of many more eyes immediately.
Once this happens, do you know what’s the best way to take it from there? Your response to the influencer’s attention can make it or break it.
This article is not meant to boast these are the perfect and only ways to respond. Instead, my aim is to share some of my own or my clients’ experiences with influencers and hopefully, to get your input with your own thoughts or experience!
There is one piece of advice that’s always worked for me both online and offline. Whenever you meet someone famous, just STAY COOL. They’re just human beings like you. If they have an ‘attitude,’ then they’re not the type of influencer you’d want to connect with. Influencers worth connecting with are those who understand the power of being useful to others, no matter how ‘small’ you might be.
Real professionals who are self-confident know that there is a lot of talent out there and they are always looking for new ideas people who are not necessarily well known can come up with. An influencer with vision will keep his/her eyes open to make sure they will be the ones to bring that new talent on board of their own team if suitable.
As you can see, relating to an influencer is just another example of a person to person communication in which both parts can benefit.
Influencers and Social Media:
One of the big plusses of Social platforms is the accessibility users have to communicating with our favourite author, decorator, fashion designer and other people you might admire and get inspiration from. Here are a few scenarios of what can happen on several Social platforms and what you could do to keep the conversation going:
Twitter:
Mandy Edwards recently wrote an article about Twitter in which she points out 4 reasons why you need to be on Twitter and one of them is “you can reach influencers and decision makers more easily.” Mandy states, and I agree:
“As a business owner, you can form meaningful relationships through Twitter by the mere act of just starting the conversation.”
I have experienced the most responses from influencers via Twitter. If I have a question, a REAL question, they have answered very quickly. Here are three examples:
1. I wanted to use Gary Vaynerchuk face in a Linkedin Pulse article he inspired from a video he published about being offensive when it comes to trends in marketing.
@oroklinidesign sure
— Gary Vaynerchuk (@garyvee) July 25, 2014
2. I was writing a Book review about Social Media Explained by Mark Schaefer and I wanted to clarify how he preferred the structure of the book described:
@oroklinidesign I’ts not broken out but it kind of stands alone. I will be more clear when I update the edition : )
— Mark Schaefer (@markwschaefer) March 10, 2015
@oroklinidesign sure. many thanks!
— Mark Schaefer (@markwschaefer) March 10, 2015
3. Another thing that could happen is that they share an article from your blog, or they retweet (RT) your product or link to your e-shop because they loved it! What shall you do? I know it’s exciting the first time, so Stay Cool, say ‘TY for the RT….’ with an added comment that reflects your personality, like ‘You’ve made my day’ or ‘I so appreciate you sharing this’. Just go beyond the simple Thank You. NEVER add a link to your shop or blog for ‘more’. They will find it or ask for it if they want to, otherwise it’s Spam (unsolicited advertising).
Here’s an example of an exchange of Tweets when Mari Smith shared my Guide to Understanding Social Media Marketing:
@MariSmith Thank you so much for sharing this, Mari. It’ll cause a spike on traffic from Twitter for sure! Appreciate your support.
— Veronica Athanasiou (@oroklinidesign) March 10, 2015
Instagram:
Say an influencer liked a photo in which you mentioned them or their product/brand. This happened to a client of mine with the Italian fashion brand Missoni.
If you notice from the ‘likes’ (you’ll have to click and open the Instagram tab), there’s @giacomomissoni who’s the grandson of Missoni, the founder! This shows the power of Instagram in promoting your products.
What’s the best way to grab Giacomo’s attention? Would LOVE to hear your ideas in the comments. I would suggest using an App like RePost and search for a photo that resonates with your brand. Something like the one below:
RePost App allows you add a tape giving credit to the source and they get mentioned, so the influencers will get a notification.
Pinterest:
I’ve been spending a LOT more time on Pinterest lately since it’s a great traffic referral to my articles. I was very happy to see my Pin on the Social Media Examiner board, thanks to my friend Alisa Meredith. You can see the Pin here. I basically left a comment saying:
“Very exciting to see my article pinned here. Many thanks!”
And they replied, tagging me:
“You’re very welcome @Veronica Athanasiou | OrokliniDesign.com :)”
Other ways I have thanked influencers beyond the ‘Thank You’ is to visit their account, follow a few boards, like some of their Pins.
One subtle way to get their attention is to tag them when you feature (pin or re-pin) their work by adding @ ‘their username’ in the pin description. Don’t overdo this, keep it casual and scarce.
LinkedIn:
Jay Baer and Hugh Briss left a comment on an article I put together on LinkedIn Pulse about Marketing trends. I thought that was REALLY cool! I thanked them and enjoyed the feeling. It kept me going back to their content and it’s made me part of their Alpha Audience (the few loyal followers that share your content, as defined by Mark Schaefer).
Your Turn:
I hope these examples have triggered questions or views you’d like to share with us in the comments.
The best way to learn is to think critically about our own reactions but even better if someone else points it out to us.
I’m looking forward to your views.
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