Marketers are increasingly incorporating influencer relations into their marketing mix. To glean insights on how to approach influencers successfully, we spoke to Susan Frech, CEO of Social Media Link, which owns Smiley360.com, a community with over 300,000 consumer influencers. Sue shared her expert opinions on defining, activating and cultivating influence, while remaining authentic.
Sue defines influence as a brand’s ability to persuade someone to do something, try something new or develop a new belief. She notes it’s one of the most powerful tools marketers can use, as it encourages consumers to try, experience or purchase new products or services. When developing marketing strategies geared toward opinion leaders, Sue and her team adhere to Dr. Robert Cialdini, the world’s most cited living social psychologist, Six Drivers of Influence. These drivers include:
- Reciprocity – Give to get in return. Reciprocity can take many shapes, but often starts with a free trial.
- Consistency – When people commit to an idea or product, they will often stay consistent with their choice over time. Starting with small asks initially, marketers can foster brand loyalty in the long haul.
- Social Proof – We repeat behavior displayed by other people we trust or want to emulate. This is where marketers are well advised to focus efforts on the right opinion leaders, who in turn can persuade others to follow their choices.
- Liking – Similar to Social Proof, we tend to like and follow the example of well-known people. Celebrity endorsements are one of the key ways marketers have ensured they get winder consumer buy-in for their products.
- Authority – People tend to believe those with authority. Experts like Robert Cialdini have shaped the thinking of many modern marketers, and although it may be hard to get on their radar, experts can play a pivotal part for brand and product acceptance and sales.
- Scarcity – We covet things that are in short supply. This principal can be powerful when launching a new product or brand, or growing a community of users. Brands such as the Gilt Group and Rue La La have managed to grow their membership by restricting access to their offers only to select members of the shopping community.
To be successful, Sue advises, marketers need to design campaigns by leveraging a combination of these six powerful principals. (You can learn more about the principals and how to use them by downloading our free white paper, Social Commerce Lessons: The 6 Social Principals that Increase Sales.)
The next challenge that marketers need to tackle is activating a social network to take an action. To that end, Sue shares her favorite pearl of wisdom– your message must be relevant, trusted and delivered in the right form. Delivering great experiences and making it easy for influencers to share can have a direct impact on the levels of awareness, positive perception and purchase conversion. Sue advises brands to consider a mix of the following motivational elements: product samples (especially when resources are scarce), coupons, sweepstakes, exclusive content, and exclusive or priority access for influencers.
Sue cautions marketers to avoid the numbers trap: people with large social following are not always the most influential. The key is to find the quality people – those that are trusted, even if they have smaller networks. To combat the numbers game, Sue’s team at Simely360 came up with their own solution – their custom scoring algorithm, the Smiley Social Score. It is a composite score that measures individual influence factoring in the size of a member’s network, the frequency and levels of sharing within that network, coupled with reaction or resonance of the sharing within the network.
Finally, Sue reminds us of the importance of being authentic. You cannot recommend a movie that you have not seen, nor a restaurant you have not tried. Brands that need to build buzz, need to identify those influencers who will naturally be interested in the product and invite them to experience it.
To learn more about influence from Sue Frech and other top thinkers in the field, including Dave Balter, Brian Solis, and Pierre-Loïc Assayag, download our new white paper 3 Keys to Influence: Understanding and Leveraging Social Capital. And please don’t be shy – let us know how you define influence and how you create an exceptional and authentic experience for your key customers. Share with our community on Twitter by tweeting to #AwarenessTips.
