We all have influencers, role models and people that we admire in our personal lives and our businesses. These influencers have been largely unattainable in the past, but social media has changed that significantly.

What is an Influencer?

They are people that others trust. They could be celebrities, innovators, the media and more. They typically have a large following of people who trust them and their audience likely contains many people you would like to connect with.

You can talk about how wonderful you and your services are all day long, but when an influential person speaks highly of you or recommends you such as in an interview, article or review, it carries much more weight since their audience already knows, likes and trusts them.

Creating an Influencer Marketing Strategy

Think about the people you would like to connect with… make a list of a handful of people who are your influencers, who do you look to for advice, answers, solutions? Then add on a handful of media you would want to report on you.

Check them out on social media and start following them. Comment on their blogs, RT their tweets, etc you get the idea…

Be mindful of the keywords they use and the hashtags they use and start to really listen to what they are saying and who they are talking to. You MUST track this activity in a social media management tool. I like HootSuite and use it to create a customized dashboard to connect.

Use the powerful search features in social media such as Twitter Advanced Search and tools such as Hashtagify.me to do further research on the keywords and hashtags they are using.

Track the keywords and phrases in HootSuite and join in the conversations, show up as a solution, connect as you would if you had the opportunity to meet these fabulous people live at an event.

Do not stalk them or annoy them, just show up and make them wonder why they did not know about you before.  This is an incredible relationship and trust builder and opens up opportunities for you to also connect with their audience and network.

Why are Influencers Important?

You make an impact with people that are far ahead of you in your business. Nurture that impact and it can quickly become an actual relationship with someone you never thought you would know.

Influencers have klout with their audience…. they RT your tweets and mention you social media and their entire audience can see this. The media is on social media looking for topics, resources, and experts EVERY DAY, connecting with them on social media can lead to an article or feature, or you can even become a trusted resource.

This type of engagement builds a solid and organic following of people who care about what you stand for – this is invaluable and will bring countless wonderful relationships into your life and your business.

It changes everything.