How to Research Influencers for Your
Next Marketing Campaign
Paul MayCo-founder, BuzzStream
Get in touch anytime: @PaulMay
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Building a list of influencers is easy...
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...but building an influencer campaign that gets results takes work.
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The challenge you face...
1/9/90 Model of Influence
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Content Creators
(1%)
Engagers(9%)
The Market(90%)
Content creators shape the market and drive the conversation
Source: Aaron Strout, W2O Group and Dr. Bill Ward, Syracuse University
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Source: d
“Although most writers publish one story per day, 44% of them get pitched a minimum of TWENTY TIMES
per day”
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In the middle of difficulty, LIES OPPORTUNITY.- Albert Einstein
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There are three keys to a successful influencer marketing campaign.
Planning, research and relationships.
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Gated eBook targeted at SEOs and content marketers
Case Study:‘Linking Outside
the Box”
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Step 1DOCUMENT
GOALS AND KPIs - ALL ROADS
SHOULD LEAD HERE
Goals and KPIs for the eBook
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●Principal Goal: Generate interest and drive “marketing qualified leads” for our SEO product (BuzzStream for Link Building).
●KPIs:○1,000 downloads of the eBook within one month of launch○100+ people sharing the eBook○500+ new non-customer names in our email list○10% increase in BuzzStream trial signups over last month
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Step 2MAP THE
INFLUENCER LANDSCAPE
Who influences this eBook’s target market?
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PeersThought leaders Journalists
SEO TwitterSEO Community
sites (e.g., inbound.org)
Link building bloggers
High authority SEO and content
marketing bloggersDigital PR bloggers
Search marketing pubs
Marketing pubsContent marketing
pubs
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PeersThought leaders Journalists
ExposureSharing cultureRelationships
Build a reputation as an expert
Exposure for their agency/company
“Give to get”
Strength of storyFit with their beatPitch quality, easy
to work with, respects their
time, etc.
“What’s in it for me?”What motivates these influencers to promote content?
●Journalists and high influence bloggers will rarely write about gated content.
●Community members often don’t like to share a link to a landing page
Challenge
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●Where do conversations about your topic take place? Where does sharing take place? How social is the market?
●What motivates people to promote content about your topic?●Is activity concentrated among a few publishers, or is the
market fragmented? ●What’s the author model for the key publications? Journalists?
Regular contributors? Guest contributors? Hybrid?●What’s the background of the authors in the space? Are there
natural segments?
Questions to ask when mapping the landscape
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Tools to help map the influencer landscape
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Step 3CONNECT THE
CONTENT PROMOTION PLAN
TO GOALS/KPIs
Our Approach - Owned, Earned, Paid Promotion
Ideation LaunchEditing/StagingContent Creation
Content Collaboration - big influencers
Early access:- influencers -friends
Early access:Customers
Targeted Social Ads
Owned Media
Promotion
Early access:Advocates
Relationship Nurturing - influencers, sharers
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Content Collaboration
Included influencers in multiple key segments.
Multiple benefits:○Improved the book○Broadened reach○Added credibility
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Customer and Community Relationships
Send early copies:○Influencers/friends:
one week before launch (soliciting feedback)
○Customers: 1 day before launch (early access)
Include shout-outs in the blog post.
Benefits:○Improved the eBook○Drove sharing ○Built loyalty
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Targeted Social Ads
Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, retargeting
Twitter targeting:○Followers of link
building influencers○Don’t follow
BuzzStream
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Step 4FIND AND RESEARCH
INFLUENCERS TO BUILD YOUR LISTS
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BuzzStream Discovery
Use to find influencers for collaboration
Benefits:○Research content
creators via keyword
○See all influencer content & shares
○Determine influencer engagement & activity
1.Set threshold metric filters (DA 60+, posted in past year, 1,000+ Twitter followers)
2.Enter relevant keyword (link building)3.Review influencers by content to determine collaboration
candidates
BuzzStream Discovery Workflow
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Use to determine top ranking domains in a niche
Benefits:○Ubiquitous ○Advanced search &
filter options○Review organic and
paid results
1.Structure search term to return optimal results (“link building intitle:guide” within past year)
2.Review domains and content to determine relevance (several plugins, including our Buzzmarker, can help speed this up)
3.Determine author information and add to list
Google Workflow
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BuzzSumo
Use to find sharers of similar content
Benefits:○Search top content
by keyword or domain
○See who shares and links to content
○View information for specific URLs
1.Search URL for specific piece of similar content (in our case we use “The Beginners Guide to Link Building” from Moz)
2.Click “Sharers” button next to the content3.Research list of Twitter users in your niche willing to share
content similar to what you’re promoting
BuzzSumo Workflow
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Step 5NURTURE
RELATIONSHIPS “BEFORE THE ASK”
Questions?
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Thank you!Further questions? Contact us:
Paul May - email addressBrittany Berger -
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