A Primer on Social Media Influence
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Transcript of A Primer on Social Media Influence
Influencing the
Influencers
A presentation for
Aberdeen’s Revenue-Driven
Marketing Leadership Summit
Alan Belniak / @abelniak
October 18, 2012
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What We’ll Talk About Today
• WHAT is influencer management
• WHY is this a big deal
• HOW is a company like PTC responding to this
• HOW has the power of digital and social affected this landscape
• WHAT does PTC do, day-to-day
• WHAT are some tools of the trade
• An EXAMPLE of this, in action
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A marketing technologist and Digital marketer + practitioner, with deep
strengths in social media
Current Role
• Global Director of Social Media at PTC
• B2B software, long sales cycle, high switching costs
Why IR Matters to Me
• People rely more on what practitioners and analysts say, rather than what
we say
Alan Belniak
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The Landscape
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• An age-old issue with a shiny new name
• We make stuff. People buy stuff.
People are skeptical of us talking about
our stuff. People believe other people
when they talk about our stuff.
• “Well, woopty-doo. What does
it all mean, Basil?!”
• It means that we need to
be friends with ‘the other people’.
What is “Influencer Management”?
image source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QRt2_OLY3Ho
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• 30 years ago, the main groups of people that published opinions (and
influenced) were analysts and major media publications.
• Now, anyone can publish.
• The number of ‘other people’
just grew exponentially. And the
ways for them to share content
grew. And the ways to find them
and their content grew as well.
Why Is This a Big Deal Now?
The way we view it…
image source: http://www.socialmediatoday.com/SMC/106502
(This is not meant to discount
the present company!)
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Publication Proliferation = Stratified Credibility
Control
Credibility
“Traditional”
Media Coverage
Advertising
“Brand
Journalism”
Analyst
Coverage
Blogosphere &
“Twitterverse”
Paid
Earned
Social
Owned
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New Influencers are Passionate… Both Pro + Con
source: Sean Moffitt, BuzzCanuck
Desire to
Influence
Others
Brand Engagement
Passiv
e
Acti
ve
Reject Favor
Traditional Influencers Authoritative 3rd parties, community leaders, press, gov’t.
Haters Lovers
Critics Enthusiasts
Skeptics Mainstream
Dismissers Followers
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• Estimated monthly traffic: 73,000
• Google Indexed pages: 6,560
• Alexis ranking: Top .12%
• Links from 13,195 sites
• 40,000 unique monthly visitors
• Avg. post retweeted 129 times
• New York Times citations: 6,510
• Newsletter subscribers: 150,000
Example: A Modern-Day B2B Influencer
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In The Modern Age
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• Our influencers have become de facto subject matter experts – We need to connect them to our SMEs – no longer will a topical answer suffice
• If we want to gain credibility in the space, we need to be fast – respond to
requests for inquiries from the right people
• If we respond quickly and consistently, we get noticed
• We then need to nurture and maintain that relationship (1.0) – Connecting with someone online, even if never meeting them or meeting them once, greases
the skids for future conversations
– Social media facilitates that
– However, it is not the only way
How Digital and Social Has Affected the Role
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Lots of Online Tools To Generate Numbers
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You Need More Than a Number To Make a Connection
source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/867_5309
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Now What? Be a Detective
source: http://www.amazon.com/Private-Eyes-Hall-Oates/dp/B000001U3Q
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• To roll up your sleeves and learn more about how to do this, visit:
http://linkgui.de/SocMedInfluence
Tools of the Trade
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As it Relates to PTC
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• Product-centric solutions-oriented storytelling
• A challenge for new markets (lack of ‘legacy
leadership’)
• The good news: elevate our stature with the
influencer community and focus on
thought-leadership
• Hurdle 1: need to clearly articulate the challenges
our customers face and how to resolve them
without talking about product features
• Hurdle 2: But… ‘product news’ garners more clicks
• Hurdle 3: bring influencers who know us along for
the journey, while introducing ourselves to
a whole new cast of characters
How is PTC Responding to This Shift?
The PTC Story is Evolving
image source: www.nileseldredge.com/companion.htm
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• List of Tier 1 influencers and publications, per geography – shared among all PR/corporate communications staff
• Traackr-collected list of influencers, based on key words
• PR/Corporate Communications review every quarter, including agency – review coverage (location, person, volume, sentiment)
– review potential new additions to Tier 1 list
– review potential removal from Tier 1 list
• Review internal press release pipeline – match stories up against influencer interest/publication beat
– as appropriate, reach out
• Engage with these influencers – social media has made people more findable and more reachable than ever before
• Use clipping service and social media monitoring to track coverage
So, How Do We Do This at PTC?
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An Example
sources: http://www.flickr.com/photos/graye/30561751/ and http://www.flickr.com/photos/28346908@N08/2640991550/
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An Example
sources: http://www.flickr.com/photos/graye/30561751/ and http://www.flickr.com/photos/28346908@N08/2640991550/
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• Influence – Is online and offline
– Comprised of different variables
• Influencers – Aren’t always who you think they are
– Hang out in lots of places
– Are people, too
• Relationships – Can be formed with or without these tools
– Need to be maintained (think ‘garden’)
• Speed affects the ability to influence an editor or author; Social media has changed that speed
• Absent context, numbers are just squiggly lines – The temperature isn’t the weather
In Summary…
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Thanks!
Alan Belniak
@abelniak
http://www.abelniak.com