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KNOW Y
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NFLUENCERS
instinct and skill as a marketer will pay off as you sort through the quantitative infor-
mation that is available, and then combine that with your own industry knowledge, for
example. Take advantage, too, of personal relationships that you may be able to build:
if a conversation in a particular community is of interest to you introduce yourself (in
the real world sense, for example through email or Twitter) to the webmaster or com-
munity manager in charge. Share your point of interest, and see if this person or team
will help you understand the other influencers within that community. More informa-
tion is better, and if nothing else you’ll build a nice connection with a community man-
ager that may pay off later.
Building on what you’ve learned or the knowledge gained from community man-
agers you’ve met, tools like Buzzstream or Sysomos, or retaining a services firm like
Oxyme will help you to quickly dig deeper so that you can then take the steps of build-
ing relationships with those individuals within the community who are relatively more
influential or more connected. Look back at Figure 6.3, which shows a typical view of
influencers through Buzzstream. Buzzstream gathers this information by crawling the
social graphs of the people identified as the sources of specific conversations. What is
presented to you is a summary of all of the possible publishing points associated with
this person. You can then quickly scan these publishing sites for the people you are
interested in and refine the list. Then, you drop the information you’ve gathered into a
contact database and begin building an actual relationship.
The Role of Trust
Creating this kind of relationship is important. Figure 6.4 shows the role—and
sources—of trust in consumer transactions. The same concept applies across all busi-
ness transactions and is bound up in what is now called social capital. Social capital,
briefly, is to social media and the reputation of your brand (and you!) what economic
capital is to your CFO and your organization. Social capital plays a role in influencer
relations: For example, by understanding who your likely influencers are, and by then
taking a genuine interest in understanding their points of view, not only do you learn
more about how your brand, product, or service is perceived in the marketplace but
you also create the opportunity to gain social capital.
How? As an industry participant, for example, you very likely have general
domain expertise. If you share this openly—and not from the point of self-interest—
you will increase your social capital. Here’s an example: An influencer contacts you
about a speaking date, but you are busy. You can rearrange your schedule, you can
simply and politely decline, or you can refer a competitor who you know will also do
a very good job. If you can rearrange your schedule, that’s great. If you can’t, the best
social option is to refer someone else who is qualified, because it is this act versus the
simple declination that actually helps the person seeking your assistance. It’s like the
old retail cliché: “Do you have this shirt in blue?” A response like “We don’t, but I