Focus social media outreach on cultivating ‘influencers’ among your followers

• Date: 01 November 2015
• Published date: 01 November 2015
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/nba.30127

6

NOVEMBER 2015NONPROFIT BUSINESS ADVISOR

© 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc., A Wiley Company • All rights reserved

DOI: 10.1002/nba

(See MARKETING on page 8)

Marketing

Focus social media outreach on cultivating

‘inuencers’ among your followers

While developing an effective social media strat-

egy is crucial to raising awareness about your cause,

your efforts may not be targeted on the demographic

that can best spread your message, according to

branding experts at Attentive.ly, an engagement

marketing rm. According to the company, non-

prots should focus on cultivating what it calls

“inuencers”—that is, people who possess greater-

than-average potential to inuence others due to

such attributes as frequency of communication,

personal persuasiveness or size of—and centrality

to—a social network.

Certainly, gures like Kim Kardashian and other

celebrities with large Twitter followings fall under

the inuencer label. But business executives and

other professionals also carry inuence, as do regu-

lar citizens who advocate or volunteer for a cause.

Nonprots should try to garner the support of all

three types of inuencers if they want to maximize

their social marketing, Attentive.ly says, and the

rm has plenty of data showing why it is important

to do so:

• A survey by Nielsen showed that 92 percent of

consumers believe recommendations from friends

and family over all forms of advertising.

• A study by advocate marketing rm Zuberance

showed that for every $1 spent, there’s a $10 return in

conversions when inuencers are engaged effectively.

• Word-of-mouth marketing firm BzzAgent

found that inuencers are 70 percent more likely

to be seen as a trusted source and 75 percent more

likely to share great experiences about organiza-

tions online, creating twice as much content as

non-inuencers.

The bottom line, the company says, is that inu-

encers have tremendous reach and their audience

trusts what they say and who/what they promote

and advocate for. They almost always have a large

Twitter following and lots of Facebook friends, and

most have a blog or some other outlet where they

relate their views. To help nonprots turn all of this

to their advantage, Attentive.ly has released a guide

that gives a slew of tips for engaging each of the

three categories of inuencers, as follows:

• VIPs. This group, which includes musicians,

actors, authors and athletes, has always had inu-

ence over the general public due to their celebrity.

And even though this group comprises just 1 percent

of a typical nonprot’s base, their reach is huge—a

single VIP could have literally millions of followers

on Twitter, Instagram and other social media sites.

To engage this group, Attentive.ly says, start with

your current contacts and identify any VIPs on

the list, then winnow it down based on their prior

interactions with the organization and relevant men-

tions on social media. Next, outline what you want

from them and what your organization can offer

them in return, and reach out to the VIP, usually

through their agent or publicist. Negotiate mutually

agreeable terms for what both parties will deliver

for a campaign focused around the endorsement,

Attentive.ly says, and start generating tailored con-

tent and creative assets for the campaign. Once the

campaign is in motion, the company says, be sure

to inform the VIP of the results, including any key

metrics being tracked, as they will be more likely to

participate in future campaigns if they are thanked

and kept in the loop.

• Professionals. Members of this group have a

certain professional standing that carries a high

level of inuence among peers and followers alike.

Their audience is built around their expertise—for

example, media/bloggers, company/organization

founders, C-level executives, executive directors and

board members.

To engage these inuencers, Attentive.ly says,

rst identify the target group—for example, 100

people who meet specic criteria, such as executive

directors/CEOs, self-identied bloggers or some

other category. Those on the list should be talking

about your issues on social media, having other

forms of visible interaction with the organization,

and should have a relatively high “Klout Score,” a