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Influencing the “Influencers”

By Michael Stelzner

Are you trying to target people with influence?

In the business world, these are NOT the final decision makers, rather those who help guide those final decisions.

I came across an interesting piece today on MarketingProfs, entitled Five Ways to Develop a Dialogue With Key ‘Influencers’ by Nilofer Merchant.

What follows are some key parts of the article:

What is an influencer?

Influencers are key conduits of information. It’s as if your Aunt Louise suddenly became the world’s leading authority on nonfat yogurt and people throughout the world recognized her. Influencers know many people and are in contact with hundreds, sometimes thousands, of people in the course of a week. They have a powerful multiplier effect, spreading the word quickly across a broad network when they find something they want others to know about.

How do they work?

Influencers continuously take input from what they see, hear, read, and keep turning it over in their mind for new insights and ideas.

How do we find them?

Influencers need to be sought out. They do not run in packs. Because influencers are fundamentally good relationship people, you want the people on your team to be good communicators, bloggers, writers and all that. You want to build trust with these influencers because trust matters hugely to them.

How have you written to influencers? Are they important? What strategies do you use to make contact with them?

  • Debra,

    Your father was more on target than those who get caught up in titles.

    I've always found that the receptionist at 75% of the company's I called on was the main screener for the purchasers.

    I've always made sure they got under the radar specials, once they got me in.

    75% of the guys I called on said, " If she lets you thru, you must be worthy of my time. "

    Titles look good on paper, but day to day sales come thru influencers without fancy ones.
  • Janice - Who do you typically write to, influencers or decision-makers? – Mike
  • When selling a technology product, marketing and sales efforts often must address these groups:

    * The executive and technical decision makers (not always the same person)
    * The people who will be responsible for implementing and supporting the product
    * The ultimate users whose work or environment will be impacted by product

    There are many ways to reach and inform these different groups -- through written materials, sales presentations, articles an industry publications and other PR efforts, etc.

    When writing to reach influencers, it's important to clearly identify the target audience for each document, where it fits in the sales/communications cycle with prospects, and the action or change in perception that should result.

    Too often, marketers forget that even executive-level decision makers must internally "sell" a decision to purchase a new product to the people who will ultimately be responsible for using and supporting it every day.

    Janice King, Author
    Copywriting That Sells High Tech
    www.writinghightech.com
  • Hi Jonathan, Mike and Debra;

    Jonathan - Very interesting about the IM folks. It is true that the power of word of mouth is amazing!

    Mike - I agree that the receptionist is a gatekeeper, but perhaps not an influencer per the author of this article.

    Debra - Very good points you make about treating everyone with respect.

    Mike
  • dhelwig
    Who is an influencer? Any person valued by the person you wish to reach...no matter what their station or position. Sometimes we get too caught up with titles and not enough with relationships.

    My father, who was a successful university president, once told me: "If you want to be a success in business, don't worry so much about impressing vice presidents and CEOs. Make friends with every secretary, mail room person, clerk, and janitor in your workplace. See the work they do as valuable and tell them so. Work alongside them, not from above them. You will go farther, faster, than anyone else in your company." From my experience, he's absolutely right. Applying the same principle at any client or potential client's workplace can only yield positive results.
  • I'm not brave enough to tell my secretary that she doesn't influence me, either.

    If a vendor treats her like she's less than him, he sells us nothing ... ever.

    I think influencers are different at every office/business.
  • I once wrote a white paper for Proctor & Gamble detailing their 'word of mouth' marketing efforts with influencers.

    Who did they target as key influencers? Teenagers with the highest number of contacts on their IM list. They would then seed these teenagers with test samples of new makeup products (girls) or Old Spice products (boys). As a result the teenagers would contact all their friends on their IM list and get them to buy the products when they hit the market.

    It worked pretty well and was highly measurable. It just goes to show you that influencers don't have to be older business executives.
  • Hey Mike - I do not think the receptionist was who I was referring to. Perhaps the IT manager, an engineer with a specialty, etc. - Mike
  • Mike, can we classify a receptionist as an influencer ? If so, I need your input over at my blog on a post where I'm trying to help a reader with his problem.
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