Find Your Social Media Influencers & Make the Most of Them

Social networks are a wild and noisy place. With 350,000 tweets sent every minute, it can be difficult to break through all that noise. Social media influencers can help.

The influencers are the power users. They are the experts and thought leaders with huge followings and trusted opinions.

These people are sharing content likes yours every single day. There’s no reason why your content should go unnoticed. Let’s take advantage of these influencers’ audiences and make them work to our benefit.

Define Your Influencers

Image credit: yourstory.com

First, we’ll need to define our influencers.

One obvious way to define influencers is by the size of their audience, but we all know how deceiving that can be. Instead, I prefer to choose influencers who are consistently active, have a high level of engagement for niche topics, and have a dedicated and growing group of followers.

Sound difficult? Luckily we don’t need to reinvent the wheel here.  

Find Your Influencers

Image credit: apollotarget.com

I like using RightRelevance to find my influencers because it makes this process incredibly easy. RR uses a pagerank-like algorithm that assigns a rank/score to influencers based on topical contribution and expertise. Just plug and play.

Open up RightRelevance and type in a category that’s related to your industry or niche.

For me, I’ll try 'personal branding.'

Add it as a saved channel so you can refer back to it later.

Then click the influencers tab and decide whether you want to filter by people or organizations. I want to target individuals, so I’ve clicked the “Person” option.

Finally, decide if you want to tailor it even further by location. Then scroll down and find the influencers that interest you. Make a list so you can revisit it later.

Don’t forget to switch to a new category and repeat the process. I’ve already used “personal branding,” but I could also try “reputation management” and “content marketing.

PS: If you’ve been active on Twitter for a while, check out your analytics page and find the top mention over the last few months. You might find an interesting trend.

Engage With Your Influencers

Image credit: dyanmiccloudsrv.com

Influencers want the same thing you do -- engagement.

So give it to them!

Interact with their content and participate in the conversations they start online. Share their articles, retweet their posts, and comment on their blog posts. The goal should be to become a genuine part of that person’s community.

The point is to get yourself noticed. With a little luck, the influencers you target will interact with you, retweet your content, and might even link back to you in an upcoming article.

Get Influencers to Share Your Posts

Remember, these influencers are already sharing content just like yours. The key is to get them to notice your content over someone else’s.

Reach out to them -- via email, Twitter, etc. -- and share your recent article.

Make it short and sweet. Link to your article, explain why they might be interested and thank them. Get in and get out. The shorter the better.

When I shared 12 Twitter Tools to Take Control of Your Online Reputation, I emailed and/or tweeted people from every single company on that list. I got retweets from Canva, Buffer, RiteTag and a handful of others. Their enthusiasm completely catapulted my article without much of my own additional effort. Totally worth the 10-15 minutes.

Maintain Relationships with Your Influencers

Now that you have a list of influencers, make a point to revisit it. Reach out and interact with these people from time to time. Stay on top of their latest blog posts using a tool like Hootsuite Syndicator or Google Alerts.

These simple gestures are a great way to stay on their radar and show the value you place on the relationship. With enough social media influencers on your side, you’ll be well on your way to becoming an influencer in your own right.

3 Ways to Get Influencers To Share Your Content

Wouldn’t it be great if you could get other bloggers, industry influencers, and relevant companies to share your articles for you?

It’s not as hard as you think.

The key is providing a compelling reason to share your content.

And I’d argue that the easiest way to do this is using flattery. Everybody loves compliments, right? If someone wrote an awesome article about you, wouldn’t you want to share it around? I know I would.

With that in mind, here are three ways you can craft your content to encourage others to share it for you. As you write your next article, try one of the following strategies:

 

Quote Experts In Your Field

This is a no-brainer. Email a ton of the best people in your industry and ask them the same question. For example, I might ask, “What are your favorite non-traditional social profiles for SEO and branding purposes?” My article could then be something like 11 Experts Share Their Favorite Non-Traditional Social Profiles.

Make sure to explain the kind of article you’re pulling together in your email and make it clear the kind of names you’d be featuring. Don’t be bashful if you already have someone big onboard -- it’s more likely to convince others to submit their answers too.

The genius of this strategy is that everyone you quote has some skin in the game. Every time one of those experts shares the article, you’re expanding your organic reach and earning industry credibility along the way. Just remember to follow up after you’ve published to alert them to the finished product.

Loz James at WordTracker has a great example where he quotes 33 SEO experts on their link building tactics.

NOTE: If you’re not getting any bites on your emails, you can literally just dig through the blog posts of experts in your field and find the quotes that tell your story.

Highlight Awesome People or Organizations

Everyone loves to be complemented. Find some people or companies worth shouting out and give them some space in your article. Explain what makes them stand out and link to their website (everyone loves backlinks).

The benefits here are fairly obvious. Companies are likely to return the favor with a retweet or a share.

When I shared 12 Twitter Tools to Take Control of Your Online Reputation, I emailed and/or tweeted people from every single company on that list. I got retweets from Canva, Buffer, RiteTag and a handful of others. Their enthusiasm completely catapulted my article without much of my own additional effort.

Piggyback Off Someone Famous

This is a fun way to shout out someone famous and piggyback off their existing success.

I might write something like 11 Ways Canva Has Completely Changed My Career. I can expect a bit more traffic thanks primarily to the name recognition, but more importantly, it might convince Canva to share my content. They’d love to have a glowing article like that shared around.

The best part about this tactic is that the person or company you shout out doesn’t have to be directly involved in your industry. In fact, you might intrigue even more people if they aren’t related. Wouldn’t you be interested in 7 Tips From Geico’s Gecko on Improving Your Online Reputation? 

(Hmm... maybe I'll write that next.)

No, Geico’s Gecko hasn’t written anything about fixing online reputations -- don’t quote me on that -- but he has plenty of fun quotes out there from ads and whatnot. By pulling insights from those commercials and relating them back to online reputation, I can make a fun article that still gives readers important lessons about online reputation management. No guarantees on getting the lizard to share your content though…

Closing Note:

When seeking extra attention for your articles, it can be tempting to use crazy titles and even crazier content. But remember, it’s important to keep your blog in line with your brand. It would be pretty disappointing if your next article blew up but didn’t quote portray you the way you wanted. Get creative but don’t forget that you’re building your online reputation along the way.

How to Increase Blog Traffic

Sure, an active blog can increase your website’s authority, but we don’t publish written content in a vacuum. We want other people to read our work, like it, share it, and link back to it again and again. These social signals and backlinks are a critical part of improving search results and the way we’re perceived online.

So how do we drive more traffic back to our content?

Here are some of my favorite strategies:

Social Sharing

Perhaps the most obvious way to get people to see your content is to share it on social media. Post it on Twitter with a couple of popular hashtags. Share it with your connections on LinkedIn. Give it a chance to shine on Google+ and Facebook.

I suggest that you share a combination of your own articles along with those of peers in your industry. That way, you don’t come across as wholly self-promotional and people come to respect you as a source of interesting aggregated information.

My other suggestion is to set up an automated direct message on Twitter using Crowdfire. My direct message thanks new followers for following me and then points them in the direction of my most recent article or latest project It’s a good way to get traffic from people who have already shown an interest in your content.

Repurpose Your Content

I give an in-depth look at repurposing content on Day 17 of this challenge. To reiterate briefly, the idea is to take all your hard work and repackage it for another audience on another platform.

You can turn your article into a slideshow, use the content to answer questions on Quora, or republish on another publishing platform like LinkedIn Pulse or Medium. As you explore these options, try to remember to link back to your original article. You’ll direct more traffic back to your website and encourage people to read/learn more.

Comment on Blog Posts

Bloggers see a lot of comments, but the truly illuminating and remarkable ones are few and far between. If you can keep your comments consistently high quality, you’ll get the attention of the author and other viewers as well. This is an easy way to increase your visibility and start the networking process for guest posts in the future.

Your comments on industry blogs can also impact your reputation in a negative way. Be careful not to link to your articles too much -- the last thing you want is to become known as spammy and self-promotional.

Share in Communities

Sharing your article in communities is different than just sharing it on social media. Have you ever explored those LinkedIn Groups? What about Google+ Communities? If not, you’re missing out on a big opportunity to get your content in front of an engaged audience in your industry.

The nature and style of your conversations are going to depend on 1) the specifics of your online brand and 2) the social norms of the social network.

For specific examples of starting conversations within social media communities, read Day 24 of this challenge.

Paid Promotion

Paid promotions can be an incredibly useful supplement to a solid ORM campaign. You can earn engagement on Twitter, grow a wider audience of followers on Facebook, and send more traffic to your articles thanks to Stumbleupon or Outbrain. For an in-depth look at paid promotional campaigns, check out Day 25.

Bonus: Explore Your Own Ideas!

Have you thought about sending out a regular newsletter to your email contacts? 

What about sending direct messages to your connections on LinkedIn? 

How about this one...

When’s the last time you took a good look at your email signature? Chances are, it’s been a while.

Most people send out dozens of emails every day. Your email signature can be a terrific way to unobtrusively get important information to people who matter in your professional and personal lives.

Consider adding a line that encourages people to visit your blog or connect with you on social media. For reference, I’ve included what mine looks like here. I’ve recently added Bitly links on each hyperlink so I can keep track of how many clicks I’m earning. 

Have some other fun ideas for driving traffic? Let me know in the comments :)

The Most Effective Paid Campaigns for Better Search Results

What’s the best use of your money to alter your search results and improve your online brand? Google Adwords certainly comes to mind, but it’s typically not the best paid promotion option out there for us.

Google Adwords is best if you’re selling a specific product or service. People who are looking for a specific solution search their problem on search engines -- businesses can determine those keywords and target users with their ads.

Why is this no good for us?

We’re trying to change what shows up for our names, not a competitive keyword. When people search Ryan Erskine, they’re already going to find results for my name. I don’t need to advertise for my website on top of those results. Doing so might look weird and would definitely not be the best use of my cash.

Here are a few paid promotional options I’d recommend instead:

Facebook Ads

There are three primary kinds of Facebook ads and each is useful for different purposes. The big benefit with Facebook ads is that you can choose the audience you wish to target based on age, gender, location, education, and other demographic information.

Boost a Post: This option is great for earning more traffic and engagement on a particular post. If you got an important article placed on a third party publication, this might be a great time to give a big push here.

Promote Your Website: This one is self-explanatory. Use it to direct more people to your website. If you come up with a compelling ad and can deliver on value once people click through, you have a high chance of earning returning visitors in the future.

Promote Your Page: Promoting your page is useful for driving up your page’s likes. Moz has a terrific article that argues compellingly for spending at least $1 a day promoting your page. As they say, “They are the lowest cost per 1,000 impressions ad in history. They average around $0.25 per 1,000, which is only 1% of the cost of TV.” A no-brainer if you have the cash.

Twitter Ads

Here are the two types of Twitter campaigns I find most useful:

Engagement Campaigns:

These campaigns are useful for earning more engagement or activity for a particular tweet. If you want to spread the natural reach of your tweet -- perhaps to get more traffic to your latest article -- then this is the right campaign for you.

You can tailor these campaigns on a number of factors, such as language, location, and keywords. My favorite is ‘followers,’ which allows you to target specific @usernames. Your tweet will then reach users with interests similar to followers of any of those accounts. It’s a great way of ensuring your content reaches the right eyes.

Followers Campaigns:

Followers campaigns are great when you want to increase your Twitter profile’s audience. This is not just for cosmetic reasons; a larger audience means your tweets are naturally pushed to more twitter feeds.

You can tailor these campaigns in the same way, but the best practices differ. Although tweets often do better with hashtags or links, Twitter has found that followers campaigns without these distractions do better. Also remember to be direct and include “Follow” or “Follow us” in your tweets.

NOTE: For personal campaigns (as opposed to businesses), I find Twitter’s engagement campaigns to be much more useful than followers campaigns. Growing your audience is easy enough using tools like Crowdfire, so I’d rather save that money to promote important content.

Stumbleupon Ads

People still use Stumbleupon?

Yes, it’s true. Stumbleupon actually drives 3x more traffic than Reddit and it’s the 4th highest social channel driving traffic, right behind Twitter.

Stumbleupon’s campaigns are great for getting more eyes on your content. And the best part is that those folks are pretty engaged -- a recent campaign for a client kept people on site for 2:44.

Here are some fun facts about Stumbleupon.

• Over 30 million people are active on StumbleUpon on a monthly basis

• The average Stumble session for women is 30 minutes, 22 minutes for men

• 15% of B2B marketers use StumbleUpon to distribute their content

The demographic information for Stumbleupon campaigns isn’t as impressive, but it’s enough to make your campaign reach the right users. And the analytics also leave something to be desired, but I still find myself using this platform for the consistent traffic again and again.

Outbrain Ads

Outbrain describes itself as a content discovery platform.

What does that mean? Outbrain basically places your content as an ad on another platform. You know when you’ve seen “suggested content” on BuzzFeed or CNN once you’ve finished reading an article? That’s probably thanks to Outbrain.

Outbrain is comparatively expensive -- you have to pay a minimum of $10 a day -- but I’ve seen some good impact.

Here’s a recent campaign for one of my clients that’s still in the works. I’ve spent $60 so far and earned 365 clicks out of 380,000+ impressions. Not the most impressive click through rate (just about 0.1%) but a few hundred clicks is nothing to sneeze at.

And Outbrain also tells you where your articles are getting picked up. Sure, Ghana web wouldn’t be my first choice, but I’m definitely impressed by the next few publishers on the list. Plus, now I can see what's working (and what publications I want to scrap) and make my next iteration that much stronger.

My favorite thing about Outbrain campaigns is that you can test multiple different titles and pictures for the same URL. Then you let Outbrain figure out which combination is earning the most engagement and continue serving that combination to users.

Closing Note

Remember, ad campaigns are not a quick fix to improving your search results. They are only as good as your content.

If you focus on creating quality content — useful content that adds real value — you’ll have a sustainable source of traffic for months and years to come. Got some disposable income for your campaign? Then try strategically using paid campaigns to increase your content’s reach.

If you have some other favorites, let me know in the comments below or hit me up on Twitter.

How to Start Real Conversations Using Social Media Communities

Social media conversations are just like real conversations.

The key to a great conversation is to start by listening. What are other people talking about in your industry? Does it differ from social network to social network? Spend a few minutes searching around to get a scope of the landscape.

You probably wouldn’t have the same conversation in the library as you would in a bar, right? Even if you end up talking about the same topic, you’re likely to abide by different social norms (whispering versus yelling) and have something different in your hand (a book versus a beer).

Consider social networks in the same light.

The nature and style of your conversations are going to depend on 1) the specifics of your online brand and 2) the social norms of the social network.

→ See if you can start a few relevant conversation on each of your social networks. I’ll explain some of my favorite ways to do this to help you spark some of your own ideas.

Twitter

Conversations are happening on Twitter all the time. Find some active businesses or people in your industry and see what they’re saying. Search for relevant hashtags and see what questions people are asking. Is there an obvious knowledge gap where you can be most helpful?

Here are a few specific ways to take advantage of Twitter conversations.

1. Alert someone to your article.

This is particularly useful if you actually wrote about them, but it can also be great if they fit into your target audience. When I wrote 12 Twitter Tools to Improve Your Online Reputation, I spent time personally tweeting each of the businesses I wrote about, letting them know I had shouted them out.     

It took maybe 10-15 minutes, but I couldn’t believe the engagement I received. Nearly all of the businesses retweeted me, and some of my tweets really blew up. Just for letting them know!

When I tweeted @Canva, I got favorited 7 times, and probably earned some new Canva-lover readers in the process.

2. Ask a question.

Twitter is a great place to ask questions. If you trust a particular thought leader in your industry, consider targeting them. Otherwise, just ask the general public what they think about a particular topic or article. It won’t always blow up like Buffer’s tweets do, but you may spark some fun conversations along the way.

3. Start a conversation.

Did you read an interesting article recently? Chances are you’re not the only one. Try searching the title of the article on Twitter and seeing who else shared it recently. Tweet at them and tell them what you think. You never know what kind of conversation your tweet may spark.

You can also tell your audience a fun fact, a useful tip or an industry-specific anecdote.

When I tweeted @Crowdfire back in August, I received the most engagement I’ve ever received on a tweet in my life. 128 favorites! I hadn’t even written my 12 Twitter Tools article yet, but it made me realize the potential for articles like that.

4. Engage your active audience.

Sometimes you might tweet something and find that someone else tweeted back at you. That’s terrific! Take advantage of that low-hanging fruit and keep the conversation going!

Or, if someone has shared your content, take a second to thank them for the support. You’d be surprised how much a heartfelt thank-you can mean for long-term engagement.

NOTE: You can also get involved in Twitter Chats, where a group of Twitter users meet at a pre-determined time to discuss a certain topic. I don’t have too much experience there yet, but Buffer has an incredibly in-depth article about Twitter Chats if you want to learn more.

LinkedIn

Here are four ways to spark conversations on the professional networking giant:

1. Comment on status updates

This is pretty self-explanatory. If someone shares an article related to your industry, make a relevant comment and try to start a conversation. Ask what they thought about a particular point or provide them with another article that gives a different view.

2. LinkedIn Communities

LinkedIn Communities are a fun way to have discussions with groups of like-minded peers. Find some communities that make sense for you and start by weighing in on popular discussions. Respond to existing comments, provide an insight or opinion, or even ask a thought-provoking question.

See what topics and discussions are resonating with members the most, and start asking similar questions to encourage engagement. Be wary about including links to your sites, especially at the start. You want to be seen as a valuable part of the community, not a self-promotional salesperson. If you’re diligent, you’ll eventually be recognized as a top influencer, which allows your posts to be seen by more people in the group.

3. Use status updates for engagement

You can obviously use status updates as a self-promotional tool. But a great way to get engagement is to share OTHER people’s articles, especially when you can tag them in your post. Use the @ sign just like you would to tag someone on Twitter.

4. Messages

Private messages on LinkedIn have a connotation of being spammy, but your efforts may be worthwhile if you can personalize your message for a few specific people. Consider asking for some folks’ opinions on an article, their thoughts on an industry topic, or feedback on your latest post.

Quora  

There are three primary ways to engage in meaningful conversations on Quora:

1. Ask a question related to your industry.

Quora is a terrific place to get answers or start conversations among industry experts. Remember to first check whether or not someone has already asked your question!

2. Answer someone else’s question.

Quora is a great place to share some of your industry-specific knowledge and link back to an article if it’s appropriate. If you have a terrific answer on a popular question, you’re likely to get hundreds or thousands of views on your content. That’s a huge opportunity!

3. Ask someone specific to answer a question, either yours or someone else’s.

Quora’s ‘Ask to Answer’ feature is pretty neat. It lets you target specific people in your industry to get the quality answers you seek. You can ask 15 people per question, so make your choices mindfully.

Closing Note:

There are countless ways to engage people on social media. You can find Google+ communities that match your niche, comment on Slideshare accounts that fit your brand, and ask questions about a particular Instagram post. These are just a few of my favorite ways on some classic social networks, but I encourage you to explore your own.

How to Get Organic Backlinks Using Your Existing Network

Despite what you might hear, backlinks are still a critical part of ranking well in search results.  

One way to earn backlinks is through publishing high quality content. If you write articles that people want to share and link to again and again, then you’re well on your way to earning your website lots of authority.

But given that backlinks are so important for rankings, is there anything else we can do to earn more of them?

Yes!

Asking Your Existing Network!

Asking your existing network doesn’t mean go and ask your entire address book to link to your website. You’re bound to come across as spammy, and irrelevant links won’t do you much good anyway.

Instead, make a list of websites where you’re currently mentioned and a separate list of websites where you ought to be mentioned, but aren’t yet.

Having trouble? Here are some common places:

• Your company’s website

• Your school/university website

• An alumni organization

• A philanthropic organization or charity

• An author page from a web publication

For instance, I found a page on my company website, an author page from the Bowdoin Orient (my college newspaper), and an author page from Social Media Today.

Then, ask yourself the following questions about each website.

1. Do I have an ideal URL slug?

   1. www.example.com/ryanerskine would be ideal

2. Do they link to my website or social media properties

3. Is it appropriate to ask for a longer biography or to have my name used more times?

I’m all set on Social Media Today. I have a link to both my website and Twitter, I’ve got a nice bio, and my URL slug is http://www.socialmediatoday.com/users/ryanerskine.

My company page is a mixed bag. I have a nice bio and my name is used several times, but there is no link to my personal website. (However there is a link to my BrandYourself site.) It would also be nice if I could get my URL slug to change from /rerskine to /ryanerskine.

My author page on the Bowdoin Orient is a good example of one with a lot of potential. There is currently no bio, no link to my website or social media, and my URL leaves a lot to be desired: http://bowdoinorient.com/author/685

Reaching Out

Once you have your list, it’s time to reach out. For my company, it’s appropriate for me to just ask the dev team, but I’ll need to send an email out to someone at the Bowdoin Orient and see if they can do anything.

No need to defend or explain yourself. Start with a small explanation of who you are and keep the rest of it short and sweet. Remember, you want to make this as easy for them as possible.

As an example, here’s the email I sent to the web developer at the Bowdoin Orient:

Hey [NAME],

I’m a ’12 graduate and a columnist on the Bowdoin Orient. I was wondering if it would be possible to make two small changes to my online author page:

1) Could we change the URL slug to be bowdoinorient.com/author/ryanerskine — right now it’s http://bowdoinorient.com/author/685

2) Would we be able to add a link on my author page leading back to my main website, ryanerskine.com?

Thanks in advance,

Ryan

He got back to me and explained that the two changes weren’t possible right now but that they were likely to change the system in the near future. It’s not an ideal answer, but now I can put that in my calendar to reach back out in a few months and see if anything has changed.

The process is actually very simple, just remember to remain polite and courteous. If anyone makes a change for you, remember that they are doing you a favor.

If you have any questions, reach out on Twitter and I’ll be happy to help.