I had a great conversation the other day with an organization looking at its channel strategy (meaning: ways to take a product or service to market through various types of arrangements, including relationships with partners). One of the participants in the meeting hit the nail on the head, describing perfectly one of my favorite axioms about marketing. He said, “We’re looking here at getting other people to sell for us!”
Marketing and selling products and services involves many different kinds of strategies. One important one, and its importance is growing by leaps and bounds, is influence. Word of mouth and referrals are commonly known and understood types of influence. Work with “influencers,” like industry analysts, members of the media (e.g., editors and reporters), consultants and other subject matter experts who might write about you, or talk about your work with others, or make referrals to you, often turns out to be a tremendous source of demand generation. It’s a simple equation: people value expertise, and they value the recommendations of people who have expertise.
In relatively recent history, social media has elevated the concept of influence—and changed the ground rules of expertise.
I wrote in The Social Media Challenge: Managing Expectations that social media should be regarded as a tool. Social media is, at its heart and done well, a tool with the potential to increase and intensify activities that directly or indirectly influence consumers.
This is done simply when you “Like” something on Facebook and that information is shared with your “Friends,” who may then become intrigued to try it, or inspired to endorse it because they “like” it too. The circle widens.
It is done in more complex ways when you “Follow” people writing commentary in blogs, essays, etc. and on other social media platforms; e.g., Twitter, Pinterest (and please, let us not forget that we still have and read many well-regarded periodicals, newspapers and journals). People “Follow” what interests them and what they respect. Others learn from the “Followers” about new things to follow. Thus, bonds get created. And influence happens.
A very prescient example is the great FiveThirtyEight blog, authored by Nate Silver for The New York Times. Silver’s analysis of the 2012 election polls compelled millions to consult The Times for election coverage. Silver happens to have a new book, for which was interviewed extensively in the media … at the same time that the election was heating up (and after; he was interviewed on The Daily Show the night following the election). Is this cynical? No, it is smart. There is no question that Silver’s new book will do well as a result of his forecasting the election results with stunning accuracy. And there is no question that if he continues to analyze the polls he will continue to be a sought-after subject matter expert, and he will be endorsed in ways that elevate both him and The Times.
I’m writing about him, aren’t I?!
I noted in my prior posting that social media is labor-intensive and that the cost-benefit needs to be clearly analyzed. I also suggested that I would write again about the “sphere of influence” that social media can create. Again, simple: the second part of the equation is the work of getting others to work on your behalf. That’s how social media has elevated the concept of influence.
Now, to expertise.
When absolutely anyone can assert virtually anything, accurate or inaccurate, and have it widely disseminated, as is the case today, the rules change. It used to be that anything could be put out but not necessarily easily found. Now search engines and sophisticated optimization techniques make everything accessible, and this makes it all the more difficult for consumers to parse what is authentic and what is not.
Thus, it is incumbent upon us as marketers and business owners to find and cultivate the authentic. How? You want to know everyone and anyone who can credibly endorse what you have to offer, and you have to make certain that you get and stay on their radar screens. Reward this group as you can, keeping mindful not to be seen as inappropriate. Focus especially on those who have, as we have discussed above, the potential to influence others. From that smaller group, try to find a few individuals with genuine enthusiasm for your product and service, and willingness to take your calls and open your emails.
Then, call and email them. But only when you have something important to share.
And one other thing: ask for their help. If your relationship is authentic, they are likely to give it willingly.
These activities are, again, labor intensive, and the results quixotic. You never know when, or how, exactly your groundwork will pay off. This frustrates many marketers and so they neglect their influence strategy.
Don’t do this. Work on influence and expertise is time well spent.
