Page 171 - Social Media Marketing

the conversations you are tracking with your social analytics tools. Just as with any 149
other communications channel measurement, understanding how a particular source
(typically an individual) fits into your overall intelligence and outreach program is ■ ╇ K now Your I nfluencers
essential in getting the most out of it.

From Journalists to Connected Enthusiasts

In traditional PR in particular, there is an established practice of identifying and devel-
oping relationships with key journalists and industry experts. These media connections
are useful, for example, when rolling out a new product. By communicating in advance
with these contacts, you can seed the general market awareness with comments from
these individuals as they begin writing about your product launch. Sometimes this is
done confidentially—for example, you may “embargo” a press release when you want
your closest contacts to have this information and be aware of what is coming but not
actually talk about it before a certain date. Or, you may want these advance recipients
to talk about it first, conveying to them a certain “scoop” value. As a tip, include in
your press releases a 140-character statement intended for re-use on Twitter, what
Brian Solis calls a “Twitter Pitch.”

However you do it, the basic process involves identifying and building relation-
ships with the journalists and experts that write about your product or service, or who
focus on issues relating to your markets. The same process applies on the Social Web,
with one big difference: The people you want to reach and build a relationship with
quite often don’t wear nametags.

For any specific interest, cause, lifestyle, product or service there are people who
blog about it, who post about it on Twitter, and who convey this information to those
who “follow” or subscribe to the blogs, for example, of these people. This includes the
wider public audience that extends beyond media professionals and specific analysts
and influencers.

The challenge, of course, is picking out the influencers that are of interest to you
using tools like Buzzstream and Sysomos, now part of Marketwire, and then measur-
ing your progress in building a relationship with them. Table€6.2 shows a selected set
of core metrics related to influencer relations and relationship development.

P Table€6.2╇â•E‰ xamples of Core Influencer Analytics

Measurement Typical Tools and Services What It Shows

Social Influence Buzzstream, Sysomos MAP, Scout Labs Provides insight into profile connections
Reach (Lithium Technologies), Klout and similar tools revealed by examination of social graph.

Facebook (fan count), TwitterGrader, Klout Provides an indication of connectedness
and similar tools within a community relating to an indi-
vidual profile or page.
Frequency of Alterian SM2, Buzzstream, Sysomos
Posts Heartbeat and similar tools Provides an indication of how active a
particular person or source is.