Page 283 - Social Media Marketing for Dummies

IN THIS CHAPTER
» Nurturing the social influencers

» Differentiating between influencers

» Discovering best practices for
reaching influencers

Chapter 18

Accounting for the

Influencers

n Chapter 1, we briefly introduce the social influencers and how they affect pur-
chasing decisions. In this chapter, we discuss social influencers in greater detail
Iand explain why they matter, how you can reach them, and what best practices
to deploy in the process of doing so. We focus on the social influencers who reside
within your customer’s networks and how you can account for them in all your
marketing efforts.

How influencers are defined is a controversial subject among marketers. Some
marketers focus on what they consider to be key influencers, whereas others
place more emphasis on everyday influencers. Back in Chapter 1, we introduce the
three types of social influencers, which we believe accounts for all the types of
influence taking place around a customer. Here’s a quick recap:

» Expert influencers are considered authorities in the specific domain or are
people whom others depend upon for information advice. They do a lot to
build awareness and affect purchasing decisions at the consideration stage.
One example of an expert influencer is a subject-matter expert.
» Referent influencers are in a friend’s social network, but they may not be
tightly connected with the user. One example of referent influencers are your
work colleagues.

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