a primer on social media influence

Influencing the

Influencers

A presentation for

Aberdeen’s Revenue-Driven

Marketing Leadership Summit

Alan Belniak / @abelniak

October 18, 2012

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What We’ll Talk About Today

• WHAT is influencer management

• WHY is this a big deal

• HOW is a company like PTC responding to this

• HOW has the power of digital and social affected this landscape

• WHAT does PTC do, day-to-day

• WHAT are some tools of the trade

• An EXAMPLE of this, in action

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A marketing technologist and Digital marketer + practitioner, with deep

strengths in social media

Current Role

• Global Director of Social Media at PTC

• B2B software, long sales cycle, high switching costs

Why IR Matters to Me

• People rely more on what practitioners and analysts say, rather than what

we say

Alan Belniak

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The Landscape

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• An age-old issue with a shiny new name

• We make stuff. People buy stuff.

People are skeptical of us talking about

our stuff. People believe other people

when they talk about our stuff.

• “Well, woopty-doo. What does

it all mean, Basil?!”

• It means that we need to

be friends with ‘the other people’.

What is “Influencer Management”?

image source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QRt2_OLY3Ho

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• 30 years ago, the main groups of people that published opinions (and

influenced) were analysts and major media publications.

• Now, anyone can publish.

• The number of ‘other people’

just grew exponentially. And the

ways for them to share content

grew. And the ways to find them

and their content grew as well.

Why Is This a Big Deal Now?

The way we view it…

image source: http://www.socialmediatoday.com/SMC/106502

(This is not meant to discount

the present company!)

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Publication Proliferation = Stratified Credibility

Control

Credibility

“Traditional”

Media Coverage

Advertising

“Brand

Journalism”

Analyst

Coverage

Blogosphere &

“Twitterverse”

Paid

Earned

Social

Owned

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New Influencers are Passionate… Both Pro + Con

source: Sean Moffitt, BuzzCanuck

Desire to

Influence

Others

Brand Engagement

Passiv

e

Acti

ve

Reject Favor

Traditional Influencers Authoritative 3rd parties, community leaders, press, gov’t.

Haters Lovers

Critics Enthusiasts

Skeptics Mainstream

Dismissers Followers

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• Estimated monthly traffic: 73,000

• Google Indexed pages: 6,560

• Alexis ranking: Top .12%

• Links from 13,195 sites

• 40,000 unique monthly visitors

• Avg. post retweeted 129 times

• New York Times citations: 6,510

• Newsletter subscribers: 150,000

Example: A Modern-Day B2B Influencer

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In The Modern Age

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• Our influencers have become de facto subject matter experts – We need to connect them to our SMEs – no longer will a topical answer suffice

• If we want to gain credibility in the space, we need to be fast – respond to

requests for inquiries from the right people

• If we respond quickly and consistently, we get noticed

• We then need to nurture and maintain that relationship (1.0) – Connecting with someone online, even if never meeting them or meeting them once, greases

the skids for future conversations

– Social media facilitates that

– However, it is not the only way

How Digital and Social Has Affected the Role

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Lots of Online Tools To Generate Numbers

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You Need More Than a Number To Make a Connection

source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/867_5309

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Now What? Be a Detective

source: http://www.amazon.com/Private-Eyes-Hall-Oates/dp/B000001U3Q

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• To roll up your sleeves and learn more about how to do this, visit:

http://linkgui.de/SocMedInfluence

Tools of the Trade

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As it Relates to PTC

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• Product-centric solutions-oriented storytelling

• A challenge for new markets (lack of ‘legacy

leadership’)

• The good news: elevate our stature with the

influencer community and focus on

thought-leadership

• Hurdle 1: need to clearly articulate the challenges

our customers face and how to resolve them

without talking about product features

• Hurdle 2: But… ‘product news’ garners more clicks

• Hurdle 3: bring influencers who know us along for

the journey, while introducing ourselves to

a whole new cast of characters

How is PTC Responding to This Shift?

The PTC Story is Evolving

image source: www.nileseldredge.com/companion.htm

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• List of Tier 1 influencers and publications, per geography – shared among all PR/corporate communications staff

• Traackr-collected list of influencers, based on key words

• PR/Corporate Communications review every quarter, including agency – review coverage (location, person, volume, sentiment)

– review potential new additions to Tier 1 list

– review potential removal from Tier 1 list

• Review internal press release pipeline – match stories up against influencer interest/publication beat

– as appropriate, reach out

• Engage with these influencers – social media has made people more findable and more reachable than ever before

• Use clipping service and social media monitoring to track coverage

So, How Do We Do This at PTC?

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An Example

sources: http://www.flickr.com/photos/graye/30561751/ and http://www.flickr.com/photos/28346908@N08/2640991550/

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An Example

sources: http://www.flickr.com/photos/graye/30561751/ and http://www.flickr.com/photos/28346908@N08/2640991550/

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• Influence – Is online and offline

– Comprised of different variables

• Influencers – Aren’t always who you think they are

– Hang out in lots of places

– Are people, too

• Relationships – Can be formed with or without these tools

– Need to be maintained (think ‘garden’)

• Speed affects the ability to influence an editor or author; Social media has changed that speed

• Absent context, numbers are just squiggly lines – The temperature isn’t the weather

In Summary…

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Thanks!

Alan Belniak

@abelniak

http://www.abelniak.com