INFLUENCER MARKETING

MARKETINGMICROSOFT DYNAMICS COMMUNITY

in the

THIS MONTH’S TOPIC...

Who has influenced your life or career? It’s interesting to take a look back and think where

you would be without that person, idea, or event. In turn, who have YOU influenced? That

relationship may have provided more benefits than you realize.

Influencer marketing  (also  influence marketing) is a form of  marketing  in which focus is

placed on influential people rather than the target market as a whole. It identifies the indi-

viduals that have influence over potential buyers, and orients marketing activities around

these influencers.

Even if you haven’t heard the term before, you are most likely implementing some type of

influencer marketing in your business practices today. The question is, how can you extend

the value of this effective approach? Read on to see how fellow Partners are engaged in this

marketing type to see what might work for you.

INFLUENCERMARKETING

“It’s difficult to say which aspects of influencer marketing are most important as it depends on the overall marketing plan. In summary, strategy is key. For example, if a Partner is really focusing on SEO, then the ability to link and have back-links from a third party to their own site is super important. If they are looking to build credibility, then guest blogs on third-party sites AND getting expert blogs written for their own site is probably a bigger driver. For Partners new to the space, the ability to reach a new database through a third party that already has credibility in their industry is critical.” Barbara Pfeiffer, The Partner Marketing Group

“Most important for success is to do your homework. This seems to be where we spend a lot of time “educating” Partners. You should be aware of EVERYONE who plays in your space: Associations, publications, industry leaders, etc. For each of those, know what opportunities they provide. THEN build the most important ones into your plan. I typically see very reactive/one-off type approaches that will not really drive the results people are looking for.” Barbara Pfeiffer, The Partner Marketing Group

“Keeping yourself educated is the key. Knowing industry, tools, functions, what works, what doesn’t work, and then aligning yourself with the proper people that focus on the same objective.” Michelle Glennie, The Partner Marketing Group

“Before I was an influencer, I sought out influencers to help me establish trust with the Partner community. I built trust and relationships with Microsoft MVPs and the rest of the community soon followed.” Jon Rivers, Marketing Monarchs

Strategy

Research

Trust

Experts in the Dynamics channel say it comes down to three things…

AK

A E

nterprise S

olutio

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ALAN KAHNCEO, AKA Enterprise Solutions

An Influencer Program in the Dynamics Channel“The Influencer Program is a strategy and plan by which all team members and stake holders at AKA can increase the number of referrals we get as a company.  Since referrals are the best source of business at AKA, it is incumbent on us to document our strategy and plan for maximizing this lead source,” says Alan Kahn, CEO of AKA Enterprise Solutions.

The team at AKA put this program into effect in July of 2013.

“The strategy is to identify the potential sources of leads for the organization and then create a plan for maximizing those relationships including one-on-one direct communications, one-to-many market nurturing, event strategies, executive relationships, employee incentives, influencer commissions where appropriate, sales agents, and any other method of increasing the lead from influencers,” says Alan. “We must have proper staff and systems in place so that the effort involved in working on these relationships is minimized, systematic, regular, recurring, and measurable.”

AKA made this initiative top priority because…» Referrals from existing relationships (influencers) are our highest quality

leads.  We have always been focused on building relationships with companies that can generate leads for us and historically the job was performed by our executives and by sales people on a one-off basis.

» While initial meetings to discuss the referral relationship always went well, we found we were failing to do the necessary follow-up after the meetings, to ensure something productive would happen.

» We realized as part of creating the Influencer Program, that we needed a dedicated team to service these important relationships.

Today, AKA is more engaged with influencers and have been able to establish deeper relationships as a result of their influencer marketing program.

“We have significantly increased the quantity and quality of the leads we get from referral sources.”

Alan’s advice for Partners attempting an influencer marketing program: » Write an Influencer Program guide to serve as the basis for what you want

to accomplish.

» Tailor your CRM system to track influencers and create workflow to support positive follow-up and communication.

» Commit an executive to drive and support the initiative.

» Hire dedicated personnel who are compensated based on results. Choose an organized, outgoing, forceful, but highly likable person to lead this effort.

» Educate the organization on the importance of referral sources and nurturing those relationships.

» Enlist other departments, such as marketing, to support the creation of collateral and to perform nurture marketing targeting referral sources and tailored for their area of interest.

» Some referral relationships are more formal and require bi-directional revenue sharing. Others are less formal. Regardless, the relationship must be mutually beneficial or it will not last.

Greg Kelly, Vidyard

Influence is a powerful thing

• Influencer marketing content

delivers 11 times higher ROI

than traditional forms of

digital marketing.

• Twitter users now trust

influencers as much as they

trust their friends.

• Influencer marketing is more

effective than advertising

since 47% of online

consumers use ad block

technology.

• 73% of millennials see it as

their responsibility to guide

friends, peers, and family

toward smart purchase

decisions.

Source: Me Marketing Services

Social Media InfluenceA group referred to as Team Revolution came together to offer up an inf luencer marketing offer during User Group Summit 2017. This group of inf luencers in the Dynamics channel elevated tweets of 10 Partners during the event creating a Twitter Storm! Here’s how…

Social media during events is a great time to boost your following and exposure, especially if you’re an event exhibitor and/or sponsor.

Team Revolution is made up of eight inf luencers in the channel (see below) with the combined Twitter following of 27,000 contacts.

» Adrianne Machina, Tornado Marketing 

» Amber Bell, Training Dynamo 

» Anya Ciecierski, Collaboration Works Marketing, ERPSoftwareBlog.com, CRMSoftwareBlog.com 

» Cheryl Strege and Michelle Glennie, The Partner Marketing Group 

» Darcy Boerio, DAB Partners; Co-Host EnterpriseSoftwarePodcast.com 

» Jenny Davis, The Partner Channel 

» Jon Rivers, Marketing Monarchs 

» Kim Peterson, Dynamics Connections

For every tweet a Partner posted, each inf luencer would share to their network and boom - a Twitter storm commenced.

One Partner saw a 1,500% increase in tweet impressions while another one saw over 1,300 views to their profile during the campaign.

Furthermore, another Partner saw an 123.5% increase in Tweet impressions and a 165.2% increase

in profile visits from the Twitter Influencer Storm.

Depending on how you look at social media success, you may be skeptical of an immense boost in numbers like these. After all, what good is a boost in impressions and visits if it doesn’t stay that high? Instead, think about the inf luence behind this approach. Not only were Partners getting more exposure during the event while people also see them in an expo, they increased their number of followers, to whom they can market to virtually all year long. All due to the power of inf luence.

Marketing

Mo

narchs

JON RIVERSOwner, Marketing Monarchs

It’s really all about TRUST, isn’t it?“Being an influencer is one thing. Working with influencers to help promote your business is quite another,” says Jon Rivers, owner of Marketing Monarchs.

Many of you may know Jon’s name, because he has successfully honed the art of social media to become an influencer in the Microsoft Dynamics channel. How did this all come to be?

Jon got into social media because he, like so many other Partner marketers, was vying for attention and needed a way to stand out from the crowd. He turned to social and never looked back.

The more exposure he received on social media, the more opportunities opened up about becoming an influencer. One of which was co-authoring articles every quarter with Mark Polino, a Microsoft MVP.

“Co-authoring blogs with Mark was a huge turning point to building trust with my followers,” Jon shares.

“It all comes down to trust, doesn’t it? People buy from someone they trust and leads the way to you becoming an influencer.”Today, Jon owns his own social media business, Marketing Monarchs, and uses influencer marketing to give his clients the most benefit from his services. To remain an influencer in the channel, Jon works hard at building his following, sharing relevant and educational information, speaking at tweeting at industry events, and regularly contributing articles in The Partner Channel Magazine and on the Microsoft Community site.

Although having a large following has its benefits, Jon recommends that Partners be more strategic in building their following. “It’s not just the volume of social followers, it’s paying attention to the influence behind those followers,” Jon explains.

He suggests to look within your domain, find the people that reach your target market, and retweet, share, and comment as much as you can!

“You may already have people that comment on your posts or like everything that you share. Reach out to that person, see if you can work together to mutually benefit each other’s influence you have on the community,” Jon suggests.

More Tips from Jon... • GOOGLE ALERTS is an

excellent way to be informed

about what’s happening in

your industry. By sharing

a Forbes article and

commenting your opinion

along with it, sets you up as

a thought leader.

• CALL OUT SOMEONE BIG

and hope they react or

interject. Let’s take Guy

Kawasak, for example. He

shares great articles and

his following is massive.

What if you pulled him into

the conversation about a

new marketing technique or

asked for his opinion on your

article? You don’t know if

he’ll react, but if he does, you

get a ton of exposure!

Vertical Measu

res

Staged Approach to Influencer MarketingKayla Tarantino, Strategist, Amplified Content at Vertical Measures

Sometimes, you just need a marketing tactic example of how you can implement influencer marketing into your all-up marketing campaign.

See below for tactics in each stage of the buying cycle and then read the full article for more information.

www.verticalmeasures.com/content-marketing-2/using-influencer-marketing-throughout-the-digital-buyers-journey-061317

STAGE

1A

WA

RE

NE

SS

Stage Influencer Marketing Tactics to

Try

» Sponsor content on influencers’ sites that is relevant to their audience

» Sponsor social media posts on influencers’ social channels

» Create an advocacy program aimed at encouraging current customers to share your brand

» Giveaway products or services to spur brand recognition and loyalty

» Allow a thought leader, or influential person in your field to “takeover” one of your social channels for a day

“To get the most out of your influencer marketing

efforts, understand the value across the entire

funnel and understand what’s in it for the

influencer before you ever ask for anything. Do

this well and you can leverage your relationships

to build significant long-term business value.”

Paul May, co-founder/CEO of Buzzstream

KAYLA TARANTINOStrategist, Amplified ContentVertical Measures

STAGE

2

CONSIDERATION

Stage Influencer Marketing Tactics to

Try

» Collaborate with an influencer on content, co-create, and curate content with your influencers

» Write guest contributions for leading publications in your industry

» Hold a Twitter chat featuring an influencer and let followers ask them questions

» Host webinars with influencers

» Integrate influencer efforts with ongoing social media management

» Have influencers share your content via social channels

» Actively send your content to influencers that may find it interesting

» Allow influencers to contribute to your blog or site

STAGE

3D

EC

ISIO

NStage

Influencer Marketing Tactics to

Try

» Offer exclusive discounts and incentives to your influencer’s followers

» Ask for testimonials from your current customers

» Sponsor reviews of your product or service

» Seek endorsements for your products/services

» Create a program around getting more reviews or ratings

» Focus on social strategy to build a following

STAGE

4

NU

RT

UR

E

Stage Influencer Marketing Tactics to

Try

» Loyalty and advocacy programs

» Run a giveaway or contest for your current followers/fans

» Highlight a brand advocate or fan

» Create separate lead nurture programs for your fans and influencers to stay engaged

» Send gifts to your top customers/fans or brand advocates

Share your commentary on social media

#MakeItDyn

and

@PartnerChannel

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dynamics-community