Social IRMBest Practices for Managing Social Relationships

What We Will Cover

When to Engage Influencers?

Effective Blogger Outreach

The Value Exchange

Managing Influencer Relationships

The Trouble with Compensation

01

02

03

04

05

Is your campaign blogger friendly?

Contacting Influencers

Every relationship has a beginning. Considering context

and content when contacting influencers can dramatically

increase ROI for time spent on influencer outreach.

You’ve got the perfect campaign and the perfect

influencer in mind - now what?

5

Best Practices in Blogger Outreach

The Value Exchange

Contacting influencers

Social IRM: Maintaining relationships

Issues with compensation

6

The Value Exchange

7

The Value Exchange

Influencer engagement can only be successful when true value is exchanged.

Value to Influencers

– Online social capital through high visibility for their content and persona

– Offline social capital through private events and hosting opportunities

– Traffic to their Web site

– Exclusive access to events, studies, new products

– Serving as an advisor, editor, or co-creator of content for an online space

Value to Your Company

– Mentions on high profile social media sites through posts, badges, micro-contests

– Amplify awareness around products/services/causes in influencer networks

– Driving trial and awareness thorough reviews

– Direct channel to core audience during a crisis or call to action

8

The Golden Rules of Influencer Contact

Do Your Homework.

Engage. Don't Pitch.

Write The Perfect Email.

Remember It's (Probably) Not Their Day Job.

Follow The Honesty ROI

9

Four Things to Know About Your Influencer

1. Have they posted about your issue, brand or product in the past? What has been the tone of the post? Positive? Negative?

2. Have they posted about being “pitched” in the past and being turned off? Have they talked about someone who reached out to them in an effective way?

3. What do they write about and in what context are they likely to write about your issue, brand, or product?

4. Are they serious? Do they like to make people laugh?

10

Following the Leaders

By following industry guidelines examined here (like WOMMA’s Honesty ROI) and

asking your self a few simple questions, you can ensure your influencer outreach

is ethical and effective – helping to develop a strong working relationship.

11

The Honesty ROI

To help marketers navigate changing government regulations related to bloggers, the

Word of Mouth Marketing Association (WOMMA) created the Honesty ROI as a self-

assessment tool.

Honesty of Relationship

1. How will we ensure bloggers disclose their relationship and participation in this

marketing program?

Honest of Opinion

2. What measures are in place to ensure we are not influencing bloggers to say anything

other than their own honest and genuine opinion?

Honest of Identity

3. Does this program mislead the public in any way that could damage the reputation

of our company?

These are the three core questions for any influencer engagement, for WOMMA’s full

20 Questions For an Ethical Assessment visit: http://womma.org/ethics/assessment/20/

12

Appropriate Blogger Contact

• Don’t pester them unnecessarily, but build relationships with influential bloggers who are relevant to your company or campaign so that you can approach them again in the future.

• Send the blogger a personal email (no cut and paste jobs) and clearly identify yourself.

• Tell them why you are specifically reaching out to them. What was it about their blog that makes them relevant?

• If you get a response from the blogger indicating that they are willing to engage, follow up right away: send product for them to review or additional information they’ve requested.

13

Good Influencer Contact: Why it matters

What I don't like is when I receive an email, from a reader, letting me know that a giveaway has NOT been received…What THESE bad marketers don't see, or seem to want to understand, is the time it takes to switch laundry....Twitter...cook dinner...blog...clean up cat puke...go on Facebook and check in on my teens...and then surf the Internets for articles on how to better manage my time!

I want to personally thank ALL of you for showing me (and my family) nothing but love and respect and highly recommend you to all of my blogging friends and readers!

14

Social IRM (Influencer Relationship Management) is the discipline of

building and managing relationships with influencers. It's built on the

principles of social media - respect, trust, and a true value exchange

between brand and influencer.

15

Social IRM: Why It Matters

16

Social IRM: The Formula

• Approach social media as a million ways to activate WOM (vs. as a channel)

• Create a discipline of finding and engaging influencers

• Always know the “value exchange” between brand and influencer

• Move from campaigns to optimizing relationships

• Measure performance and impact

17

http://blog.ogilvypr.com/wp-content/uploads/blogger-outreach-code-of-ethics.pdf

18

Jason Avant, looks forward to working with brands/agencies on a regular basis when they respect and value his participation.

19

Social IRM: What the Future May Look Like

“As the demand for bloggers increases, I can only draw similarities from other

places. It's common for authors who want to get on speakers' circuit to have a

speakers agent. We should expect a bloggers' agent to appear that represents

top bloggers to brands, conferences, and beyond.”

– Jeremiah K. Owyang, Forrester, August 2009

20

Legal Issues with Compensation

Blogger compensation presents both a legal and an ethical

issue for brands and blogs. Following government regulation

and guidelines, WOMMA framework, and best practices will

guide you in these murky waters.

21

Issues with Compensation: What the FTC Says

“While decisions will be reached on a case-by-case basis, the post of a blogger

who receives cash or in-kind payment to review a product is considered an

endorsement. Thus, bloggers who make an endorsement must disclose the

material connections they share with the seller of the product or service.”

22

Issues with Compensation

When Compensation is OK

• The blogger is spending time organizing

an event for the brand

• We have contracted the blogger as a

consultant for social media campaigns

• The task we have asked the blogger to

complete (i.e.-running a micro contest)

requires a significant amount of

administrative time on the blogger’s part

When should compensation be disclosed? Always.

When Compensation is NOT OK

•The blogger is being compensated to

write

a positive product review

•The blogger is compensated to post about

a product or service they would not be

posting about without being compensated

•Either the blogger or the brand has not

fully disclosed the compensation

23

Issues with Compensation & Influencer Outreach

In any outreach email where you are offering something, you should include a section that drives them to disclose, for example:

“Thanks for taking part in our program. As proud members of the Word of Mouth Marketing Association (WOMMA).  We fully support the recent FTC Guidelines on Endorsements which call for full disclosure of any ‘material connection’. That simply means that you should post on your blog or site in a clear manner that we gave you this “X” to be able to experience the product. Your opinion remains your own. You can also link to the Code of Ethics at WOMMA to demonstrate your support for best practice disclosure http://womma.org/ethics/code/“

Q: Can the brand be held liable for statements made by bloggers considered “endorsers?”

A: Both the blogger and brand can be held responsible. So, be clear in your communications with influencers and get ready to story-correct if they make improper claims.

24

Issues with Compensation: The Bottom Line

25

Blogger relations is so much more than the recognition that

bloggers ARE influencers in their own right. Now it’s the

understanding of how [you] can work with them...

- Brian Solis, eBook on Blogger Relations

26

CONTACT

Kristin ParrishDigital Strategist | 360° Digital Influence

Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwidekristin.parrish@ogilvypr.com404-881-2324@KParrish926