The Many Faces of Influence

THE MANY FACES OF INFLUENCETraackr’s tips for understanding influencer types and knowing the best ways to engage them.

Traackr

The Many Faces of Influence by Traackr

CELEBRITYTHE

5-SECOND BIO

Celebrities have a huge audience. Their Twitter feed is like their stream of consciousness. Their fame is a money-making machine and they are willing to endorse a product or brand. Best known for their ability to broadcast to a wide audience, they were not born famous. You may find they have a soft spot for the original craft that made them who they’ve become.

Find sponsorship opps.No different than a celebrity endorsement, you probably have to buy their attention. If you’re the hottest company around maybe not, but then what do you need them for?

WAYS TO ENGAGE

REACH RESONANCE RELEVANCE

LOOKS LIKE

Veronica Belmont,Revision3

Chris Brogan,Human Business Works

Gary Vaynerchuk,Vayner Media


AUTHORITYTHE

If you’re interested in a space, these are the people you’ll recognize. Authorities are domain experts that everyone looks up to. They are the most recognized for their craft. Their focus is on analysis rather than ground research. They source their data from others and are experts in connecting topic areas. They understand their space and know how to distill meaningful information to their community. Their audience is always very relevant and includes industry insiders.

Create value for their community. They’re a trusted authority. They can’t be bought but they can be convinced. They are interested in anything that brings value to their audience and elevates them in their eyes.


LOOKS LIKE

David Skok,Matrix Partners

Cindy King,Social Media Examiner

Mitch Joel,Twist Image

5-SECOND BIO WAYS TO ENGAGE

Their Reach and Resonance is a factor of how niche the topic. For true authorities, Resonance will be higher than Reach.Their Relevance tends to be high on broader topics and lower on niche topics as they would cover an array of adjacent topics.


CONNECTORTHE

Connectors cover a lot more than one issue, topic, or industry. They have good general knowledge, enough to entertain a good conversation and make educated connections between topics and people. Even though their knowledge of a specific space might not be deep, they know enough to point you to the right direction. They thoroughly enjoy making new connections.

Help them grow their network. Connectors live off their network. Bring value to it and you will be gold. Make intros, help them grow their network and connect more dots.


LOOKS LIKE

Macala Wright,Group Partners

Luke Brynley-Jones, Our Social Times

Justin Bedecarre,42Floors



BRANDTHE PERSONAL

They have an amazing ability to articulate and amplify messages. They make a living of consulting and endorsement deals if they’re successful. Their name is their currency. They love praises (especially in the form of linkbacks and retweets) and tend to shy away from feisty debates.

Help them build their reputation and SEO.Help them enhance their personal brand and you’ll be fast friends. Hurt it and there’s no coming back. Find ways to support their status and increase their visibility.


LOOKS LIKE


Brian Solis,Altimeter Group

Jay Baer,Convince & Convert

Tina Roth Eisenberg, Swiss Miss


ANALYSTTHE

Analysts are subject matter experts. They’re interested in in-depth industry trends, not timely news. They have industry expertise and make a living from consulting and other high end content or reports they publish. Or they perform the same function in-house by contributing thought-leadership to the industry and their company.

Present new data and help them build new knowledge. Help them build the base of knowledge they need to perform their job. Give them access to insider insights and new data but don’t impose your analysis on them.


LOOKS LIKE

Jeremiah Owyang, Altimeter

Barb Darrow, GigaOM

Zach Hofer-Shall, Twitter


Their low scores can be deceiving as they’re usually the trusted source for B2B enterprise and other influencers with larger audiences. If they’re from traditional organizations they might be underrepresented because their publications are behind closed doors.


ACTIVISTTHE

Activists are hyper focused. They only talk about one issue or one set of issues. Their fans are loyal. They have strong ties to the community right around them but not much beyond. The size of their audience is dependant on the size of the issue. They believe there is one answer to solving the issue that interests them and will move mountains to make it happen.

Give them access and listen. Don’t shy away from engaging with people who disagree with your point of view. To make an impact though, you’ll need to join the conversation with an open mind.


LOOKS LIKE

Sheryl Sandberg,Lean In

Jack Doresy,Square

Beth Kanter,The Networked Nonprofit



EXPERTTHE

Experts are anti-celebrities. They don’t care about self-promotion. They read, write, and curate content in their field of expertise. They have an amazing ability to become relevant on new topics. When they’re interested in a topic they invest time and build their expertise quickly. But being an expert influencer in a topic is not the same as being an authority in that space. They tend to be technical, detail-oriented, and too specialized to cater to bigger audiences.

Bring them in for expert opinion. Stay focused on their specific areas of interest. Find ways to help them produce content, deepen their analysis and showcase their own expertise to your audience.


LOOKS LIKE

Vitaly Friedman,Smashing Magazine

Lee Odden,TopRank

Tonia Ries,Realtime Report


Be aware that their low Reach can be deceiving: often Experts are the gateway to bigger influencers. They are the go-to source for Authorities to check their information & facts.


INSIDERTHE

Industry insiders have an expert, yet biased point of view because they have an agenda: to promote a story that will shed a positive light on their company (or mission). They are passionate and will find alliances to help build the market story their company needs to tell. They are pushing their industries forward without pushing the hard sell, although buying what they sell should be the logical conclusion if you listen to them.

Engage in a healthy debate.If you compete with them, engage in a healthy debate but be mindful where the debate takes place. Never play against home court.


LOOKS LIKE

Jon Miller,Marketo

Jon Ferrera, Nimble

Jerome Ternynck,Smart Recruiters



DISRUPTORTHE

Disruptors challenge the status quo and force us to talk about the real issues and opportunities that change brings. They love to understand what’s behind trends, get to the heart of issues and envision new solutions. Their audience has come to expect them to stir the pot and ask the tough questions.

Fuel the debate!Come with an open mind and willingness to explore uncharted or challenging territory. Your purpose is to further the debate and help them take it to new levels.


LOOKS LIKE

Sam Fiorella,Sensei Marketing

Judy GombitaPR Conversations

John SumserHR Examiner


Their Resonance is high because disruption tends to provoke conversation. Their Relevance is average because they can be pulled in many directions as new issues arise and conversations evolve. Disruption is always on the edge of what’s next!


JOURNALISTTHE

Journalists make a living of publishing news. They tend to freelance for many publications and maybe have their own. They usually don’t have complete control over editorial content. What they’re interested in will be dictated by editorial policy. Good journalists have the fact-checking background. They’re refreshing; they do due-diligence and talk to people before they publish a story.

Boost their readership with a juicy story and exclusives. Engage with them the same way you engage a good old journalist: with an interesting, exclusive, and timely story.


LOOKS LIKE

Jenn Van Grove,CNET

Liz Gannes, AllThingsD

Sarah Perez,TechCrunch


They have higher Relevance on broad topics but limited Relevance on niche ones. They need to cover an array of subjects to make a living. Their scores will fluctuate based on where they publish.

For more informationcontact [email protected]

About Traackr Traackr is an influencer marketing platform that helps you get results with social media marketing by finding the right influencers and opportunities.Traackr uses three metrics for measuring online influence. Reach is a person’s audience size. Resonance measures how engaging their content is and Relevance tells you how closely their content matches your topic.