How to Find, Engage, and Work with Influencers Integrating influencer marketing into your content strategy is a great way to accelerate your content marketing efforts. The six steps below describe how to successfully identify and build relationships with the influencers who have the greatest impact on your buyers and how to incorporate them into your content marketing efforts: 1. Determine who influences your buyers and which of those influencers you want to target In addition to talking to your sales teams and, if possible, your actual buyers, there is a lot of detective work that you can do online. For example, using a simple list of relevant keywords in a Google search can help you identify a broad list of influencers. Likewise, you can search on Twitter and LinkedIn, and use PR tools such as Vocus and Cision to find influ- encers. If you are looking for bloggers specifically, Google Blog Search and Technorati can be valuable resources. 2. Prioritize your list of influencers Focus on the influencers who you believe will make the biggest impact and influence your target audience most. That means looking beyond their credentials to examine factors such as the quality of the content they produce, the reach of their social networks, and how active they are at relevant industry conferences. Better yet, ask your customers who influ- ences them directly. 3. Engage your top influencers gradually Next, start forging relationships with the influencers at the top of your list. Start with some very basic touch points to help subtly draw their attention to you over several weeks. That might entail following them socially, leaving thoughtful comments on their blog, or proactively sharing their content with your network. 4. Introduce yourself formally Eventually you will need to reach out to the influencers directly by e-mail or phone to introduce yourself and your busi- ness, and to explain your value proposition. The idea is to give them your best elevator pitch that quickly explains who you are, why you are contacting them, and what’s in it for them. It Takes a Content Factory! | 72