Micro-Influencer Marketing Presentation for XCPD-732

1. Micro-Influencer Marketing is 1% Inspiration, 99%Perspiration XCPD-732 Social, Mobile and Search Marketing Georgetown University School of Continuing Studies Professor Shashi Bellamkonda April 7, 2018, 11:00AM Hashtag: #gtmim Twitter: @chrisabraham Google+: google.com/+ChrisAbraham Facebook: facebook.com/chrisabraham LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/chrisabraham Slideshare: www.slideshare.net/chrisabraham

2. Your Speaker: Chris Abraham  Principal Consultant  Avid Blogger/Contributor: @chrisabraham #gtmim

3. My Personal Digital PR Philosophy  Find people where they live (and meetthem there even if it’s a forum or messageboard)  Explore the long tail micro-influencers(there are millions of people blogging, sharing, and posting online – and PR tends to pile on the same 100 “influentials”) “We want you to take 50 million of us as seriously as you take one reporter from The Wall Street Journal”   (#83 of the 95 Theses from The Cluetrain Manifesto)  Spoil everyone (like you would Guy Kawasaki)  Be grateful (nobody is required to helpyou) @chrisabraham #gtmim

4. Why You Should Reach Past the A-List  Influencer marketing tends to focus on only identifying and engaging top-25 influential bloggers  Out of those 25, maybe 3 will cover your story over the course of a campaign  We collect every influencer who has ever had a thematic interest in our customers  We collect them all – all of them – into a "universe" – a list  We reach out to each and every one of them – no fewer than 2,000 but often 5,000 – via email  But then that’s where the work starts @chrisabraham #gtmim

5. Why You Should Reach Past the A-List  The initial blast is akin to speed-dating  Most good pitches don’t require a personal relationship  Success depends on five things:  Freshness & quality of the list collected  Generosity of the “gift” being offered in the pitch  The ability of the email to reach the inbox  The charm & responsiveness of the responders  Following up twice after the initial email outreach @chrisabraham #gtmim

6. On the Internet, nobody knows you’re a dog @chrisabraham #gtmim

7. Campaign Questions  Goal: what is it you need todo?  Monitor: what are you looking tofind?  Discover: where are people talking?  Learn: who are these talkingpeople?  Collect: what groups do youneed?  Engage: how best to connect?  Outreach: how best topitch?  Analyze: how did you do? @chrisabraham #gtmim

8. Campaign Questions  Compensation: are you willing to pay influencers for their time?  Budget: what are you willing to spend? Campaign? Per-month?  Discretion: will you allow me to choose or do you need sign off? @chrisabraham #gtmim

9. Goals: What Do You Want to Accomplish?  Build brand awareness?  Increase community engagement?  Prospect new brand ambassadors?  Drive sales, traffic,membership?  Drive conversation volume?  Improve organic search?  Get a feel for your neighborhood?  Launch a new product, service,investment? @chrisabraham #gtmim

10. Monitor: Listen/Look Before You Leap  Google Search is the best tool to get afeel When it comes down to it, Google does an amazingjob of giving you a 30,000-foot view of the blogosphere   Spend some time understanding thespace It’s not always obvious how people engage with you, your brand, your space, or your industry. Allow your community to lead your exploration; do not be willful: people don’t always use your language  Include message boards, forums, etc., in your recon   Try out all the tools: it’s a buyer’smarket SDL SM2, Radian6, Sysomos, Sprout Social,Lithium  @chrisabraham #gtmim

11. Internet Rule #34: If It Exists There Is Porn of It @chrisabraham #gtmim

12. Discover: Finding People Where They Live  Social media is much bigger than Facebook There are a multitudeof social networks, self-runmessage boards, threads deep in reddit, and ad-hoc discussions everywhere online (Dailymile.com, etc.)   If it exists, there is blog of it (Rule 34 variant) There are more than a billion active blogsworldwide   Always start with Google  Influencer discovery Traackr – traackr.com  GroupHigh – grouphigh.com  Little Bird –getlittlebird.com  InkyBee – inkybee.com  @chrisabraham #gtmim

13. Discover: Finding People Where They Live @chrisabraham #gtmim

14. Learn: Do They Want to Be Engaged? AndHow?  Blogs (including online journalists, curators, aggregators, group blogs, andbloggers) Can you find their name and email address?  If contacting them is hard, maybe they don’t want tobe  Look for a “how to engage/pitch” message  Follow their directionsto a T (or don’t engage them at all)  Can you find their name and email address?  If you can’t find it, maybe they don’t want to be pitched   Social Networks (including FB, Twitter,etc.) Engage before befriending beforepitching   All Platforms (including forums, reddit, etc.) Many influencers want to be compensated for access  @chrisabraham #gtmim

15. Collect: Demo-, Geo-, Psycho-Graphic Lists  The A-list/Tier-1 (the crème de la crème ofinfluence) Generally professional bloggers and journalists, including the blogs andprofiles of mainstream media platforms, celebrities, high Klout scores, high-traffic blogs, authors, actors, scientists, pundits, newsmakers, and people with madfollowers  Will blog for free, but only if they’re compelled to (exclusive content, big news, financial releases, new investment,etc.)  Never, ever, include A-list bloggers in a bulk email pitch – hand-written only  Prepare your kid-gloves and your checkbook – find ways to woo them personally (over lavish meals, inviting them to HQ, or meeting them down at oneof the many conferences they attend)  Become a persistent “bestie” – either as someone who is a communicator pitching them good, consistent, and valuable content or, even better, apersonal friend who doesn’t just collect them as a method of access or a sign ofprestige  @chrisabraham #gtmim

16. Collect: Demo-, Geo-, Psycho-Graphic Lists  B-D-List/Tier-2 (the mid-section of the long tail often asks formoney) While not all B-D-list bloggers lead with an advertising rate sheet, many do   Most PR campaignsaren’t budgetedfor advertisingspend so I don’t pay for posts  Ideally, earned-mediais the goal of PR campaigns,so it’s up to you  Many of the B-D-list bloggers can get you what you need for less than a strongad buy  While disclosuresare essentialeverywhere, they’re doubly so for “advertorial” content I tend to put any blogger who asks for money into a DNC* list  Midrange bloggers are easier to access, harder to garner earn mediamentions from, but a worthy investment of time and attention toward a long-term relationship   People help out their friends, so becomingclose may curry favor for earned media pitches I generally include B-D-list bloggers in general long-tail bulk email outreach  *Do not contact list @chrisabraham #gtmim

17. s Collect: Demo-, Geo-, Psycho-Graphic List  E-Z-List/Tier-3 (the long-tail, including ~1 Billion online micro-influencers) While a billionactive blogs are well out-of-scope, please remember:   No matter how obscureyour product or service, there’s probablya blog about it  The original Rule #34 is: “If it exists,there is porn of it;” same for the blogosphere Collect email addresses, influencer name, and maybe location only forE-Z-list   While I might be willing to chase down the contact info of A-D-list bloggers via forms or hunting them down via LinkedIn or Facebook Messenger, Dailymile mail, orTwitter DMs, I only engagelong-tailmicro-influencersif they share their email addressgladly  If bloggers don’t make it easy to contact them, they may not want to be contacted; and, if you contactsomeone who doesn’t want to be, there will be serious blowback Send everyone in your list a bulk email pitch but be ready to engage inperson   Don’t worry, most people aren’t fanboys – a cold-pitch is fine if your “gift” isgenerous @chrisabraham #gtmim

18. Collect: Demo-, Geo-, Psycho-Graphic Lists @chrisabraham #gtmim

19. Engage: Pitch It Slow and Right Over the Plate Tell, don’t sell  Lead with the news, not the used car   Pitching is speed dating You don’t need to overwrite  Allow people to beintrigued   Less is more Attention span is limited  Pre-masticate message into easy-to-understand pabulum  Don’t include attachments or inlinecontent  Don’t BS, brow n nose, lie, or flatter  "Please don’t say you read and love my blog, then pitch me on something that I never cover here" -- Mack Collier  @chrisabraham #gtmim

20. Outreach: The Catch Is the More Important Part  The informational microsite Internally, I call it anSMNR   Social Media News Release  The kitchen sink theory Don’t limit the SMNR to just thepitch  Influencers are often libertariancontrarians  Give a lot to look through – give themoptions   Steal me, steal me! Optimize content to becopied-and-pasted  Pre-embed embedcodes  Pre-link and optimize for SEO,etc.  @chrisabraham #gtmim

21. Outreach: The Magic Happens in the Inbox @chrisabraham #gtmim

22. Outreach: Yet Another Mail Merge @chrisabraham #gtmim

23. Analyze: It All Comes Down to the Bottom Line  Track using site analytics tools GoogleAnalytics trackingcode in the SMNR Server-side analytics tools: AWstats,Webalizer Track both SMNR & targetsite     Track using media mention tools I presently use SDL SM2 (AlterianSM2)  Primary, secondary, tertiary, etc., mentions  Lots of free and fee-basedtools  Google Analytics is becoming moreSM-savvy   Track using specialized landing pages Using affiliatetricks-of-the-trade   Track using unique identifier URLs Many clients can offer affiliate-type links  URLs unique to the campaign  URLs unique to each influencer  URLs unique to the product  @chrisabraham #gtmim

24. Analyze: The Proof Is in the Pudding 133 earned media blog posts, 1,350 Tweets, 40other @chrisabraham #gtmim

25. Analyze: The Proof Is in the Pudding @chrisabraham #gtmim

26. Analyze: The Proof Is in the Pudding @chrisabraham #gtmim

27. Analyze: The Proof Is in the Pudding @chrisabraham #gtmim

28. Analyze: The Proof Is in the Pudding @chrisabraham #gtmim

29. Current Client: Skinny & Co. Coconut Oil  Currently, Gerris Corp is working on an earned media campaign for Skinny & Co. coconut oil. SMNR: skinnyconews.com  Client is the perfect client for earned media: Product is timely andsexy  Client is generous with allinfluencers  No influencerfloor  Beautiful packaging and top-qualityproduct  Month1 - 185 product requests,323 responses,158 posts  Month2 - 122 productrequests,203 responses,121 posts  Month3 - 128 product requests,183 responses,156 posts  @chrisabraham #gtmim

30. Current Client: Skinny & Co. Coconut Oil  As a thank you to all the bloggers and influencers, we always try to give them all some link love via Gerris and my personal blog.  We encourage Skinny & Co. to thank, engage, comment, Like, share, reshare and retweet any and all earned media content they discover and we share.  While I am far from perfect, I try to do anything I can outside of the product to show personal appreciation. @chrisabraham #gtmim

31. Any Questions? @chrisabraham #gtmim

32. Final Words “Hugs not horns” – ChrisAbraham “Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle” – Philo ofAlexandria (or Plato or Ian MacLaren or John Watson) @chrisabraham #gtmim

33. Contact Me Any Time This presentation is already up onSlideShare: www.slideshare.net/chrisabraham Email: chris@gerr.is Mobile: +1 202-352-5051 Twitter:@chrisabraham Google+: google.com/+ChrisAbraham Facebook: facebook.com/chrisabraham LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/chrisabraham Blog: chrisabraham.com/blog @chrisabraham #gtmim