New to Twitter: How-to Find Influencers to Maximize Efforts

June 13, 2011 - Posted by Shelby

 

6 Comments

Tweet

Setting Up a Company Twitter Profile

The day you decide to get your company/brand/self on twitter is the same day you should commit to reaching out to ten people/companies/organizations multiple times in the coming weeks.

Twitter itself is overwhelming to someone new on the site. There are many key steps you must take to really prepare yourself to use Twitter both efficiently and effectively. Because of this, I would like to take today to help you out with a very, very important (and often confusing) step.

Getting Acquainted with Twitter as a Business Tool: Steps 1-3

The first step being, read as many articles as you can about appropriate and valuable content to post on your twitter account and the Twitter managment how-tos you can (and strategize a plan that integrates your other marketing efforts). The second step is to fully complete your Twitter profile and determine a custom look and voice. The third step is all about posting quality content on your page so it isn’t empty (and awkward to visitors discovering your new profile). The fourth step: Find a few people to follow that are relevant to your business/brand and start following them (RT if you see something good but don’t go RT crazy. You really don’t want your Twitter feed to be full of everyone’s posts but your own).

The Fourth Step: Find some influencers and get to work!

When I say influencers I am referring to Twitter users who rise above the following standards:

1. Valuable Content (Engaging, Relevant, Useful/Unique)
2. Appropriate Frequency (daily & good number of posts/day)
3. High Quality Interaction (no spammers or RT-addicts)

… if they have these three items nailed down, it is highly probable that they have been listed and followed by many. It is important that you find a handful of influencers to interact with right off the bat because these are the people that can help you extend your reach, heighten your visability and ultimately gain twitter followers for your business.

Your first task: Write out a List

Write a list of keywords (to search for on Twitter) that would help direct you to…

• Your Industry Occupations and Common Glossary Terms
• Twitter users in your industry (businesses/organizations/associations)
• Twitter users that write about your industry (media/industry journals and publications)
• Twitter users that are (!BAM!) your competitors
• Occupations of your target audiences

*Writing a list digitally is best so you can copy/paste when you’re ready to search.

Your second task: The Big Twitter Search-Off

1. Search a top keyword or most popular competitor/industry association
2. See who a) they are following b) is mentioning them c) is following them d) is listing them e) is RT-ing them … in that order.
3. Start clicking on the Twitter handles you see (usernames) and look through lists to find people and investigate further.

Some Useful Tools for Twitter Search:

Help from Twitter:

• Twitter’s Guide to Search
• Become a Twitter Search Master Use Search Operators

Find relevant Twitter users faster with:

• WeFollow
• TWellow

Find relevant Twitter lists (following uber-relvant users) faster with:

• Listorious

Find local Twitter users with:

• TwitterLocal
• TWellowHood
• LocalTweeps

Your third task: Investigate

After you’ve compiled a list of Twitter users-of-interest, ask yourself the following questions:

1. Is their content valuable to your audiences? (Engaging, Relevant, Useful/Unique)
2. Was their last post yesterday? Are they tweeting 3-8 posts throughout the day, every/almost everyday (mix of original content, RTs and Mentions)
3. Are their interactions (RTs & Mentions) relevant to your business/industry/audiences?

Extra Credit Task: You may want to record the list of Twitter users you find and give them a grade. Here is a basic ‘Twitter Influencer Grade Report’ format:

• Twitter Handle | Type of Product/Service/Business | Follwers: ## | Listed: ##
• Twitter Profile Bio:
• Website URL:
• Last Tweet:
• Tweet Frequency:
• Interaction Level: Low – Med – High
• Quality: 1 or 2 (1 = great content you would share with your audience; looks like they would be interested in sharing your content; influencer potential; 2 = too many personal tweets; too man RTs or not enough original/valuable/relevant information).

Your fourth task: Pick your top 10 influencers and go!

Analyze the grade report you developed based on task 3. This report is something you can quickly scan and use to determine the first 10 people you will try to develop a relationship with (through sharing valuable content/mutual RTing & mentioning). Look at how you’ve ranked them and choose ten to start out with based on whichever areas are most important to you. Note: It may be hard to keep up with more than ten when you’re just getting started/if you are the lone social media resource for your company.

Once you have your ten, make your presence known and begin building the relationship!

• RT their content
• Mention them with an article link they shared, thank them for the tip, and write a custom message for your audience on why it is a good link.
• …stay tuned for part 2 of this article: How-to Build Relationships With Your Twitter Influencers to Maximize Your Efforts and Gain Followers!

Until then, you may want to get more familiar on types of Tweets & check out The Zen of Social Media Marketing for additional guidance on using social media for your business.

*Photo Source: Info Facebook

Free Online

Marketing Guide & Tips

Get your 22 page online marketing plan! plus - A free subscription to our digital adviser.
Sign up Now!

We wrote the book on

Social Media Marketing

Buy the Ultimate Social Media Marketing Book!

Let us Help you with your Social Media Marketing!