Influencing the InfluencersA MassTLC Social Media Cluster Presentation

Alan Belniak / @abelniakJanuary 31, 2012

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An age-old issue with a shiny new name

We make stuff. People buy stuff. People are skeptical of us talking aboutour stuff. People believe other people when they talk about our stuff.

“Well, woopty-doo. What does it all mean, Basil?!”

It means that we need to be friends with ‘the other people’.

What is “Influencer Management”?

image source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QRt2_OLY3Ho

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30 years ago, the main groups of people that published opinions (and influenced) were analysts and major media publications.

Now, anyone can publish.

The number of ‘other people’ just grew exponentially. And theways for them to share content grew. And the ways to find themand their content grew as well.

Why Is This a Big Deal Now?

The way we view it…

image source: http://www.socialmediatoday.com/SMC/106502

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Publication Proliferation = Stratified Credibility

Control

Credibility

“Traditional” Media Coverage

Advertising

“Brand Journalism”

Analyst Coverage

Blogosphere & “Twitterverse”

Paid

Earned

Social

Owned

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How is PTC Responding to This Shift?

The PTC Story is Evolving

Product-centric solutions-oriented storytelling

A challenge for new markets (lack of ‘legacy leadership’)

The good news: elevate our stature with the influencer community and focus on thought-leadership

Hurdle 1: need to clearly articulate the challengesour customers face and how to resolve them without talking about product features

Hurdle 2: ‘product news’ garners more clicks

Hurdle 3: bring influencers who know us along for the journey, while introducing ourselves to a whole new cast of characters

image source: www.nileseldredge.com/companion.htm

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List of Tier 1 influencers and publications, per geography– shared among all PR/corporate communications staff

Traackr-collected list of influencers, based on key words

PR/Corporate Communications review every quarter, including agency– review coverage (location, person, volume, sentiment)– review potential new additions to Tier 1 list– review potential removal from Tier 1 list

Review internal press release pipeline– match stories up against influencer interest/publication beat– as appropriate, reach out

Engage with these influencers– social media has made people more findable and more reachable than ever before

Use clipping service and social media monitoring to track coverage

So, How Do We Do This at PTC?

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Speed affects the ability to influence an editor or author

Social media has changed that speed

Use tools to get to a point to establish and maintain a relationship

Use these tools as another way to engage in an ongoing dialogue

We need to use social channels as one of many tools to keep an edge

In Summary…