There’s an old adage that it takes a village to raise a child. For many entrepreneurs, their business is their baby and some situations call for more hands on deck. Social media and marketing doesn’t happen in a vacuum so get out there and develop relationships with social influencers for maximum impact on your brand’s marketing strategies. Who are social influencers? Well, that varies from industry to industry but, broadly speaking, social influencers are thought leaders who can reach your target demographic in ways that perhaps you aren’t able. “Engaging with social media influencers allows you to increase awareness of your brand, create brand advocates, increase online reputation, and increase pagerank. Whether your business objective is to increase awareness or improve SEO traffic, social media influencers can help with that” - Kristina Cisnero, Hootsuite Define who the social influencers are in your market though sources like Klout, popular blogs, and reviews of your own social connections. And of course, there are a few things to keep in mind when you start to form partnerships between influencers and your brand:

1. How to Partner
with Social
Influencers

2. There’s an old adage that it takes a village to raise a child.
For many entrepreneurs, their business is their baby and some situations
call for more hands on deck. Social media and marketing doesn’t happen
in a vacuum so get out there and develop relationships with social
influencers for maximum impact on your brand’s marketing strategies.
Main image via Shutterstock

3. Who are social influencers?
Well, that varies from industry to industry but, broadly speaking, social influencers
are thought leaders who can reach your target demographic in ways that perhaps
you aren’t able.
“Engaging with social media influencers allows you to increase awareness of your
brand, create brand advocates, increase online reputation, and increase pagerank.
Whether your business objective is to increase awareness or improve SEO traffic,
social media influencers can help with that” - Kristina Cisnero, Hootsuite
Define who the social influencers are in your market though sources like Klout,
popular blogs, and reviews of your own social connections. And of course, there
are a few things to keep in mind when you start to form partnerships between
influencers and your brand:

4. More isn’t always merrier
No one likes feeling like they’re just a cog in a wheel, so choose your influencers
carefully and begin with a limited number. Reach out with personalized messages
that show you’ve done your homework and have selected them for their obvious
relevance to your brand. This is the time for carefully worded emails with a
personal touch, not spammy DMs that could apply to just anyone.

5. Share the love
Make sure to take care of the social influencers who take care of you - share, love,
like, retweet, and comment on their content just as they do for you. After all, visible
engagement is what social media is all about, and being good at it is what gets
influencers where they are today.

6. Review and reflect
Set aside some time periodically to review the social influencers you’ve partnered
with to make sure you’re both on the same page. Perhaps your brand has gone
in a different direction or maybe their sphere of influence has changed and your
partnership adjusted accordingly. Remember, you’re both investing time and
energy in the process so make it count.
What are some of your strategies for reaching out to social influencers?
Share your thoughts in the comments.

7. Review and reflect
Set aside some time periodically to review the social influencers you’ve partnered
with to make sure you’re both on the same page. Perhaps your brand has gone
in a different direction or maybe their sphere of influence has changed and your
partnership adjusted accordingly. Remember, you’re both investing time and
energy in the process so make it count.
What are some of your strategies for reaching out to social influencers?
Share your thoughts in the comments.