Please download our “Industry Influencers” handbook. If you are looking to increase the reach and engagement of your social strategy, this handbook is the perfect place to start. The handbook contains: * An introduction to the importance of influencers * A tip sheet of best practices * A worksheet for the perfect engagement strategy * A tracking sheet to organize your influencer network

2. INTRODUCTION
The future of social media lies in identifying and utilizing industry
influencers. Instead of hoping to broadcast your message to the
masses, you should be trying to create a groundswell, allowing
influencers to share your messages for you. So how do you go about
putting influencers to work for you? Let’s take a look.

3. ENGAGING can do a little legwork on your own. If
you use a social client like Hootsuite or
INFLUENCERS Tweetdeck, you should already have
columns set up to monitor your industry’s
The one-to-many broadcast style that has
most common keywords. Keep an eye on
made social media such an appealing
these columns for any of the following:
channel for so many marketers is
changing. Tweets are now buried under
• Is a particular person retweeted
the thousands of new accounts added
frequently?
daily, and according to Facebook analytics
• Are people sharing content from a
firm PageLever, most Facebook page
particular person often?
posts fade off into the ether in just three to
• Is there somebody who tweets your
five hours after being published. Brands
keywords a lot?
need to adapt their focus in order to be
successful. But how? Simple. With a focus
It is likely that the people you identify are
on industry influencers. Let’s take a look!
influential on topics pertaining to your
keyword. Once you’ve identified these
influencers, it’s time to start building a
Do Your Research
relationship.
As the importance of influencers
continues to grow, a number of services
have sprouted up to help businesses Quick Tip
identify the influencers. Paid service Twitter lists can also be another
LittleBird promises to put you in the right great place to find influencers.
conversations with the right people, and
Klout has introduced a new service aimed
at identifying the best influencers for a
Build Slowly
company. However, both are still in private
Start your relationship slowly by following
beta.
your influencers on major social channels.
Keep the first two weeks strictly to passive
So while you are waiting for these services
engagement. Retweet a particularly
to become available to the masses, you
resonant tweet and share some of their

4. content (if they create any). You want to linking to your content may be all you need
share enough of their content that they to elicit a response.
recognize you as a consistent follower.
Special note: It is important that you present
Special note: Simply linking to their any influencer with value. You should not
content will not put you on anyone’s radar. request a share for just any work. Only put
Take a minute to add value in the form of your best content -- something you are truly
your own thoughts or feedback. proud of -- in front of an influencer.
Nurturing the Relationship
Make Your Pitch Now if you’ve laid the groundwork, you may
Once you’ve spent some time building your see your content spread far and wide by your
relationship, it is time for you to put that influencers. After your celebration dance
relationship to work by pitching a piece you need to make sure you maintain your
of your recent content for them to share. relationship. Don’t stop sharing, retweeting,
This is often a nerve-racking moment for and engaging with your influencers. The
many marketers, but needlessly so. Most more you maintain those relationships,
marketers have never heard of an influencer the more likely it is that you will get shares
getting upset, complaining, or otherwise again.
acting unpleasant in any way. The worst
case scenario is that your request will get
Quick Tip
ignored.
Consider creating a schedule to
stay on top of your relationships.
Pitches can range in seriousness, and your
approach should hinge on what you’re
looking to accomplish. If you are looking to Let’s take a look at some useful tips,
have an influencer publish your content on worksheets, and tracking sheets that will
their site or blog, a well-composed email is help you get your influencer strategy up and
often the best way to make your request. If running!
you are simply looking to have them share
your content with their network, a brief tweet
pointing out why they may be interested and

5. TIP SHEET

6. WORK SHEET

7. TRACKING SHEET

8. ABOUT PARDOT
Pardot offers a best-in-class marketing automation platform that manages
prospect interactions such as site visits, email, forms, and more. The on-
demand suite solves the integration challenges faced by B2B marketers
by allowing control of once disparate online and offline marketing tools
in one central interface.