This eBook is a follow-up to the Influencer Continuum™, our proven methodology for engaging influencers and cultivating them into Super Advocates™ for your brand. In this eBook, we provide the steps and guidance to create influence marketing programs which will move your target influencers through our Influencer Continuum, or to any level of engagement you hope to create.

2. The Appinions Influencer Continuum™
Our Influencer ContinuumTM begins with topic based influencers – those who
cause others to take action. The methodology serves as a guide to help
brands form deep connections and advocacy with these influencers.
In this eBook, we’ll provide you with the steps and guidance to create
influence marketing programs which will move your target influencers through
our Influencer Continuum, or to any level of engagement you hope to create.
Click here to learn more about the Influencer Continuum
2

3. Who is an Influencer?
Appinions defines an influencer as a person, brand or
company who expresses a contextually relevant
opinion that is meaningful enough to elicit action from
others.
Social presence alone does not always indicate
influence. Influencers may have a popular blog or
strong social media presence, speak offline to press or
to audiences, and/or have a strong network online or
off.
Most influencers are active in their topic of expertise
over a period of time; we call those Earned
influencers, and, in most cases, consider them the
most credible and valuable. Other influencers may
have short-term influence on a topic, or they may be
up-and-coming in their space.
3

4. Why does this matter to you?
Because influencers have the ability to drive
action, converting influencers to advocates for
your brand can be a powerful way to amplify
awareness and support your brand initiatives.
When an influencer becomes an advocate for
your brand, we call them a Super Advocate™ – a
fan of a brand who also has a platform to
influence for the brand.
4

5. What’s an influence marketing program?
Influence marketing programs are designed with
the end goal in mind – to build loyalty among
influencers and turn them into Super
Advocates™.
These programs may incorporate traditional,
digital, and social media marketing tactics
depending on where your influencers fall on the
Continuum and how they like to interact with
brands.
Influence marketing programs are typically long-
term engagements. Any one program can have
multiple touchpoints and is often built over
months, if not years.
5

6. Steps to an influence marketing program
1 2 4 As outlined in the Influencer
Continuum, there are four major
steps to creating a successful
influence marketing program:
1 Identify your Influencers
Map Influencers to
2
Continuum Phases
Determine which Brand
3 Assets you possess (or want
to create)
4 Create your program
3
6

7. 1 Identify your Influencers
You have two options when identifying your
Influence Cluster:
• Consider influencers you’ve already
engaged with
• Find new influencers
Note: If your company or brand has already engaged with influencers, skip to Page 10. If you’d like to
find new influencers, read on.
7

8. 1 Identify your Influencers (cont’d)
How to Find New Influencers
• Identify the topics within which you’re looking to engage influencers.
– These may be prominent themes that your brand focuses its reputation
on, attributes or characteristics of your target audience, or industry
topics related to your product or service.
• Listen to what people are saying across the web and traditional media.
– There are countless monitoring tools that you can use to search
conversations, news articles, and blog posts across the web. Find the
tool that’s right for you based on the volume of conversations, number
of keywords, and budget.
– Pay attention to sentiment around the topic – you will most likely want
to engage with influencers who are positively disposed towards your
topic, and not negative about your brand or product.
8

9. 1 Identify your Influencers (cont’d)
Identify Known Influencers to Engage
• Consider “known” influencers you or your teams (PR, marketing, corporate
communications) have already engaged.
– These influencers can be clustered and moved together to a new
Continuum phase.
• Consider influencers you may already be following. Here are a couple of
places you can find them:
– Blog authors from your RSS reader, if you think they’re smart on the
particular focus topic.
– People you’re following on Twitter, if they regularly engage on your
topic.
– Newsmakers in traditional media.
9

10. 1 Identify your Influencers (cont’d)
Analyze Your Influencer List
Once you’ve compiled a list of potential influencers, evaluate each individual
for credibility, engagement, and activity.
• Understand the point of view for each influencer you identify. For example,
if they are already a strong advocate for a competitor, they may be less
likely to want to work with your brand.
• Look to see if their blog posts or articles get comments, and whether
they’re active in responding to those comments.
• Do they have a social media presence and are they active? If so, which
channels are they most active on and do they engage in conversations with
their followers?
• Is there an easy way for you to contact them?
10

11. 1 Identify your Influencers (cont’d)
Another Option for Influencer Identification
If you’re not interested in spending the time and energy it takes to manually
sift through content and monitor conversations, remember that the
Appinions Influence Marketing Platform does it all for you. Let’s talk!
11

12. 2 Map Influencers to Continuum Phases
Before you begin your program, you need to determine where your targeted
influencers are on the Continuum.
For example, if influencers already know about your brand, product, or service,
you have passed the awareness phase and should focus on the credibility
phase. Further, if you have activated your influencers in the past and they’ve
built that credibility, you may want to focus on the emotional connection and
loyalty phases.
12

13. 2 Map Influencers to Continuum Phases (cont’d)
Mapping Influencers
Influencers who fall into each phase of the Continuum are likely to meet the
following criteria. Note that some of your influencers may be pre-Awareness;
your program goal may be to move them into Awareness.
Awareness Credibility
• Aware
of
your
brand,
product,
or
• Have
shared
your
content
on
their
service
website,
social
media
channels,
or
in
a
• Have
visited
your
website
conversa;on
• Follow
one
or
more
of
your
social
media
• Have
interacted
with
your
brand
either
profiles
in
person
or
online
Emotional Connection Loyalty
• Have
formed
a
personal
rela;onship
• Are
repeat
customers
with
your
brand
through
physically
• Refer
you
to
their
network
regularly
mee;ng
representa;ves
at
an
event
• Recognized
contributors
to
new
product
• Have
first
hand
experienced
of
your
ini;a;ves
product
or
service
13

14. 2 Map Influencers to Continuum Phases (cont’d)
Developing Influence Clusters
Influence Clusters are highly focused groups of
topical influencers aligned to a particular niche,
goal, or objective. These are especially valuable if
you are focused on promoting several topics with
different types of influencers because each group or
cluster may require different levels of attention and
different engagement tactics.
When creating influence clusters, assign influencers
in the same topical area, who are at the same phase
of the Continuum, to the same cluster.
14

15. 3 Determine Your Brand Assets
What is a Brand Asset?
Brand assets are tools you can use to help engage with influencers.
Meetup
White Paper Meet R&D
Team Invite to
Primary Speak at
Research Event
Tradeshow
VIP Treatment
Expert Voice Content
Give Products Contributor
Online Event Demo
Brand Party
15

16. 3 Determine Your Brand Assets (cont’d)
Identify existing Assets or create new
ones
Determine which assets you have
available and set aside the ones you
will need for this effort.
If you don’t yet have any assets, come
up with a strategy for creating the
assets you need to move influencers
into the Continuum phases you’d like
to affect.
16

17. 4 Create Your Program
Map Influence Clusters to Assets
Once you have mapped influencers mapped to
the correct phases of the Continuum, determine
how you wish to engage them to move them
through your influence marketing program.
You will be using each asset you have identified
to engage with an influencer, or cluster or
influencers.
Planning and tactics are extremely important
here, as influencers should be approached and
relationships fostered with care.
17

18. 4 Create Your Program (cont’d)
Program Template
Use this template to create your influence marketing program. For examples of Influencer Continuum
programs, also visit our website.
Program
Name
Give
this
program
a
name
to
dis;nguish
it
from
others
you
have
running
simultaneously
Timeframe
Describe
the
;meframe
in
which
this
program
will
run
(i.e.,
January-­‐February
2013)
Con/nuum
Phase
Describe
which
phase
you’re
expec;ng
to
move
influencers
into
(i.e.,
Build
Awareness,
Awareness
to
Credibility)
Objec/ve
Describe
your
objec;ve
in
crea;ng
this
program
(i.e.,
generate
coverage
for
product
launch,
establish
brand
as
thought
leader)
Influence
Cluster
Describe
the
influence
cluster
you
are
targe;ng
with
this
program
(i.e.,
local
mom
bloggers,
B2B
tech
writers
in
the
storage
space)
Brand
Assets
Describe
the
brand
assets
you
will
be
using
in
this
program
(i.e.,
product
giveaway,
tradeshow
invita;on,
wri;ng
opportunity)
Program
Descrip/on
Describe
the
program
in
detail
Notes
Keep
notes
about
the
program’s
progress;
make
note
of
successes
and
opportuni;es
along
the
way
18

19. Conclusion:
Reap the Rewards of Influence Marketing
Congratulations! You’re on your way to creating influence marketing programs.
Don’t forget, the power of influencers must be cultivated on an ongoing basis. Once your plan is in
motion, keep up the momentum! Continue the conversation regardless of who your influencers
are, whether or not your goals change, and despite any staff turnover.
And remember: influencer engagement takes time. Don’t get discouraged if you’re unable to
attract influencers right away. Putting the pieces of an influence marketing plan into place before
you start the process can take a significant amount of time and energy, but the hard work is worth
the payoff in this case.
Finally, once you’ve converted an influencer to a Super AdvocateTM, keep them involved and
active. It is at this point that these relationships are the most valuable to you and your brand.
For more information on creating Super AdvocatesTM, check out our
Resources page on our website. For ongoing tips and tricks to influence marketing
success, subscribe to the Appinions Influence Marketing Blog.
19

20. Enjoyed this eBook? Spread the word!
Share this ebook
20