5 Tips to Identify Industry Influencers
In your industry or niche, who do people listen to? You may be aware of the “celebrities” in your niche. However, you may not know who the real influencers are. Who do people listen to? Where do they go when they need information?
Generally speaking, industry influencers are present on social media. They are the people who can help your potential customers make a buying decision through their posts and interactions on social media. However, industry influencers may also be present in print publications, and they may have their own website or blog. That being said, they probably still have a strong social media presence. For many consumers, and likely your audience, that’s where the research and information gathering process starts.
Whether they’re a blogger, product reviewer, industry expert or a trusted source of information, influencers are unique to your niche.
The trick is to identify those influencers who can help you promote your products or services and influence your audience to make a purchase.
- Start with what, or who, you know. You’re probably already following a number of industry influencers. Make a list of the people and/or companies in your industry that you track. For example, if you are in the technology industry you may follow Bill Gates.
- Leverage BuzzSumo. This site helps users find influencers for any given niche, product, or service. Use the tab devoted to influencers and search by keywords. You can then filter your results by reach, authority, influence, and engagement. You’ll gain Twitter handles for influencers and you can go from there. What makes BuzzSumo even more useful is that you can export your search results.
- Old Fashioned Google Search. Type your niche and the words “Industry Influencers” into your search bar and see what happens. For example, “Technology Industry Influencers” yielded a number of recent and helpful lists of thought leaders and influencers in the industry.
- FollowerWonk, https://moz.com/followerwonk/, offers a number of features for businesses striving to boost their social marketing efforts. One of the features is an ability to identify industry influencers. Click on the “search bios” tab in the far-left hand corner. Add your keywords and review the results. You’ll see their social authority, the number of Twitter followers they have, and more. And again, you can download and export your results.
- Get on Social Media. As you’re working through your results from BuzzSumo and FollowerWonk, also start exploring other names that you come across often. Evaluate their followers and their potential influence in your niche.
Keep in mind that when you’re seeking industry influencers, you ‘re looking for people who may have an influence over your prospects and customers – to motivate them to make a purchase or to engage with your business. Whether they write a product review for you, they lend a quote to a press release, or they mention your company by name in their posts, industry influencers can help you take your business to the next level.
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