pr 2.0 - the rise of the online influencers

PR 2.0 The rise of the online influencers

The changing role of PR in the social media environnent

Social Media is far more important than you think

The media landscape has shifted

Media consumption by channel. Source: Universal McCann: Social Media Tracker 2012

There are more than 1.8 billion social networks users worldwide

The social universe continues to expand More people on more social websites than ever before

Nearly a quarter of the total time spent online is on social networks

Why is this so important?

56% of consumers are just waiting for you to reach out to them, so they can promote your brand for you.

How to make it work?

Influence

Let’s take a step back to the history of influence

Influence comes

from those

we know

Those recommandations from peers are driving sales

Who are these online influencers?

There are various types of influencers

They are seen as being an expert or specialist in a defined category, area or sphere of interests

They have a big network of followers who are interested in that area, and so they can reach a lot of your target customer.

They interact with their followers regularly, and are able to influence purchase decisions frequently.

And they are trusted and respected for their opinions, advice and recommendation not only due to their expertise, but also by being seen as being objective and independent from commercial pressure.

They’re not only superstar bloggers. They can be anyone

How to identify these online influencers?

You have to find your online influencers

You need to listen to what they are saying

Listen with monitoring tools

They are talking about your brand your products and services their experience in your stores your competitors

But most of all, they are talking about what they need and what they expect from your brand

How to measure their influence: Are they really influent?

Don’t be fooled by the 3 F (Friends, Fans, Followers)

Conversational exchange The number of replies or comments per post

Reach The size of the direct audience

Content amplification The number of shares per post

Keep in mind that you have to find influencers you can actually engage

How to engage with online influencers?

Take the time to know the influencer before contacting

They are not journalists, so don’t pitch!! Start a two-ways conversation with them

Be transparent and honest

Provide the influencers with information that actually fit their interests or fields of expertise

Offer an experience and make them feel privileged

Do not: - Ask they "send this to everyone in their inbox“ - Send a press releases or use anything from the marketing collateral - E-mail until you get a response

And above all, once the relationship is created, maintain it!

What is the role and importance that influencers can play in this new social media environment?

They are the ones shaping your e-reputation

From listening to managing online reputation

Online reputation management is the practice of monitoring the Internet reputation of a person, brand or business, with the goal of emphasising positive coverage rather than negative reviews or feedback.

Conversations evolve within a global ecoystem

It is important to track them

Before having to deal with a bad buzz or a bigger crisis that may cause collateral damage to your brand

And when it does…

Be transparent, be committed Your online reputation will weight a lot during a crisis. Better be it in your favor

Regularly publish informative and pedagogic content such as Q&A, particularly on topics which might be perceived as sensitive, in order to redirect potential trouble makers toward it

Empower your team People want to talk to real people, they don’t want to hear your CEO’ speech

Define an escalation procedure Who does what, who is authorized to respond, who writes the messages to be published, which are the channels and tools to be used

Acknowledge the issue and be honest Let people know that you are working on the problem Publish (if feasible) positive content around the issue. Never adopt a negative tone of voice. Don’t censor concerns, address them publicly

And don’t forget… These opinions are having an

impact on your

business

It’s not only about PR

Being ready to target online influencers means having an organization with a customer-centric approach at all levels

But this is a whole other chapter…

Thank you!

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