It’s getting more difficult to grow your email marketing subscriber list these days, with people being more careful about personal security and also just tired of being spammed. You can keep on with the ways that do work, like offering sign-up specials or freebies, or you could try expanding your list by engaging with influencers, who already have thousands of connections. So how do you get and engage with influencers online?
Firstly, you need to identify the platforms on which to approach them. LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook are the preferred social media platforms for finding influencers, but it’s not going to be an overnight phenomenon – you need to put in time and dedication into engaging with your connections.
Secondly, take the time to identify who you want to connect with – people in your industry obviously, but bear in mind, you will need to offer something in return. Influencers are not likely to give you their followers for nothing. A quick way to get started, is to open up your Twitter account, and type keywords into the search bar, that relate back to your industry, product or service. Then, click on “Accounts” and it will show you everyone on Twitter with those keywords in their profile. Choose who you want to follow – but the key now is to get them to notice you.
To do this can be tricky, but a good start is to retweet their posts. The influencer will receive a notification when their content gets retweeted, so you are likely to get noticed. Include their names in your own posts, perhaps quoting them or crediting an idea back to them; then send them a tweet to show them what you’ve done. Make a note of what times they use social media, and reach out to them during those times.
Once you have done this, you can start to engage with the influencers, by responding to emails, commenting on their blogs, inviting them to join a conversation or download something you’ve posted. Keeping at these steps will hopefully get you a guest post opportunity, or a mention in one of their posts. It’s a good idea to set a time limit on engagement – if it hasn’t worked after a month, move onto the next influencer.
For more on email marketing or using social media to grow your business, contact us today!