How to Generate Influence for Your Brand

Marketers’ jobs today are multi-faceted. They’re constantly looking for new ways to connect with people through a variety of media venues, and they’re always seeking methods to strengthen their brands’ image and messaging — especially in ways they can extend and repeat through online and social media channels. One of the hottest trends in marketing is the brand influencer, a champion of your brand who can trigger increases in traffic and conversions.

Different types of influencers work at different stages of communicating your message. Therefore, brand influencers can take many forms. Here are a few types:

• Internal — A company’s greatest brand advocates are its employees — the people who are passionate and knowledgeable about the brand they work for. Marketers frequently turn to enthusiastic employees to spread word of mouth about a company’s products and services, most often on social media such as Facebook and Twitter.
• External — External brand advocates are customers and clients who talk up your brand on social media simply because they like it. These types of influencers are unpaid and are motivated purely by passion and respect for your company.
• Celebrities — Celebrity endorsements have been brand influencers for generations, and that remains true today. Sports figures, film and TV actors, celebrity chefs, and other well-known figures can have an inherent connection to and knowledge of your industry or the theme of a given event. Also, celebrities can draw in influx of attention at a live event, and they can create a buzz that you can then carry forward in your social media promotion.

As a successful company, you already have your internal and external brand influencers working hard on your behalf. So now it’s time to involve the celebrity advocate by preparing a celebrity event.

Once you’ve got your celebrity picked out and the logistics planned, what’s the best way to turn your chosen celebrity into an influencer? Here’s a few suggestions:

• Ensure that the celebrity’s connection to your brand or event is well-established. This involves pre-event coaching and preparation.
• Do all you can to promote the appearance ahead of time, being sure to engage the celebrity in those pre-event promotions.
• Allow as much free/open engagement with the celebrity as you can. Plan your event so that your celebrity can chat with individuals as well as address the whole audience.
• At the event, encourage social media engagement from event staff and attendees. You can even integrate social media into the event by including a Tweetup or a contest as part of the action.
• After the event, continue to engage with social media to respond to people who are customer-level influencers — average people who have something to say about the celeb or event.

A celebrity appearance is your ticket to creating buzz, building your sphere of influence, and promoting your brand! And Pro Sports MVP is the connection you need to make it come together.