HOW TO FIND TWITTER INFLUENCERS

A Guest Blog Post By Jenna Brandon

When it comes to making buying decisions, it’s rarely ads that influence our choices.

All those “buy me” messages that saturate modern web space stopped impressing us years ago.

Nowadays it’s honest reviews and recommendations from independent sources that rule the day.

Those “independent sources” are often industry leaders whose opinions on things are widely respected and listened to.

One single tweet from such person about your company can do more for your business than the most expensive advertising campaign, especially if you’re only starting to build up your audience.

But how do you get this person to pay attention to your humble self?

Hopefully, this article will clear things up.

Keep reading if you want to become a Twitter outreach rockstar.

(1) How To Find The Right People To Reach Out To!!

Getting started with influencer marketing is hard if you have no idea who the influencers in your industry are.

Maybe you’ve heard of one or two, but in order to build an extensive list, you need to do some deeper research.

Look for influencers among your own Twitter followers

What if your A-lister is already your Twitter fan?

Then he/she is definitely interested in your business and getting this person to collaborate is a piece of cake!

Just go through the list of your own followers and identify those with an audience of 50K+ people.

Then check out their profile and select those who share similar passions with you.

For example, if you own a bookshop, look for book bloggers, writers, publishers, or just anybody who tweets about books from time to time.

What you can do is offer free books or discounts in exchange for a review!!

“POWER TIPS”

If your follower list is too large and searching manually may takes you hours then try “TWEEPSMAP”

Tweepsmap.com

It sorts all of your followers by the number of their followers.

This will save you loads of time when looking for the right people to connect with for your influencer marketing campaigns.

Using Twitter Search

Another great way to find influencers is to use Twitter search.

Simply type in your keyword (e.g “travel blogger”) and Twitter will give you a list of top tweets and accounts.

Now you have a couple of hundreds (if not thousands) of people to reach out to.

The next step is to identify how influential and willing to cooperate they are.

For that you can use “KRED”

Kred.com

Simply enter this person’s twitter handle in the search line and the system will give you all the needed info.

“Influence” is the metric that tells you how much of a heavyweight the person is.

A high Kred Influence score means that this person is talked about a lot; people enjoy sharing his/her posts with their own audiences and gladly engage in discussions.

In other words, the higher the score, the more influential this person is.

“Outreach level” is what tells you how willing this person might be to collaborate.

If “influence” is about how many people interact with your posts, “outreach level” is about how YOU interact with others.

A high “outreach level” score indicates that a person is not only a taker but also a giver, and readily mentions, retweets or reply to someone else.

Here is a podcast featuring Keith Keller that explains how Kred works.

Take a moment to listen to this one before proceeding with the article.

“HOW TO MEASURE YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA INFLUENCE”

“HOW TO MEASURE YOUR
SOCIAL MEDIA INFLUENCE”https://t.co/WhxXqT4xSr @Kred #SocialMedia #Influence #InfluencerMarketing
((Podcast)) pic.twitter.com/9P6gLOt2mF

— Keith Keller (@KeithKeller) May 31, 2017

Use Hashtag Search

Hashtag search is very similar to regular Twitter search.

The only difference is that hashtags are more specific and help to target influencers who are 100% right up your alley.

For example, a #fitnessgirl hashtag will help you to find females who care about their looks, eat healthy foods, and spend a lot of time at the gym.

If you are trying to promote sportswear, sports accessories, food supplements, or a new healthy food restaurant, these are your perfect targets.

Again, use Kred to check on the social influence of people you are researching.

Use Online Tools

Since there’s an online tool for everything nowadays, you can also find influencers and even reach out to them with the help of specialized software.

FindYourInfluence - An all-in-one tool that gives you access to more than 100.000 influencers and helps to build your influencer marketing campaign. It is quite expensive, though (starting at $300 per month).

Innetwork - Just like Findyourinfluence, Innetwork is a platform that helps you to find influencers with one click instead of going through hundreds of search results manually.

You can immediately connect with them and plan the entire outreach campaign.

Buzzsumo - One of the most popular online marketing tools that gives you tons of valuable information on both relevant content that performs well in your niche and influencers who are sharing it.

A paid version of this tool even compiles your very own outreach list.

Ninja Outreach - Simply type your keyword and enjoy your list of influencers (with follower metrics, locations, and email addresses).

Ninja Outreach is one of the best outreach tools and will save you hours of your time.

(2) Pre-Pitch Process: Attract Attention

Remember that influencer outreach is all about creating relationships.

Influencers are professionals who have managed to make thousands of people listen to what they have to say.

They receive dozens of emails daily in which entrepreneurs like you bombard them with questions and business proposals.

The last thing they want to do is spend their time on people who treat them as one-night-stands and are simply there to exploit their influence, giving nothing in return.

Therefore, prior to reaching out to influencers directly, do your homework and give them some love before asking for any favors.

Become Twitter Buddies.

This trick is as old as the hills, but it’s a proven way to make an influencer notice you.

It doesn’t mean, however, that you have to stalk him/her. It is better to leave a personal page of this person for friends and family, and focus mainly on public pages and profiles.

Become a follower, respond to posts, join Twitter chats, share his/her stuff with your own audience.

Be friendly, consistent, and professional.

Comment On Blog Posts

This is where you can establish yourself as an authority (provided that you leave insightful and relevant comments) and start a real conversation with your influencer.

Neil Patel, a marketing guru, says that he recognizes his frequent commenters by name and very often gives them free advice considering their own businesses in return.

Subscribe To Their Newsletter Or Free Offering

Influencers confess that a major part of pitches they receive start with something like “I am a fan of your work”, “I’ve been reading your blog for years”, or “I am looking forward to every new post”.

3. How To Write The Perfect Outreach Email

Here comes the most important and complicated part of the entire journey.

You’ve identified which people in your industry are worth reaching out to, you found their email addresses (check out this article if it’s still a problem), and you’ve taken a couple of weeks to let them know you exist and appreciate their work.

Now you need to pluck up all your courage and actually write a pitch.

Our emails should be creative enough to stand out from the crowd, but at the same time not too cheesy

Let’s take a look at this example:

Hi there!

I am Jane Doe from Onenicecompany. We’ve recently launched a new product called Yellow River, and I think you’ll find it effective and easy to use. With the help of this app, you can automate your social media marketing. Here’s a link to download it: https://link-to-an-app

Could you give it a try and promote it across your social media to let your subscribers and followers know how awesome Yellow River is ?:)

Thanks in advance,

Best,
Jane

At first glance, there’s nothing wrong with this email, but if you look closely you’ll notice the following:

1) It is not personalized. There’s no indicator that this email was being composed with one particular person in mind. It can as well be sent to dozens of other people with no changes. Spam alert!

2) It offers no value. What is so special about this Yellow River? Is it even legit? I know nothing about this app apart from the fact that it’s an SMM automation tool. But what exactly can it do and why do I need it?

3) It is demanding. Jane wants me to promote her piece of software, but why would I want to do that? Seems like she’s only after my “subscribers and followers”. I highly doubt she even knows I have a blog.

Instead, Jane could have written something like this:

Hi Jenna,

I’m Jane Doe from Onenicecompany and I am, just like you, a Twitter fan. That’s where I stumbled upon your article [insert the name of the article]. By the way, thanks for [explain how information in the article helped you]

Anyways, since we are both obsessed with social media, I thought I should drop you a line and share some really exciting news.

Onenicecompany recently launched a new product for SMM automation.

It’s called Yellow River, and it was created in order to free you from your SMM struggles (isn’t that what every social media marketer looking for?).

Yellow River monitors unfavorable posts and comments that harm your reputation.
Publishes your scheduled posts automatically so you can go on vacation peacefully
Alerts you of new comments and tweets so that you can respond to them on time

We’ve already used Yellow River for Thisothercompany and it has brought fantastic results. Now we want you to benefit from it as well! We offer you free access for the entire month so that you can fully experience how convenient it is to have your very own SMM helper by your side. We would also appreciate it if you could spread the word about Yellow River across your social media. You can even use “automated posting feature for that 😉

Jenna, does this sound like something you would be interested in? If so, I would love to discuss our future collaboration.

Let me know what you think!

Cheers,

Jane

This second email is a little lengthy, but it is definitely personalized as hell and much more compelling. So what are the lessons that we learned?

Address a person by name. There are two main reasons for doing so: 1) it shows that you actually took a minute or two to learn at least some info about this person and genuinely want to connect; 2) personalized messages make people more inclined to trust you; thus, your chances of getting a positive reply increase.

Introduce yourself. While some bloggers prefer to go straight to the point and omit unnecessary pleasantries, I still think a nice way to start a conversation is to let a person know who you are and what company you represent. However, it’s definitely not a rule you have to strictly follow. Here’s what Tim Soulo from Ahrefs says:

Be clear about your goals, but leave the decision to them. Whether you want to get featured in an expert round-up or you want this guy to write a 3000-word review of your product, do not hide your intentions. However, remember that you’re not in a position to demand anything from him.

Offer value. Simply put, let the influencer know how he/she will benefit from collaboration with you. Obviously, you want something from this person, but what’s in it for him/her? Make sure your offer is irresistible by showcasing benefits, using social proof, statistics, etc.

Add a personal touch. A-listers receive dozens of messages daily, most of which immediately go to trash.

Why? Because they are too boring, impersonal, or worse - templated.

If you want your emails to stand out, stop being a robot and add some emotions to your messages.

4. Post-pitch Process: Maintain Good Relationships

Many of us make a dreadful mistake once the pitch is sent: they think the process is over and simply disappear.

However, the most interesting part is yet to come - the reaction of an influencer.

In case he/she agrees to a partnership, remember to say thank you and jump at this chance to further develop your relationships.

In case you don’t hear back from this person for more than a week or two, don’t give up and send a follow-up email.

Entrepreneurs are busy people, and chances are high that he/she simply forgot to read your message or didn’t have time to reply.

However, if the first follow-up email didn’t work, it makes no sense sending the second or third one.

It will definitely give you a reputation, but not the reputation you’d want to have.

Even if your outreach was unsuccessful, keep in touch and do not forget to comment on blogs and occasionally mention this person in your tweets.

Do not disappear and burn your boats. If your appreciation was genuine before a pitch, why would it vanish now?

THE TAKEAWAY!!

According to the recent study, “nearly 40% of Twitter users have made a purchase as a direct result of a Tweet from an influencer.”

Needless to say, influencer marketing works, and it is definitely worth your time and effort.

Remember that outreach is about building relationships, not about manipulating people in order to make them do what you want.

Do not disregard human element and respect people for what they’ve already done for the development of your niche.

Create something unique and valuable, because even the best pitch won’t help if you’re not proud of your product in the first place.

MEET JENNA BRANDON

Jenna Brandon is a blogger, copywriter, and digital marketer at Writology.com.

When she’s not busy writing articles and studying modern marketing trends, she cooks pizza or goes hiking with her friends.

HOW TO FIND TWITTER INFLUENCERS