Post on 23-Dec-2015
How Advocates and Influencers Create Growth Using Social
Media
Presented by: Mick Twomey, Co-founder of PointBurst
What’s the difference and why do you care?
Brands now have to pay to reach their fans
Influencers and advocates are powerful because of what they
inherently offer
Exponential Reach The average employee has over 500 connections on social media The average influencer has far more
Unrivaled Trust 81% of U.S. online consumers’ purchase decisions are influenced
by their friends’ social media posts (Market Force) 84% of people trust recommendations from people they know,
while only 15% trust recommendations from brands (Gartner). A word-of-mouth recommendation is the primary factor behind
20% - 50% of all purchase decisions (Modern Comment)
How do you build a stable of influencers?
Identify your influencer goals
Find the appropriate influencers Services like Brander (www.branderapp.com) will find and vet
them for you Install a plugin on Chrome to add Klout to Twitter
Give to receive Add them to lists on Twitter and begin to track their posts to find
things you can retweet or comment on to build a genuine connection
Find commonalities and identify ways to reach out with a more personal connection
Consider the power of an army of advocates
Your best advocates will exist in the field
They have the power to increase the reach for your social media content exponentially
Mobilize to delivery a flurry of positive information during a time of negative press
Deploy the right content at the right time to drive messaging around a new product release or announcement
A peek at the Facebook fans for major direct selling brands
Ambit Energy Mannatech Rodan + Fields WorldVentures -
20,000
40,000
60,000
80,000
100,000
120,000
140,000
24,000
65,000 71,000
119,000
But how many are they actually reaching?
Ambit Energy Mannatech Rodan + Fields WorldVentures -
20,000
40,000
60,000
80,000
100,000
120,000
140,000
24,000
65,000 71,000
119,000
1,680 4,550 4,970 8,330
Facebook Fans Likely Organic Reach
But YOU are in a good spot!
Direct Selling is the perfect industry for social advocates
Army of volunteer sales people who WANT to get the word out about you
Gary Vaynerchuk refers to each of the reps as their own media company
Advocates DRIVE brand awareness
Large direct selling organizations may only be reaching less than 10% of their fans organically. Corporate posts from… Ambit, Mannatech or Rodan + Fields could reach less than 5,000 fans WorldVentures could reach less than 10,000 fans
Imagine the impact of a trusted and brand pure message coming from your field to their 300 friends on Facebook alone 100 reps would yield a potential reach of 30,000 1,000 reps would yield a potential reach of 300,000 10,000 reps would yield a potential reach of 3,000,000
Where would you want to focus your efforts?
Tips for a successful social advocate program
Dedicated Resources – great content is critical for success and that takes time, effort and expertise
Advocacy Champion – identify someone to own this process
Process Support – pilot first, employ technology or proven process to enable the field from the beginning
Analyze and Improve – track results, provide incentives, gamification
In Summary
Building and nurturing your influencers and advocates can be a tremendous boost to your brand’s growth
“But whether our social media platforms reach thousands with our brand message or a single person who needs our assistance, social media is relevant for direct sellers, so we need to manage it well. After all, social media, like direct selling, is all about relationships.” – Direct Selling News
Mick Twomeywww.pointburst.com
Mick.twomey@pointburst.com469.556.8443
@mick_twomey