As promised, I am following up my post from last week – Cultivating Non-traditional Influencers in Tech PR – with this interview of Stephen Andrews, a VP here at Fusion PR who has done some great work in the area.
Stephen is an all around brilliant PR pro who is also a former Arthur Andersen
consultant and managed influencer relations for IBM in a previous life
Thanks, Stephen, for enlightening us on this important topic.
Please define IRM for non-traditional influencers
IRM stands for Influencer Relationship Management and in practice refers to the logistics of creating and implementing a successful program that draws upon non-traditional experts, and by this I mean those experts external to your client’s organization, for their general industry or specific expertise. The purpose of seeking and engaging influencers is, at its essence, to leverage these outside opinion leaders to help drive a dialogue within your industry. It’s the ultimate form of expert validation of your client’s messages that goes far beyond the simple supportive quote and can encompass everything from ongoing co-branded thought leadership materials to events and even campaigns.
How does an IRM program work?
The mechanics of an IRM program closely resemble those of any well thought out media campaign, though is often much more focused. As with any media based campaign a solid IRM program begins with an understanding of what it is your client wishes to accomplish from a communications perspective; what message do they wish to communicate, to whom and in what fashion. It’s also necessary to understand that when you engage influencers or opinion leaders you will be ceding some message control to the influencer(s) you choose. From there it’s all about the research, finding those people who are, in fact, influential and whose opinions closely match the strategic direction of your messaging. Once you have your influencers chosen it’s time to make the initial outreach, essentially pitching the influencers to become a partner of your client. Usually the higher the level of executive initially reaching out to potential influencers, the greater the chance of success. This is known as the engagement phase. This phase might also include advising on subjects such as buying likes for social media, you might click here to learn more, and even potentially collaborative projects between influencers to possibly boost results.
Once the influencers are engaged it’s time to meet with them and speak about the actual event, campaign or collateral piece you plan to execute, brief the influencer and ensure alignment with the client’s objectives.
What do companies stand to gain through better IRM?
IRM offers companies three main benefits; first it’s an opportunity to drive an entire industry’s discussion and ultimately direction, second it offers a level of validation far beyond anything a company can achieve with internal experts, and finally it offers companies an industry voice one step removed from the corporate entity which can open a far broader range of things and degrees of messages which the company can have a hand in.
How do you measure effectiveness?
IRM programs fall closer to other thought leadership tactics as far as measurement goes in that they tend to have less of “flash-bang” effect and more of a long slow burn. The results depend on the actual event, collateral or campaign and its goals, but in general IRM affects the long-term attitudes of customers, media, analysts and competitors within the specific area where the program is targeted. It is most often used in conjunction with other communications tactics to form the basis for fundamental directing of an industry or industry segment.
