Madeline McCabe, Senior Analyst, PublicRelayFirst Data Corporation’s Vice President of Communications, Michael Schneider, recently discussed influencer analytics that the team leverages to inform their broader influencer and media relations strategies. In the clip below, he highlights three types of influencers that should be on the radar of next-gen communicators and how your measurement program can help you uncover and engage them:

Traditional Influencers

It’s an aggregate of factors that determine which journalists the Communications team at First Data will engage. Potential impressions of an outlet don’t guide their influencer strategy as much as the combination of syndication, social sharing data, and active following on social. The goal is to encourage audience engagement, rather than garner a large amount of potential impressions. All of this influencer data is analyzed over time to understand who receives consistent engagement, which then prioritizes outreach.

New Era Influencers

Today we’re in an era where almost anyone can be an influencer with a strong blog or social media presence. These new era influencers are an important tool in a next-gen communicator’s arsenal. Again here, the emphasis is on quality over quantity. Schneider says, “you could be somebody who on Twitter may only have 150 followers, but if those 150 followers are 150 high-value folks that you want to create a relationship with, then that person may be an influencer.” It’s important to understand the demographics of an influencer’s audience, the audience’s level of engagement, and the topics that receive the most engagement to determine if an influencer is reaching the right audience for your brand rather than just a large audience.

Third-Party Influencers

Third-party influencers are experts in their field that journalists often quote or consult when writing an article. They can include academics, political pundits, regulatory groups, and other industry experts. They lend objective credibility to your brand’s thought leadership if your thinking aligns.Schneider points out that it’s important to approach these influencers with the mindset of “what can we offer them?” rather than solely how to leverage the relationship to amplify your message. Share your data and insights about the industry with these influencers to contribute to their journey and this will foster a goodwill relationship. Schneider says in the end, this approach to influencer engagement “leads to wonderful sounding boards for strategic ideas that you might have. Once you develop that cone of trust, you can bounce ideas off of people and really see what others think.”Uncovering third-party influencers often requires more in-depth influencer analytics because they tend to be buried in the body of an article rather than author pieces themselves. The extra effort is worthwhile however to establish this kind of mutually beneficial relationship.Interested in learning more? Watch the on-demand recording of “Shaping Communications at First Data Using a World Class Measurement Strategy.”