5 Influencer Marketing Strategies For Bootstrapped Startups
1. Breaking the ice with influencers
You’re probably thinking:
Yes, getting them to answer my first messages has been the hardest. How can I strike a conversation?
Simply put, people are more likely to listen to you if they’ve seen or met you once. In a Fractl study, over 60% of journalists said that it’s important to establish a connection with them.
Here are three ways you can do that.
The easiest way to grab influencers’ attention is by commenting on a post they wrote. Eventually, no matter how crowded the comment thread can get, if you stand out with your value adding summaries and suggestions, you’ll get noticed.
Commenting doesn’t necessarily have to be on a post the influencer wrote. Here’s an example of how I leveraged Quora to start an engaging discussion with a journalist.
Once they participate in the discussion, quote them in your blog post and tweet their answer thus opening many doors for future discussions.
Humans like to be praised and appreciated.
One other way you can start a conversation with an influencer is through citations. Essentially, you’re finding a compelling reason to start a conversation by writing about an argument they made or a post they wrote then contacting them with few personalized notes from your post.
Fred Wilson wrote: “Marketing Is For Companies Who Have Sucky Products.” I disagree with Fred so I emailed him after posting an interview with Matt and Rand who also referenced to his marketing article.
We started talking, he cited me in his next post and the relationship continued.
Notice how the relationship starts with a meaningful conversation and takes time to develop into a long-term win-win relationship. Definitely, not a hit-and-run kind of relationship.
Here is how it goes:
Following this approach, Sujan and I eventually published:How to email cold prospects and get people to respond.
2. Become a source for an article
You may be arguing:
I just commented on many of my target influencers’ posts but this strategy seems to be long term and I really need some coverage soon, so what else can I do in the meanwhile?
Assuming you’ve nailed yourone sentence pitch, the best case scenario is when you address your target influencers’ needs while you satisfy yours. For instance, if you’re seeking press opportunities throughJustReachOut, the easiest way to start is by finding relevant influencers who are seeking content from people like you.
Here’s an example of some press opportunities for those who are working on a product in IoT space.
These are reporters who are deliberately asking for my content. All I have to do is show them how my profile or story will be of value to their magazine, blog, podcast, etc.
It’s also important to keep in mind that an influencer isn’t a journalist by default.
For instance,Abdo Riani, founder ofEntrePerks, where entrepreneurs can access over $20,000 in free and discounted tools and services from some of the best products in the market, built relationships and consequently partnerships with over 100 growth startups. His target aren’t journalists but startup founders.
Therefore, the only way you can be of value to your target influencer is by 1) knowing who they are, and 2) understanding their needs. Most people give time to those who care to help them achieve their goals.
3. Provide data or insights
Another excellent way to trigger influencers’ interest is by providing them with unique data or insights that only you have to offer.
Here’s an example from my now acquired startup, Polar.
Here’s another example of an email I sent to Darrel Etherington at TechCrunch:
Darrell had the poll on TechCrunch just a couple of days after I sent him this email.
We are more likely to give back to those who gave or owe us something even if it’s small. Help others do their job and accomplish their goals, you’ll be surprised how far people can go to help you achieve yours.
4.Interview them
They saw your detailed comments a few times, you cited them in your posts but you don’t have a unique dataset or insights to share yet, how else can you approach an influencer? Interview them.
Back when Facebook was approaching an IPO, I asked a group of experts,would you buy Facebook stock if you could right now?All they had to do was send me a sentence or two answering a question, something that could literally take them a minute.
What happens after?
They may or may not promote the post but guess what? now, I have an e-mail thread with them. I have also been of value because I promoted a piece I created from their expertise. I now have a reason to go back and continue to build a relationship with them.
5.Contribute to Quora and Reddit
You want to start meaningful conversations with likeminded people and experts in your space?
One of the simplest ways to do that is to answer Quora or Reddit questions, ask questions of your own and engage with others.
What I typically do is contact an influencer who’s not part of the discussion seeking their answer to an asked question because of their expertise in the area. Most of the time, experts don’t mind sharing some knowledge with those who ask for it.
From JustReachOut, I searched and found two questions that fit my profile.
An invitation means recognition. Experts like to be experts. The least you can do is reinforce their expertise.
Above all, start connecting and building relationships with your target influencers before you need them. Treat it like a relationship, not an advertisement.
First, get noticed, second, start a conversation, and finally build a relationship.
Story byDmitry Dragilev
Dmitry single-handedly grew a startup from zero to 40 million page views through SEO and got acquired by Google. He has translated his know-(show all)Dmitry single-handedly grew a startup from zero to 40 million page views through SEO and got acquired by Google. He has translated his know-how into an SEO and PR coaching programPRThatConvertsand a software appJustReachOutwhich is used by 4,000+ professionals and entrepreneurs to pitch relevant influencers and bloggers to gain exposure and traffic. In his spare time he documents his experiments on his blogCriminallyProlific.
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A. Trigger their curiosity with comments
The easiest way to grab influencers’ attention is by commenting on a post they wrote. Eventually, no matter how crowded the comment thread can get, if you stand out with your value adding summaries and suggestions, you’ll get noticed.
Commenting doesn’t necessarily have to be on a post the influencer wrote. Here’s an example of how I leveraged Quora to start an engaging discussion with a journalist.
Once they participate in the discussion, quote them in your blog post and tweet their answer thus opening many doors for future discussions.
B. Cite them or a post they wrote
Humans like to be praised and appreciated.
One other way you can start a conversation with an influencer is through citations. Essentially, you’re finding a compelling reason to start a conversation by writing about an argument they made or a post they wrote then contacting them with few personalized notes from your post.
Fred Wilson wrote: “Marketing Is For Companies Who Have Sucky Products.” I disagree with Fred so I emailed him after posting an interview with Matt and Rand who also referenced to his marketing article.
We started talking, he cited me in his next post and the relationship continued.
Notice how the relationship starts with a meaningful conversation and takes time to develop into a long-term win-win relationship. Definitely, not a hit-and-run kind of relationship.
C. Point out typos
Here is how it goes:
Following this approach, Sujan and I eventually published:How to email cold prospects and get people to respond.
You may be arguing:
I just commented on many of my target influencers’ posts but this strategy seems to be long term and I really need some coverage soon, so what else can I do in the meanwhile?
Assuming you’ve nailed yourone sentence pitch, the best case scenario is when you address your target influencers’ needs while you satisfy yours. For instance, if you’re seeking press opportunities throughJustReachOut, the easiest way to start is by finding relevant influencers who are seeking content from people like you.
Here’s an example of some press opportunities for those who are working on a product in IoT space.
These are reporters who are deliberately asking for my content. All I have to do is show them how my profile or story will be of value to their magazine, blog, podcast, etc.
It’s also important to keep in mind that an influencer isn’t a journalist by default.
For instance,Abdo Riani, founder ofEntrePerks, where entrepreneurs can access over $20,000 in free and discounted tools and services from some of the best products in the market, built relationships and consequently partnerships with over 100 growth startups. His target aren’t journalists but startup founders.
Therefore, the only way you can be of value to your target influencer is by 1) knowing who they are, and 2) understanding their needs. Most people give time to those who care to help them achieve their goals.
Another excellent way to trigger influencers’ interest is by providing them with unique data or insights that only you have to offer.
Here’s an example from my now acquired startup, Polar.
Here’s another example of an email I sent to Darrel Etherington at TechCrunch:
Darrell had the poll on TechCrunch just a couple of days after I sent him this email.
We are more likely to give back to those who gave or owe us something even if it’s small. Help others do their job and accomplish their goals, you’ll be surprised how far people can go to help you achieve yours.
They saw your detailed comments a few times, you cited them in your posts but you don’t have a unique dataset or insights to share yet, how else can you approach an influencer? Interview them.
Back when Facebook was approaching an IPO, I asked a group of experts,would you buy Facebook stock if you could right now?All they had to do was send me a sentence or two answering a question, something that could literally take them a minute.
What happens after?
They may or may not promote the post but guess what? now, I have an e-mail thread with them. I have also been of value because I promoted a piece I created from their expertise. I now have a reason to go back and continue to build a relationship with them.
You want to start meaningful conversations with likeminded people and experts in your space?
One of the simplest ways to do that is to answer Quora or Reddit questions, ask questions of your own and engage with others.
What I typically do is contact an influencer who’s not part of the discussion seeking their answer to an asked question because of their expertise in the area. Most of the time, experts don’t mind sharing some knowledge with those who ask for it.
From JustReachOut, I searched and found two questions that fit my profile.
An invitation means recognition. Experts like to be experts. The least you can do is reinforce their expertise.
Above all, start connecting and building relationships with your target influencers before you need them. Treat it like a relationship, not an advertisement.
First, get noticed, second, start a conversation, and finally build a relationship.
