A clear brand VOICE and VISION results in clear messaging. out: Was the outcome good, bad, indifferent or unusual? What can we do with that info? Learn. Assessing instinctual performance leads to learning. Influencers who identify times when their instincts were right capitalize on similar opportunities. Hit or miss, lessons were learned. Use them to do less of what failed and more of what worked. If missing the target seems to be a habit, study what others do well and follow their lead. Placing value on instinct is not the same as abandoning a content plan or ignoring performance metrics. Use those tools to strengthen intuition about what matters to current and future followers until one day instinct is baked into the process. STEP 4: OPTIMIZE. In “How to Use SEO to Build Your Brand,” author and entrepreneur Neil Patel said influencer marketing works because it is inbound, not interruptive—which makes optimization critical. Patel added that, for any business, the “user experience will be formed around how your users feel about you” and related brand content based on whether they find it: useful, usable, desirable, findable, valuable, accessible and credible. There are several best practices for optimizing influencer platforms and personal branding strategies. Here are a few examples: Build a killer profile. Maintain completed social media profiles which include high-res photos, relevant keywords and key links. As Jones said: “Really painting a picture of who you are and why you do what you do … can yield huge
benefits. When you write your LinkedIn profile, put yourself out there.” Track engagement. Know how comments, likes, status updates and shares compare to follower count. Track which posts worked best and figure out what they had in common. Post profiles on multiple platforms and see which are the most niche-specific. LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter may be the big four—but go with whatever offers vertical traction. Be systematic. Smart influencers run comparative A/B tests to confirm what worked and will continue to work with their audiences. It can be tempting to throw everything at the digital wall and hope something sticks. But a systematic approach always yields better results. Cross-promote. At Tricky Enough, tech and marketing writer Tiffany Harper noted that once the right message and messaging channel are established the time has come to cross-promote content that succeeded. Keep content repurposing in mind, too, rather than reinvent the wheel. The goal is get others genuinely psyched to Like, Follow, Connect, etc. The best way to do that, said Jones, is to be authentic rather than try to be an Influencer: “People can tell when you’re being really, authentically you and when you’re not. So, you might as well just go for broke ….” In other words, keep trying. ■
EDITOR’S NOTE: Try, try again! Read “Who’s Following Who? Upping Your Influencer Status,” also written by Karla Lant, at DigitalUnicornMag.com.
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