How to Research Influencers
for Your Next Marketing
Campaign

Paul May
Co-founder, BuzzStream
Get in touch anytime:
@PaulMay
Welcome!

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Building a list
of influencers
is easy...

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...but building an influencer campaign that
gets results takes work.

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The challenge you face...

1/9/90 Model of Influence
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Content
Creators
(1%)
Engagers
(9%)
The Market
(90%)
Content creators shape the market and drive the conversation
Source: Aaron Strout, W2O Group and Dr. Bill Ward, Syracuse University

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Source: d
“Although most writers publish
one story per day, 44% of them get
pitched a minimum of TWENTY
TIMES per day”

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In the middle of difficulty,
LIES OPPORTUNITY.
- Albert Einstein

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There are three keys to a successful
influencer marketing campaign.
Planning, research and relationships.

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Gated eBook targeted at
SEOs and content
marketers
Case Study:
‘Linking Outside
the Box”

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Step 1
DOCUMENT GOALS
AND KPIs - ALL
ROADS SHOULD
LEAD HERE

Goals and KPIs for the eBook
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● Principal Goal: Generate interest and drive “marketing qualified
leads” for our SEO product (BuzzStream for Link Building).
● KPIs:
○ 1,000 downloads of the eBook within one month of launch
○ 100+ people sharing the eBook
○ 500+ new non-customer names in our email list
○ 10% increase in BuzzStream trial signups over last month

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Step 2
MAP THE
INFLUENCER
LANDSCAPE

Who influences this eBook’s
target market?
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PeersThought leaders Journalists
SEO Twitter
SEO Community
sites (e.g.,
inbound.org)
Link building
bloggers
High authority
SEO and content
marketing bloggers
Digital PR bloggers
Search marketing
pubs
Marketing pubs
Content marketing
pubs

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PeersThought leaders Journalists
Exposure
Sharing culture
Relationships
Build a reputation as
an expert
Exposure for their
agency/company
“Give to get”
Strength of story
Fit with their beat
Pitch quality, easy to
work with, respects
their time, etc.
“What’s in it for me?”
What motivates these influencers to promote content?

● Journalists and high influence bloggers will rarely write about gated
content.
● Community members often don’t like to share a link to a landing page
Challenge
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● Where do conversations about your topic take place? Where does
sharing take place? How social is the market?
● What motivates people to promote content about your topic?
● Is activity concentrated among a few publishers, or is the market
fragmented?
● What’s the author model for the key publications? Journalists?
Regular contributors? Guest contributors? Hybrid?
● What’s the background of the authors in the space? Are there natural
segments?
Questions to ask when mapping the landscape
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Tools to help map the influencer landscape

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Step 3
CONNECT THE
CONTENT
PROMOTION PLAN
TO GOALS/KPIs

Our Approach - Owned, Earned, Paid Promotion
Ideation LaunchEditing/StagingContent Creation
Content Collaboration - big influencers
Early access:
- influencers
-friends
Early access:
Customers
Targeted
Social Ads
Owned Media
Promotion
Early access:
Advocates
Relationship Nurturing - influencers, sharers

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Content Collaboration
Included influencers in
multiple key segments.
Multiple benefits:
○ Improved the book
○ Broadened reach
○ Added credibility

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Customer and
Community Relationships
Send early copies:
○ Influencers/friends: one
week before launch
(soliciting feedback)
○ Customers: 1 day before
launch (early access)
Include shout-outs in the
blog post.
Benefits:
○ Improved the eBook
○ Drove sharing
○ Built loyalty

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Targeted Social Ads
Twitter, LinkedIn,
Facebook, retargeting
Twitter targeting:
○ Followers of link building
influencers
○ Don’t follow BuzzStream

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Step 4
FIND AND RESEARCH
INFLUENCERS TO
BUILD YOUR LISTS

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BuzzStream Discovery
Use to find influencers
for collaboration
Benefits:
○ Research content
creators via keyword
○ See all influencer
content & shares
○ Determine influencer
engagement & activity

1.Set threshold metric filters (DA 60+, posted in past year, 1,000+
Twitter followers)
2.Enter relevant keyword (link building)
3.Review influencers by content to determine collaboration candidates
BuzzStream Discovery Workflow
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Google
Use to determine top
ranking domains in a
niche
Benefits:
○ Ubiquitous
○ Advanced search &
filter options
○ Review organic and
paid results

1.Structure search term to return optimal results (“link building
intitle:guide” within past year)
2.Review domains and content to determine relevance (several plugins,
including our Buzzmarker, can help speed this up)
3.Determine author information and add to list
Google Workflow
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BuzzSumo
Use to find sharers of
similar content
Benefits:
○ Search top content by
keyword or domain
○ See who shares and
links to content
○ View information for
specific URLs

1.Search URL for specific piece of similar content (in our case we use
“The Beginners Guide to Link Building” from Moz)
2.Click “Sharers” button next to the content
3.Research list of Twitter users in your niche willing to share content
similar to what you’re promoting
BuzzSumo Workflow
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Step 5
NURTURE
RELATIONSHIPS
“BEFORE THE ASK”

Questions?
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Thank you!
Further questions? Contact us:
Paul May - email address
Brittany Berger - brittany@mention.com
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