How to Influence an Influencer

Spilling secrets is fast becoming something that LornaLuxe and I excel at. Especially if it is combined with an audience, an agenda about digital and each other (and possibly a bottle of Champagne if it is after 5pm soz 7pm – tee hee).

Anyway, Cision invited us to appear in their series of Webinar’s where we would share some serious #realness on the topic of How to influence an influencer – with Lorna Luxe being the influencer and me being the PR acting on behalf of the brand.

How NOT To Contact Influencers

In real life, the digital influencer is a modern phenomenon, so not massively surprising that it is pretty easy to make a mess of it.

And it ain’t just a case of ‘Dear Blogger’ style impersonal emails causing the problems, it is a minefield of money, statistics, marketing, PR, brand, spotting bought followers, understanding Google Analytics and calculating ROI…which is so confusing that you may well want to avoid it altogether.

Influencer and PR on How to Work Together

But DO NOT WORRY because HELP IS AT HAND! Lorna Luxe and I have been doing this long enough that in this hour Webinar we give you the ONE thing Lorna Luxe always wants to be asked by brands (but they never do).

The TWO special sentences that make her hit auto-delete on an email. We will give you a THREE MONTH plan to boost your followers and interaction. Wow I sound like one of those QVC style salesmen!

Soz. here is the full and unedited Webinar – featuring our first disagreement (hey, no one said we had to AGREE on shiz).

If you are a bit short on time, I can tell you a few handy hints:

Lorna Luxe’s Point Break Theory 

Lorna & I have worked together on many different projects – including THIS Interview With Lorna Luxe. BUT we didn’t meet by chance.

Instead Lorna got on my radar, we had a social media relationship so by the time I got in touch, my first email said ‘I feel like we’re already friends.’

The rest is history and there are more details on understanding the Point Break theory, how to develop your relationships on social media and in (controversially) in real life in the Webinar.

Lorna: “So I have this Theory and this is just me personally so I don’t think I speak for everybody. I’ve always believe that if you’re looking for influencers on social media. Because let’s face it as an influencer social media is all the outlets really isn’t it?

Specifically on Instagram I always find that if you’ve been engaging with them, following them, watching them for a long period of time it almost becomes like a club of people. 

You will see the same people engage in you will see the same interactions you quickly sort out who their friends are. You know what influencers they mix with, who they go to events with.

I always use the analogy of the film Point Break where Keanu Reeves wanted to hustle the surfers. 

And so he became a surfer himself and he effectively spent time with them learning the way they work. You kind of have to do that with influencers. We are very tribal, we do have certain people we like, we don’t like and we do like things done in certain ways.

It’s a very strange industry to work in and I’m learning daily. But I feel as though the best and the most successful PRs that I work with and brands are the ones that understand how we are as a collective.”

Skill Up In Digital

Try not to utter the words; ‘I just don’t understaaaannnndddddd digital’ because who wants to be that person? Skill up!

How can you possibly talk to influencers/negotiate with brands/expect to grow online if you don’t understand it.

My tips for start up brands or new PRs?

Get a book first – try The New Rules of PR & Marketing book by David Meerman Scott (AFF Link) and if not, get a crash course from an expert in the digital field. You’ll soon be talking about your numbers/conversion like a pro.

Research Your Influencer

It is easy to become selfish in the digital world so Lorna Luxe and I believe in researching your audience to know how you can work together (pictured below when we first met along with Eimear Varian Barry).

In the Webinar, you’ll also see the TWO magic phrases that will scoop you into Lorna Luxe’s digital rubbish bin – trust me, no one wants to be in there.

So – no cut and paste emails, no sloppy language or casual ‘Hi babes’ing. Let’s think strategically folks.

Social Media as The long Game

LornaLuxe shares the apps she uses to track her growth and competitors, how to spot people who are buying followers and how she grew to over 400k followers on Instagram! You’ll end with a three month plan – trust me, it is worth it!

I also contributed to Gorkana’s Guide to Influencer Marketing. Snippet below:

Check out LornaLuxe.