Consultants are increasingly on the hunt for influencers who can support their clients’ efforts and some vendors say they have a solution to getting content distributed to them.
Krishana Davis, director of digital at Democratic firm Precision, notes that anyone from a moderator of a large Facebook group, a newsletter author or even a mommy blogger could be considered an influencer. Want to get the word out about your group’s child tax credit position? It might make sense to reach out to the groups of moms in, say, the DC-Maryland-Virginia (DMV) area.
“It depends on how localized that [person’s] influence is,” Davis said. “You need to find people at that sweet spot who can reach an audience of people that care about an issue and are well versed in … disseminating news and information.”
Davis does caution against using only a strategy that incorporates content creators with a national following.
“I think influencers are great, but these people aren’t on the ground,” she said. “I think the days of celebrity endorsements having a huge [impact] are gone. Their voice is not as powerful in that way.”
Once a campaign or group launches an influencer marketing program, Trilogy Interactive’s Anastasia Golovashkina suggests creating a social media toolkit to ensure the partners stay on message.
“I recommend making these as easy to use as possible — and emphasizing the absolute must-haves to include for folks who decide to get especially creative with their content. Like with any great article, write with the likelihood of skimming in mind,” Golovashkina wrote in C&E.
Rather than working with content creators not directly connected to a campaign, there’s also the possibility of simply turning your own supporters into influencers — or “ambassadors” as Greenfly calls the community members who disseminate its clients’ content online.
“When people think of influencers, they think of a very transactional relationship,” said Daniel Kirschner, who co-founded Greenfly with his cousin, former MLB outfielder Shawn Green. A campaign or group’s supporters onboarded to Greenfly are “sharing the content because they’re excited to share our content,” he added. In other words, they’re not getting paid for doing it.
The Santa Monica, Calif.-based company, which is part of the 2021 Higher Ground Labs cohort, could also enable campaigns and groups to work around potential social media political ad bans or restrictions, if they’re reinstated. Instead of relying on paid social, Greenfly’s clients can use their supporters to get their content distributed beyond their own channels’ followings.
“Think about this, really, as a tool to communicate with a constituency — [even] outside of the actual heat of the campaign,” said Kirschner.
