With publicity, you beat your own drum. You seek recognition from media outlets with coverage providing you with a powerful means of reaching audiences with a message about your product or service.

Media, like any sound informational resource, will call on others to validate your message or expand on it.

The folks that the media call upon for backup information or observations are “influencers.” A positive opinion or observation from an influencer can turn a routine publicity effort into a powerful third-party message that can be utilized throughout your entire marketing program.

Said another way, marketing experts believe that the 10 percent who are the most influential spread the message to the other 90 percent.

So, how do you go about getting to these influencers and persuading them to adopt your message?

Influencers need news. And we provide news to them.

Before influencers can work their influential magic, you have to find them.

At Wellons Communications, we use powerful professional database services to assist in distributing information to the media. These services enable us to put together highly targeted news distribution packages that reach key consumers and trade media appropriate for your particular news item.

We also maintain a proprietary list of influencers for each of our clients.

These lists are developed specifically for each client. The list includes influence leaders in their industry whose observations are frequently called upon by media to flesh out a story.

In tourism, for example, our influencer list includes sources that are called upon for observations about vacations, restaurants, entertainment, and travel transportation. This includes travel trade leaders in various associations, regulatory resources, and non-traditional media sources whose observations can reinforce and amplify publicity information.

Depending on the specific message our clients are presenting, we also include the key influencers and let them know what our clients are doing.

What kind of information are influencers seeking?

Generally, influencers are looking for information that will either reinforce or deny a particular point of view.

For example, if gas prices are declining, will people travel more?

Or they may reflect something new or different within an industry, e.g. a new service or tweak on a new service like increasing acceptance of EMV chips that you insert into a card reader (i.e. contactless payment).

So where do you find the influencers?

Increasingly, influencers are found online. They have their own websites. They have podcasts. They conduct surveys and report what they find.

They do not show up on traditional media lists. Finding them and cataloging them into a database requires research and time. But when the list is assembled, it becomes a valuable add-on tool to your public relations program.

Other sources of influencers are more obvious. They include trade association resources and leaders in services that provide key components to specific industries.

For example, orange growers provide orange juice to grocery stores and restaurants, which qualifies them as experts for observing the effects of weather on the supply of orange juice or the quantity and supply of juice during a particular growing season and how that will affect orange juice pricing.

No matter what, influencers need news to keep up with what’s happening

And they need it at the very same time you issue news so that they can have an opinion or observation about your news.

That’s because, just like you want publicity, the influencers are eager to be called upon by media that value their observations because of their overall market knowledge.

At Wellons Communications, we know how to find and root out the influencers

Want to increase your influence? Give us a call.

We’ll be happy to expand on how we can help influence your overall marketing reach and influence.