Social Media Marketing For Dummies, 2nd Edition

Having Only One Approach

Another common mistake of SMM is to treat influencers the way you would treat a member of the press: showering them with attention, inviting them to exclusive launches, and peppering them with press releases. The reality is that influencers in the SMM world are different, and it’s important to be aware of those nuances. Otherwise, you’ll turn them off.

For example, expert influencers who share a lot in common with the mainstream media press would still rather not be treated like the press. They want the special attention but expect you to engage with them on their own terms, recognizing the boundaries that they operate in. Many of them now publish guidelines for marketers explaining how they want to be approached. Referent influencers have never been marketed to in the past, and they usually don’t know what to expect or how best to manage expectations. And the positional influencers would much rather you not even know that they’re a big influence on the customer. So when you market to the influencers, think carefully about the influencer type and how to appropriately market to them.