Influencer Marketing and SEO 101
When talking about social media marketing, we often make reference to influencers, those individuals online and IRL that command authority and who people look to for recommendations and advice, be it in search engine marketing or sports memorabilia. With influencers existing in every vertical imaginable, what SEO benefits can be gleaned from these partnerships.
First and foremost, if you are working with an influencer’s website or social media account, you should always try to earn a link from them. Now I didn’t say “build” because that would insinuate manipulating what should be an organic process, and should be agreed upon at the outset of the partnership. Ideally, not only will you get a link from the influencer’s site, but he or she will also add tantalizing hyperlinks in social posts.
Another time-tested and Matt Cutts-problematized SEO method is guest posting. If you are working with a YouTube star or someone with an authoritative site with valuable linkages, then consider offering them an exclusive guest post or something even more attractive, like a prize signup that they host on their site and link back to you.
But what about finding these influencers? If you’re working in a field that you’re unfamiliar with, then it’s time to use a number of different tools and sites to help you parse out the influencers from the followers. Followerwonk, Facebook Search queries, Twitter, and BuzzSumo are all extremely useful tools in highlighting writers and internet personalities whose posts, vids, and articles are doing especially well in a certain field.
In addition, when reaching out to influencers, they are usually going to know immediately what your intentions are: to bolster your own brand. Sincerity and authenticity go a long way here; don’t reach out to a football blogger if you’re a baseball memorabilia company. You need to have specific relevance to their audience on top of value to their personal brand, not to mention potentially increasing their reach, so approach influencers like you would want to be approached.
Of course, there are many other approaches to obtaining success with influencers on top of gleaning SEO value, so start with the above suggestions and see what other opportunities arise. Chances are, once you gain some traction with a few influencers, their followers will soon start taking notice.
