I have been thinking about the value of becoming a social media influencer. Now when people use this term, they tend to think of internationally known marketing gurus who have hundreds of thousands if not millions of followers and who command huge speaking fees. Guy Kawasaki is a good example.
But you don't have to aim for such giddying heights. You can also become a local social media influencer. Needless to say this is a lot more easy to achieve.
This is because users of sites like Twitter, Facebook, Google Plus and Pinterest follow people who have the same interests. Now, if you share an interest with someone and are also in the same city or country as them, you've got two things in common.
I've noticed this on Twitter and Facebook while promoting my politically oriented blogs. It hasn't taken that long to establish a presence there by sharing content about Australian politics. And I can speed the process up further with popular locally oriented hash tags like #Auspol. There are even state related ones like #WApol and #politas I can use too.
And I've seen the benefits of local orientation using my Twitter account for this site. I've been amazed at how many Perth restaurants and cafes are active on Twitter -- not to mention all the foodies, many of whom have blogs. Because of this I have actually been thinking I should become a food blogger myself. But I can't do that. It's just not me. (I might become a coffee aficionado, though!)
While food and coffee related content looks the most promising in this regard, the local business niche seems very promising also. So that's what I'll aim for.
Local social media influencers will never have the clout of international ones, of course. But they can have a surprising effect on sites they choose to share. Take Tweet Perth. I saw the power of this account when it retweeted one of my blog posts and I got a hundred hits in an hour. And that blog was not commercially oriented. But if it were I may well have snagged a few sales from that targeted traffic burst. Clearly there are many local website owners who crave a tweet or retweet from this account. It can bring of local eyeballs to a site very quickly.
I think anyone who is on Twitter, who has a locally oriented site, should think about the benefits of local social media influence. Remember that when you build a decent following of people locally, you can not only get them to your website and offers, but also to those of other people. They will really appreciate this and be far more likely to endorse, support or even promote you as a result.
Say you have a cafe in Perth and you go on Twitter and build up a good size following. Your followers will of course be interested in other cafes. But you probably wouldn't want to be promoting them directly. They are your competition, after all!
So you could aim to promote things that are not in direct competition, but would still be perfectly suitable for your demographic. You could tweet offers for films, theatre, other events, fashion, etc. Some of those who benefit from your active sharing would be sure to reciprocate. You might even be able to take these mutually beneficial relationships offline, too.
But you don't have to aim for such giddying heights. You can also become a local social media influencer. Needless to say this is a lot more easy to achieve.
This is because users of sites like Twitter, Facebook, Google Plus and Pinterest follow people who have the same interests. Now, if you share an interest with someone and are also in the same city or country as them, you've got two things in common.
I've noticed this on Twitter and Facebook while promoting my politically oriented blogs. It hasn't taken that long to establish a presence there by sharing content about Australian politics. And I can speed the process up further with popular locally oriented hash tags like #Auspol. There are even state related ones like #WApol and #politas I can use too.
And I've seen the benefits of local orientation using my Twitter account for this site. I've been amazed at how many Perth restaurants and cafes are active on Twitter -- not to mention all the foodies, many of whom have blogs. Because of this I have actually been thinking I should become a food blogger myself. But I can't do that. It's just not me. (I might become a coffee aficionado, though!)
While food and coffee related content looks the most promising in this regard, the local business niche seems very promising also. So that's what I'll aim for.
Local social media influencers will never have the clout of international ones, of course. But they can have a surprising effect on sites they choose to share. Take Tweet Perth. I saw the power of this account when it retweeted one of my blog posts and I got a hundred hits in an hour. And that blog was not commercially oriented. But if it were I may well have snagged a few sales from that targeted traffic burst. Clearly there are many local website owners who crave a tweet or retweet from this account. It can bring of local eyeballs to a site very quickly.
I think anyone who is on Twitter, who has a locally oriented site, should think about the benefits of local social media influence. Remember that when you build a decent following of people locally, you can not only get them to your website and offers, but also to those of other people. They will really appreciate this and be far more likely to endorse, support or even promote you as a result.
Say you have a cafe in Perth and you go on Twitter and build up a good size following. Your followers will of course be interested in other cafes. But you probably wouldn't want to be promoting them directly. They are your competition, after all!
So you could aim to promote things that are not in direct competition, but would still be perfectly suitable for your demographic. You could tweet offers for films, theatre, other events, fashion, etc. Some of those who benefit from your active sharing would be sure to reciprocate. You might even be able to take these mutually beneficial relationships offline, too.