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Keep Your Friends Close and Your Influencers Closer

Authors: Heidi Sullivan Stacey Miller
Posted Under: Influence Pros Podcast
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About Influence Pros Podcast:

Influence Pros is the weekly show where professionals learn about case studies and success stories in the fast-growing world of influencer and advocate marketing. Hosted by Heidi Sullivan of Cision and Julianna Vorhaus of TapInfluence, the show chronicles how B2C and B2B companies are working with online influencers and customer advocates to grow reach, engagement, and conversions. View all shows—including free downloadable resources—at InfluenceProsPodcast.com.

Stacey Miller, Senior Manager of Communications at Cision, joins the Influence Pros Podcast to discuss keys to selecting the right influencer, maintaining relationships, and the growing authority of influencers over some media outlets.

Stacey Miller_InstagramYou Catch More Flies with Honey Than Vinegar

Are we calling Influencers flies?
No, absolutely not. But the moral of the story still rings true. It pays to be genuinely friendly, and Stacey Miller proves it. After coming up through media research, Stacey found herself at Cision. Ten years later she’s pioneered influencer marketing for the company, and is now leading all things communications. She’s also a highly sought out keynote speaker, and has written articles for Forbes, CIO, VentureBeat, and many more publications.
Cision is a global leader in media intelligence with integrated PR software. They are dedicated to enhancing the experience and performance of marketing and public relations professionals at any level by helping them find target pitches, discover media influencers, connect with audiences, and monitor and analyze campaign results.

In This Episode

  • Why it’s important to treat your influencers well
  • How to improve the quality of relationships you make
  • Why influencers are starting to gain authority over media outlets
  • How a balanced strategy of earned media and influencer marketing is best
  • Why you must take your time in selecting the correct influencer for your brand

Quotes From This Episode

“It’s unbelievably important to select the right influencers.” —@staceylamiller
“It’s a business tactic, but it’s really just friendships and relationships at the root of it all.” —@staceylamiller
“Influencer relations and influencers are becoming rivals to the media. And not to say that media’s dying, but influencers are making their mark in terms of reach, awareness, and getting those stories shared.” —@staceylamiller
“The biggest change I’ve seen in influencer marketing over time is really the perception, or what we think an influencer is or who they might look like.” —@staceylamiller

“What we’ve come to realize and do now is we look at the up-and-comers instead of the A-listers because those up-and-comers are hungry, they’re driven, and they want to be a part of the conversation and represent brands that identify with their own goals. They’re more effective because they’re willing to go out and do everything, which is a really wonderful thing for brands.” —@staceylamiller

“There are a lot of factors that go into influence, so you want to look at all of those before carefully selecting you influencers.” —@staceylamiller
“PR and marketing communications professionals should be engaging in this really balanced marketing mix of earned media and influencer marketing at the same time.” —@staceylamiller

Resources

Would You Rather

Would you rather be an enormous gerbil or an insanely tiny rhinoceros?
Oh my gosh, I guess I would rather be an enormous gerbil, because I probably have a better chance at making friends.
Would you rather be forced to sit and listen to Sarah Palin for two hours or sit and listen to Donald Trump?
My husband and I joke about this all the time, and I’d actually probably rather sit and listen to Donald Trump, because I know that I’d probably get some really good content out of it.
Would you rather have $1 million in Amazon gift cards, or $250,000 in cash?
Oh, that’s tough. I guess, maybe, I can answer that with another thing most people wouldn’t know about me is that I bet the Amazon gift cards, because I’m like an Amazon Prime freak, I would make that last so long and I’m pretty sure I could live off that.

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