Successful Influencer Marketing

Do you remember going to camp over summer and then keeping in touch with your new friends via snail mail? I would sit and wait for the mail to come to see what my friends from across the country were up to. It was the start of my career in influencer marketing, and I had no idea! Flash forward 15 years (has it really been that long??) to traveling to blogging conferences like BlogHer or Mom2.0 – now I’m an emailing, Tweeting and Facebook messaging machine.

Have I mentioned that I’m the self-proclaimed Queen of Influencer Marketing here at Everywhere Agency? You see, I treat bloggers as I once treated my friends from summer camp. They’re my modern day pen pals. The key to success in any form of influencer relations is just that – a relationship. On any given day, I’m telling my life story to at least three new friends from Everywhere Society, our community of bloggers and influencers. What a typical marketer would call an influencer, I have the pleasure of calling a friend.

How do I do that? It’s simple, really.

1. I go to different conferences and meet as many people as I can on a personal level BEFORE I start talking to them on a professional level. I know that Leticia is a self-made farmer straight out of Maryland (how are your Chickens, btw?!) and that D.J. has the funniest High School vendetta story ever (I’d love to share, but it’s not blog appropriate).
2. I become friends with them on social networks. Any influencer who is a member of Everywhere Society has the option to follow me on Twitter/Instagram or friend me on Facebook. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve commented on Jewel’s vacation photos to show my pure jealousy or liked a photo of Claudia’s OOTD – she really is the most trendy Latina I know!
3. My emails to bloggers are full of banter and “lol’s” rather than boring business jargon. I genuinely want to know how they’re doing and wish them a “Happy Birthday!” whenever I can! Sure, I get done what needs to be done, but I’m always excited when Adanna tells me to “stay cool.”

It may seem daunting to have 3,000+ best friends, but I’ll be the first to tell you that it’s rewarding in more ways than one! As a people-person by nature, I try to incorporate those traits into my daily life and the results are my many, many successfully completed campaigns.

Tweet me at @_LynzeeJay with your favorite pen pal story, conference memory, or just say hello — I’d love to hear from you!!

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