Influencers have a reputation built within their online networks. They have a loyal following. They maintain hugely informative blogs, speak regularly, lead industry events and publish books. From a marketing perspective, influencers are identified based on their power to move people towards or away from your brand. In other words they work hard at demonstrating to people that they know what they are talking about and share that knowledge openly. But how did this trust develop?

I’m closing in on my one-year anniversary with Radian6. When we arrive on the job here we are introduced to the blogs and books of many of the social media industries biggest influencers. Inspired by our latest ebook, Winning Over Your Influencers, I pulled the books that helped me understand the concept of social media influence and it’s place in business and society.

Trust Agents: Chris Brogan and Julien Smith

In every discipline there are a series of books that take on the role of becoming “foundational reading” and Trust Agents was certainly one of those books for me. It was the first book I read upon starting at Radian6 and it provided me with a sense of just how different social media marketing was from anything I had experienced to date. The idea of the Trust Agent – that individual who looks to share their best insights freely, be present, helpful, and human in every interaction, and genuinely wants to cultivate a human relationship with everyone they connect with to advance their brands objectives – is so essential to the social media industry. For me, it helped shift what had become an established paradigm in my mind that the Internet was largely anonymous and that true social interaction outside of your immediate social circle that had followed you to Facebook was impossible. Brogan and Smith turned that paradigm on its ear for me.

Here Comes Everybody: Clay Shirky

Shirky’s book is about the power of networks and their ability to harness and magnify individual influence into group action. Shirky borrows a term from another author – Eric Raymond – who describes the active ingredient in successful group movements as being inspired by a “plausible promise” – a goal that is “big enough to inspire interest, yet achievable enough to inspire confidence.” Shirky explores three pillars of influence – sharing with others, collaboration, and collective action – to explain the philosophical foundations of the social web and its power to influence society and the business world. Published in 2009, the lessons within Shirky’s book influence the social media marketing strategies being employed by businesses around the world today.

Tactical Transparency: Shel Holtz and John C. Havens

This book by Holtz and Havens takes many of the theoretical threads about social media and puts them into real world and business sense. By drilling into the issue of transparency, the book takes on a major obstacle for wide spread adoption of social media within the business structure: fear. Consumers have come to expect increasing levels of transparency from the businesses they interact with and Tactical Transparency addresses that issue and offers valuable insights as to how to implement transparency in the business world. Specifically, it discusses how to accumulate trust and manage the good will with brand advocates and influencers.

No Bullsh*t Social Media: Jason Falls

I was lucky enough to meet Jason Falls at his book launch in Los Angeles in November last year. No Bullsh*t Social Media is a conceptual book but one that drills down to a simple truth: People often do NOT believe advertising but they WILL believe the reviews of total strangers. This is a point the strikes at the very heart of social media influence and underscores the importance of finding out where your clients are talking about your brand and your products and identifying those that have the power to influence people positively and negatively.

This was just a small list of some of the books I’ve read this past year that have dealt with the idea of social media influence. Have your say now. What books have you read on the topic of influence that shaped how you think about the topic? If you’re interested in following me on Pinterest you can check out the other books I’m reading!

Jumping into social media may be the easy part. It becomes difficult when you’ve been active for a while but just aren’t seeing the results you would like. Are you doing something wrong? Is there something you can do differently? Are you boring?

Those are just some examples of the second-guessing we all do with social media. Here are 15 things that might be ruining any chance at social media success:

1. Your Twitter avatar is an egg
2. You bio is everything but a bio
3. You blast the same message across multiple platforms
4. You don’t tweet enough, or at all
5. You use Twitter solely to sell a product or service
6. You promote yourself more than others
7. Your contributions are thin or lack innovation
8. You retweet every mention of yourself
9. You use hashtags to express an internal thought, not to categorize a conversation
10. You focus on gaining followers instead of producing quality tweets
11. You haven’t cleaned up or reorganized your following list
12. You forgot your manners
13. You tweet for yourself not for your audience
14. You are overly negative
15. Your tweets are full of #madeuphashtags and not ones from your industry

Don’t be discouraged if you took part in one of these examples. Whether you do or you don’t, here are 6 simple steps to improve your twitter game:

1. Show you’re listening. Listen first and then engage. Quite often that will result in a courtesy follow.
2. Don’t be a stranger. Complete a full bio and let people know who you are and what you’ll likely be tweeting about.
3. Don’t push your agenda or dish out opinions that some might deem offensive. Etiquette is so important on social media.
4. Play into the demands of your following by tweeting something that’s beneficial to them.
5. If you aren’t sure what to tweet, here’s a tip: people follow others who are informative, funny, useful or exciting. If you don’t fall under one of those categories, try to gradually incorporate them into your repertoire to help distinguish yourself amongst the crowd. Social influence is generated by the quality of your contributions not the quantity.
6. Look to clean up your followers list every few weeks, seek out new influential people and broaden your network. The great thing about social media is that you have the ability to personalize your network and make it yours. Step outside your regular industry and meet new people.

Did I miss any? Share any tips you know that help increase Twitter following in the comment section below!

Yesterday, Genevieve presented some ideas on how to find your social media influencers in real life. Once you’ve found your influencers, the next question becomes, “how do you connect with them?” To give you a starting point, here are 30 ways to engage your social media influencers:

1. Ask your influencers questions

2. Ask them to guest blog

3. Comment on your influencers’ blog posts

4. Share their content with your social networks

5. +1 and like influencer posts

6. Link to their content in your blog posts

7. Ask to cross-post influencer content on your corporate blog

8. Make introductions

9. Ask for introductions

10. Give your influencers a shout out on your social networks

11. Invite your influencers to a Tweetup

12. Invite them to participate in a Google+ hangout or webinar

13. Ask them to provide feedback on your brand or product

14. Make changes based on your influencer feedback

15. Provide feedback on influencer content

16. Reward them with exclusive content or offers

17. Host an event to show them your appreciation

18. Give them a sneak peak of a new product or service

19. Thank them

20. Connect with your influencers on other networks

21. Ask an influencer to be your brand’s spokesperson

22. Invite them to collaborate on campaigns

23. Offer to work together to author or co-author an ebook

24. Ask your influencers to host a Twitter Chat

25. Host an event panel and invite your influencers to participate

26. Do a blog or video interview with an influencer

27. Engage with your influencers as people, not prospects

28. Ask them for advice on brand or industry topics

29. Add your influencers to a Google+ circle and share it with your community

30. Create a Pinterest board with your favorite influencer content

These are a few ways to reach out to and engage with your influencers that can easily be incorporated into your existing social media strategy. Start with one or two and go from there to find the approach that fits best with your brand and your community.

How are you currently engaging with your social media influencers? What suggestions can you add to the above list? For more tips on engaging your influencers, be sure to check out chapter 3 of our latest ebook, Win Over Your Industry’s Social Media Influencers.

Note under Federal Trade Commission (FTC) guidelines, any relationship where payment or other compensation is received for an endorsement or testimonial must be fully disclosed. You can read more about full disclosure and what it means here.

Over 20,000 conversations across social media platforms each week highlight ‘travel + social media’. Didn’t have time to read them all? I’ve rounded up the hashtags, personalities, and content that mattered this week.

Let’s dig into the last week starting with our previous Travel Tuesday (January 31) to February 6, 2012!

Hashtags

I’ve shared previous posts on travel conversations on Twitter, but here’s a bit of a look at the most frequently used hashtags in ‘Travel + Social Media’ according to Insights.

• The big winner: #TTOT – This hashtag, which stands for Travel Talk on Twitter, seems to be #winning with over 17k mentions over the previous week.
• Runners up: #travel and #tni.
• Lesser volume, more niche: #vacation, #traveltips, #hiking just to name a few.

What does this mean, and why should you care? Great question! While there is a huge following of the #TTOT hashtag, and there are a great number of people conversing there your potential audience may also be greater when using this hashtag for your own content. You may want to consider also zeroing and identifying the topic of your content in an effort to gain attention of the people who it will most directly affect.

Filled with #history #art #culture the #European #castles surely have it all : ow.ly/8iXmn #ttot

— culture_jammer (@culture_jammer) February 5, 2012

Most retweeted and mentioned travel talkers on Twitter

Having a look at some of the most retweeted usernames and Twitter users who got mentioned the most in relation to our ‘Travel + Social Media’ profile, I uncovered a few fun people I was not already following. Consider this your #traveltuesday list of who to follow today:

• @TravelDudes is killing it! I think Melvin must be sharing content that matters to his followers, otherwise he wouldn’t be showing up as the number one guy retweeted and shared last week.
• @malloryontravel, @toniwonitravels and @nickhealy are three people who got lots of attention last week, too and they weren’t far behind @Traveldudes!
• @zipsetandrea, @hjortur, & @zipsetrachel are a few more tweet chat hosts who sure do talk travel lots!
• Don’t forget about @lonelyplanet and @msnbc. Their travel content gets shared lots by interested travel folks.

Some of the best of the best

It could hardly be a ’roundup’ if a few links weren’t tossed around and share, now would it? Here are a few highlights from what’s been shared widely (or wildly) over the last week:

• Why Social Media ROI Is Complicated For Hotels – This little gem is brought to us by @AreMorch. I liked what Are wrote regarding his social media strategy stages for hotels. He moves us through ‘reaction’ to ‘realization’ and challenges hoteliers to now jump on board building relationships.
• Kuoni reveals their ‘Travel Trends‘ report for 2012. It just intensifies my desire to trael to Thailand as soon as possible.
• Congratulations are in order for Quirky Travel Guy as he celebrated his one year travelblogiversary 
• And to end a round up with another one of sorts, Betsy A. Decillis thinks you should get to know these tourism peeps.

So there you have it. Whether you’re looking for relevant conversations,  someone new to follow in travel, or a bit of recent news, this is it. Of course, I’ve left a lot of cool stuff out. That’s where YOU the community come into play.

Please, tell us who you think we should pay attention to. Share with us your favorite recent link. Or even pimp yourself out as an awesome travel voice. See the comments section below? Now….. Go!

Jenn Seeley tweets, talks and blogs about Travel, Entertainment and Leisure. Follow her on Twitterand check out her most recent posts here.

Social Media influence can be swayed by the size of a person’s network and potential reach, but don’t let those social numbers sway you away from the person’s real life value. If a person provides influence for your business or industry outside of social, odds are their opinions will resonate in the social space as well.

Here’s a few ways to find those who could influence for your brand and determine whether they hold that influence on the social side.

Top Consumers
Talk to your sales side and gain an understanding of who’s pushing the dollar figures for your product and industry. Engaging with key stakeholders within these organizations may be the right route to gain both influencers and advocates.

Industry Analysts
Though you may not wish to openly engage with industry analysts in the social space, understanding who’s listening to their social channels may give you a pool of people that are interested in understanding your industry more.

Industry Experts
Industry experts are people who have tons of experience in your industry. They might be the people your company has been trying to hire for a top-level position or whom your organization sees as thought leaders. They are likely strong, knowledgeable voices.

Industry Publications
Checking out journals, newspapers or magazines posting intelligent information about your industry can give you a list of authors and interviewers who understand your space and could be writing in a social sense as well.

Once you’ve complied your list of people influencing your business, hop on social media and see if their presence carries over. Connect with these people now. As your industry matures socially, you can gain from the benefits.

What other ways can you find influential people? How does your company currently connect with leaders in your industry?

Looking to learn more about finding influencers? Check out chapter 1 of this month’s ebook!

Whether you spent yesterday in a crowded establishment with strangers or in a cozy living room with close friends, many of us were busy watching the biggest game in football for the year, the Super Bowl.  What makes this year different than last? Well the social media element is no longer an added bonus but an engrained part of the game.

We dug through the over 6.6 Million social posts and pulled together an overview analysis. Have a look at the report below and let us know what you thought of the social results.

What made this Super Bowl especially social? Here are a few things we noticed.

Defined Hashtag Promoted Before the Game
Keeping it simple with #superbowl makes it easier for fans to engage.

Live Web Streaming
Live web streaming made it possible for anyone with an internet connection to see the game in real time. Plus it had add ons like the ability to select your own camera angles and use replay action.

Shazaam Campaign
Integrating their mobile brand in to most of the ad campaigns, Shazaam created an interactive experience and contest for viewers throughout the game.

Were you using social media for conversing during the Super Bowl? What made you join the conversation?

Last week, Jeff discussed the Good versus Evil of using hashtags for social media measurement. This week, we’re focusing specifically on the hashtag fail. Brands use hashtags on a regular basis to engage their communities around their marketing campaigns and track the conversation. While some hashtag campaigns are a success, others aren’t so lucky. Here are some ways brands can prevent hashtag fails, as well as strategies for dealing with a hashtag crisis once it arises.

How to Prevent a Hashtag Fail

What better way to deal with a hashtag fail than preventing it in the first place? Here are some points to consider before you hit the tweet button.

Do Your Research

If you tweet a hashtag without doing your research, your brand could find itself in a lot of trouble. You don’t want to step on anyone’s toes or inadvertently involve yourself in a conversation where you don’t belong. Before you decide on a hashtag for your campaign, look it up on Twitter to see if it is already being used and in what context.

Be Wary of Trending Hashtags

While it might be tempting to include a popular hashtag to get your campaign noticed, don’t align yourself with a topic that doesn’t fit with your brand or that is sensitive or controversial. For a great example of how to incorporate trending hashtags successfully, check out this tweet from the Red Cross.

We may not collect #tigerblood, but we know our donors & volunteers have fierce passion for doing good! #RedCrossMonth

— American Red Cross (@RedCross) March 2, 2011

Timing is Everything

Even if you’ve carefully researched your campaign hashtag, consider the timing. If your company is already going through a difficult situation, an ill-timed hashtag could cause more problems. Consider how the hashtag could be perceived by your community and anticipate all possible reactions. If you have any doubts, postpone your campaign or take another course of action.

Be Consistent

Keep your brand messaging and tone consistent for your customers. Before you launch a hashtag campaign, ask yourself if it is in line with your brand identity. Likewise, make sure the tone of the hashtag fits your brand. If your brand is known for being more on the reserved side, a silly hashtag might not jive with your community.

How to Handle a Hashtag Fail

You’ve launched a hashtag campaign and it isn’t going as planned. While you can’t take back your hashtag, here are some strategies to deal with the situation effectively.

Be Quick to Respond

The longer you go without taking action, the worse the situation will be. Decide if and when you will stop promoting the hashtag and implement your backup plan. Also, acknowledge the reaction of your community, both positive and negative. You can respond individually or send out general tweets, like Qantas Airways did in response to feedback around its #QantasLuxury campaign.

Wow! Some very creative tweeps out there. Keep the entries coming #QantasWeHearYou

— Qantas Airways (@QantasAirways) November 22, 2011

At this rate our #QantasLuxury competition is going to take years to judge.

— Qantas Airways (@QantasAirways) November 22, 2011

Apologize

If you have caused distress or offended your community, an apology is necessary. Be clear on why you are apologizing, be sincere, and don’t make excuses.

Find the Lesson to be Learned

You’ve heard the expression “every cloud has a silver lining.” As stressful as they might be, hashtag fails can give you valuable insight into your community and the areas where you can improve as a brand. They also present you with an opportunity to engage with your detractors and potentially turn the situation around.

Hashtags can be a valuable addition to your marketing campaigns if used wisely. While nothing can guarantee you won’t find yourself in an awkward or downright unpleasant hashtag fail situation, the above pointers and some common sense will help with your peace of mind.

What are some of your suggestions for avoiding the hashtag fail? How do you think brands should react when a hashtag campaign goes awry?

My coffee at a NYC shop

Social media mecca, Facebook, filed for an initial public offering yesterday that could value it at $75 billion to $100 billion. According to the Wall Street Journal, this puts the social network on track for one of the biggest U.S. stock-market debuts of all time.

Where does the success of Facebook come from? Why is it a place where gossip, game playing and the swapping of 250 million photos happens every single day? Perhaps it’s the addictive nature. Much like a cup of coffee, Facebooking is part of the daily routine of millions. Here are a few more reasons why they are strikingly similar.

1. Keeps you up all night
2. It’s the first thing you reach for in the morning
3. Your friends, family and coworkers are doing it
4. Can be bitter and cold
5. Or hot and steamy
6. Takes time to craft it just right
7. You might depend on it multiple times a day
8. Good way to kill time
9. You see people enjoying it
10. Countries from around the world partake in it
11. Can be updated
12. You can consume too much
13. Can burn you
14. You can probably make it through a day without it, but likely not much more
15. The thought of quitting leaves you in a cold sweat
16. You can poke it
17. It’s sharable
18. Can be custom-made to your needs
19. Gives you a quick fix
20. Can bring back memories
21. Experience it with friends
22. Makes you giddy
23. Some may find it gross
24. Slightly different everyday
25. Portable

Speaking of coffee, with Facebook being worth billions of dollars, Mashable found 10 things Facebook could technically afford, including all the coffee in the world.

Whether you’re a fan or frenemy of Facebook or whether you’re using it for personal or business needs, it certainly can be a helpful tool in your social media strategy. Learn more about Facebook and great ways to join your community with our ebook, 30 Ideas for your 2012 Social Media Plan.

What other ways is Facebook like a cup of coffee? How do you see the impact of the Facebook IPO unfolding? Grab a cup of coffee and share your thoughts here.

This month’s ebook, Win Over Your Industry’s Social Media Influencers, will help you build a strategy for connecting with those who are influential in your industry. It will also guide you to becoming influential yourself! Here’s a snippet from the ebook.

How to Win Over Your Influencers

Reciprocation – If you give first, it’s easier to take. Giving can come in many forms. Offer freebies, insider information or exposure in exchange for a mention, feedback, participation, etc. Blog, link to or tweet about an influencer before you solicit their involvement in your endeavor. Tweet

Commitment and Consistency – Try to find a quote the influencer has already published indicating their love for your brand or support for your cause. Since they’ve publicly stated their opinion, their conscience will encourage them to remain consistent with their words, increasing the likelihood of following through with your request. Tweet

Social Proof – We learn the norm from the actions of others around us. If any of your influencers’ connections or other industry players have participated in your effort, call it out. Another way to provide social proof is with numbers; for example: “18 others are participating. We need 7 more and were hoping you’d be one.” Tweet

Liking – People do business with those they know, like and trust. Make communications personal. Be enthusiastic. The closer you can draw a personal connection to your target, the more willing they might be to take part. Tweet

Authority – In order to recruit authoritative supporters, you have to be authoritative yourself. Establish credibility as an organization or individual by using proper spelling and grammar, professional language, linking to success stories, etc. Tweet

Scarcity – The thought of missing out incites action. Offer a limited-time sneak preview, limited-edition product or service, or limited quantity. Tweet

This list is inspired by the six weapons of influence discussed in Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion, authored by renowned professor, Dr. Robert B. Cialdini.

Do you have an influencer strategy? How do you engage with influencers? Would you consider yourself influential? Check out the ebook.

Google+ Hangout with President Obama

Regardless of where you stand politically, last night’s Google+ Hangout with President Barack Obama highlights some important aspects of social media engagement.

The Google+ hangout was diverse with two wives, a group of students, a war veteran, a small business owner and others. President Obama listened and communicated with these Americans and others while effectively leveraging a platform that was comfortable for them and a vast majority of his audience. How do we know this? Before the hangout, a total of 228,094 people submitted 133,184 questions and cast 1,630,369 votes on the White House YouTube channel. This was a successful example of knowing where your audience spends their time. Here are four lessons you can apply to your social strategy:

Be innovative. While Obama has incorporated townhall meetings on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn during his presidential campaigns, this marked the first ever Google+ Hangout with a President. Talk about catering to your audience and encouraging dialogue. You too can be innovative if you know your audience and find a way to connect with them.

Engage your advocators and face your detractors. Obama faced the difficult questions about the economy, foreign aid, homelessness and unemployment rates head on. While some Google+ Hangout attendees had voted for him, others had not. Challenging questions are inevitable, especially in social media, and your community is judging you based on your ability to handle such questions. Think of this as an opportunity to turn your detractors into brand advocates and to further confirm the decisions of ambassadors. Honest, sincere and transparent answers go a long way.

Use multiple platforms. If you’re going to host multiple parties, you’d better mix up the venues. In this case, the White House effectively utilized several social media channels. People could submit a question on YouTube, watch on Google+, or follow along on Twitter using the hashtag #askobama. The next time your business wants to engage with your community be sure to know when and where to host the party (or parties!).

Understand public relations 101. Never turn down an opportunity to sway public opinion. It is important to use every conversation as an opportunity to improve your image, even if that means laughing at an impersonator.

It can be challenging for a brand to be knowledgeable, educational and laugh at the same time. Social media takes practice and requires companies to take chances. Find the right balance and your community will grow and reward you in return. What did you think of the first ever Google+ Hangout? I’d love to hear your thoughts! If you missed the hangout, watch it here.