After identifying a preliminary pool of independent influencers who have significant impact on the products or services sold by your company, the next step is to establish contact with them. Engaging with those individuals can help transform their disruptive influence into a source of insight:
Consider expanding your initial pool of individual market influencers. For example, NodeXL can identify who the influencers are following, which enlarges the pool of influencers identified and contributes to a more complete understanding of the overall conversation.
Research the influencers you intend to contact. As you choose which influencers to monitor and pursue follow-up interviews with, review their profiles and then read their commentary, with an eye toward seeing how clear and substantive it is, as well as to better understand their points of view.
Consider the factors in the acronym “AES” to help identify the best prospects. The acronym AES stands for accessibility, experience, and perspective. Influencers with all three of those characteristics are good choices for your attention, as you identify how they are shaping the market.
By Sean Campbell
By Scott Swigart