5 Reasons to Add Influencer Marketing to Your IoT Content Strategy

Influencer marketing is the practice of marketing specifically to a select group of individuals, e.g., journalists, analysts and bloggers—that have influence over the buying decisions of your target audience. You may already be using some level of influencer marketing in your PR program by pitching news to select media and analysts. One thing you may have missed, however, is integrating this strategy into your content marketing efforts.

Influencer marketing can be most effective when it is done purposefully. It goes beyond blindly sending press releases out every so often. The key to influencer marketing is to build relationships so that your key audiences are on board with what you are trying to accomplish for your company and for the greater good of the industry. If this is achieved, those influencers are more likely to want to tell people about what your company—and your products and services—are doing to solve problems for customers.

While critical for every industry, influencer relationships are particularly important in the Internet of Things (IoT) and machine-to-machine (M2M) communications industry today. IoT and M2M is not only an industry where high growth is predicted, but the number of companies in this space is growing daily. This means that the number of influencers touching this market is also growing. For this reason, it’s also important to be mindful that you are identifying the correct ‘influencers’ for your segment of the industry. After all, you don’t want to reach out to a reporter solely focused on educating the consumer on IoT apps for daily life when your business is focused on IoT services for the enterprise.

Building and leveraging influencer relationships can give you credibility. Just about every company on some level has a strategy, roadmap, product or service that can grab the attention of a reporter or industry analyst focused on the IoT/M2M space. These influencers have a lot of followers that help you to capture new sales leads. Here are five ways you can use influencer marketing to benefit your IoT company.

1. Make a Request. Ask influencers to contribute to your content. There are still writers and analysts who will lend their voice to those that are not clients—especially if they agree with your vision. Conduct a Q&A to obtain their insights into your industry. If they don’t have time, simply ask for a brief quote that you can include in a blog post, ebook or whitepaper. Don’t forget that your influencers want to attract new audiences as well. 
2. Get Them Excited. Impress influencers with your products and solutions and he or she will be more inclined to write about your brand. Keep them updated on company news, services and solutions. Invite them to try your product (if consumer-focused) or to a virtual demo if it’s a service or solution that resides on the network. If you are making a difference, they will take notice.
3. Ask Their Opinion. When you develop an outstanding piece of content, send it out to your influencers, ask for their thoughts, and let them know that they can share it with their followers. Take it one step further and ask the influencer what stories they’re working on and, if there’s a fit, offer your content up, or even your executives, if they are writing a blog or article on the topic.
4. Return the Favor. In the spirit of give and take, read and comment on their articles and insight. Retweet and post their work with your audience. A little acknowledgement goes a long way.
5. Add a Personal Touch. Stay connected with influencers online and off. If you find you are attending the same tradeshow as one of your top tier influencers, or you have a meeting in their neighborhood, offer to buy them coffee, lunch or dinner. Don’t ask them to meet only when you have news, but instead build a mutually beneficial relationship and you’ll find that they’re more likely to pay attention to you.

Influencer marketing in the IoT/M2M industry allows you to build relationships with those that have a great share of voice in the industry. This enables you to reach many more people and create a greater awareness for your brand.

No matter what type of PR program you have in place, there is always room to build and strengthen your influencer relationships and incorporate them into your content strategy.