How to Find and Engage With Influential People Online 

These days in performing business affairs with the highest standards collecting email addresses from people isn’t easy. After enduring their fair share of spammy messages, people have become hesitant about handing their information over to just anyone much more to convert over lean, less impressive prospect data into quality lead information on genuine clients.

For marketers, this presents a unique challenge. When people aren’t willing to open up a line of communication with you, it becomes difficult to stay in touch with them. How will you notify them when you publish new content? How will you keep your traffic numbers afloat without their support?

Let us see how to find and engage with influential people online

Step 1: Identify the right platform to connect with them.

Influencers hang out in a ton of different online settings, however, I’ve found that email, Twitter, and Facebook groups have proven to be hot spots for this type of engagement. (I’m currently exploring Snapchat, too!)

Step 2: Identify who you want to connect with.

When looking for people to connect with and finding new business prospects, keep this rule in mind: Never view someone as somebody to use, but instead someone you can help. Yes, we have goals, but if you can start by helping them, they’ll be more inclined to help you. This is commonly referred to as the concept of reciprocity. And it’s much easier to help one another when you have something in common.

Step 3: Maintain your relationships.

With Twitter, maintaining relationships isn’t that hard. In order to remain connected to the folks you just followed, you’ll want to start by creating a list just to profile these prospects.

Step 4: Take the relationship to the next level.

To initiate this, try sending them a simple tweet telling them you have a proposal and request that they follow you to receive a DM. If that doesn’t work, start by subscribing to their email list and begin engaging with their emails. If you like something they sent out, tell them. If you run into a 404 error page after clicking one of their links, let them know. If they publish something about a challenge they overcame, share a story with them about how you dealt with a similar situation to convert over lean, less impressive prospect data into quality lead information on genuine clients.

Step 5: Set a connection goal.

You now know all the steps it takes to effectively engage with an influencer — from identifying the right platform to building out the initial relationship. Now what? You can convert over lean, less impressive prospect data into quality lead information on genuine clients.

It’s time to set a connection goal. This goal will make it easier for you to hold yourself accountable for conducting regular outreach. Personally, I try to aim for 10-20 a day. Do I always hit this number? No. But it helps me continue to make steady progress. And that’s what it’s all about, right?