Measuring Relationships With Your Influencers

This week in Social Media Principles, I read up on Chapter 8 of Katie Paine's book "Measure What Matters." This chapter revolved around how to measure influencers and thought leadership. As I went through the chapter, something started to click in my mind about the topics that were being discussed. That something was when measuring things, such as your relationships with your influencers, it all slightly related back to the "seven steps to the perfect measurement program" discussed in Chapter 3. 

When trying to measure your relationships with your influencers, Katie relates it back to the concept and only alters it in minor ways. 

1. Define your goals
             This step is as simple as it sounds but is universal across almost all measurement programs. This step is completed by simply defining measurable objectives for your influencer outreach program. 

2. Define your audience
               So instead of focusing on a target audience, this step for this program is focused more so on defining the specific influencer groups you are trying to target. 

3. Define your benchmarks
               Same as in Chapter 3, this step is essentially making the standards clear about who or what you are trying to be and what you will be comparing your success against.
               
4. Define your key performance indicators
                 This step is more "program specific." Katie states that any influencer relations program should have at least one, if not multiple, of the following indicators.
                           -Percent increase in Grunig Relationship Survey scores.
                           -Percentage increase in share of recommendations.
                           -Percentage increase in share of desired positioning.
                           -Percentage increase in share of desirable quotes.
                           -Percentage increase in coverage containing desirable quotes
                            from key influencers.

5. Select your measurement tool 

                 Again, another self-explanatory step but is one that is absolutely needed. Within this type of measurement program, one could use something as simple as Microsoft Excel or Access all the way to something as specific as a web analytic program.

What is great about these steps outlined above is there was little change from measurement programs. Yeah, some things are different such as not exactly having an investment step, but the core concept stayed the same. Katie then states that the final steps for thought leadership measurements would just follow steps six and seven from that which was outline in Chapter 3. 

Until Next Time,

Matt