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June 16, 2015 by Stephen Foskett

Getting the Balance Wrong: Six Cardinal Sins of Corporate Influencer Programs

We at Foskett Services are deeply involved in the mechanics of corporate and industry social media and PR. It comes with the territory, running Tech Field Day, participating in events, and generally getting involved. And this has made us the target of many “influencer programs”, from Microsoft MVP, VMware vExpert, and EMC Experts to Cisco Champions and many more.

Most of these influencer programs get some things right and other aspects laughably wrong. Rather than pick on any one, let’s set up a straw man to point out the biggest sins of corporate influencer programs, as we see it.

How do you treat your champions?
How do you treat your champions?

Introducing the Simplex Sycophant Society

Let’s imagine a company, Simplex Networks, that wanted better to reach out to social media influencers and a crack team of Social Media Expert Consultants convinced them to start an influencer appreciation marketing program. The Simplex Sycophant Society is integrated with the core message of Simplex Networks and functions to externalize marketecture and message management for MBO and KPI acceleration. Or something.

But the poor folks at Simplex have hired the wrong team to manage their program and they’re making some huge mistakes! Let’s dive into their poor decisions.

“We’ll Draw From Our Biggest Supporters!”

Jim and Jon and Jane are always writing and speaking about Simplex. They love their doodads and never miss an opportunity to praise the company. They’re shoo-ins for the Sycophant Society.

But it’s a huge mistake to draw only from “champions” you know and appreciate! The most credible voices are those who are willing both to praise and criticize fairly and deservedly. It can be uncomfortable to see a negative review, but those can be even more important to a company than endless commendation. These programs should educate insiders as well as would-be customers.

It’s also important to reach for unfamiliar voices. We too often believe that the people we know are the entirety of the world, but this is a huge mistake in the segmented world of blogs, podcasts, forums, seminars, and events. Look first for people you don’t know rather than those you do.

“We’re Recognizing our Amplifying Army!”

Simplex pitched their program to bloggers as recognition for hard work but that’s not how they sold it internally. Their Social Media Consultants focused on messaging, amplification, and influencing the “experts” and “MVP’s”!

Be clear on the purpose of the program, both internally and externally. If the program is totally self-serving, you will end up alienating the very people with whom you’re trying to connect! Are you getting the balance right between recognition and influence? Do your “champions” feel valued or put upon once they’re part of the program? How much homework do they have to do to maintain their “award”?

It’s a good idea to set a limit on the size and makeup of the Influencer Army, too. Do you allow partners and employees to join? Why or why not? What are the criteria for inclusion and how will you remove people fairly? These things can quickly get out of hand!

“We’ve Media-Trained Official Internal Interactors!”

The Simplex PR team was very sensitive about opening up so they only allowed a special team of media-trained spokespeople to interact with their program. They were scared that independent writers and speakers might go off message, and there’s no way to go over their heads if they start saying uncomfortable things.

But media-trained spokespeople are boring, and on-message-only chats are unlikely to inspire coverage. The Internet of carefully-crafted marketing has trained us all to cut through the BS with a vorpal blade of wit and cynicism. Slick spokespeople are a relic of “a more civilized age” when writers played the game too.

It’s especially disappointing to see fantastic, credible individuals inside these companies overlooked and stymied in their attempts to reach out to their peers. Look around and you’ll see that the best spokespeople are already speaking and would do a much better job than Mr. Slick if only they were given the support!

“Let’s Have Our Sycophants Push This Out For Us!”

The pitch to Simplex Networks was to use their Sycophant Society simply as another vehicle for one-way marketing communication. So they put together weekly lists of suggested tweets, monthly product-specific writing assignments, and annual production quotas. Then they were surprised that their “champions” started falling out.

What was the point of this program again? It comes back to balance of benefit between the company and it’s champions. It’s ok to ask influencers to share your message but be very careful with this. They’re not just a corporate mouthpiece and you can quickly overstep their bounds of independence. The truly worthwhile will fall out of the program and you’ll be left with the shills. Is that what you wanted from the program?

Some try to overcome this resistance with rewards, from free product to cold, hard cash. But this too can backfire if it looks excessive or goes undisclosed in alleged independent content. Work for balance before all else and you won’t have to bribe your influencers.

“We’re Making That an Official Component of the Sycophant Society!”

Simplex saw people come up with all sorts of cool ideas, from social sharing concepts to in-person fun at their events. So they decided to bring these under the “official” Sycophant Society umbrella. Then everything fell apart because it just wasn’t fun anymore.

Companies should be wary of glomming onto erstwhile spontaneous activities and corporatizing them. Enjoy what your influencers do. Support them as needed. But allow them to thrive on their own rather than smothering them!

One additional benefit of keeping activities at arm’s length is deniability: If something negative does arise, it’s good to be involved but not committed to a publication or a party. You can benefit from the honest feedback without being on the hook for it.

“We’ll Invite the Sycophants to our Simplex Day!”

Since they already had an annual analyst and press event, Simplex decided to allow their Sycophants to tag along. But why were they ignoring the financial overview? And what about that golf outing they skipped? Plus, quite a few just couldn’t get time off work.

One reason we started Tech Field Day was the proliferation of events throughout the year. There’s something to go to somewhere just about every week, and multiple things some weeks! Yet independents must be choosy, selecting just a few events to attend out of the yearlong schedule. Even if their company is enlightened enough not to require vacation days for events, there’s an inevitable push-back to be had when requesting time off a dozen times a year.

Moreover, analyst and press days are usually inappropriate for independent techies. There’s too much filler and not enough deep interaction to justify a three-day trip for every company. And we also get back to the “inappropriate influence” factor when you add in golf or ski outings, giveaways, and luxury accommodations.

Rather than just bringing your influencers to your existing analyst and press events, why not set up a special event just for them? Time it to coincide with another industry event to minimize time off, or just join an existing event.

Suggested Tweets

So there you have it: Six things influencer programs too often get wrong. Don’t by like the Simplex Sycophant Society. Get the balance right.

Disclaimer: Did we mention we have many horses in this race? We run Tech Field Day, help with the SolarWinds thwack Ambassador Program and the Aruba Ambassador Program, and assist with outreach for other companies besides. Our primary goal with these efforts is balance between the objectives of the companies and the independent writers and speakers we work with. That’s kind of what this post is all about!

Filed Under: Commentary Tagged With: credibility, events, feedback, influencers, MVP, PR, Tech Field Day, vExpert

May 12, 2011 by Stephen Foskett

Live Events For The People

Nothing beats meeting in person!

In this age when video conferencing has come to the palms of our hands, not to mention our laptops, desktops, and tablets, it is tempting to be dismissive of live events. Who wants the hassle and cost of flying across the country and staying in a hotel when we can see each other wherever we happen to be? But attending events live and in the flesh is a totally different animal from online interactions. Nothing beats meeting in person, and techies more than most should get on the plane and go to events, if only to build stronger connections with their peers!

This was really brought home over the last two weeks as our own Stephen Foskett flew to Las Vegas (twice) and New York for Symantec Vision, IBM’s Storage Innovation Summit, Interop, and EMC World. The interactions we had at these events was priceless, and it will pay dividends the whole year through. We saw cool new technology and met interesting new companies as well as getting to know folks better.

One person who understands the value of personal contact is Thomas Jones, of “Coffee with Thomas” fame. Thomas understands that our back-stories are often as interesting as our day-to-day work, and he’s quick to connect on a personal level. We enjoyed sitting down with him, and turned the tables, interviewing him for a change. Watch the video below and subscribe to his podcast!

This personal connection and community-building is one reason we work so hard to put together the Tech Field Day events and spend so much time away from home. Truly, nothing beats meeting in person, and nothing beats the great folks in our community!

Filed Under: Commentary Tagged With: Coffee with Thomas, community, connections, EMC World, events, IBM, Interop, podcast, Symantec Vision, Thomas Jones, travel

May 9, 2011 by Stephen Foskett

How To Make Your Event More Blogger-Friendly

Do your events foster discussion or scare bloggers away?

With traditional media and analyst organizations declining in numbers and influence, conference organizers are turning to social media for coverage and attention. If identifying and attracting bloggers is difficult, keeping them happy at an event is doubly so. After three years running the Tech Field Day and a decade attending conferences, trade shows, and other events, I’ve learned a thing or two about that. Here are my suggestions.

Make Blogger Passes Available

Trade shows and conferences have long offered free admission to members of the press, and many events cater to industry analysts as well. But do bloggers get invites too? Many independent influencers don’t write for a living, and even professional organizations operate with limited budgets.

Every event should offer a number of free passes for bloggers and other social media types. These blogger passes should be all-access and should include special meetings with executives, presenters, and attendees. It can be a challenge to identify, invite, and vet potential attendees, but that is another topic for another day!

Offer Travel Support

Non-professional writers often don’t have the luxury of an expense account to draw on to attend events; many even have to take vacation days or unpaid leave. Merely offering a ticket will not be enough for these desirable attendees: Event organizers should offer to pay airfare, ground transportation, and hotel costs too. Once again, vetting prospects is key, since this can easily get out of hand. But paying for travel is a great way to entice attendees!

Give It Some Structure

Many bloggers are industry event neophytes and need guidance to help navigate the schedule, while others are just too busy to do much pre-event planning. Offer to create a custom schedule, including key presentations and event highlights, one-on-one interviews, and time off for writing. But make sure they can opt out of certain events if they choose – not all are willing to go with the flow! Offer a custom schedule in printed and electronic form, too.

Shepherd Gently

On-site guidance and shepherding is a tricky task. It can be helpful to remind bloggers where and when they should be in a scheduled event. But be careful that you don’t appear too strict: There is a fine line between influencing and imposing! Your best ally is an organized insider who can help guide their peers through the event.

Identify Yourself

Social media is exceptionally real-time focused, so make sure bloggers know who is talking at all times. Handouts with names, titles, bios, and photos are a big help, as are table cards and large, easy-to-read nametags. Never assume that the audience knows your PR staff or CEO at a glance.

Mix and Mingle

Make your staff and guests available to the audience, and resist the urge to clump together. Events can be great fun for the PR team to bond, but insider conversations can exclude the very people you are trying to reach out to. Avoid talking shop and focus your friendliness on the invited attendees.

Provide Wi-Fi and Power

What good are bloggers if they can’t blog? Make sure there is plenty of power and open Internet access everywhere they will go. Go crazy with the outlets, providing two or three at every seat, and set up special powered spots at keynotes and mixers. Make sure the Wi-Fi network is mobile-device-friendly, without excessive splash screens and passwords that interfere with iPad and smartphone users. Typical paid hotel Wi-Fi is a non-starter; set up your own.

What’s the Hashtag?

Twitter hashtags can be created on the fly, and your attendees will create a few if you don’t standardize ahead of time. Every event should have a simple, short hashtag associated with it, and the best are consistent over time. “#CorpWorld” beats “#CorporateWorld2011” hands-down and still gets the message across.

Connect to Existing Social Networks

Set up a event-related groups on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Flickr rather than creating your own forum for event-related discussion. Walled-garden social networks tend to fail, and empty discussion boards are just embarrassing. Go where the bloggers are rather than asking them to come to you.

Keep On Top Of Things

Once you standardize the twitter hashtag and identify the online groups, actively follow the discussion and immediately address any concerns that come up. Real-time chat can rapidly turn nasty, but it can also save your bacon. If a presenter is boring the bloggers, he’s probably also turning off the rest of the attendees. Pull the plug or redirect the session rather than allowing the heckling to start.

Promote Them Back

The most valuable commodity in the blogging world is a link. Actively promote the bloggers who attend your event with lists and links to their sites, and share and tweet their coverage. Balanced coverage is much more credible than straight praise, so don’t be afraid to promote less-than-flattering content. You’ll gain respect from the bloggers and their audience if you acknowledge and engage rather than aggressively refuting their commentary.

Team Up

Social media is a two-way street. Rather than going it alone, event organizers should team up with bloggers, user groups, and organizations to maximize communication and cooperation. That’s one reason we created Gestalt IT, and why today I spend 100% of my time at Foskett Services organizing and coordinating events like this. It’s nice to see so many companies reaching out and getting involved!

Filed Under: Commentary Tagged With: bloggers, blogging, events, Gestalt IT, social media

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