In our recently held seminar on social media, one of the speakers did say that the population of online citizen is still small to create any significant dent on the brands here. My opinion about this is that one does not need many voices to do a damage, a recognized online voice is enough to create the dent if not offline but on the international scene. The perception of the brand may be damaged when it comes to future investment in the brand from international investors.

 For many brand custodians, the challenge is identifying what to monitor as well as where to concentrate energy. Despite this, brand custodians need to be alert to what is going on around them and map out strategies to gain right perception, visibility and awareness.

The secret of strong relationship is not in scattering efforts -that can be overwhelming. We must remember that 80/20 still rules here. Despite the expanding nature of digital and offline activities and the shift in the speed at which information is disseminated. The first step in curtailing bad press, crisis is to build solid relationship with those who can spark the fire. Brand custodian must take time to identify the influencers in their industries. These are individuals who have built credibility, popularity enough to wield influence on the target audience.

This may be due to the fact that their opinions have become laws based on their activities, influence, knowledge, impacts on the community. To build relationship with such influencers is the first step in the school of brand’s survival. Below, I have tried to identify steps that will help brands’ custodians, managers, marketers etc.

Locate he influencer: influencers are like oil/cream on the surface of the water. They are not hidden. The reports, words of mouth about them loom large enough to be ignored. These reports should guide in locating who is who.

Acknowledge/Participate: when you have identified them, acknowledge them by initiating a relationship either through contact, email, phone calls etc. Pitching will not sell at this stage; cordial relationships will perform wonder than pitching or sales activities. Also participate in their conversations and possibly join their communities as onlooker.

Fill the gap, be a source of help: Give them relevant information that will enhance their perception among their communities- if you have assess to that. Assist them to be well-informed about your brands as well. This will help clear misrepresentation about your brand too. Remember they do not know everything per time. If you can encourage them with an advert from your brand, that will be great too.

 Let me close this piece by helping someone who may not know the influencers to look out for. Some of these influencers include frontline bloggers, opinion leaders, forum owners, customer advocates/activists and industry experts.

Related posts:

1. Brand influencers and brand success
2. Building Brand through trust
3. Public relations activities measurement: challenges, solutions