How to find the right Influencer?
In the world of Influencer Marketing, how can we find the right Influencers for our brands, products or services?
If you have access to Oprah Winfrey or Michael Jordan, skip this article, as for the rest of us, whom can we call on?
This is the first of my 3-part series on how to find external sources of credibility or influence that don’t involve experts or celebrities.
Check out the second part of this Influencer series. The most time-tested source of Influence.
A citizen of the modern world constantly inundated with messages learns to develop skepticism about the messages from celebrities. Who is behind these messages? “Shall I trust them? What do they have to gain if I believe them?”
Chip and Dan Heath came out with a wonderful idea of tapping the credibility of people whom they called as “Anti-authorities”. In their bestseller “Made to Stick”, they share a true story of the Doe fund – an organization that takes Homeless men and turns them into productive citizens through counselling, drug rehabilitation and most importantly, job training.
The Story:
A few years ago, some representatives from a grant organization, a potential financial sponsor were going to visit the office of the Doe fund.
The Doe fund leadership sent a driver, Dennis, to pick them up from airport. Dennis had been homeless before he turned to the Doe fund for help.
During the 45-min car trip, Dennis shared his story with the sponsors. After the trip to homeless organization, one of the sponsors commented, “we weren’t just sitting around listening to a bunch of directors boasting on how effective their services are. Dennis was the best ambassador to their work that the fund could provide. He was a living proof.” An Anti-authority.
The Doe fund also uses this principle internally. Every homeless man who enters the program is matched with a mentor who, 2 years before, was in the same situation.
For the same reason, documentaries featuring patients in terminal cancer narrating their own personal experiences served as great influences to reduce smoking among teens in 1990s.
Takeaway:
It is the honesty and trustworthiness of our sources and not their status that allows them to act as authorities.
