Tamar Weinberg, in her highly recommended blog – Techipedia – wrote a very interesting and relevant post yesterday. In her own words;

“I contacted a number of influencers to see what grabs their attention. I selected influencers in all different “walks of life” and areas of influence, from the blogosphere to the power users of Digg to founders of successful startups and authors of bestselling books. The question I asked, simply, was “how do you recommend people grab your attention?”

What you should really do now is jump to her blog and read the post in its entirety. Trust me, it’s well worth it.  These ‘influencers’ all answered in their own unique way but the underlying message that came through was the same. Start by “engaging” with us and understand what is deemed “relevant” to us.

It’s a simple message and one that the PR and communication industry could do well to constantly remember – it’s not that hard. Read what these people write about, do some research and treat them as individuals, not as a generic group. I remember before the advent of email (yes, I’m that old!), that one had to phone, fax and visit journalists and publishing headquarters if you really wanted to engage reporters. Or you would meet and chat with them at trade-shows, conferences or any other opportunity available – not necessarily to ‘sell’ stories but more to engage them and understand in what direction they were writing at that moment (what was relevant to them).

Even today, with the roll out of social media, these premises still apply – albeit in an altered format. Engaging the influencers through their ‘data’ streams and understand what is ‘relevant’ to them is not hard. It’s the foundation for a good communications campaign and a way to make sure that you can develop a strong on-line relationship with specific influencers.

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