“Influencer relations” demands active networking beyond Twitter and Facebook.  Attention spans are thinning, so brand ambassadors (you) have to show up, shake hands and speak well.  Be present. Not just online, but out there in the real world.

Basic Networking: Media Events and Tours

Every quarter, one of our clients exhibits at a large media event for the tech industry. Attendance is limited to mostly high-profile reporters and bloggers in a specific tech vertical. The costs of participating are buried by the rich, in-person opportunity to look our media contacts in the eye and put a product and concept in their hands.

Media and blogger tours accomplish the same thing. We’ve taken several clients to “meet their makers.” Each time they come back trailing trophy leads and ultimately landing significant coverage. They took time to show up and shake hands.

Crashing the Blogger Party (or “Bring Them to Your Tent.”)

When BlogWorld brought the bloggers to Las Vegas last week, Cirque du Soleil took advantage. Chris Brogan’s story about the Cirque experience is worth the read. In a nutshell, Cirque’s head of social media Jessica Berlin attended the sessions (and afterglow gatherings), interacting with the influential folks on deck.

When one party grew too large, Jessica played an important card: She invited the group of 100 bloggers to a Cirque nightclub.

• The “red carpet” was rolled out in terms of service and experience.
• Some bloggers subsequently took in a Cirque show - something that might not have happened without Jessica’s involvement.
• Jessica followed through by thanking Chris on his blog.
• Cirque channels on Twitter, Facebook and MySpace were already in place to catch overflow.

Questionable Motives? Not So.

Cirque’s efforts were chalked up as “an appalling attempt at corporate blogger relations” by Brandon Carlos of PR Ninja. “. . .What Cirque has done here is give VIP status to a group of bloggers who otherwise would have had to wait at the back of the line. . . The term blogger relations is quickly becoming synonymous with bribery. It doesn’t take a genius to see right through Cirque motives.”

Meeting influencers half way is not cheap. It is smart. Through basic awareness raising and rewarding fans, you can cash in on good networking and word of mouth.

What about you? Do you think deliberate networking and favors are unethical? Where do you go to meet your influencers?

[Image credits: "Shaking Hands" by Aidan Jones and "Cirque du Soleil by Saltoricco]