So lets tackle the first tool that we're going to look at in this module. It's called BuzzSumo and it's been around for a number of years. And by the way, it gets really good reviews. And yes, I've used it, too. And what does it do? Well, what it lets you do is go in and say here's the topic that I'm going to be focused on. Why are we focused on the topic first? Well, as we learned, if you create the kind of content that people share, that whole influence of marketing process is infinitely easier to pull off. So here's a tool, and what does it do? It starts off by saying what's the topic that you're focused on? And by the way, the first thing they show you is here is the most shared content on that topic over whatever time frame you set up. It could be over the last week, it could be over the last year. And by the way, you change that time frame depending on how much content is being created. So in a really, really popular category, or in a conversation that really has just erupted over the last week or two, then you have a sort of a narrow parameter. Let's see who wrote the most influential content this week. But if you're in a niche category or one that is not creating quite so much content quite so frequently, or there are fewer influencers, frankly, for you to reach out to, well, you may need to widen it out a little. And let's say, who created the most sharable content over the last year? Nevertheless, it gives you a great, great start. Now it also can tell you what is not being shared. So that first example I showed you was on a topic of nail art, a very hot topic. I'm not telling you the demographic, no, no. But apparently there are a lot of people who are writing about how you can do your nails in such a way that you make a fashion statement. Okay, fine. Let's take a look at a different nail topic. This one is nail fungus. Yeah, not nail art, nail fungus. And what do we see? Well, for starters, nail art, the most shared piece of content was shared over 340,000 times. Yeah, that's what makes it a really hot topic. It's like whoa, who wrote that? How do I reach them? And by the way, that was being shared on Facebook and LinkedIn and Twitter and Pinterest, wow. Okay, that's the kind of content I want to focus on and I want to find out who the author was. But then if you look at the second result, nail fungus, well, it got shared, there was a piece of content. And it got shared 3,000 times as opposed to 340,000 times for nail art. And you begin to get the idea that, you know what? And all topics are equally compelling. In fact, maybe not all people want to be know as nail fungus influencer. It's maybe not a good thing for their rep. And you know what? There's fewer of them to find, and do not be surprised if they are a little reluctant to share their problem with a broader community. Now, it also turns out this tool, you drill into it, you hit the influencer tab. And it begins giving you more information. One of the things it does is it pulls information from, let's say, a person's Twitter bio. So that basically you've got a thumbnail description of who this person is. And by the way, that thumbnail description is the same length no matter which influencer you look at so that gives you some comparability. You get to see what people say about themselves as they describe themselves. In a lot of cases, influencers are pretty clear about what they focus on. Sometimes it's more than one thing. Sometimes they give you a little biographical information. Maybe they're an author? Maybe they work for a company. Maybe they give you the statement. But my opinions do not necessarily reflect my company, okay, fine, whatever. But that's useful information. You can take a look. You can find out basically who has created the information, the content that got shared on the topic that you're interested in. And no, no, I don't assume that all of you are going to rush out and check out nail art. But whatever the topic is that you're going to focus on for your final project, this is a useful tool to find out who's creating the content and get a bio, tell me more about them. Now here's a limitation to the tool. It's using the Twitter bio, and not every influencer has a Twitter bio. Most of them do, frankly. In fact, here's the key secret. Most influencers have a Facebook page and a Twitter feed. And they often have a YouTube channel. And, by the way, don't be surprised that they have an Instagram account or a Pinterest account or a LinkedIn profile because, you know what? The interesting thing about influencers is they are generally influential on more than one platform. Very few of them are one platform wonders. Now that's a key insight because there are a lot of social media marketing departments that are focused on platforms. And so they've got a Facebook strategy, or a Twitter campaign, or heaven forbid, a Pinterest plan. Well, think about that. You're going to end up bumping into some of the same people on multiple platforms because if they are influential, that influence will be seen in more than one place. So yes, the tool's really nice because it gives you a nice handy thumbnail description of who this person is, but understand that the content that they're creating is going across the board in more than one place. And unfortunately there's no data here on what videos, for example, they may be creating or sharing on YouTube. That's why we will take a look at some of the other tools. It also has other limitations that we'll talk about. Nevertheless, I think the key thing it does is it shows you what this influence or shares. That's crucial, because if for example you decide, I'm going to be pitching a story to Tim Farris. And I see here in his Twitter bio that he's also the author of the book Four Hour Workweek in addition to being an influencer in my topic area. Interesting, interesting. So you know what? Now I know something about this person before I ever, ever reach out and try to engage them. That's useful information. It's really important to get to know the whole person, the whole influencer. I, for example, am considered an influencer in some topic areas. And what people have discovered is my weakness is the Boston Red Sox. Yeah, I'm a baseball fan. And so, no, not many people come to me pitching a story about baseball, but knowing that that is one of my passions, they can start a conversation with me that isn't starting off with quid pro quo. Here's what I need you to do for me, here's what I want you to write about this week. They get to know me. They get to know all of me. And you can use the same kind of tactic, the same kind of insight, the same 360 degree view as you are building your list of key influencers.
