If you lived in east Africa, you would know that now is the time of the Great Migration where herds of 1.5 million wildebeest are making their way north to greener pastures. One of the more amazing sites is the Mara River crossing, where the wildebeest have to cross crocodile infested waters to get to the other side. There is great danger, but they cross the river every year.

If you have ever seen this amazing spectacle, you recognize that the wildebeest find their strength in moving as a herd across the river. The crocs cannot eat all of them if they all go into the water together. However, you also realize that one brave wildebeest has to be the first to start the river crossing. In fact, the herd stops and waits by the river bank until the first one makes a move. When the first wildebeest takes the leap, the rest follow. Before long, they are forming a line of thousands to make the crossing.

Have you considered the importance of the person who buys your brand for the first time? People like to buy in herds too. This is something marketers have known for a long time. Consumers like to know that someone else has tried a brand and liked it before they buy it. That is the power of social media engagement. A positive or negative review will sway your next customer to either take the plunge or stay out of the water with your brand.

How do you get the influencers to dive in with you? You can always incentivize them. Give them a discounted price (or a free trial) to get them to try your brand for the first time. You can also go the route of a celebrity endorsement. Both of those work, but come with a bit of a risk. In the first scenario, not everyone is truly an influencer. Social media has been around long enough that we know that not everyone who responds is legitimate. In the case of celebrity endorsements, we live in a time when the mighty can take a fall very quickly and take your brand with them on the way down. You have to be careful.

However, there is a way to market the opinions of influencers in a way that will help you expand your reach without the risk, it just takes a bit more customer service effort and it is rather simple: ask your customers what they think after the sale. Get in touch with them and ask them if they would want more from you. Where did your brand fall short? Where did it exceed expectations? That is the first step. The next step is to find out what it would take for them to buy from you again. Are they sold on your brand enough to become a fan? The third step is to ask them to recommend the brand to a family member, friend or colleague. Some of your customers will not want to participate. That is fine. However, your influencers will rise to the top of this challenge. Why? Because influencers get a charge out of being the leader. They like being the first one to splash into the river. Your best marketing move is to identify these people and challenge them to jump in the water.

In any marketing campaign, there are early adopters. Reward them for doing so. If they are influencers, they will bring the herds with them.

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Photo by Danijel Mihajlovic