About “Sway”
What is influencer relations? Right now, it seems there’s little agreement on who the most important influencers are, what influence is and how best to engage with influencers and measure the results. This blog explores influencer relations — including the who, what, why and how of influencer identification, influencer engagement and influencer program management. The focus is on updating and remixing existing elements of marketing for greater impact on customer decisions. Expect to find a particular emphasis on marketing strategy and organization, marketing tools and services, analyst relations, press relations, blogger relations, partner relations, and industry relations.
About Barbara
Barbara French is a marketing consultant and online publisher based near San Francisco. Her areas of expertise include influencer programs, industry analysts and analyst relations, strategic alliances, channel and partner programs, corporate marketing, and product marketing.
Barbara is co-founder and managing editor of Tekrati, the world’s most popular source for directories and news on the high tech industry analysts. Tekrati websites serve more than 150,000 unique visitors each year.
Recently, Barbara was a senior consultant for Influencer50 and co-founded the Influencer Marketing & Influencer Relations group on LinkedIn. Earlier in her career, she was vice president of strategic alliances and vice president of marketing programs for Secure Computing Corporation. She has held marketing management positions at a number of IT vendors, including Novell, UB Networks, Bull, and Honeywell.
Her views on the industry analyst business and analyst relations have appeared in tech business media including CIO, ZDNet, Linux.com, Boston Globe, PRWeek, and MarketingSherpa. She has produced panels and addressed industry audiences for organizations such as Forrester Research, PRSA, Computer History Museum, Commonwealth Club, and The Software Business Conference.
Currently, she is a member of the AMA, PRSA and Churchill Club. She holds a BA from the University of Arizona.
Note: This is Barbara’s blog. The comments published on this site, by Barbara and others, do not necessarily represent any client or employer positions, strategies, or opinions.
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