How To Harness Influence

"Influence is not something done by certain people to other people. It's the result of those people we call The Influenced doing something in response to those we call Influential." [Mark Earls]

Influence is not something that is done to people. Public relations professionals work on identifying the people they'd like to reach and crafting messages that appeal to them in order to get the word out and sway publics.

To understand why your PR pitches may strike out, we'll take a look at the three main components and six drivers of influence through a PR lens.

(1.) the content of your message

In the promotional part of PR, it must address what the product or service is and does to influence buying decisions. What's the function of your product or service? Who does it help? Is there a case study you can point people to that illustrates this point? How does this product or service make people feel?

Another aspect of PR is concerned with informing people about the importance of an issue to persuade them that your point of view has merit.

The Chevy Volt influential initiative at SxSW blended these two.

Plenty of control here.

(2.) the identity of the person who sends the message

The person on the receiving end of a message, or influenced, must trust the sender and believe that he or she really knows the product or service in question. While you may believe someone when she talks about designer clothing, you may be less inclined to take a recommendation on a car purchase from the same person.

While one can only influence as many people as he has access to, those connections come with other connections in turn -- it's the people on the other end of those connections that carry that influence forward.

Trust and competence are the key concepts here.

(3.) the context where the conversation is held

This is crucial to the power of messages. Messages passed on within trusted networks have less reach and greater impact than those circulated through dispersed communities. Because in part there’s usually a high correlation between people whose opinions we trust and the members of networks we most value.

That’s why old-fashioned kitchen table recommendations and their online equivalents remain so important. A person with six thousand connections on Twitter may pay attention to the messages of a handful people.

The real influence resides with the small, close-knit network of trusted friends.

According to psychologist Robert Cialdini, the six drivers of influence are:

1. reciprocation
2. consistency
3. social proof
4. liking
5. authority
6. scarcity

How do you navigate these drivers within the three components of influence?

© 2010 Valeria Maltoni. All rights reserved.

Comments

[Scott Gould]

Valeria,

I don't know if you've read leadership expert John Maxwell, but has exceptional things to say about influence.

His slant is on influence being synonymous with leadership (to lead someone means you influence them) - and has various levels of leadership.

It starts with Position (work environment) and then goes to Permission, Production, People Development and then Personhood.

I've been reading Cialdini recently too, and I think your 3 pointers tie into Maxwells points. I'm work on how they do ATM.

What I'm convinced of is that leadership is all the more required in PR, Marketing, etc. With so many choices for consumers, leaders are the ones that are standing out.

[Lateef]

These drivers are all relevant from what I see in my business referrals platform. People trust recommendations from those they really know, who have consistently demonstrated good advice, and who pay back when appropriate.

Spot on, Valeria.

[Tom Kuplic]

Valeria-
We are having Cialdini present at a conference we are hosting and I plan on asking him that question about how his drivers work in PR. He seems very focused on broad examples of how influence works on strangers, but so much of what seems to create relationships in the first place in PR is a blending of social proof, and authority that might lead to reciprocation.

One can't (ethically or practically) just say "Here take this gift (promo sample)" and expect a writer to act on some feeling of reciprocation to write about the product.
We have much better luck with our pitches when we can prove our clients' position as experts in a field based on years of service or experience, offer them up as good subjects for interviews on that topic, respond immediately and competely to interview requests, and then pitch good story ideas once the relationship has been created.
No matter what, that pitch/message has to have all the elements you mention in the first component of influence. Thanks for the great blog and I will let you know what Cialdini says.

[Valeria Maltoni]

@Scott - I didn't and now made a note to look for his work. Thank you. We need more leaders overall, probably of the servant kind. Not the King kind of attitude. I like how to tie this back to values. There are values in PR: ethics, corporate culture, core values, brands. Relationships, after all, are formed around values.

@Lateef- and not in a keeping score kind of way, I find. Thank you for stopping by.

@Tom - do let me know. This is a fabulous coincidence. I think it goes back to values, should have included that in the post. Here's for example IBM's value system: “We call it the IBM System Brand. Picture a framework with five columns. From left to right the columns are labeled what it means to look like IBM, to sound like IBM, to think like IBM, to perform like IBM and ultimately to be IBM” Each instrument, like for example social media, allows for values to be demonstrated in different ways.

[Ann Holman]

Blimey I've just written something similar in my new eBook and used Cialdini's model too. Great minds think alike? I like the reciprocation angle. I think its why Twitter works so well.

As people whether customers or employees we have become sophisticated in our desires. As the stable rules of the past change radically and it becomes more difficult to predict and control, the need for people that can influence with authentic, genuine flare providing certainty, direction and insight is likely to increase.

The three points in your post are great pointers in the right direction for any company/person to adopt in becoming an influencer but also in leading your own influencers too.

[Tom Kuplic]

Valeria-
Just completed our 3 day conference where Cialdini spoke along with a host of other great folks, the twitter hashtag is #lsbbu and we have a Brandworks University Facebook page.
Cialdini really focused on reciprocation and authority in this time of uncertainty. His basic message for reciprocation was: Be the first to give: Service, Information, Concessions. It was really about shifting to be authentically helpful to people/customers and any audience. And in order for that to matter, one needed the authority of a position. Interestingly, professionalism, credentials, and industry knowledge were important, but admitting weaknesses first was even more important to establishing credibility. Thanks again for the comment back.
Best,
Tom Kuplic