TECHNIQUES TO INFLUENCE

“Persuasion is about creating and environment that lets two or more people find common ground and beliefs. The fine line between persuasion and manipulations revolves around intent. Typically persuasion has a very positive connotation while manipulation does not”  – Dave Lakhani in Persuasion: The Art of Getting What our Want

RESEARCH THE BENEFITS
Do your research. A key to success is to frame your argument in terms of how your idea would benefit the company//client.

BE CREDIBLE
Consider things from the perspective of the people you are presenting your idea to. Are you coming from a credible place? Is it an area you know about? This may be something that you will need to get across in addition to your actual idea.

WORK ON YOUR COMMUNICATION SKILLS
So many people churn out the phrase in personal statements ‘I am an effective communicator’ without really considering what that means. Communicating on a social level is not the same as being effective in a presentation.

LISTEN
Plan but don’t be so rigid that you come across as robotic. Respond and adapt to feedback (both spoken and via body language).

GIVE THE AUDIENCE SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT
We have already mentioned researching the benefits but it is also good to leave the audience with proof of the benefits e.g. statistics of how this idea has worked for another company. Similar success stories that have been effective.

COMMUNICATION TOOLS
Powerpoint/Prezi?
Handout/Whiteboard?

DEPENDENCIES

Dependencies of an inbound marketing strategy:

Inbound marketing – a marketing methodology that is designed to draw visitors and potential customers in, rather than outwardly pushing a brand, product or service onto prospects in the hope of generating leads or customers.

• Brand – it’s almost impossible to have a successful inbound marketing strategy if you don’t have a consistent look and feel, solid messaging and a voice for your company, products and services. People need to recognize you and understand how you benefit from them.
• Authority – outreach is largely seen as a public relations effort but extending your audience by finding others online is imperative. Many social media folks will just tell you that you build your own audience. Why would you do this if someone already has that audience? Go find them!
• Community – curating and growing an audience into a thriving community requires a unique content strategy, a lot of attention, and a talented team. However, once you’ve got a community – you’ve got an army of marketers. It’s the holy grail of social media!
• Conversion – without a proper implementation of analytics, optimization and testing, you’re not going to be able to convert the leads you have into customers. Identifying, measuring and improving your path to engagement is critical.

The importance of defined dependencies within a digital marketing strategy is almost immeasurable. Developing a solid brand, authority, and community leads to high conversions and without one of those the others all fail