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As we kick off Scott Brinker’s MarTech Conference this week, the marketing world will be anxiously awaiting the announcements and activity that will stem from the show. Following In order to stay on top of all of the exciting news from MarTech, a great way to stay informed of all of the exciting news is to follow the top influencers in the industry.

Image from Joe the Goat Farmer used under CC license.

Earlier this month at ad:tech NY, comedian/Vine star and social influencer Ry Doon — as well as speakers from Absolut, L’Oreal Paris Haircare and Crowdtap — took the stage to discuss how brands can “earn love” from social influencers. Brands often see social influencers as the gateway to reaching potential customers in a genuine way, but before they earn their love, they first need to earn their trust. Here are the steps the panelists suggested to “earn the love from social influencers”:

1. Respect the craft

Image from Keith Hoffart used under CC license.

92 percent of people trust strangers over brands. How can that be? Why are people turning to strangers to give them information about a product over the brand that created the product? Are strangers more knowledgeable than brands? As both a consumer and a marketer, it is important to understand both sides of this statistic.

As a consumer, I can certainly recall various times when I have trusted strangers over brands. Before I make an online purchase, I almost always read the reviews that strangers give the product I intend to buy. Why? Well, to me the answer is seemingly obvious; I want to know the truth about the product. If I’m going to spend money on something, I don’t want to just read the product description given by the brand – the brand would never point out any possible flaws the product may have! Strangers, on the other hand, have no problem giving the honest truth about the product. In this sense, I bestow more trust in strangers than I do in the brand that created the product.

I’ve always been fascinated by the judicial system, but my knowledge hadn’t extended much further than episodes of Law & Order: SVU and Serial. Until I was chosen for Jury Duty. While I initially dreaded getting selected, I ended up really enjoying the opportunity to participate and learn firsthand how a trial unfolds.

During one of the many sidebar conversations between the lawyers and judge I got to thinking about the similarities between a legal case and a PR campaign. As anyone who listened to Serial knows, trials can be very complicated and involve a lot of variables – that’s why both a trial and PR campaign involve a lot of preparation and require on-point messaging. Both have a similar end goal – convincing the jury (or in the case of PR, the consumer/end-user) to believe in our message over the competition.

It’s no secret by now that Twitter is a great outlet to stay on top of trends and engage with people in the marketing industry, but it’s more than just building your network, it’s about investing and becoming an influencer.