IRM | Shooting at Bubbles

The other day I wrote about a new social media buzz phrase that is almost guaranteed to gain traction. The acronym is IRM and that stands for, are you ready, Influencer Relationship Management.

Well no sooner than I posted that, or at least very shortly afterwards I got a message on Twitter from Appinions, the group behind this idea, that gave me a link to what was apparently my profile on their service; which by the way I never signed up for.

So there you have it folks, your worst nightmare; or biggest laugh depending on your point of view. I am an influencer.

Thanks guys but I’m not really sure about your assessment but now if you’ll excuse me I am headed to the floor for a good laughing fit.

Buzz words and phrases are the lifeblood of any new hot idea and social media is no different, even if it has been around for a while.

It seems that we have a new buzz phrase headed our way and it’s a doozy. Try this on for size:

IRM: Influencer Relationship Management.

Yup, you to can now manage influencer relationships, isn’t that grand?

This gem comes to us from Appinions and this is how they explain this gag inducing collection of nonsense words:

The first and vital step in IRM is to build a list of the influencers that are relevant to your organization or cause. Keep in mind, they don’t have to be fans of your product and/or service. Second, you connect with them and let them know who you are and let them use your service or product.

As influencers become more ingrained in our digital lives, they will inevitably be a greater interest in them from brands and agencies. The influencer is a huge step forward within the marketing and communications world, and IRM will become its own sustainable wing within the industry in the near future. It won’t be long until we see IRM experts and specialists pop up, just like we saw the advent of social media experts.

The sad part is they are right, we will probably start seeing this term pop up any time soon.

10, 9, 8, 7………