In this month's blog we take a look at key influencers on social networks and how best to use them to your marketing advantage. Having managed social campaigns for a number of clients, Brandmovers have great knowledge of how use influencers to reach your desired audience.

In an increasingly social world, it's no secret that networks such as Facebook and Twitter play an extremely important role in the way businesses communicate with their audience and customers. They are a key tool and have a strong influence in today's society, especially in industries such as marketing, where it's all about getting your views heard.

As social media evolves, the power of the everyday user is growing and those with a high influence could be invaluable to your company. Our friends and peers are shaping all of our decisions, from where to go to dinner to what computer to buy, and this hasn't gone un-noticed. The importance of having the attention of these influential users is clearly becoming more apparent to businesses, with marketers dedicating a lot of time and money to key influencers in social media.

Influence is moving from a loose term to something that is becoming more understood, with companies such as Klout looking at users different social network accounts, including Facebook and Twitter, Flickr, Blogger and Instagram to give their influence within the social networking sphere a mathematical value, defining influence as the 'ability to drive action'.

However, simply tracking key influencers is not enough to make a difference. Engaging with key influences is the key to making them work for your business. Companies need to have a thorough knowledge of the individual influencers, what interests them and their audiences and most importantly how to engage with them. With this, comes understanding why they are influencers. Monitoring and responding with these opinion leaders is to participate in your audience's social experience that will in turn foster relationships.

Ultimately, the aim of the game is to optimise and improve your presence within your desired market and amongst its audience. Connecting with key influencers in the right way that engages them and their following is the way to do this. Nurturing these relationships will improve your influence as a company and thus returns.