Sean and Joe may have more to say on this, but if you have identified the influencers outside your community, the steps to engage are largely similar:
- Listen to what they have to say.
- Acknowledge their efforts/passion in positive ways.
- Reward them in ways that match their motivation: status and reputation, advance access to products, special access to your people and other influencers, etc. (see Sean's great response here).
None of the actions above require a community platform to do. Of course, online communities provide an excellent means to attract, identify and nurture your influencers. But influencer programs have been around since the first time a shopkeeper learned the names of their best customers and asked for their feedback.
By the same token, don't forget to let these external influencers know about your community as well - they might enjoy the opportunity to engage with you and their peers in more ways (see 'special access' above). Just be careful to invite them in a way that it doesn't look like you are using their platform just to plug your site.
