The Influencer of Great Influences
If you’re a fan of self improvement, the name Tony Robbins probably rings a bell. In fact, this particular person has such an extensive global presence that it’s likely you've seen him on programs like Oprah, TedTalk, or on Netflix. You’ve probably seen or heard his name on book stands, through the mouths of other influencers, maybe even a family or friend.
Tony Robbins is a man who can be defined by many terms. Author, philanthroper, entrepreneur, life coach, life and business strategist.Yet all these terms can easily be wrapped up into just one, influencer.
“What is influence? The ability to affect other people’s thinking”
“I feel on top of the world, I feel incredible, I feel motivated, I feel empowered. I am the master of my own destiny.”- Maria Menounos (Actress & TV Host) after attending Tony’s Date with Destiny seminar.
“Tony Robbins needs no introduction. He is committed to making life better for every investor. Every investor will find this book extremely interesting and illuminating” — Carl Icahn billionaire investor, on his novel Unshakable
With over 40 remarkable years of experience Tony Robbins has had the ability to motivate lifestyle changes in millions of people across the globe, including Nelson Mandela, Mother Theresa, Princess Diana, the list goes on…quite impressive right? He’s best known for NewYorkTimes best selling self help & finance novels Unlimited Power, Awaken the Giant Within, and Unshakeable, his limit pushing seminars, and his drive for helping people tap into what they need to access their ability to live their dream life.
Tony Robbins is famous for his amazing capacity and dedication to serving people in channeling the most enriched versions of themselves, and passing it forward. He is famous for his ability to communicate, his ability to connect, his ability to bring the light out in darkness. He has dedicated his life towards helping others delve into the turmoil that’s responsible for pain, confronting it head on instead of focusing on “surface issues”, and turning it into something beautiful,
“Life is a gift, and it offers us the privilege, opportunity, and responsibility to give something back by becoming more.” — Tony Robbins
What started Tony’s 4 decade long journey to improve the lives of as many people as he could? His own pain.
His struggle at an early age is what drove him to sculpt a lifestyle for himself that is mentally fit, and to teach others his methods of self success. He grew up with a mother with substance abuse problems. Her overwhelming dependancy on her son had severe effects on both his life and their relationship. However, his unstable relationship with his mother is the reason he is the man standing today. He was motivated purely by the fact that he didn’t want anyone else to feel the pain he’s felt, in a vicious routine of poor habits, he did more than just think about taking his life back, he did it. Today Tony and his mother have healed their wounds together, and he is the pinnacle of motivating others in doing so in their lives.
Tony Robbins is all over social media. Everything he is doing is absolutely right. He is on almost every major platform. He has his own website https://www.tonyrobbins.com/, where there are visible links to his podcast, blog, Facebook page, linked in, twitter, and youtube. Additionally, he has his own app called Breakthrough; A term he uses often to signify a moment in ones life where deep meaningful realizations are made, and are applied to enrich life. He has made appearances on huge global networks including Oprah, and his Netflix documentary Im Not Your Guru is a huge success.
TRANSFORM — CLOSE THE GAP BETWEEN WHERE YOU ARE TODAY — AND WHERE YOU WANT TO BE
This is the first quote your eyes are drawn to on his website. Tony has done a remarkable job of branding his name, and associating it with self improvement. For over 40 years Tony has been able to not only develop a name that when heard is associated with financial/ personal manifestation, and spreading that knowledge and that mentality forward, but with remaining relevant. In an increasingly competitive environment that is social media, he has managed to remain relevant for decades, keep in mind this is no easy task. He is plastered across virtually all social media platforms. His Instagram account has approximately 2.4 million followers with over 600 posted media content. the hashtag #TonyRobbins has over 400k posts on Instagram. His Twitter has over 3.1 million followers with 500 media posts and only around 9,000 tweets. His Facebook page has over 3 millions followers and 3 millions likes. His Youtube account has roughly 413k subscribers, his most watched video hit 11 million views.
How has Tony Robbins managed to uphold a strong presence on social media for this many ongoing years? I think the answer can be defined by what Bailey Parnell (guest speaker) defined as the 7 characteristics of influencers. Out of the 7, the characteristics Robbins absolutely represent include the following:
(1) Level of connectivity
As mentioned above Tony is across all relevant and major platforms today like Instagram, Facebook, Youtube, Twitter. He is blogging, he is making podcasts, his books are available in audio and hardcopy, his seminars are intensive and long 11 hour days. His level of outreach to his followers is massive, and very effective to his brandname.
(2) Direct access to followers (engagement rate)
Tony and his team are very responsive on social media. Part of the reason is mostly due to the fact that people in critical conditions (for instance suicidal) reach out for help. My assumption is that he keeps up his engagement rate because his career revolves around building connections with people, if his engagement rate wasn’t up, it wouldn’t make sense with the overarching brand of Tony Robbins.
Furthermore, across all his posts Tony writes captions as if he is speaking specifically to you as an individual. It feels very personal, and as we learned in RTA 902, the best way to keep your engagement rate up is by establishing a level of personal connectivity.
The email above was sent immediatly after I signed up for his monthly newsletter. As you can tell he speaks directly to you as if you are close friends, he welcomes you to his community and makes you feel like you’re apart of something bigger than yourself.
(3) Visual copresence
Finally, Tony’s social media success can also be a result of his ability to make his followers feel like they’re in touch with the latest that’s happening not only in his career, but personal life. In his instagram content especially, he speaks to his camera like he is speaking to each follower selectively. The instagram link below is a perfect example of how he maintains intimacy with his followers.
It is evident Tony Robbins was a great influencer of minds even before social media was as booming as it is today. Tony Robbins is a great example of a person/ brand who was able to remain relevant within the fast paced and demanding realm of social media. His social media techniques directly translate to the person he is in real life, strong communicator, personal, deep thinker, intellectual.His level of authenticity is communicated throughout his social media platforms because of his level of connectivity, direct access to followers and visual co presence.
References
Unshakeable | by Tony Robbins. (2018). Unshakeable. Retrieved 16 April 2018, from http://www.unshakeable.com/
Tony Robbins — The Official Website of Tony Robbins. (2018). tonyrobbins.com. Retrieved 16 April 2018, from https://www.tonyrobbins.com/
