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Leveraging research and conceptual models in underpinning an approach to social media campaigns is absolutely critical. I content social marketers should be using specific criteria to determine the extent and type of influencer. I use a set of criteria, based on the work of Keller and Berry * as they provided a simple set of factors in determining a social media influencer. Their five criteria are:QJuFree Articles Directory | Hostsee.com - Activists: influencers get involved, with their communities, political movements, charities and so on.
- Connected: influencers have large social networks
- Impact: influencers are looked up to and are trusted by others
- Active minds: influencers have multiple and diverse interests
- Trendsetters: influencers tend to be early adopters (or leavers) in marketsQJuFree Articles Directory | Hostsee.com I found that these five criteria could be applied in a Chinese context and leveraging a simple checklist helped us rank and grade the value of an influence in a particular campaign.QJuFree Articles Directory | Hostsee.com Another interesting framework to consider is based on the work of Brown & Hayes. They provide insights into various types of influencers and the affect they have on the decision making process. It is an interesting idea that influencers have different roles at different times in a campaign.QJuFree Articles Directory | Hostsee.com Combining these two frameworks (Keller & Berry and Brown & Hayes) provides means to select influencers then class them into types of influencers. So what? Many might think that this is too academic and surely just getting influences can be done by doing a Twitter rank or Digg rank. But I would argue that you should not simply determine who but what and why particular people are used to 'influence' the wider online community.QJuFree Articles Directory | Hostsee.com My hope is that this post gives you a chance to reflect on what you are doing when putting a social media campaign together (particularly if you are planning to use influencers). But on a final thought, not all campaigns will benefit with using influencers. In some extremely high-involvement categories, this may work. But in low-involvement categories, I believe the approach is limited.QJuFree Articles Directory | Hostsee.com * Keller, Ed and Berry, Jon. The Influentials, Free Press, 2003
* Brown, Duncan and Hayes, Nick. Influencer Marketing: Who really influences your customers?, Butterworth-Heinemann, 2008QJuFree Articles Directory | Hostsee.com
Dr. Mathew McDougall
Executive Chairman & Chief Executive Officer
SinoTech GroupQJuFree Articles Directory | Hostsee.com Dr. Mathew McDougall is recognized Worldwide as a leading expert in Interactive Marketing and online analytics. He brings 18 years of professional experience in the Internet, wireless, new media, and software sectors. He has done business internationally in 12 countries and is a seasoned executive in strategy, international sales and marketing, and general management. Dr. McDougall founded the SinoTech Group of companies in Beijing in 2007. Digital Marketing Inner Circle - http://www.sinotechblog.com.cn. Please login and give me your thoughts.QJuFree Articles Directory | Hostsee.com
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