Do Social Media Power Users Matter at All?
Posted by Nick O'Neill on April 3rd, 2008 4:17 PMAn interesting study was published today suggesting that “so-called ‘influencers’ might have less clout than some marketers think.” This is not really surprising but I would suggest that there is a spectrum of influence in marketing and advertising. Along that spectrum is our close friends and family which provide the most influential personal recommendations and at the other end of the spectrum would be advertising such as billboard ads.
As Marshall Kirkpatrick suggests, this means that the infamous “Tipping Point” that Malcom Gladwell created may not be accurate. To suggest that the majority of people make decisions based on a select group of people is somewhat ludicrous. The study stated that:
Of more than 1,100 adults polled in December, nearly 80% said they were very or somewhat more likely to consider buying products recommended by real-world friends and family, while only 23% reported being very or somewhat likely to consider a product pushed by “well-known bloggers.”
So does this mean that there is no point in investing in the “well-known bloggers” when executing a marketing campaign? I don’t think so. Ultimately marketing and advertising is about diversification so spread it out based on the impact of each of your marketing investments. This study also shows that Facebook’s SocialAds system could theoretically have a substantial impact. If our close friends and family are using something we are more likely to buy it.
Leveraging click-thru data of individual advertisements on Facebook to monetize our influence makes a lot of sense. Why not get paid for something that you’ve worked hard to build?
The study adds that determining influence is not simple though:
“Understanding real influence, you have to look at a number of factors from the type of audience someone attracts, where their expertise lies, and the context in which other sites are linking to them.”
While it’s not easy to track all of the factors of influence are, I would say that Facebook is currently the closest to calculating our digital influence. Do you think there are other companies that will succeed at this sooner? Do you think monetizing influence makes much sense?
April 3rd, 2008 at 5:05 pm
As I posted recently and explained with an example, the key to social recommendations (influencing) may just be difficulty. The easier it is to make recommendations, the less effective they will be. We are more likely to 'consume' a recommendation when we know that the person who made it went to some trouble to do so. E.g. sending a link to a music track by email vs. sending a purchased CD by post.
I don't know about Social Ads but a facebook recommendation facility that factors this difficult factor in could be interesting. It could perhaps use a virtual currency that you use when you make a recommendation and you gain more of when your recommendations get consumed.
April 3rd, 2008 at 6:04 pm
Hi Nick,
I think we're getting things out of proportion here.
WOM from close people always has and always will sell. Personal Recommendation
A blogger, even a leading one, is not WOM. It is little more than an ad. It brings it to peoples attention and puts it on their shortlist, but then the normal “have you heard about this” WOM and self appraisal does its magic.
What does work, are NEGATIVE reviews and points by bloggers. This raises warning sign posts that may deter people or make them double check. Nobody wants to buy a dud, so negative blogs are way more powerful than bed chum praise.
A well know review blog, like Tom's hardware. I've NEVER bought anything on his recommendation or shortlisting. But I have often double checked that my own shortlist contains no duds or bad points I have missed.
I don't work on other peoples here say, simply because they are not me. If they've detected a flaw form living with it, then that gets my attention.
But come to that, when was the last time you bought something because your mum, girl friend or mate said it was “nice”? They're the thing s I usually cross off my list immediately LOL. I want my own identity!
I know you love Facebook, and they have a sizeable market share, but I don;t think they will never own the digital footprint or bush drum.
Social bookmarking sites, which become open social savvy, will be the leaders AFAIC. Stumbleupon being a generation 0.5 example.
People would know far more about my digital footprint if they knew all of my social bookmark handles. My Facebook profile means almost nothing, even tome
Peter
April 3rd, 2008 at 6:05 pm
As I posted recently and explained with an example, the key to social recommendations (influencing) may just be difficulty. The easier it is to make recommendations, the less effective they will be. We are more likely to ‘consume’ a recommendation when we know that the person who made it went to some trouble to do so. E.g. sending a link to a music track by email vs. sending a purchased CD by post.
I don’t know about Social Ads but a facebook recommendation facility that factors this difficult factor in could be interesting. It could perhaps use a virtual currency that you use when you make a recommendation and you gain more of when your recommendations get consumed.
April 3rd, 2008 at 7:04 pm
Hi Nick,
I think we’re getting things out of proportion here.
WOM from close people always has and always will sell. Personal Recommendation
A blogger, even a leading one, is not WOM. It is little more than an ad. It brings it to peoples attention and puts it on their shortlist, but then the normal “have you heard about this” WOM and self appraisal does its magic.
What does work, are NEGATIVE reviews and points by bloggers. This raises warning sign posts that may deter people or make them double check. Nobody wants to buy a dud, so negative blogs are way more powerful than bed chum praise.
A well know review blog, like Tom’s hardware. I’ve NEVER bought anything on his recommendation or shortlisting. But I have often double checked that my own shortlist contains no duds or bad points I have missed.
I don’t work on other peoples here say, simply because they are not me. If they’ve detected a flaw form living with it, then that gets my attention.
But come to that, when was the last time you bought something because your mum, girl friend or mate said it was “nice”? They’re the thing s I usually cross off my list immediately LOL. I want my own identity!
I know you love Facebook, and they have a sizeable market share, but I don;t think they will never own the digital footprint or bush drum.
Social bookmarking sites, which become open social savvy, will be the leaders AFAIC. Stumbleupon being a generation 0.5 example.
People would know far more about my digital footprint if they knew all of my social bookmark handles. My Facebook profile means almost nothing, even tome
Peter
April 4th, 2008 at 6:33 am
I think most of the arguments for and against will be the same as the ones that came up after Duncan Watts work on viral marketing questioned the role of influencers:
http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/122/is-the-...
Influencers aren't essential to spreading an idea, but they do spread it somewhat further and faster than if they aren't included. And even if influencers aren't instrumental in the final call to action, they have a place in raising awareness, just as traditional media still has.
It's an 'and' approach, of varying increments, to the eventual end of an action…
April 4th, 2008 at 7:33 am
I think most of the arguments for and against will be the same as the ones that came up after Duncan Watts work on viral marketing questioned the role of influencers:
http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/122/is-the-tipping-point-toast.html
Influencers aren’t essential to spreading an idea, but they do spread it somewhat further and faster than if they aren’t included. And even if influencers aren’t instrumental in the final call to action, they have a place in raising awareness, just as traditional media still has.
It’s an ‘and’ approach, of varying increments, to the eventual end of an action…
April 4th, 2008 at 1:23 pm
Thanks for pointing this out to your readers Nick.
It's been apparent to us for some time now that the recommendations from even the “elite” reviewers had little influence in a person's life and what really matters are the opinions of the person's friends and family. In fact, our company (Helpr Inc.)has built the largest social recommendations application on Facebook (DoYa) around this idea. (http://apps.facebook.com/do-ya-know-a)
Whereas most of our competitors are striving to become a destination which houses vast amounts of reviews/recommendations from strangers, we are striving to be the best way to ask for, and share, recommendations amongst friends. We think that this difference is key and it's nice to get another point of validation.
April 4th, 2008 at 2:23 pm
Thanks for pointing this out to your readers Nick.
It’s been apparent to us for some time now that the recommendations from even the “elite” reviewers had little influence in a person’s life and what really matters are the opinions of the person’s friends and family. In fact, our company (Helpr Inc.)has built the largest social recommendations application on Facebook (DoYa) around this idea. (http://apps.facebook.com/do-ya-know-a)
Whereas most of our competitors are striving to become a destination which houses vast amounts of reviews/recommendations from strangers, we are striving to be the best way to ask for, and share, recommendations amongst friends. We think that this difference is key and it’s nice to get another point of validation.
April 5th, 2008 at 10:28 am
I didn’t need a study to tell me that. But like most studies you need to view it in context. Besides giving away your product to everyone’s friend, what’s the best way to influence a buying decision online? There’s no doubt that it’s online reviews, and brand advocates, assuming your a fan of the advocate. As an example I am very likely to consider a product, even if I'm not in the market for one if it's mentioned in podcast. As a SEO pro I am very suspect of positive reviews, those tend to be search engine link building a social media optimization efforts. But I do give a lot of weight to negative reviews.
PS: I'm trying to find the original study, it's not easy, can someone please provide a link?
April 5th, 2008 at 11:28 am
I didn’t need a study to tell me that. But like most studies you need to view it in context. Besides giving away your product to everyone’s friend, what’s the best way to influence a buying decision online? There’s no doubt that it’s online reviews, and brand advocates, assuming your a fan of the advocate. As an example I am very likely to consider a product, even if I’m not in the market for one if it’s mentioned in podcast. As a SEO pro I am very suspect of positive reviews, those tend to be search engine link building a social media optimization efforts. But I do give a lot of weight to negative reviews.
PS: I’m trying to find the original study, it’s not easy, can someone please provide a link?
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