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Top Influencer Marketing News: Defining & Measuring Influence

June 29, 2012

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This week, there has been a lot of chatter online about the definition of influence, how companies are attempting to measure it  and what it all means for brands.

Let’s dive in and take a look at some of our favorite articles this week that explore this emerging trend of influence measurement.

Paradox of Online Influence

This article takes a pretty hard line on the rise of personal influence measurement. Jure Klepic argues that there’s a myth being perpetuated in social media that popularity equals influence. Many tools measure influence based on personal power, not the ability to drive action.

His primary issue with measuring online influence is that the size of a person’s network and their ability “to spread a message through shares, retweets, likes and comments” is the equivalent of putting all our influence measurement eggs in one basket – leaving behind more critical metrics such as sentiment (positive or negative message) or indicators of changes in purchasing behavior due to sentiment.

It’s an excellent look at what influence really means and how we should go about identifying it. Read the full article at the Huffington Post - Paradox of Online Influence

What Klout Really Measures

Much like Jure, Tom Webster at Brand Savant questions whether personal influence measurement tools like Klout really measure influence. He argues that they do not.

Instead, Tom says these tools indicate a person’s ability to spread a message. It does not, however, determine whether the message itself is effective.

He also helps readers dust off the cobwebs from college composition classes to look at Aristotle’s definition of influence. Anyone remember ethos, pathos and logos?

It’s a great read and we encourage you to check it out: What Klout Really Measures

Social Influencers are Dead – Long Live the Instigators

Throughout history, we have long heralded an influencer as someone with power. However, in his article for Business 2 Community, Danny Brown says that the term “influencer”has lost it’s cache because it now merely indicates who is noisiest online.

Instead, he argues, we should be focusing on instigators – those that are able to drive conversation and action. His article talks about what it takes to court them and where to find them (hint: it’s not just on Facebook and Twitter).

Do you think being an influencer has become diluted?

Read the post and let us know what you think: Social Influencers are Dead – Long Live the Instigators

Whose Recommendation Has the Most Influence on Customers?

In this article from Open Forum, they take a look at a new study from Jumpthru that explores which social networks have the most influence on women’s buying decisions.

Although women trust Pinterest the most, it’s actually blogs that are driving the most purchases with 61 percent of women saying they purchased an item after it was recommended by a blog.

Check out the rest of the findings here: Whose Recommendation has the Most Influence on Customers?

Blogger Outreach: EARNED Versus Paid Media

Chris Abraham’s post on blogger outreach strikes up an interesting point:

Should bloggers be paid to promote brands and/or their products?

Chris tows a line on whether blogger outreach is actually earned vs. paid media. Leaning toward the former, he admits that his assumption has always been that blogger outreach that “is public relations and not paid media.”

He takes a firm stance early on in the post that bloggers should not be paid because the brands they promote (and their PR agencies) “earned” the right to get influential bloggers to work for free.

What about you – should blogger outreach be considered paid or earned media?

Read a response to Chris’ stance that raises some interesting counterpoints - Blogger Outreach: EARNED Versus Paid Media

What are some of your favorite articles and thought leadership from the world of influence? What are your thoughts on the above articles? Please share in the comments below.