Top Influence Marketing News: The Unspoken Truth and POE Disruption

By Brett Henley

This week in top influence marketing news is chock full of thought leadership on wide range of influence related topics.

As we continue to listen to these conversations, I am amazed at how rapidly  influence marketing is evolving as both a discipline and as a conversation. The articles below are but a sampling of how influence is impacting the marketing space.

Where Influence Measurement Tools are Stymied

Jure Klepic is quickly establishing his presence as a voice that isn’t afraid to ask the tough questions in regards to influence marketing’s evolution.

In his most recent article for the Huffington Post, Jure dives in to analyze where influence measurement platforms might be misleading their users, or as he says, “the unspoken truth of what the measurement tools are actually measuring.”

He points out early in his article that there are many nuances to measuring influence (novelty, creativity, attractiveness and mattering) that can’t simply be “boiled down” to formulas and equations. Yet, this is exactly what many influence measurement tools attempt to accomplish.

Jure included Appinions in his analysis of 4 influence measurement tools, mentioning it as “the tool that better approaches providing some indication of influence.” We’re glad you think so, Jure!

Read the full article at the Huffington Post – Where Influence Measurement Tools are Stymied

How Online Marketing Can Fuel Offline Conversations

Brad Fay and Ed Keller of the Keller Fay Group offer a deeper look at the impact of offline behavior on marketing strategy.

Fay and Keller note that a key mistake made by digital marketers is measuring campaign effectiveness with digital metrics only (stating that word of mouth can be nine times more voluminous offline vs. on).

From designing buzzworthy content and post frequency to targeting influencers for word of mouth recommendations – the article offers insights into ways that marketers can maximize efforts in both offline and online to impact their strategies.

Read the full article at Mashable – How Online Marketing Can Fuel Offline Conversations 

Enhancing your personal social media power

Mark Schaefer returns to our roundup this week with an exclusive video interview with Michael Stelzner of Social Media Examiner.

In the interview, Mark shares his viewpoints on how social media influence impacts business.

He specifically discusses the rise of social scoring platforms and how businesses are using these tools to engage with their audiences, his philosophies on creating influence via social media, the democratization of influence and more.

Watch the full interview with Mark – Enhancing your personal social media power

How to be prepared for the Paid, Owned, and Earned media disruption [REPORT]

If you ask Nick Cicero from Social Fresh – The world is changing.

Media and marketing are colliding at a rapid pace, and brands need to be positioned to embrace the arrival of Converge media.

Nick defines Converged media by a process in which brands combine the trifecta of Paid, Owned and Earned media (POE) to amplify their marketing.

The article also details a recent report on Converged media by Rebecca Lieb and Jeremiah Owyang of Altimeter Group, which offers an in-depth view of the challenges that marketing and communications industries are facing as advertising and media continue to converge.

Read Nick Cicero’s full article on Converged media at Social Fresh – How to be prepared for the Paid, Owned, and Earned media disruption [REPORT] 

Why Digital Influence is So Important

Brian Solis, author of The End of Business as Usual and a principal analyst at Altimeter Group, tackles a really important distinction regarding the viability of influence and whether it’s here to stay. In fact, he tackles it head on:

“[...] the state of digital influence can be measured. To what extent or effectiveness is under debate.”

Citing data from three separate reports and pulling from his extensive experiences studying the science and art of digital influence, Brian drives home the importance of understanding influence and how this rising marketing discipline affects businesses.

More so, the article really digs into some of the toughest and most stubborn questions fueling the influence debate – Who are these influencers? What are really talking about when we refer to influence? Do businesses really know what is being said about them?

Read the full article on ATT’s Networking Exchange Blog – Why Digital Influence is So Important

What were your favorite articles from this week? Feel free to share in the comment section!

 Image credit: Thomas