Demystifying Influencers: From Pyramid to Diamond Model
CNET Networks conducted a three-part study called “Understanding Influence, and making it work for you” (Download here). It explored the structure of social networks, methods of acquiring information and the motivations for giving/sharing/influencing others. Guy Kawasaki explains the basic tenets of the study in his blog post.
But what I was interested in is the marketing or advertising takeaways from the white paper.
The study provides three key marketing takeaways:
- Two unique characteristics of information that influencers value are that the information is unique and trusted.
- Shape your marketing messages for the larger network of moderately connected users, not just the few highly connected individuals at the top.
- Make content actionable for users.
But these theories may have some loophole. For instance, a meme originating in Facebook may or may not catch and have a world wide reach. But it may catch on in particular group and spread to other similar groups by virtue of the fact that a highly connected individual in a group on Facebook is also in a group of like minded individuals on MySpace.
So in a niche group context, the meme will spread. If enough niche groups catch on and the meme has a wide enough appeal it is likely to take of on a grander scale.
I would suggest that a highly connected individual must also be a highly active group member that also has a high degree of credibilit
y within a group in order for a meme to spread (thanks to one of the commenter).Other than this in country like India, there is a high chance that this theory may not be put into practice as such since demographics is widely varied, so different customers will consume the same product in different ways.
Note: In case, the pdf downloading plays crazy with your mind, shoot me a mail at sampad.s@gmail.com. I will send a fresh copy of the white paper ASAP.
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