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What Is Influence?

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Today marks the launch of a new series, “What Is Influence?” The concept came from the many in-depth comments delivered on the April 20 blog post about Klout. There seems to be two camps re Klout (the first mover, for all intents and purposes) for gauging influence scoring — one dissects the algorithm and the analytics behind the score and discredits that number; the other (camp) looks ahead at the significance and potential impact an influencer score will have on the industry at large. I’m of the latter camp…methinks Klout and other influence assessment via metrics and scores will change the face of business development and marketing.

Mark W. Schaefer, one of the most consummate B-to-B marketers I’ve had the privilege of “growing” with, suggests Klout-type apps are not to be taken lightly. Mark says:

At the end of the day, influence is your ability to change another person’s view, attitude or behavior.  That is why systems like Klout are so important to marketers. For the first time in history we can proximate (not necessarily quantify) word of mouth influence. That is a huge insight. Revolutionary. So no matter what you think of Klout from a personal standpoint, you need to pay attention from a business standpoint because it is an important development – a step toward measurement that will improve steadily.

To refresh what I said in the Klout blog last week, I defined influence as “authoritative, authentic, and accessible leadership.”

An opinion column in Advertising Age Feb. 28, 2011 by Greg Shove, founder and CEO of Halogen Media Group, said some pertinent things in his piece about influence metrics as they relate to traditional web publishing. I don’t want to take his opinions out of context, but he shares that Klout scoring is affecting online publishing; sites too large to be nimble and authentic are suffering. I’m fascinated with his remarks, pulled from his piece:

** “Being held to influence-measurement standards set by services such as Klout is the next blow that’s coming around the corner. Get ready for the next digital media bloodbath.

** Influence metrics will show that most big, blue-chip sites don’t have the same social influence that smaller, more authentic sites do.

** Though in its infancy, this shift to influence measurement will ultimately benefit publishers that cultivate and curate influence. I’d (Greg Shove) go so far as to call this ‘authentic media’ or the ‘authentic web,’ defined by the quality, passion and influence of their editorial and their audiences.”

Opinions about influence will vary as widely as the definitions I got to help me define public relations in the recent 15-post series done on this blog. I have invited my peers, with whom I engage every day, to provide their thoughts on defining influence.

Gini Dietrich, an extraordinary and impressive social media maven who blogs at Spin Sucks and will soon launch Spin Sucks Pro, says:

I define influence as a person or group of people who affect change around a product, service, industry, or cause. Your influencers are typically not the same as mine and vice versa. That’s why the issue of things like Klout doesn’t work because it’s not based on reality.

For instance, my Klout score is higher than Jay Leno’s, which is absolutely ridiculous because he is a household name and clearly has more influence. But, in certain circles (PR, especially), I definitely have more influence than Leno.

Finding your influencers takes a lot of hard work, time, commitment, and patience. There aren’t tools that effectively make it easy for you to find them. You have to research, dig, read, review, monitor, listen, and then do it all again to maintain the relationships. The only way to measure that is to benchmark what you are asking the influencers to do against your business goals. It’s the only way.

I’m eager and excited to see how this goes! With that comes a hearty thank you and sincere gratitude for your contributions here to make this blog come alive more each day. I appreciate everyone for visiting, sharing, and ‘raderie.

(Image: ShoutMeLoud)

 

Klout: The Influence of Influence

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Everyone says you need a goal when engaging social media. Two years ago, when I started tweeting I had no earthly clue where my journey would take me. As a public relations practitioner always seeking the next trend, technology, or new practice, I had to launch into Twitter because everyone was talking about it.  My Facebook page is relatively young, but it’s growing, and I need to give it more TLC.

It took me awhile to earn my stride and slowly my goals took shape. It was never to monetize; after all my products are my words, strategic counsel and educating the profession and business about my passion (PR, if you haven’t guessed by now).

My goal was to be an influencer. There have been so many blog posts written about influence. What exactly does that mean? In my opinion, I like to think it’s authoritative, authentic and accessible leadership.

Let me explain a bit; there are influencers who encase themselves in their glass houses and rarely respond to tweets or questions posed on a blog or Facebook. These people are inaccessible. Being authoritative comes with seasoning. Having an opinion and presenting it genuinely implies authentic authority. Blogging allows for opinion, and comments create accessibility to the blogger. Being authoritative could also be considered arrogant, and that’s not a positive characteristic.

And then came Klout. I have only looked at my score 3 times ever; most recently over the weekend because someone mentioned scores were rising after Social Slam. I had a score of 52, and this weekend it is 60. It says I am an influencer, and that means I have attained my phase one goal.

What’s interesting about Klout is the detail and quantity of information available about your social media activity. I have not heard of anyone putting emphasis on Klout scoring for people hunting for a gig or being considered for a speaking position, have you?

But the more people jockey for position in social media and claim expertise, I’m thinking Klout is going to have greater influence defining who the influencers truly are. Will this become an authentic rating of the influencers? Should it?

I haven’t looked at others’ Klout analytics and I don’t know if I can dissect the data for other people as deeply as my own analysis, but this score may just become the defacto measurement system to separate the wheat from the chaff.

Here are some thoughts for you:

1. What are your professional social media goals?

2. What is your Klout baseline (your score prior to working on increasing it?)

3. Examine your social media behavior; do you ping from blog to blog and comment excessively?

4. When you blog, are your topics focused and do they command any comments? It takes awhile to find a voice; it’s helpful to have a year of blogging before things take off.

5. Are you active on Facebook or do you refuse to let social media control your every waking hour?

6. Is your Twitter stream littered with topics and Tweeps who don’t advance your goals?

7. Are you following a disproportionate number of Tweeps compared to followers? I was just introduced to Tweepi; it’s a wonderful tool to weed out those you followed who did not follow you back.

8. Have you latched onto a rising star and are you retweeting their content to your stream?

9. Is the content you publish from tweets to blogs and comments authoritative rather than just a few words in reply?

10. At the end of the day are you being you?

You may regard much of this as bunk, and it very well may be; however when I  see an analytical tool that can track my online behavior that also points to places I may improve, it is certainly worth more than a passing nod. If, that is, your goal is to become an influencer.

(Image: SocialFresh)

Be Everywhere on Social Media, Just Like Gini

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credit: wholenewweb.com

This post is about Gini Dietrich, a woman I’ve never met, spoken with, hired, been hired by, or referred business to. (She is founder and CEO of Arment Dietrich.) Yesterday, she impressed me so much I have to tell you about it. Mind you, yesterday was not my first introduction to Gini; here’s my full disclosure:

  • I subscribe to her Ad Age Power 150 (and other accolades) Spin Sucks blog via email.
  • When she posts a vlog on YouTube I generally take a look and send a comment in return (have told her she’s the most natural on camera I’ve seen).
  • I first interacted with her on a blog chat for Headway Themes with Danny Brown where she was answering questions about public relations and I was stepping on  her toes alongside (however, I didn’t “know” her then).
  • I tweet her on occasion, and she responds.

So let me tell you why I say you ought to be like Gini (not Mike); she’s everywhere on social media, and if that doesn’t do something for brand and image, I don’t know what does.

  • On Feb. 3, 2011, I first received Danny Brown’s blog post by email and it was on being a CEO, written by Gini Dietrich. In this piece, Gini spoke about how she tried to conduct diligence on how to be a CEO and realized it was up to each person’s style.
  • Spin Sucks arrived in my box, and I watched Gini’s wobbly video taken up and down blizzard-hit Chicago’s Southport Street (my favorite haunt for food, friends and shopping), so I posted a snark about her videography on YouTube (she had already warned us).
  • Then, Sarah Robinson’s blog series arrived via email, “Get Your Shit Together,” and guess who guest authored? Well, Ms. Dietrich, of course.  If you read nothing else from these links, I encourage you to plug in to:
  • Sarah Robinson. I just began to interact with her for the first time this week and stumbled on her blog series; it deserves high kudos. I am incredibly impressed, from merely three days, with her marketing prowess as a coach and her lineup of venerable authorities, herself included, for 28 days this month.
  • Read Gini Dietrich’s guest post on Sarah’s blog series yesterday (link above). It gives an amazing perspective about how she accomplishes all she does throughout the day and still makes time for her husband, exercise, running a company and taking videos with her dog on a snow day all while no longer working weekends.

Wait, I’m not done.

  • Throughout the afternoon, I saw Gini’s comedic banter on Twitter, and I had to insert myself into one thread as she was “fighting” with Les McKeown, Sarah Robinson’s first guest author in her blog series. We four exchanged a tweet or two, and it lent me some laughs for the day.

In a conversation I had with a new Twitter colleague soon-to-be featured on Momaraderie, I learned that Gini had even referred business to Ivonne Vazquez who offers virtual assistant services.

Where I’m going with this is not necessarily what you think (The Gini  Dietrich Fan Club?). It has more to do with whose social media branding and public relations model you might emulate, and I’m suggesting an authority and influencer right here.

While I’ve not engaged on Arment Dietrich’s Facebook page, it exists, and it’s chock full of tips and interactive questions for all audiences. So, she’s got the primary bases covered – an award-winning blog, an interactive Facebook page, a YouTube channel, vlogs on a weekly basis, a Twitter community with genuine engagement, guest posts on other highly acclaimed blogs, and the list goes on although this is just what popped into my purview on Feb. 3, 2011.

It takes extreme amounts of time to make an impression like this. Is my impression measurable? Until I wrote this blog post, I can guarantee Gini, Sarah, Danny, Les, Ivonne, and anyone else had no idea I had even read their materials yesterday as I didn’t post a comment on anyone’s blog (merely the YouTube video).

While public relations practitioners have struggled with measurement our entire lives, this type of social media measurement is absolutely up for grabs, too. Over the course of one day, my silent observations about Gini Dietrich exponentially increased to become an explosion and result of this post. How do you measure that? Kind of reminds me of that archaic advertising rule we learned in college oriented to 9 impressions to begin paying attention and 27 impressions to make a purchase?

My conclusion from yesterday for any of us practicing our professions is this:

  • Social media begins with community and until you create one you’ll not have the opportunity to engage beyond your own protected and comfy confines. Not only does social media require engagement, it also requires listening.
  • The audiences you attract when engaging in social media will run the gamut from students, newbies, peers, competitors, employees, stakeholders, media, customers, and hopefully a business prospect or two to help monetize. When you hold a position of authority, it’s important to respond genuinely to your community because everyone wants a piece of the star.
  • Being prolific is not necessary; being thoughtfully relevant is.
  • The balancing act each of us manages is precarious. Know your own limits and set boundaries. When idle and unproductive engagement happens more often than not, then it’s time to rethink strategy and look at the conversations and with whom.

What other thoughts resonate with you about the Gini Dietrich Social Media Model? And, let me  please remind you of my disclosure above – I’ve never been hired by Gini, spoken with her, met her, or sent business her way. When I see something that needs acknowledgment, then that’s the gift I give.

Launching “I’m A Super Working Mom”

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I receive a lot if inspiration for creativity from Twitter. This second big idea came from a tweet in passing about our weekend loads with Neicole Crepeau. You may recall that it is with her that the brainstorm for my second business blog was launched, The SMB Collective (for which I seek writers, if you’re interested?)

Michelle Quillin, co-owner of New England Multimedia, spoke with me about vlogging. She also suggested that my single mother (by choice) status was a marketing tool. (I did not immediately agree nor do I now, but am swaying.)

Upon tweeting with Michelle and Neicole about our usual weekend load, she with four children and a business, and me painting kitchen cabinets all weekend, it quickly became apparent I needed to recognize and support we super working moms.

Introducing “I Am a Super Working Mom.”

This acknowledgment campaign has few, yet critical, objectives:

  • Recognize professional moms who balance work/life either successfully or not
  • Feature short kudos and stories right here and via my new Soulati Media Facebook page (P.S. Please join me there.)
  • Have regular blog fodder that is more fun and acknowledging of the social media relationships I’ve created and come to cherish

Criteria to Self-Nominate or Nominate Another

  • The only requirement I prefer is that the woman featured is a professional working mother; marriage status is not anyone’s business (but if I can play matchmaker at the same time, well, heck yeah!).

Storytelling

When submitting information for a short story, I’d like to know the following, please (and anything else that strikes your fancy):

  • About the business you run, manage or are employed at.
  • Number/ages of children, pets and other caregiving roles you manage in your home.
  • What a typical weekend for you is like
  • What secrets can you share about managing the load; do you ever have time for yourself?
  • How to reach you via social media, blogs, website, etc.

I know I need to go first, but perhaps I can practice on a few peeps I know. I believe you know who you are, right? Neicole Crepeau, Michelle Quillin, Mojdeh Hojjati, Ivonne Vazquez, Gini Dietrich, Christina Ampersad, and the list goes on and on; it’s exhaustive!

How to Play

  • Self-nominate and answer a bit about yourself
  • Give me permission to draft a short piece and share it with you for approval
  • Share a jpg of beautiful  you without the kids
  • Nominate someone you’d like to recognize and we’ll work it up for the queue. Plans today are to draft a story 1-2/week depending on available content.

I’m excited about doing something fun and pseudo businessy here; all work and no play makes mommies grumpy.

Toyota’s Creative Mobile Marketing Prius Campaign

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Toyota Mobile Marketing

“Prius is expecting; the Toyota family is growing,” states the full-page ad in the Jan. 10, 2011 Wall Street Journal in time for the annual Detroit Auto Show.

The clever ad asks people to snap an image of the circular icon (to see the sonogram) with instructions inside that say “Snap me” with a mobile phone image and a numerical text address. This is a Snap Tag mobile marketing program by SpyderLynk.

So, just for kicks, I did what I was told – snapped a photo with my new Blackberry Torch (my first image); texted to these numbers (my first time texting that way), and within seconds I had a response from Toyota “Meet the new additions at https://prius-sonogram.com.”

  • I am marveling at the creativity of Toyota’s interactive digital shop for this campaign.
  • I’m marveling at the opportunities for integrated marketing and public relations to launch this campaign both traditionally and via online engagement marketing (my preferred vernacular for social media).
  • I’m marveling about everything I don’t know and how much there is to learn.

Apparently, I’m in good company.

“Kids Lend a Digital Hand” in the same edition of the Wall Street Journal is about advertising agencies coming up dry with new interactive talent they can acquire in the market. They’re turning to kids – preteens and students to “get up to Internet speed!” Wow…I don’t feel like a numbskull any more.

The story states, “Ad and marketing agencies are under enormous pressure to reinvent themselves as technology multiplies the ways to market to consumers, from placing ads on Twitter to creating a branded application that people can find on Apple’s app store.”

Continuing with a tired and true statement, companies that went under the gauntlet to shave expenses eliminated training programs. The big agencies, ala JWT North America from the story, are now racing to fill the intellectual pipeline for its ranks. Everyone needs to get up to speed three months ago on how to do online engagement marketing, mobile applications, location-based marketing services, and so much more (forget about Twitter and Facebook; they’re old hat!).

Here are my takeaways from this post:

  • No one knows it all; everyone can learn every day what’s new and next.
  • Innovation and creativity drive business development.
  • Never assume those you work with know how to execute.
  • The pace is fast and furious; even the online courses and traditional college degree curricula cannot educate people as fast as the market continues to explode.
  • Integrated marketing is the future. It’s going to take a highly integrated team to impress the big corporations – that means public relations must continue to re-invent and ignore the age-old discussions about who owns social media and how traditional media no longer brings the opportunities it once did.

It’s been a new day for about five years; carpe diem!