Influencers is becoming the new viral

June 4, 2011

Influence, Social media

Influencers is approaching the viral pet peeve level. Do you think people are misusing the term? (Image credit: SEO.com)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nails scratching across a chalkboard. Major league hitters that don’t protect the plate with two strikes. My sister watching the movie Grease every day for a whole year (that one’s for you, sis).

We’ve all got our pet peeves. Those are some of mine above. But when it comes to communications, one has always stood out to me — use of the word viral. For the record, a video or story goes viral. You CANNOT create a viral video or story. There, much better. Except recently I’m seeing a new “viral” begin to show its face and boast the pet peeve moniker -  the word influencers.

I remember the first time I heard the word. It was in a presentation from Brian Solis. He was talking about how in addition to a media list, he had researched an influencer list for a client. I remember how he mapped it out and showed all the different platforms where these influencers — influencers that were not universally influential, but influential for his client — had presences. Blogs, social networks, message boards. I remember how long he said it took to research. More than 50 hours.

That’s what influencers meant to me the first time I heard it. A new audience we should be researching for our clients and an evolution to aspire to as a communicator who wants to offer the best counsel to his/her clients. But lately, instead of saying influencers, we might as well call it “magic.” Too many communicators just throw out the word because it has cache when talking about media lists, sites where they buy ads or people who use social media. They make it sound like an easy fix, an abracadabra.

Have you ever seen Chris Rock’s Robitussin stand up bit? He goes on and on about how the only medicine they had in the house when he was a kid was Robitussin. Have asthma? Get some tussin. Broke your leg? Pour some tussin on it. Run out of Robitussin? Put some water in the bottle, shake it up, more tussin. The bit is hilarious. But the way communicators are talking about influencers lately — like they are their own version of Chris Rock’s Robitussin — is not.

 

To be honest, this “evolution” really pisses me off because the word influencers had a chance to be different and to mean something. Instead, we can now just hang it up on the wall of every Applebee’s, Chili’s or TGI Fridays next to every other bicycle, sports team picture and hometown hero award. Unless…we can provide some clarity around the term, better define it and actually make it stand for something. In the interest of keeping the faith (thank you, Bon Jovi), let’s give it a try.

Influencers are:

  • A targeted group of people who have built up a following or community that consists of a company’s target customer. For example, if research shows your ideal customers are moms, then mom bloggers might be a place to start looking for your brand’s  influencers.
  • Likely publishers or pontificators. IOW, these people have to have built up their audiences in some way and it is most likely by publishing content or by the ideas they bring to the table in an offline setting.
  • All over the place, including within the boundaries of how we define media and outside of those boundaries. Which means they are all over the Web, as Solis pointed out.
  • The best, most trusted word-of-mouth advocates for your brand. And those who want to work with you.
  • People you find, connect with only after extensive research BY A PERSON. My friend Chuck Hemann has a lot more insight to offer on this point here.
  • Media, bloggers and individuals who are a fit with the audience(s) you are trying to reach.

Influencers are not:

  • All media. Or bloggers. Or everyone that appears in a mass list you pull from a media service because they write for a big-name paper, blog site or a local outlet.
  • The people an influence tool like Klout, mPACT or Traackr spits out.
  • A targeted site you buy ads on. Sorry, ads are not influential. People are. Ads expose. People influence.
  • Any customer who mentions your brand and shows up in a listening audit. These people could end up on your influencer list. But you have to dig deeper than a listening audit and see if these folks actually have built up communities that correlate with your target market.
  • Always the same. They change regularly and our lists need to change to keep up with them. At BlogWorld, all three members of the analytics panel advised reviewing/updating your influencer lists at least once a month.
  • Jargon. Buzz words. Numbers. Influencers are people. They’re an audience companies have always been in search of. And now they have more visibility and more value to companies than ever before because of the proliferation of online WOM. But they are still - and will always be — people. People that have built community made up of your target audience.

These days when I hear the word viral, I cringe. The word influencers used to make me smile. Because when I heard it, I thought of a new way communicators could actually be strategic and drive business results instead of going after phantom numbers.

But more and more, influencers is becoming like Milli Vanilli’s Blame it on the Rain. It was really cool at first. Kind of made your head nod. And then there was the lipsynching fiasco and it all came tumbling down. Now, no one talks about that song anymore. Plenty of people still talk about influencers, but very few talk about them in the right way, which means they might as well not be talking about influencers at all.

Here’s to hoping we can change the conversation. And that influencers doesn’t become a pet peeve or one-hit wonder.

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emcardenas 5 pts

Could not agree with you more, especially on the Klout point. Well written, thanks!

JGoldsborough 234 pts

emcardenas Thanks for stopping by. Appreciate the kind words. Can't take the easy way out when it comes to researching influencers. Have to show the research we have done and why these people matter to biz results. Cheers.

rockstarjen 17 pts

Great to have time to read again, and this was a good place to start! One of my pet peeves? Using buzz words just because you can. ;)

I especially love bullet #3 under what an influencer is not. Popularity does not equal influence, as I know you're aware. Targeting top-scoring Klouters just because they have a big number is on par with pitching any and all for Oprah (well, when the show aired).

JGoldsborough 234 pts

rockstarjen But I really just want an earned pitch on Oprah, Jen. Is that too much to ask? And several stories with all the A-list pubs. #shakeshead

jspepper said it well in #pr20chat last night: "Nobody said PR is easy. Takes LONG hours to put together a real, targeted influencer list."

ecairn 6 pts

What a great article. I wish all agencies would talk like you ;-). As you pointed out, what is key is:

- Have a strategy, segment and target (J Juice puts is as "community is the new demographic"). I prefer the word Tribe.

- Profile the people in your target tribes that fit your audience and market position . Sometimes the best people for you are not the top influencers. (Take me, Steve Job does not returns my calls ;-) . When we started, we reached out long tail bloggers,. As we grew, we now access some A-list bloggers but we had to walk our way up ( Guy Kawasaki as an example talked positively about our product)

- Selecting influencers for outreach is complex. Some customers may be great clients but not good at representing your differentiation. If you sell a tech product and want to reach out the Fashion Influencers. You may want to zero on the ones that are tech savvy.

- Depending on how sophisticated you are, you may leverage social graphs/ interest graph.

- Build trust and relationship with the bloggers. Just don't show up in a context of a campaign.

Best

JGoldsborough 234 pts

ecairn And I wish more communicators talked like you :). Agree with all your points, especially about not always needing to go after A-listers and the long tail approach. Research and targeting is key. WOM is the most trusted form of marketing, and influencer outreach can be one of the best ways to generate that WOM IF the outreach is targeted and we work to build relationships, not just campaign hits.

Can't get Steve Jobs to return my calls either, btw.

jasonkeath 7 pts

How are you defining influence to say "ads are not influential"?

JGoldsborough 234 pts

jasonkeath Hi, Jason. I'm defining "influencers" as people a brand should research and engage with who have built up a trusted community that consists of the brand's target market. Again, I use the example of mom bloggers (and some will make more sense than others) for a company that has moms as its target customer.

Ads have a role in the IMC mix. But that role is to expose. Ads "influence" action much less than targeted influencers or even just third-party WOM engagement. They are not as trusted. One way to think about it, IMO, is that ads can start a conversation, but influencers can effect a decision a person makes. Keep in mind, that only works if the company is embracing the correct definition of influencers.

Do you disagree? Have an example of where you would call ads influential?

ginidietrich 4568 pts

God bless you. Influence is not Klout. A-freaking-men.

JGoldsborough 234 pts

ginidietrich Thanks for your comment, GD. I would have replied earlier but I was making a viral video and pouring some Robitussin on my sunburn :).

ginidietrich 4568 pts

JGoldsborough HAHAHA! That is the second time today the Robitussin (Chris Rock?) on an owie has come up.