PEER INFLUENCE & SOCIAL MEDIA : LEVERAGING THE

POWER TO CHANGE

ADV 6320 Message Delivery & Engagement SystemsSMU Spring 2010 Final Project

Alexandra Watson

Definition of Influence:The weight or force by which one is able to be an agent of change, whether by reputation or title, indirect or direct means.

Modern Means of Influence:We use shortcuts of associations and networks to

filter the massive amount of information we encounter and to negotiate the situations before us. These shortcuts are the means by which we are influenced.

Networks & Filters: Social Media Participation Blog sites - Est. 7.5 million active blogs, reaching

approx. 70% of daily web audience. 184 million bloggers producing an avg. 570,000 pieces of content daily.

Facebook – 400+ million active users, 50% of whom log in any given day. 100 million FB mobile users. Avg. FB user has 130 friends & creates 70 pcs content monthly.

Twitter – Est. 45 million active users with avg. of 27 followers. Small % of active Twitter users, but high loyalty and engagement.

Trust & Credibility of Peer Influence

“We are currently living in a communications environment where there is a trust deficit.” (Brogan & Smith 2009)

“Conversations with friends and peers” was cited as a more credible source of business information about a company than traditional media or advertising. (Edelman Trust Survey 2010)

Nearly 75% of online adults trust email from people they know, 60% trust consumer ratings and reviews, and 50% trust social networking profiles. (Forrester 2009)

Participation Inequality :Assessing The 90-9-1 Rule 90-9-1 Internet Rule purports that 90% of online

users merely “lurk”, while 9% actively participate (share, comment), and only 1% create original content.

Similar to Pareto’s 80/20 Principle that asserts 20% of a group produce 80% of the content.

Good rule of thumb, but analysis shows a wide variance in actual percentages of participation.

Hyper-contributors account for 30% to 90% of “most’ community content, depending on definition of terms.

Identifying the Influencers :Mass Mavens & Mass Connectors “Mavens” : 24 million people (13.8% of online

population) creating 80% of the content through blog posts, discussion forums, product reviews, etc. (Forrester 2010). Not necessarily large network, but trustworthy source of information.

“Connectors” : 11 million people (6.2% of online population) creating 80% of all peer impressions about products & services within social networks. (Forrester 2010). Large networks, thrive on sharing information and opinions.

Value of Earned Media/Word of Mouth: “Earned media” = Favorable publicity gained

without compensation, produced by consumers through trust, connection, & engagement between user and brand(s). a.k.a. positive word of mouth.

Forrester estimated consumers created over 500 billion impressions on one another about products & services within social networks last year, roughly ¼ the amount of paid online ads.

Significant weight of peer influence through social media, considering the source is more trustworthy.

Formula for Successful Influence:Influencer: Credibility - Expertise in domain, trustworthiness High Bandwidth - Ability to transmit knowledge through

social media channelTarget: Relevance - Right information Timing – Right time Alignment – Right (social media) channel Confidence – Right person

Relationship + Product Discussion +Timeliness + Channel Alignment = Best Chance of Success(Wu, 2010)

Forrester’s Social Technographics Ladder

Finding the Influencers: (Wu, 2010)

Social Networking Graph (Solis, 2010)

Conclusion: “We (businesses and marketers) have to integrate

ourselves into the very fabric of what they (clients & consumers) do every day. We have to embrace social networks, digital connections, and the online experience and build an organization that embraces conversation and transparency.” Safko 2009 Social Media Bible

Leverage the power of earned media through peer influence. To do this, identify the active influencers within a given community and their influence type.