Brian Solis Unveils the New Influencers

Hello once more!

Finishing up Brian Solis' book Engage, I have once again found some very interesting information to share. In chapters 19 through 23 of his book, Solis discusses who the "new influencers" of social media are and goes on to talk about Developing a Blueprint for New Marketing.

To begin chapter 19, Solis states that "we are media." He claims that, "we, the people, demanded personalization in engagement, improved services that put the customer back into the spotlight, and acknowledgment that our feedback would incite a more value-added circle of overall communications and product adaptation." A very good point. As one of "the people," I can certainly attest to this. Communicating with customers and valuing their opinion and feedback is crucial to developing products and services that they want. I like to know that a company cares about how I view their products.

Solis goes on to say that we must engage with purpose, and do so by shifting from monitoring to action. Later on,  he gives tips on "breathing life into the human network" by means of finding and utilizing influencers. This is the key to success. On his website, Solis writes urges his audiences to Please Repeat: Influence is Not Popularity. This is important to keep in mind. Before we delve in too deep, it is helpful to first Explore and Define Influence.

My opinion? I entirely agree. With such easy access to all kinds of social media nowadays, it is easy to get lost in the crowd. Being a PR student, I run several blogs, and I know firsthand how difficult it is to become influential. It takes time, dedication and patience. If someone becomes influential online, they can alter the opinions of so many people!

-V

Solis Discusses Influence:

70% of Local Business Owners Are Using Facebook!

A recent study by MerchantCircle shows that 70 percent of local business owners are on Facebook. I was reading my PR Daily news feed when I found this compelling article. I know that Facebook is really popular nowadays, so I expected the number to by high. I was a little sad to find that only about 40 percent use Twitter. I honestly expected that number to be a bit higher.

According to Merchant Circle, “Facebook has now surpassed Google (66 percent) as the most widely used marketing method among local merchants, and is almost tied with Google search (40 percent) as one of their top three most effective marketing methods, with 37 percent rating Facebook as one of their most effective tools.”

This truly shows just how much social media is being used in businesses today. With tools like Facebook Pages, which were actually recently updated to be even more user-friendly, both local business as well as large corporations can benefit from online exposure. This is useful information for everyone, even a PR student like me. In classes I am learning about how to utilize social media to benefit my future career. With this information, I will have a competitive edge. What many students do not realize is that older adults in the field are not nearly (if at all) knowledgeable in social media. Being aware of it, and how to use it will really benefit my generation of PR and business professionals.

Keep that in mind, folks!

-V

Here is the chart created from the survey I mentioned:

Become an Influencer Today!

In today’s day and age, it is important to put yourself “out there” in the digital world. Twitter, Facebook, blogs, LinkedIn and other social media tools can really help in the PR industry (but not only that—having an online presence can be helpful in many careers). It’s not enough to just create profiles on these sites and follow a few of your peers. The key to having a successful online presence has to do with influence. One must become an online influencer.  But what does that mean and how can you become one?

Influence can be defined as the ability to shape thoughts, perceptions, or behavior. So how do you know if you are an influencer? There are several clues to look for.

Several ways to spot an influencer include:

-Popularity: an obvious indicator

-Expertise: to be influential, one must be an expert in their subject

-Listening: a good listener is influential

-Quantity of followers

-The ratio between the number of a user’s followers and the number of other people that the user follows (his audience, or as we designate in this report, followees) -2^nd article

Just think about how many times you’ve bought something and it’s been rubbish, so you go to Amazon and give it a bad review (or a good review, if you loved it). In this way, billions of consumers ‘work’ as “citizen marketers,” influencing how brands are perceived by other potential consumers. Brands themselves can do nothing, comment, or encourage such people, but they will still be an influence, no matter what. In a recent article [link], Brian Solis mentions, “Aside from the disciplines and behavior our profession dictates, we are far more than communicators, marketers, publishers or chroniclers of life events.  We are also knowledgeable people with ideas, opinions, observations, and experiences that cannot be discounted.  We bring opinions, experiences, rapture, and frustrations to each conversation as a consumer. But when its time to reach our peers and colleagues, we regress to broadcasters and purveyors of information and lose site of how what we represent truly impacts those we’re trying to reach.” Very true!

A 2009 post entitled Social Media Reading – Influencers mentions that “Under most conditions that we consider, we find that large cascades of influence are driven not by influentials but by a critical mass of easily influenced individuals.” A 2009 post entitled Social Media Reading – Influencers mentions that “Under most conditions that we consider, we find that large cascades of influence

While there may be many ways of measuring influence, there are several things a person ca do to get noticed:

 

-Listen with care: you are more likely to be influential if you listen.

-Read blogs: know what’s out there—be informed.

-Read comments: not only the blog posts are important. Comments let you know how others feel!

-Comment: create a two-way communication path

-Be authentic: people will be able to connect with you

 

Focusing my studies in the area of PR, I realize it is very important that I become influential through my online presence. What I say matters, and influences others. I do, however need to take into consideration that I am, at the present moment, not very influential, and should probably do my best to work on that. There may not be a foolproof way of going about that, but using the resources and knowledge I have gained in class this week, I will give it a shot.

 

-V

Resources:

social media reading influencers

Unveiling The New Influencers

Social Media Leadership- Do You Have What it Takes?

I recently came across an interesting article on Ragan's PR Daily feed the other day, and thought it merited some attention. With the rise of social media technologies, it is easy to get lost or go unnoticed. In the past, if someone had a personal website, this set them apart, and they quickly became noticed by the professional or business world.

Now, many people have their own websites, blogs, and other online accounts. Many people have Facebook accounts, Twitter accounts, personal blogs, and YouTube channels. It is a lot harder to show professionalism and stand out among so many people. Because of this, it is crucial to know just how to become a leader in the vast world of social media.

The video included on PR Daily gives wonderful suggestions on how to become a "next generation PR Pro." The CEO of Ragan Communications, Mark Ragan, sits down to present an important segment for the Social Media Leadership Series. Some of the suggestions he makes throughout the 8 minute video include:

-The skills needed today for social media are: PR is "no longer looking for people who can deliver the perfectly crafted message" but rather people who have come from online culture and understand what makes an online community tick. Who know the rules of engagement instinctively."

-The PR industry values people who spend hours on online sites like Digg and Reddit, immersed in weird internet culture.

-Blog content that "organically came to be" is most valued by the consumer than specifically branded information.

-Anyone wanting to succeed in social media needs to "play an amateur psychologist"--get into the minds of the consumer.

These are only some of the many useful tips they provide. I entirely agree. My generation is so involved in online social media culture, that we know how it works. Also, getting into the minds of consumers will help sell a brand or product. I believe that the information provided is good, and useful for someone hoping to go into PR and Advertising (as I am trying to do).

Great info!

Here is the full video for further information: