Measured Influence Isn’t Real
In the best Twitter conversation I have ever had, Olivier Blanchard (@thebrandbuilder), myself and others had one of the most intriguing conversations. We realized that while there’s some sort of “algorithm” that tells us how influential we are, where’s the true, realistic value that yields an almost tangible result?
Klout is full of it
Like it or not, Klout is math. It measures, analyzes, and then shows you a result. But what is it measuring? How can one single Tweet have a value to it because it was retweeted 15 times, or replied to with a witty answer? Simply put, it can’t. The value of a relationship, of an interaction, has a fallout that is immeasurable. Let me put it this way: Over the course of about an hour and a half the thoughts that were exchanged have built a level of communication that in the future could hold more for me or Olivier than what happened in just that time. This blog post may yield some clicks on an affiliate link or a Google Ad, or maybe even reach someone willing to employ me. Can Klout measure those repercussions? Yeah…no, they can’t.
@desertronin said:
But digital influence is like a mirage, I may be known by a certain segment, but there’s a good chance that I’ll ever be able to move them to buy a product, give to a charity, start any meaningful action.
I couldn’t have said better. But to him my answer was that the people that we meet first-hand, in person and have held a conversation with become the people that influence us or that we influence; Klout can’t measure that. We are better off using the smaller communities that we are a part of to get a message out to those with whom we have mutual trust.
Gaming the System
Chris Brogan was right in Trust Agents when he talked about tinkering and gaming the existing models for out benefit. As NSFW as this is Olivier was right:
The problem is the combination of “personal branding” and “influenceitis.” It turns social platforms into a giant circle-jerk.
Quora, Twitter, Blogs, it’s all a “You scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours” mentality. The constant revolution of using these tools to promote ourselves and prove that in an atmosphere where the playing field has been leveled, we are all competing against each other where we are all the same. Essentially perfect competition. The people who can become these influencers are the ones that have tinkered with it to form “influential opinions”.
Tools like Quora are beneficial, they do give us answers questions that need solutions. Too often though, are we asking the wrong questions, we ask for opinions on solution, not for the solution itself (which goes back to perception).
It’s time to start seeing social media as a problem solver, not an opinion giver (yes I realize that I’m stating an opinion to a solution not a solution, call me a hypocrite). When you realize that someone is looking for a solution, where’s the harm in an explicit answer, not some roundabout bullshit answer that may vaguely give the asker a concept.
Stop caring about yourself, trust me your personal brand with grow more by helping the people in your community rather than boosting yourself.
Follow this on David Armano’s Question on Quora.
Image by beckitten
Networking or Marketing
What is your focus in the social sphere? Networking, Marketing? Whichever it is there is a difference, and one that many people tend to blur. Networking and marketing are two entirely separate strategies and methods for their own unique goals. While many strategist employ the usage of both to further their means, we cannot make the mistake of misnaming one type of social ideology with the other.
Networking
A Social Network as put by Wikipedia is: a social structure made of individuals (or organizations) called “nodes,” which are tied (connected) by one or more specific types of interdependency, such as friendship, kinship, financial exchange, dislike, sexual relationships, or relationships of beliefs, knowledge or prestige.
When it was decided to take social networking out of the face-to-face daily contacts that we have and turn it into an online craze, Social Networking turned into another type of game; Not the game of high school’s, who’s most popular, but rather a game of who has the most important and useful contacts. Whizzes like Mary Kurek (@marylkurek), and Chuck Hester (@chuckhester), base the majority of their time seeking out contacts, making connections, and being a hub for others whether job hunting, client hunting, sponsorships, any possibility of business networking.
One of Mary’s recent blog posts, outlines what could be taken as her procedure for social networking. By bringing every person into the hub and keeping an eye on their activity, Mary can look at one connection and say, “Hey! I know someone who can help you out with _____.” Providing utility and quality for these networks everyone benefits.
On the other hand Chuck Hester, is more of a Live maven for these networking events. By hosting LinkedIn Live Raleigh, Chuck has managed to pull off events of over 500+ professionals from every walk of life to come together and simply do what people do best, socialize. In one way, this is exactly what Mary does, but on the other side, it’s entirely different. By simply bringing local professions together and simply having them in the same room, people will naturally begin to talk and find out about each other. So should one person find another who suits their need, wham bam business card exchange, they’re good to go.
This, is Networking.
Social Marketing
Marketing defined by the Business Dictionary is the, “Management process through which goods and services move from concept to the customer. As a philosophy, it is based on thinking about the business in terms of customer needs and their satisfaction.” (The italics are mine for emphasis.)
Yeah, it’s different.
If you’re in marketing, you know the 4P’s, and while marketing uses these concepts, we could probably agree that Social Networking comes into play when you need to reach out, whether through promotion, distribution, etc. Networking becomes a part of marketing but is not a replacement.
From my perspective, and this is not an exhaustive explanation, social marketing is the ability to provide a presence; the presence for customer service, promotion, ad placement, whatever way one chooses to look at the term “presence”. Although there are many niches to marketing, like international marketing, strategic marketing, research marketing, the list goes on, they all are to reach a goal. The goal for marketing is to complete the need or want of a client while keeping them satisfied so that they can come back again and again for the excellent service or product they expect.
Managing the way the product is viewed, sold, and using proper customer service social marketing is giving managers a way to less expensively monitor the activity around the product and respond accordingly.
The two concepts of social networking and social marketing are vastly different. Which are you? Which do you do better? Mix or choose one.
LinkedIn – Mary Kurek
LinkedIn – Chuck Hester
Image by TheScatteredImage