|
|
|
|
|
Determining Influence is the Name of the Game
As PR professionals, we are constantly using the word “influence” in our conversations - but do we ever stop to think about what it means? Here’s a reminder:
in•flu•ence
[in-floo-uh ns] noun, verb, -enced, -enc•ing.
1. The capacity or power of persons or things to be a compelling force on or produce efforts on the actions, behavior, opinions, etc, of others.
At the PRSA Northeast District Conference, I attended a session called “Beyond First Impressions: Getting to Real Online Authority, Trust and Influence” led by Jen Zingsheim, vice president, products and services, CustomScoop. Jill reminded us that influence is not defined by celebrity status, level of popularity, or the number of followers you have on Twitter. By definition, it’s about the power that a person or thing has to incite action, behavior, or opinions. In her presentation, Jen called out a handful of free and paid tools that have recently sprung up in attempt to help us quantify online influence. But remember, no matter how many tools are out there, additional research is usually always needed to supplement and refine your search for that perfect online influencer that will genuinely impact your target audience.
 Klout - Klout is a simple and free tool that most of us are probably already using, but it’s one that we’ve grown to realize cannot be a sole form of influence measurement. Now, users have the ability to give others a “+K” on any topic they are listed as influential about - basically making your topics a popularity contest. An example that Jen shared about Klout had to do with Justin Bieber, who comes in with a Klout score of 99. With his influential topics including family, South America, and umm…himself, one would need to look past the numbers and take a deeper-dive to determine if he is actually the appropriate influencer for their topic or if his “popularity” is a result of him tweeting upwards of 20 times per day and all those +K’s.
 PeerIndex - PeerIndex is another free and easy-to-use measurement tool that helps users “understand their social capital” by giving a glimpse at the users’ “topic fingerprint,” or rank in a topic community. This fingerprint is measured using three separate components - audience, activity and authority - among the following eight benchmark topics:
-
AME - arts, media & entertainment
-
TEC - technology & internet
-
SCI - science & environment
-
MED - health & medical
-
LIF - leisure and lifestyle
-
SPO - sports
-
POL - news, politics & society
-
BIZ - finance, business & economics
PeerIndex also shows a list of top content sources and allows you to click on any topic to bring up a list of additional users that are influential about that same topic - along with their PeerIndex score, Twitter handle and other valuable data.
 TRAACKR - TRAACKR is a keyword-based monitoring service that can help users determine influencers in a sophisticated and automated manner. The tool combines three qualities when finding and ranking influencers:
-
Reach - How many people does this person reach when they write something online?
-
Resonance - How often are their posts repeated, linked to, retweeted, and shared? Do they get amplified by his or her network?
-
Relevance - TRAACKR measures relevance based on the keywords the user is targeting in their search lists and how recent, often and important they are in the influencer’s content.
These high-quality influencer lists come at a cost with TRAACKR - upwards of $8,500 per year when you factor in that a single search that yields one top-25 influencers list can cost $499 per month and a one-time set-up, training and lifetime support fee will cost $2,500. - By Lauren Ianuzi, Account Executive, Text 100 Rochester
Don't miss these great posts on Hypertext! Have an idea for a topic? Post a comment on the blog, tweet us @text100, comment on our Facebook page, or send an email to Text 100's Global Community Manager, Amber Rinehard.
An interesting recent study from Cornell University used Twitter to track people’s moods around the world and found that people seem to be happier during weekends when they have slept and rested more. According to the study, published in Science magazine, “two daily peaks of positive attitudes recorded by ’tweets’ on the social networking website – in early morning and near midnight – indicate that work-related stress may also play a role in mood.” Read more...
Here in Rochester, a number of Texties were able to attend the PRSA Northeast District Conference last week. We wanted to share this great video of Janet Aronica, marketing manager at Hubspot, who was in town to participate on a Young Professionals panel at the conference. While many brands are able to identify their existing audiences and communities, it’s often challenging when it comes to effectively engaging with them and identifying what content is most appropriate for each platform you use to communicate. In this video, Janet talks about what “community” really means to her, her top tip for getting your brand’s community engaged, and how to make your content stand out from the clutter. Watch video...
|
|
|
|
|
|
