I am suspicious of tools that claim to identify influencers on Twitter. Most of them are influenced by an obvious but highly dubious metric – namely, a users’ number of followers. But every day, new tools and techniques make it easier for the average Twitter user to zoom into the follower-count stratosphere. This rockets them up the list at sites like Twitter Grader and Twitalyzer, and gives them more prominent indexing in directories like We Follow and Twellow.

Most of those sites also consider other factors, of course; Mashable provides a detailed analysis of them.

I prefer to use three other metrics in addition to those tools:

1. Number of retweets: Retweetist
2. Number of times the Twitter user’s bit.ly links are clicked. If you have 200 followers and tweet a link that is clicked 120 times, that’s a pretty good sign your network is listening to you.

3. Offline identity. Hundreds of reporters who are new to Twitter have few followers, low influence scores and Twitter Grader grades. And yet many of them can influence millions.

Influence plays an important role of social media marketing. We live in a world where brands buy tens of millions of impressions to reach the right tens of thousands of people. Online influencers create trends and inform buying decisions, so it benefits these companies to invest time and resources in cultivating them.

Significant literature supports this premise, from Malcolm Gladwell’s “Tipping Point” to scholarly studies in the Harvard Business Review.

About a year ago, Duncan Watts argued against influencer theory, suggesting trends are a result of society’s readiness for them, rather than the power of an elite group of tastemakers.

“If society is ready to embrace a trend, almost anyone can start one–and if it isn’t, then almost no one can,” he writes. Succeeding with a new product is less about finding the perfect hipster to infect and more about gauging the public’s mood. There will always be a first mover, but the contingent nature of that move makes the person in question an “accidental influencer.”
I am more inclined toward Gladwell’s model than Duncan’s. Regardless of society’s readiness for a new trend, I believe the means and messenger of its introduction shape its impact.

I actually am less interested in influencers themselves than I am in those who influence the influencers. I believe that Twitter offers average marketers, even those without sophisticated tools, a unique ability to find out who is influencing each other. One simple way to do this is to use tweetstats to see who an influencer @replies the most.

No matter what tools you use, the influencer campaign’s success depends on how you relate to the influencers once you locate them. If you intend to launch a campaign targeting influencers, the Word-of-Mouth Marketing Association’s site is a must read:

“Influencer programs are, by definition, long-term, multi-year commitments designed to build a relationship; they are not marketing campaigns. Campaigns can augment influencer efforts to help find, activate, or engage influencers in particular activities (like a product launch), but influencer programs need to level out the roller coaster of connections provided by campaigns.”

Early Wake-up FAIL!

Originally uploaded by mandiberg

1. Steal. Take ideas without citing the source. You can do this by not linking to a blog you’re quoting, or lifting someone’s tweet and re-tweeting without giving them credit.

2. Sell without establishing a relationship. Here’s how: tell me how much money you’re making on Twitter in your autofollow DM, or start promoting yourself, your accomplishments, your blog constantly.

3. Remain hidden. Don’t put up a profile picture. Don’t use a real bio. Better yet, don’t use a bio at all.

4. Constantly ask for help without providing any value. There are hundreds of millions of people on social networks—and they are all there to help you figure out how to subscribe to a feed, find a great website and use Twitter. Feel free to ask them daily. They’re waiting for you.

5. Lie. Tell people you’re a guy when you’re a girl. Claim to have a PHd when you have a GED. Pretend you’re a Star Trek fan when you’ve never seen it. Embellish on your accomplishments. People will never know.

6. Abuse the poking, nudging features on social networks. We all forget that you can poke people on Facebook and nudge on Twitter. A daily reminder should be sufficient.

7. Be inconsistent. Update your blog every day for a month and then don’t blog for a year. Try the same approach on Facebook and Twitter.

8. Be “that guy.” Comment on every picture your friends post on Facebook with an inside joke that only you and two other people understand. CC the entire email list to respond with a 1 or 2 word answer to a question intended for the group. Whine.

9. Use punctuation to express your enthusiasm!!!! Often!!!

10. Remind everyone that you’re an expert. Every day someone forgets. It’s your duty to not let that not happen.

What did I forget?

Easter Bunny Confidential: Unmasked!

Originally uploaded by IanMatthewSoper

When you follow a company on Twitter, who do you think you’re following? Do you visualize a person? And if so, is it an intern, a brand manager, a spokesperson…? Do they have the authority to speak on behalf of the brand?

Put it this way, if you were to invite the brand you’re following to a tweet up, who exactly is it that you want to attend? When I follow a brand I expect that they are paying attention—that what happens on Twitter matters—my feedback matters. What do you expect from the brands you follow? And who, specifically, do you think you’re following?

The benefits of social networks apply to both business to consumer and business to business models, as well as to individual executives
within those organizations. Both types of companies can use social networks to recruit talent, build reputation, identify new customers, connect more meaningfully with existing customers, respond to service issues, develop an effective communication channel with the press and the public.  For business to business organizations,  social networks provide a platform to position a company as a resource and thought leader in its respective industry. This can be accomplished by sharing
assets such as whitepapers and other industry insight. Essentially, a business can derive similar value through social networks as they can through participating in a conference.

Executives can use social networks as professional development resources. Follow subject matter experts on Twitter to benefit from articles and opinions even before they are written in trade publications. Pay attention to status updates in Facebook and LinkedIn to gain perspective into what colleagues are thinking.  Participating in social networks provides even greater opportunities. These include generating new business, speaking engagements, interviews with reporters and personal branding as a subject matter expert.

Of all the compelling reasons to be on social networks, I believe the most compelling is enhancement. Executives make mistakes assuming
social networking is an end, rather than a means to end. Here’s what I mean. If you are an executive whose sales strategy involves learning
about a new industry, a social network will provide unique insights. If you are a seasoned executive looking for speaking engagements, there are many ways to use social networks to achieve this end. My advice to you is to articulate the goals you wish to achieve for yourself and your business first and then determine which social
networks and what strategies and tactics will enable you to realize them.

Here are 5 articles I’ve found useful in demonstrating the power of social networks and social media:

•    Forbes: Yes, CEOs Should Facebook and Twitter. The importance of CEO’s and companies participating in business, new media requires a different way to do business.

•    WSJ.com: The Art of Making Online ‘Friends.’ Builds a strong case for building up your social networks, including your “weak ties.”

•    BusinessWeek: Social Networking 101 For Businesses. Businesses need to embrace social networking as a part of doing business.

•    NYTimes: I’m So Totally, Digitally Close to You. Article centers around the relationships people form through social networks such as Twitter and Facebook. It centers around the concept of “ambient awareness” which helps explain the appeal of constant updates from these social networks.

•    BusinessWeek: Are Social Networking Sites Useful for Business? To get the most out of social networking sites, small companies should set concrete business goals, then start experimenting.

• Beware of changing near windows. Zoom in on any picture in this collection to see what a billion megapixels looks like. Here’s a hint: it contains 150 times more detail than a 6 megapixel camera. See here.
• Looking for what domain and twitter names are available. Check it out.
• An analysis of Brooke Hogan’s Twitter.  I like the concept of twitter account analysis a lot.
• @tweetmeme I’m excited to follow this account which spotlights twitter trends.
• Cool article i’m reading write now: Anthropology: The Art of Building a Successful Social Site

What are you reading right now? Who are you following on Twitter that you really enjoy?