Have the Influentials become Passe?
January 28, 2009 by Colleen Coplick
Filed under Social Media
Oh, this whole world of social media and social networks and network fatigue is ticking over so very quickly when you’ve been called an influential, anything with -rati at the end of it (digerati, twitterati…), or as I was recently called, Twitistoric. The cycle of interest, adoption, mastering, abandoning is happening at a mind numbing pace.
Because of that rapid pace, some people are claiming that the Death of the Influentials will happen sooner than later. Some digerati (Guy Kawasaki, Robert Scoble to name a few) are claiming that the best way to create an internet strategy is to obtain massive reach. The Online Media Metrics Newsletter suggests that Guy’s argument is that the internet and social media have eliminated or at least reduced any semblance of information dissemination hierarchy.
Basically, what they’re suggesting is that if you stretch your reach as far and as fast as you can, through as many network nodes as possible, you’ve got a chance to reach more prospective customers and ideally, increase your results.
My problem with that is my own network, which is just now beginning to reap benefits, has taken me almost exactly a year to build. Social media, reach, influence and anything else you can measure is not going to be a silver bullet of any sort of marketing campaign you could begin. Reach and influence aren’t something you can buy off a shelf. They’re something you need to build, nurture and encourage.
After reading Pat LaPointe’s article, I’m not clear on whether or not he’s saying that brands shouldn’t bother focusing on the Influentials because they’re not a magic bullet (we’re not!), or if he’s suggesting that the right influentials need to be targeted still…
Whatever he’s saying, it’s important to remember that reaching the influentials is still important, because they can disseminate your message further and sometimes deeper, depending on how many conversations they can begin, but those influentials are still not the be all and end all. And they never will be.
Tags: Influential, Twitterati, Influentials. Guy Kawasaki, Robert Scoble, Silver Bullet Marketing
