Actor, interaction and network
Time to delve a little deeper into the term social influence, because it is of course a bit too simplistic to call someone with many followers influential. Reach is not the same as influence. No, multiple factors are important for this.
This is also evident from scientific research by SoMeRe (Social Media Research) into the influence of social media on the corporate reputation of an organization. It is stated that there are three categories that determine the influence, namely the actor, list to data the interaction and the network. Various indicators are then linked to these three categories that are important in describing the substantive characteristics that determine the influence of an actor, the interaction and the network.
Social Influence Marketing
Social media patterns
“Indicators that are referred to as 'social media patterns' have different values in determining social media influence. The situation and context in which a message is proclaimed determine the indicators that must be used to determine this influence. Each situation therefore requires different indicators, which results in different indices to describe social media influence,” according to the researchers.
Important aspects that are forgotten in Klout and other social influence tools and marketing campaigns include credibility and relevance. It is therefore important that the person who makes a (paid) recommendation also has some affinity with or even expertise in the product or service. A mismatch has a negative impact on the reputation of an organization. It is therefore still a good choice that Britt Dekker only shows that something is simple and does not show off on a poster of a university.
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Another fact that is currently overlooked is that the consumer is not only guided by the credibility and relevance of the sender, but also by the medium. Research shows that blogs are much more influential than Twitter, for example, when it comes to influencing the purchasing process.
The same study also shows that the size of a community does not matter. 54% of respondents indicate that smaller communities have a greater influence than large ones.
Social influence marketing: the beginning of the end?
If we ask our image panel on Facebook, yes. The vast majority indicate that trust disappears from social media in this way. It is striking that a fairly large group also finds sincere recommendations irritating. Here too, the nuance is made that it strongly depends on the relevance. If it is made transparent, many have fewer problems with it.