How to identify online influencers

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How to identify online influencers A review of nine social media monitoring tools

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Influence is...

... the ability to shape thoughts, perceptions or behaviour

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Every year, 500 billion consumer opinions are shared

online

Source: http://www.forrester.com/rb/research

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These opinions are having an

IMPACTon purchase decisions

...making the people who write them influential

This report will help you find your influencers

So you can get the biggest bang for your social buck

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So, how do you spot an influencer?

Popularity is an obvious indicator

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...but it only tells part of the story

To be influential, a person needs expertise in a specific subject, field or sector

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…and an audience who are receptive to their influence

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(BTW, it turns out your Facebook relationship status betrays

your susceptibility to influence)

Single Relationship Engaged Married1

It’s Complicated

Susceptibility to influence

Source: Sinan Aral, http://web.mit.edu/sinana/www/

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“Influence is a tricky word. Are the people who talk the most the influencers? Are the people who talk to the most people the influencers?

You’d trust Tony Hawk with skateboard advice, but do you trust him for sushi restaurant selection?”

Chris Brogan, President New Marketing Labs

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- Count Twitter followers

- Measure Facebook Likes

- Look for high Google pageranks

- Check comment volume on blog posts

- Spend lots of time in relevant forums

So, how do you find influencers online?You could...

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...but make sure you’re finding influencers you can actually engage

Popularity

A-List Long TailMagic Middle

Influencers

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Hard work, right?

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It’s not a perfect science but social media monitoring tools are getting much better at finding the influential needle in the online haystack.

Jay Baer, Co-author of The Now Revolution

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So, how did we search for influencers?

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We took 9 of the best social media monitoring tools...

...and used them to track down influential mommy bloggers

...who were having conversations about organic baby food.

We ran the tools head to head for 1 month

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...scoring them against 6 criteria:

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Measure Brandwatch Radian 6

Alterian SM2

Attensity 360

Social Radar Sysomos Scout

Labs Synthesio

Setup 6 7 6 9 8 8 9 N/A

Training 6 8 9 8 7 9 9 9

Visuals: Graphs, Pie

charts9 9 7 7 9 9 8 9

User Interface 7 9 7 8 8 9 8 9

Integration of tools 9 8 8 7 8 9 7 9

Drilldown 8 9 9 7 8 9 7 9

Total 45 50 46 46 48 53 48 (45)

Click for more >>

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Alterian SM2

Attensity 360

Labs Synthesio

Setup 6 7 6 9 8 8 9 N/A

Training 6 8 9 8 7 9 9 9

charts9 9 7 7 9 9 8 9

Drilldown 8 9 9 7 8 9 7 9

Total 45 50 46 46 48 53 48 (45)

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Alterian SM2

Attensity 360

Labs Synthesio

Setup 6 7 6 9 8 8 9 N/A

Training 6 8 9 8 7 9 9 9

charts9 9 7 7 9 9 8 9

Drilldown 8 9 9 7 8 9 7 9

Total 45 50 46 46 48 53 48 (45)

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Alterian SM2

Attensity 360

Labs Synthesio

Setup 6 7 6 9 8 8 9 N/A

Training 6 8 9 8 7 9 9 9

charts9 9 7 7 9 9 8 9

Drilldown 8 9 9 7 8 9 7 9

Total 45 50 46 46 48 53 48 (45)

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Alterian SM2

Attensity 360

Labs Synthesio

Setup 6 7 6 9 8 8 9 N/A

Training 6 8 9 8 7 9 9 9

charts9 9 7 7 9 9 8 9

Drilldown 8 9 9 7 8 9 7 9

Total 45 50 46 46 48 53 48 (45)

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Alterian SM2

Attensity 360

Labs Synthesio

Setup 6 7 6 9 8 8 9 N/A

Training 6 8 9 8 7 9 9 9

charts9 9 7 7 9 9 8 9

Drilldown 8 9 9 7 8 9 7 9

Total 45 50 46 46 48 53 48 (45)

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Alterian SM2

Attensity 360

Labs Synthesio

Setup 6 7 6 9 8 8 9 N/A

Training 6 8 9 8 7 9 9 9

charts9 9 7 7 9 9 8 9

Drilldown 8 9 9 7 8 9 7 9

Total 45 50 46 46 48 53 48 (45)

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The tools found topic mentions across different social spaces:

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Brandwatch

Radian 6

Alterian SM2

Attensity 360

Labs Synthesio Peer Index

Facebook 11 n/a n/a n/a n/a 0 n/a 249 n/a

Twitter 33 187 50 42 n/a 32 6 83 n/a

Mainstream Media 13 29 n/a n/a 11 21 2 20 76

Forum 47 145 84 16 n/a 88 105 13 n/a

Blog 23 250 113 90 34 264 222 4 n/a

Company n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 44 n/a

Video 2 2 - - n/a 6 25 n/a n/a

Unclassified n/a n/a n/a n/a 96 n/a n/a n/a n/a

Image/Photos - 1 n/a n/a - - 64 - n/a

Click for more >>

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Brandwatch

Radian 6

Alterian SM2

Attensity 360

Twitter 33 187 50 42 n/a 32 6 83 n/a

Forum 47 145 84 16 n/a 88 105 13 n/a

Blog 23 250 113 90 34 264 222 4 n/a

Video 2 2 - - n/a 6 25 n/a n/a

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Brandwatch

Radian 6

Alterian SM2

Attensity 360

Twitter 33 187 50 42 n/a 32 6 83 n/a

Forum 47 145 84 16 n/a 88 105 13 n/a

Blog 23 250 113 90 34 264 222 4 n/a

Video 2 2 - - n/a 6 25 n/a n/a

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Brandwatch

Radian 6

Alterian SM2

Attensity 360

Twitter 33 187 50 42 n/a 32 6 83 n/a

Forum 47 145 84 16 n/a 88 105 13 n/a

Blog 23 250 113 90 34 264 222 4 n/a

Video 2 2 - - n/a 6 25 n/a n/a

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Brandwatch

Radian 6

Alterian SM2

Attensity 360

Twitter 33 187 50 42 n/a 32 6 83 n/a

Forum 47 145 84 16 n/a 88 105 13 n/a

Blog 23 250 113 90 34 264 222 4 n/a

Video 2 2 - - n/a 6 25 n/a n/a

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Brandwatch

Radian 6

Alterian SM2

Attensity 360

Twitter 33 187 50 42 n/a 32 6 83 n/a

Forum 47 145 84 16 n/a 88 105 13 n/a

Blog 23 250 113 90 34 264 222 4 n/a

Video 2 2 - - n/a 6 25 n/a n/a

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Brandwatch

Radian 6

Alterian SM2

Attensity 360

Twitter 33 187 50 42 n/a 32 6 83 n/a

Forum 47 145 84 16 n/a 88 105 13 n/a

Blog 23 250 113 90 34 264 222 4 n/a

Video 2 2 - - n/a 6 25 n/a n/a

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Brandwatch

Radian 6

Alterian SM2

Attensity 360

Twitter 33 187 50 42 n/a 32 6 83 n/a

Forum 47 145 84 16 n/a 88 105 13 n/a

Blog 23 250 113 90 34 264 222 4 n/a

Video 2 2 - - n/a 6 25 n/a n/a

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Brandwatch

Radian 6

Alterian SM2

Attensity 360

Twitter 33 187 50 42 n/a 32 6 83 n/a

Forum 47 145 84 16 n/a 88 105 13 n/a

Blog 23 250 113 90 34 264 222 4 n/a

Video 2 2 - - n/a 6 25 n/a n/a

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So, which tool was the best?

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Well, that depends what you’re looking for…

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Best user experience…

- This was the best tool for finding influencers on Facebook

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Best drill down…

- This was the best tool for finding influencers on Twitter

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Best for finding influencers on forums…

- Forums are a great place to track down influencers- Good tools for detailed results analysis

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Most exciting feature…

- View the Twitter authority of those who follow influencers- And we loved their mapping tool

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Best YouTube and images search…

- Simple, inviting and easy to use interface- “Key quotes” & “frequently used words” give a quick overview

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Easiest tool to learn how to use…

- The tool is integrated with Klout to identify Twitter influencers

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Best segmentation of data…

-This tool offered many ways to zone in on different data- Would suit businesses with an analytics team

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Best visualization tool…

- Great way to see the connections between influencers- Good broad overview of what conversations are taking place

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One to watch…

- Peer Index identifies the categories in which people are influential - Some great developments in the pipeline for this tool

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- Make sure it pulls data from the source you’re interested in, E.g. forums, Facebook or Twitter

- Assess the way it segments and presents data – is it going to fit your requirements?

- Ensure you can drill down into the data to find the detail you want within the results

Choosing the right tool for your needs

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- Most of the tools are focused on finding influential websites where you’re likely to find influential people rather than finding influencers themselves.

-You’ll still need to do some human analysis before you start approaching influencers

Even then...

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Now you’ve found your influencers, what next?

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Listen with care

- Read their audience’s comments- Read everything they have written

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Take a light approach- Comment on appropriate posts- Try contacting offline or meeting face to face- Be authentic- Be clear – What’s in it for them?

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Learn more from the detailed report...

Or visit: http://www.freshnetworks.com/social-media-influencers-2010-webform

Click the icon to download the report

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• We’re a social media agency

• We offer software, strategy and support to help companies be social

About us

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www.freshnetworks.cominfo@freshnetworks.com

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Baby food: http://www.insockmonkeyslippers.comAmerican football: http://www.thecoreinstitute.comObama with crowd: http://commons.wikimedia.orgWhite feather: http://wallpaper-s.orgDiving: http://www.boston.com/bigpictureOther images: http://www.shutterstock.com

Image credits

How to identify online influencers

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