Via, A soon-to-be published study co-authored by James Coyle, assistant professor of marketing in Miami’s Farmer School of Business and of interactive media studies; Elizabeth Lightfoot of CNET Networks; and Ted Smith and Amy Scott of MedTrackAlert, is said to show that the practice of segmenting 'evangelist' customers could be a waste of time:
The findings contradict a common advertising practice of segmenting and pampering the few elite and highly connected consumers believed to have the most persuasive power by suggesting that instead, most people can influence consumer behavior through viral communication or word of mouth.
"This study provides a fresh alternative for those who have been confused by the mysticism of influencer marketing consultants,” said Smith who is a CNET Networks Research Fellow and president of MedTrackAlert.We find that trying to track down key influencers, people who have extremely large social networks, is typically unnecessary and, more importantly, can actually limit a campaign or advertisement’s viral potential,” said Coyle. “Instead, marketers need to realize that the majority of their audience, not just the well-connected few, is eager and willing to pass along well-designed and relevant messages.
A few of my thoughts:
- Can anyone explain to me why scientific studies need to be promoted this way, in which the results are advertised before publication, without any shred of data?
- What the study appears to be describing is the ability of social media to enable more customers to become fans and more fans to become evangelists. Digital media strengthens influence circles by making connections far easier to create and use. The labor involved with spreading word of mouth has been lessened.
- Digital media also enables us, as marketers, to identify evangelists/influencers with much greater ease -- basically, through analytics and conversations, those customers 'bubble up' to our attention.
- Not all of your customers will pass along information -- plenty of research has been done to show users segment themselves by their activities -- with in-active users around 50%.
- We segment users by influence to limit costs. With finite resources, we are forced to make determinations about the best use of advertising dollars. We also keep in mind likelihood of repeat purchases. (which is often another characteristic of evangelists/influencers)
- Word of mouth/"viral potential"/traffic is not a business objective. Conversions are. I wonder if this study tracked word of mouth AND conversions -- as most campaigns I've been a part of have shown that evangelists/influencers are much more likely to bring actual purchasers to the site.
- The mysticism of influencer marketing consultants? mysticism? Do I confuse anyone?
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