G: How would you define a social media “influencer”? T: Anyone who is active on a social media channel of any sort is an influencer. Conversely, they can also be influenced to some degree. So to me, and more and more savvy marketers, influence is defined on a sliding scale. G: How do you measure the influence? Sometimes even their survey traffic benefits their traffic and SEO (relevant for issue for me as I’m in the market research industry). As for Twitter, well clearly Followers are a pretty good indicator of influence. Tom H. are good. MORE >>

Take influence. But have you ever seen a unit of influence? In survey research, the survey itself provides an observable moment. Enter the model With influence , reputation , and engagement , we're dealing with the abstract. The reason we don't have standard metrics for such desirable commodities as influence, engagement, and reputation is simple. In essence, we talk about the labels, because they represent familiar ideas (influence, et al), but the models represent what we really care about (such as positive word of mouth, leads, and sales). MORE >>

The survey asked members of the CMO Club (a forum for top marketing executives) how they value social data, as reported by MIT Sloan Management Review. In general, CMOs surveyed expressed a high opinion about the value of social data. ”  Nearly 9 in 10 (89%) say social data has influenced their decisions. However, CMOs are not (yet) frequently relying on social data for decision-making: only 21% of those surveyed said social data affects at least one in five decisions they make. Do you agree? MORE >>

With social media now mainstream, we’re experiencing a surge of consumer influence from “social shopping”, consumer reviews and online word-of mouth-marketing. Consumer reviews are significantly more trusted—nearly 12 times more—than descriptions that come from manufacturers, according to a survey of US mom Internet users. Blog SEO Search Marketing Social Media & SEO Social Media Marketing Word of Mouth Marketing consumer reviews new rules of engagement online reviews social media influence social shopping MORE >>

One constant though among these users is that they eventually get to a point where they understand the real-world impact and influence that social has. So fittingly, my introduction into the influence of social was social good. Here are some key stats from the infographic that highlight the evolution of charitable giving and how online activism is changing the non-profit industry: • Nearly 50% of web users surveyed by the Red Cross said they would use social media in an emergency. Guest Post Infographics Social Influence non-profits social good tweet drive unc MORE >>