Roughly 1 in 10 of the adult population of the United States, the Influential Americansรข are the people who make the society, culture, and marketplace run. The most socially and politically active Americans…the Influentials are active in their communities. They are highly engaged in the workplace and in their personal lives as well. They are interested in many subjects and are connected to many groups. They know how to express themselves and do so. And, because of their position in the community, workplace, and society, their opinions are heard by many people and influence decisions in others’ lives.[1]
Chances are you seek out an Influential when you have an important decision to make. Influentials are the kind of people you turn to when you need help. They often know the answer to the question you have. If they don’t, they know someone who does. They get your attention. They have people’s respects.[2]
Figure 1-1. The Importance of Word of Mouth[3]
Net percentage of Americans 18 years-old and older saying “people” (friends, family, or other people) are among the two or three “best” sources of ideas and information, and net percentage saying “advertising” is source of best ideas and information, with point difference.
| | “People” | “Advertising” | Point difference |
| Restaurants to try | 83% | 35% | 48 points |
| New meals, dishes to try | 73% | 24% | 49 points |
| Places to go on visit | 71% | 33% | 38 points |
| Prescription drugs to try | 71% | 21% | 50 points |
| Hotels to stay in | 63% | 27% | 36 points |
Which brands are best | 60% | 33% | 27 points |
| Retirement planning | 58% | 9% | 49 points |
| Saving and investing money | 57% | 12% | 44 points |
| Finding a new job | 47% | 54% | -7 points |
| Computer equipment | 40% | 18% | 22 points |
| Web sites to visit | 37% | 12% | 25 points |
This is the bottom line: when Americans make decisions today, it’s a conversation. Before Americans buy, they talk. And they listen. The first step in the buying process is to ask a friend and family member for input. Depending on the importance of the decision, they’ll test their ideas out again as they go along.[4]
Influence has been a topic of growing discussion in business and the society…. Malcolm Gladwell’s The Tipping Point has arguably been “the tipping point” in this trend. The book popularized theories of mimetic, the spread of ideas, as explanations for sudden change that seem to spread like epidemics in the popular culture and society, with examples that range from small, cool phenomena…to socially significant….Gladwell argues that these societal viruses share three key characteristics:
(1) the support of a few key people, “mavens” who store up vast stocks of information and are willing to share it with other people, “connectors” who have vast social networks and can get out the word quickly, and “salesmen” who get everyone caught up with their passion for an idea:
(2) a “stickiness factor” that makes them uniquely memorable and compelling:
(3) and a “context” conducive to the idea.
With the Internet, argues Seth Godin in Permission Marketing, the old advertising technique of “interruption marketing” is wasteful. Businesses should instead use the new technologies (which enable you to learn more about people as you work more with them) to build relationships with the customer’s “permission.”
In Anatomy of Buzz, Emanuel Rosen posits that certain people are “hubs” who spread word-of-mouth influence across their social networks. The job for business is to identify and develop relationships with these hubs.[5]
In times of change, people naturally seek a guide, someone who’s been out ahead of them, who’s already identified the issues, addressed them in his or her own life, and can offer good, reliable, informed insights, advice, and information about what’s going on now and what’s to come, someone they trust. …Americans are placing increasing stock in the simplest form of communication, word-of-mouth advice and information from people they know and trust.[6]
Figure 1-1. Demographics: Who is the Typical Influential?[7]
A man or a woman (50% each)
Middle-aged
…45.2 years old for median
Middle/upper-middle class
…$55,300 median household income
College educated
…80% have attended college
…49% are college graduates
Married with children
…70% are married
…53% with children at home
Homeowners
…74% own their own home
Employed
…72%are in workforce
…58% in full-time jobs
Executive or professional
…34% as the leading occupation
What most identifies Influential Americans is their activism. They are involved in life in the broadest sense, and the result shines through like the facets of a diamond in the areas of their lives, from the office to leisure time…. they demonstrate an activist orientation to life.[8]
[A second ingredient] connections could describe Influentials generally. Combined with the Influentials’ sense of activism, this focus on people is a major factor in the segment’s influence in the society. Their contacts create new opportunities that bring them into contact with more people, in turn creating more opportunities and more contacts and an ever-widening network.[9]
The [last] essential ingredient of Influentials is influence. They are people who are looked up to by others for their advice and opinion. Influential Americans are about twice as likely as the average American to be asked for advice and opinions on a range of topics.[10]
The result of Influentials’ involvement often creates what [is called] a spiral of influence. As the Influentials’ efforts at learning something new bears results, it inspires them to learn more about the subject, to share what they’ve learned with others, and to seek out others with expertise in the area. This inspires them to further exploration and experimentation, which yields further results---which they share with others, and inspires them to learn, explore, and experiment more---and share what they’ve learned with others: an ever-widening circle of influence and change.[11]
Figure 3-1. The Influence Spiral[12]
That They Share with Others
Yielding Further Results
Further Exploration and Effort
Inspiring More Interest
That Influentials Share with Others
Efforts Yield Results
One of the complaints of modern life is that there is simply too much information for human beings to reasonably process. Given this, it would be easy to make the leap that Influentials, since they are the nexus of so much information, are even more bogged down and confused. This is sometimes the case. Perhaps because they have a clear sense of priorities, however, they can step back, evaluate the options, and make decisions. They trust their instincts.[13]
Figure 3-13. Trust Yourself: Brand Decisions Begin with Personal Experience[14]
Percentage of Influentials saying the experience factor is among most important factors in brand purchase decisions, with percentage point difference from total public.
| | | Point difference |
| Past experience with brand | 88% | +17 |
| How quality compares with other brands | 88% | +27 |
| Whether brand is reasonably priced | 74% | +10 |
| Personal recommendations of others | 57% | +20 |
“WHAT’S YOUR INFLUENTIAL STRATEGY? If you’ve not asked yourself this question already, you should. To succeed today, you need to connect with the people who are at center of the conversation. business, government, nonprofit organizations need to have Influential strategies just as they need marketing, advertising, public relations, promotion, or Internet strategies.
Specifically, you should make sure you are reaching the decision makers who are influential in others’ decisions. You should know where the opinion leaders get their ideas—the kinds of publications they read, the programs they watch, the radio stations they listen to, and the Web sites they go to.[15]
The key is to reach the people to whom people turn when they need ideas and information.
Six Rules
- BE WHERE THE INFORMATION IS
- Succeeding with Influentials begins with information…Getting good information is integral to Influentials’ decision process…If there’s a secret to advertising to Influentials, it is to be creative and informative…
- Influentials make up a disproportionate share of those who speak out when they have a problem, compared with their numbers in the population.
3. GET OUT INTO THE COMMUNITY
- One of the best ways to win Influentials’ favor is to become active in a cause that will produce a tangible benefit in people’s lives.
- MAKE IT EASIER—THEN MAKE IT EASIER STILL
- The utilitarian approach that is part of most Influentials’ personality…generally defines their style as consumers as well.
- KNOW “THE EXCEPTIONS”—AND KEEP UP WITH THEM
- The Influentials are utilitarian in many areas, but they make exceptions to the rule.
- BE A BRAND, AND TELL THE WORLD
- Influentials are skeptical of marketing and demanding of business, but they hold a high opinion of brands….studies reveal Influentials to be one of the strongholds of brands.[16]
Companies need to know whom these opinion leaders are and need to know what they’re thinking, what they’re doing, where their “water stations” are, how the opinion leaders create “spirals of influence,” and how to work with them and for them. In this book, you’ve met an important group of opinion leaders who fit this description…they’re the people in cites and towns across the country who are:
- Active in their community
- Highly engaged in their workplace and personal life
- Interested in many subjects and connected to many groups
- Know how to express themselves
- Opinions are heard by many others and influence decisions in others’ lives[17]
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