Digital Influence is one of the hottest trends in social media and it is also one of the least understood. Klout, PeerIndex, Kred among many others are investing millions of dollars to understand how our social media activity translates into influence. The market for influence is only heating up with more entrants expected to debut and acquisitions or mergers likely on the horizon. Within the last 90 days alone, Klout took in a Series C of $30 million from Kleiner…
Report: The Rise of Digital Influence and How to Measure It
About three weeks ago, I celebrated my first anniversary as Principal Analyst of Altimeter Group. And, it is with great pride that I mark the occasion with the release of my first official Altimeter report, “The Rise of Digital Influence.” Not a traditional market report, it was written as both a primer and a how-to guide for businesses to spark desirable effects and outcomes through social media influence. We live in a time when social networks such as Facebook, Twitter,…
5 Trends That Will Change CRM
I was recently asked to join a group of experts to contribute thoughts on trends driving the evolution of CRM over the next five years. I must say, that it’s a group of individuals whom I not only respect, but also am lucky enough to know in the real world. – Ray Wang, Principal Analyst & CEO at Constellation Research – Brent Leary, Owner at CRM Essentials – Esteban Kolsky, Principal & Founder at ThinkJar LLC – Denis Pombriant, CEO…
The State of the Blogosphere 2011
Part 14 in a series introducing my new book, The End of Business as Usual…this series serves as the book’s prequel. When you think about social media, what do you envision? Twitter, Facebook, Youtube, Foursquare? If you’re like me, blogs would have made the top of the list. But how can blogs survive in a time when the attention of connected consumers is not only precious, it’s elusive. After all, people can read no more than 140 characters at a…
Who Are the True Digital Movers, Shakers, and Influencers?
This is a guest post by Magdalena Georgieva of HubSpot, a marketing software company based in Cambridge, MA. What makes one voice louder than the other? While this is a simple question, it often takes us to a nuanced answer. Being aware of these nuances is essential in the world of marketing. If your voice is louder than mine, it could be either because you can reach more people than me or because you can reach the right people. In…
The Illusion of Importance
Guest post by Francisco Dao Most people view the social web as a tool for bringing people together and sharing ideas. They credit it with everything from democratizing media to enabling the protests of Arab spring, but they fail to see how these same community building attributes can fuel dangerous thought bubbles and lead us down paths of extremism. By providing a forum for everyone, the web – especially social web platforms – allow us to connect with people we…
How do you increase social influence? Don’t think about the score
Influence: The capacity to have an effect on the character, development, or behavior of someone or something, or the effect itself. Digital influence is a controversial topic. At the heart of the matter is this idea of influence and it raises questions and doubts as to whether or not the ability to cause effect or change behavior is truly measurable. Regardless of the answer, we are introduced to a new reality of social networking, an era where our actions and…
Do Sponsored Tweets Work? @CharlieSheen Shows Us the Money
Money doesn’t grow on trees, but it does grow on Tweets… The world knows quite well that #tigerblood flows through the veins of @CharlieSheen. We’re also learning that the color of #TigerBlood is green, as Charlie proves to the world that paid Tweets not only sell, they work. Ad.ly, the social media talent agency to the stars, is largely recognized for its work in merging celebrity endorsements with Twitter, introducing us to an era of sponsored Tweets from the people…
The Year of Understanding Influence
2010 was the year where we revisited not only the definition of influence, but also deeply explored its meaning in today’s social economy. What represented an ongoing series of virtual global summits on the topic, influence was scrutinized as a way of better understanding its role in new media. It goes beyond academic study however. Influence permeated the realm of the masses and suddenly, we the people, were gifted with the opportunity to voice what moved us. In doing so,…
The Dawn of the Social Consumer
Tweet…ReTweet Like Share Check-in Group buy QR code scan Augmented reality RFID What may sound like buzz words or mere hype, is actually the beginning of the end of business as usual. Welcome to the rise of the social consumer and a new era of social commerce. Look at the picture above and think about how physical and online stores can integrate the social graph into the shopping experience right now. The possibilities are limitless and we can introduce everything…
