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October 26, 2008
Study: Influencers are Alive and Well on Social Media Sites
Study: Influencers are Alive and Well on Social Media Sites
Read the whole article:
"The fact that 10% of users create 90% of user-generated content on any given social media site has become a standard trope in discussions around social media. Because of this gap between mainstream users and the enthusiasts who contribute frequently and tend to dominate the discussion, many companies have decided that participating in online communities is not worth their time, as these companies assume that it doesn't allow them to reach their average consumer. According to a recent study by Rubicon Consulting, however, they do so at their own peril, as these active users are also the most likely to influence their peers' buying decisions."
Full report is here:
Online Communities and Their Impact on Business: Ignore at Your PerilOctober 22, 2008 (37 page PDF)
How much of your site content is cretaed by your users? Are they the influentials in your communities?
Stephen
Posted by stephen at October 26, 2008 12:22 AM
Comments
This is an interesting piece of research from the guys at Rubicon. Aside from the headline facts, such as the role of online reviews in purchase decisions, it is worth digging a little deeper into the report.
What you see is that whilst online is more important in some areas (buying consumer electronics) than others (choosing a solicitor) the role of online communities and social media is growing.
At FreshNetworks we think this is a reflection on a real change in adoption - more people doing more things more often online.
If you're interested I wrote a bit more about this and what it might mean here:
http://blog.freshnetworks.com/2008/10/online-reviews-second-biggest-influence-on-purchase-decisions/
Matt
FreshNetworks
Posted by: Matt Rhodes at October 27, 2008 7:17 AM
From page 14:
"Even though you can't get most of your customers to interact with you online, they watch what you do with the [most frequent contributors], and they judge you based on it."
Whoa.
Posted by: Melissa Kiser at October 27, 2008 11:18 AM