The belief that following many people in your social stream can lead to a substantial increase in brand identity and reputation may need to be reconsidered in light of research by Wharton marketing professors Raghuram Iyengar and Christophe Van den Bulte who have found that stacking the deck with lots of people may not be the best path for developing influence or brands.
Iyengar and Bulte, working with University of Southern California preventive medicine professor Thomas W. Valente, discovered building a social network to create buzz or viral brand explosion may not depend on how many people are in your social tree. It may come down to that one pivotal person that helps seed or spread the message.
[In a] recently published paper, “Opinion Leadership and Social Contagion in New Product Diffusion,” [the research team] had its “a-ha” moment when they found Physician No. 184 on a map, according to an article published March 04, 2009 in Knowledge@Wharton.
Physician No. 184 was an unknown doctor who wasn’t at the top of the social ladder. It turns out, this doctor was the center pivot who was able to cross social boundaries and pass on information up and down the ladder. Physician No. 184 wasn’t the first person added to the social group nor the last. As the researchers began to track how news about new medicines spread through the various social stratas it became apparent Physician No. 184 had the power to introduce new pharmaceuticals throughout various social sub-groups.
Discovering the pivot point can greatly expand social networks and improve communication and feedback. Finding these pivotal individuals can be accomplished by examining the interaction of individuals within a social group.
The following tools for Twitter and Facebook can be used to identify social stratas and the individuals who serve as pivot points between them:
- The ReTweetability Index: Measures and ranks Twitter users based on the infectious power of their tweets. Use this tool to discover the most retweetable and influential users.
- Twitter Search: Added to the Twitter tools set by the acquisition of Summize, this search identifies trends by hashtag or keyword. It tracks users use of popular words and helps identify trending topics.
- Just Tweet It: This Twitter user directory is organized by genre to discover individuals who share an interest in a particular subject.
- Tweeple Twak: Keep an eye on Twitter followers and monitor trends using this tool.
- TwitterSheep: This tool creates a tag cloud of your Twitter followers and identifies common points by examining the ‘bios’ of followers.
- Facebook Groups: Groups allow networks to grow beyond a target audience. Influential pivots will join more than one group, allowing for cross-pollination of ideas and brands.
- Facebook Insights: Insights allows brands to track their presence on Facebook and identify influencer leaders.
- Facebook Polls: Discover trends and insights into the minds of followers by utilizing this tool on Facebook.
- Facebook Beacon: This tool allows your followers to share with their friends what they have viewed and liked on your site.
