The Science Behind Social Influence Ben Donkor

Director of Research and Insights, We Are Social

1. What is social influence and how does it work?

2. How do you measure social influence?

3. What is the future of social influence?

1. What is Social Influence?

•Influence is the ability to have an impact on a person’s emotions, opinions, or behaviour.

•It works when there’s concordance between

•Topic (object)

•Influencer (subject/channel)

•Audience (target)

2. How do you Measure

Social Influence?

•What makes someone influential? A combination of logic and emotion. That’s why influence can only be calculated with quant. and qual.

•Social influence is a product of:

•Passion & dedication

•Impact

•Relevance & Sentiment

Positive (+) Negative (-)

Passive fan

Active fan

Advocate (“super fan”)

Detractor

Evangelist

Brand ambassador

Impact

Low impact

Micro-influencer (<100k followers on their biggest platform)

Influencer

Thought-leader

Talent

Sentiment Concordance

Positive Brand Concordant

Neutral Brand Indifferent

Negative Brand Discordant

• Impact is influenced by

reach, which enables

distribution.

Passion & Dedication Impact Relevance & Sentiment

• Relevance is directly

influenced by proximity.

• Sentiment helps link

relevance with credibility.

• Passion :: how emotionally

driven you are to a topic.

• Dedication :: how

objectively invested you are

(linked with expertise).

Practical Influencer Mapping

Person Passion & Dedication Impact Relevance & Sentiment P&D

Ben Donkor 3.5 1.5 1 3.5 Satya Nadella 5 5 1 5

Tim Cook -1.25 5 -0.5 2.5

Tom W. 4 1 1 4 Rudimental 0.75 5 0.5 1.5

Roz Hall 5 2 1 5 Timothy Goodman 0 3.5 -0.5 0

Julius Dein 0 4 0 0

Ben M. Roberts 0.125 2 0.25 0.5 Paul Ince ("Biz Paul") 2.0625 2.5 0.75 2.75 Thibault Lemaitre 1.3125 2.25 0.75 1.75

Owen Williams 3.25 3.5 1 3.25 Scott Hanselman 5 1.75 1 5

Scott Allen 4.5 1.5 1 4.5 Christina Warren 4.5 3 1 4.5

Practical Influencer Mapping

Person Passion & Dedication Impact Relevance & Sentiment P&D

Ben Donkor 3.5 1.5 1 3.5 Satya Nadella 5 5 1 5

Tim Cook -1.25 5 -0.5 2.5

Tom W. 4 1 1 4 Rudimental 0.75 5 0.5 1.5

Roz Hall 5 2 1 5 Timothy Goodman 0 3.5 -0.5 0

Julius Dein 0 4 0 0

Ben M. Roberts 0.125 2 0.25 0.5 Paul Ince ("Biz Paul") 2.0625 2.5 0.75 2.75 Thibault Lemaitre 1.3125 2.25 0.75 1.75

Owen Williams 3.25 3.5 1 3.25 Scott Hanselman 5 1.75 1 5

Scott Allen 4.5 1.5 1 4.5 Christina Warren 4.5 3 1 4.5

3. Future of Social Influence

•Trusting influencers

•Working (collaborating) with influencers

•Measuring influencers (micro-profiling)

3. Future of Social Influence

•Trusting influencers

People will demand authenticity + full transparency (GDPR, FTC).

Cambridge Analytica and recent data leaks are pivotal marketing milestones – watch how they shape consumer perception.

Influence can be conjured (Klout effect).

3. Future of Social Influence

•Working with influencers Influencers seen as distribution channels. More diverse range of influencers (regional talent, influencer conglomerates).

3. Future of Social Influence

•Measuring influencers Brands need:

•standardised metric to measure influence, not influenced by the perceived relationship between an influencer and their fans

•tools to measure influence (quant and qual analysis)

•detailed audience breakdown by demographic and psychographic, to better understand influence.

Recap 1. What is social influence and how does it work?

2. How do you measure social influence?

3. What is the future of social influence?

Thanks

Ben Donkor

Twitter: @FR314

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/bernardodonkor/

Blog: brnrd.me

Tool Search Engine: martechlist.net/ (To find a social analytics/social influencer tool.)