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I have always been fascinated by the impact of viral networks on social events and marketing word of mouth....
One of my favorite books is the Tipping Point by Malcom Gladwell, which studies epidemics and applies the learning to explain such social phenomenon as the crime drop in NYC or Sesame Street.
One of my main interests in joining the blogosphere was to better understand the emergence of viral blogging networks and other social effects of Web 2.0. I was very disappointed when I launched my blog 3 months ago and did not see any real marketing blogging community that I could connect into. The marketing community was a fragmented ecosphere with a few thought leaders such as Seth Godin or Ben McConnell.
And suddenly, a few players emerged that substantially changed the marketing social blogging network. I have been trying to think about their role in terms of the first law of an epidemic, the “law of the few.”
The “Connector" -- Ann Handley, MarketingProfs Daily Fix
In Malcom Gladwell's words, "Connectors know a lot of people. They have an instinctive and natural gift for making social connections. They are also critical because of whom they know and they are able to draw on their connections to provide amplification and power to an idea or a network." They see potential.
Ann is such a person and her blog emerged 3 months ago. She has been actively connecting with the key marketing players in the blogosphere, convincing them to write for the MarketingProfs Daily Fix. We also rely on connectors to give us access to opportunities and worlds to which we don’t belong, but that, once introduced, we function and thrive quite well. Ann was able to draw on her connections from the Marketing Profs newsletter (as well as her past connections as a founder of ClickZ.com) to establish her blog as a connecting platform.
The “Maven” -- Mack Collier, The Viral Garden
"Connectors are not the only people that matter in a social epidemic. While connectors are the people specialists, mavens are the information specialists. Mavens are great collectors of information but also want to share their knowledge." Then, they thrive on seeing others take that knowledge and run with it.
Such a Maven appeared 3 months ago when Mack set up his weekly Viral Garden top 25 marketing blog ranking. By publishing his weekly ranking, he shared a simple and very effective knowledge that had not been made visible before and that was furthered in its visibility by connectors like Ann. This is not the only way Mack seeks to share the wealth of information in his community; other initiatives include his "100 CDs for 100 bloggers," which challenges music companies to commune with audiences directly through the blogosphere.
The “Salesmen”
In Malcom Gladwell’s words, "Mavens are data banks. They provide the message. Connectors are social glue: they spread it. But there is also a select group of people –- salesmen –- with the skills to persuade us when we are unconvinced of what we are hearing and they are as critical to the tipping point of word of mouth epidemics as the other two groups." They do not need to “hard sell” their ideas, their passion is contagious.
Salesman #1 -- David Armano, Logic + Emotion
David “sells” his readers on the idea that creativity, innovation and design are valuable marketing tools and that they need them in order to become relevant to the empowered consumer class. He tries to persuade people to look at creativity differently. His style is to present information in a compelling fashion and let his readers decide for themselves, which is typical from a “salesman.”
Salesman #2 –- Toby Bloomberg, Diva Marketing
Toby is a true sales diva. She believes in the concept and that enthusiasm and excitement seems to energize other people. Her “light” style helps engage and build trust with the audience. That trust has in turn helped her open her readers to new ideas. One recent case in point is the viral impact of Toby's post on the Jupiter Research corporate blog study and the snowball effect in the blogosphere.
Salesman #3 -- Eric Mattson, Marketing Monger
Eric “sells” the future of online marketing, social media and podcasting. In many ways, he is just "selling" himself by doing something that other people (his listeners) value. By doing his interviews and sharing them with the world, he builds "social capital" which he can tap into in the future.
The marketing blogging social network is growing exponentially as experienced by the Alexa ranking threshold that you now need to achieve to be on the Viral Marketing ranking list. However, bloggers have a distorted view of their importance. We forget that being big in the blogosphere still doesn't mean anything to 99% of the country. The risk for vibrant blogging communities is to be “trapped” in the blogosphere, which can quickly limit their epidemic effectiveness. So what will it take to transform this emerging community into a viral marketing network beyond the blogosphere?
Who are the right mavens, connectors and salesmen to make this happen? One opportunity is to identify the “few” that are able to bridge the gap between mainstream and blogosphere. It would require, for example, for Mack to build a reliable information source on blogs linked to corporate platforms such as Boeing's Randy’s Journal, Forrester’s Marketing Blog or this blog. He could also build a top 25 marketing “salesmen” list based on influence, not ranking.
Another example would be to build more crossovers between the MarketingProfs traditional Web site/newsletter and its blog, or potentially find other connectors. ANA’s Marketing Maestros could be one of them if they opened their blog to postings from members. (By the way, I just noticed that Will promoted Mack’s list on June 1….).
So what do you think? What will it take to spread the “epidemic” to the other 99% marketers?
Eric Kintz is VP Global Marketing Strategy & Excellence for Hewlett-Packard. Read his blog here.
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Comments
"So what do you think? What will it take to spread the “epidemic” to the other 99% marketers?"
So few words for such a lofty thought. What will it take? It might take building bridges to traditional strongholds—especially the ones that are "open-minded" about the shift. Maybe even the ones that are less "open minded".
Thanks for bringing this issue to the forefront. It's one to chew on.
Posted by: David Armano | 07.05.06
Eric,
You asked what I thought it would take to spread this outside the blogosphere.
Here's the thing: I think this is already happening. Just like most other word of mouth, though, we don't know it's happening and can't really track it. Mack is talking to people offline about the stuff he knows and people he's met. Ann is facilitating meetups among the best and the brightest. It's all happening in the real world just as it's happening online.
But that leaves the question of connecting that offline world to the online one. That I'm not so sure of. It seems to me the first place to start would be to ask those offline folks "what don't you know?" and then introduce them to the online people who can help them fill in their knowledge gaps. That's something that the niche-nature of the blog world lends itself to nicely. Once you've done that you've started them down the path to leaving blog comments, sending emails and engaging in IM conversations with the online folks. It's only a short step from there to get them blogging on their own and contributing to the conversation.
That may or may not answer the question but it's a process I've led a number of people through and it's seemed to help them.
Posted by: Chris Thilk | 07.06.06
Chris I think the first step is to get our ideas in the hands of the mainstream. We don't do that by posting on each other's blogs and going to a buncha back-patting blogging conferences. A perfect example of how to do this is what you did by contributing to a series of entertainment articles for the LA Times. THAT is how you get exposure to the mainstream, through the sources they are already consulting.
Sure there are more and more mainstream marketers each and every day that are getting clued in to the potential of blogs. But they are still a small sliver of the pie, and that might not change any time soon, if ever.
I still think many bloggers are clinging to an 'us vs. them' mentality when it comes to the mainstream. And many are flying the 'we get it, you don't' flag. That may be true, but I think we owe it to companies, marketers and most importantly, the COMMUNITIES that both serve, to try to work with the mainstream to make sure that THEY 'get it' as well.
Posted by: Mack Collier | 07.06.06
Marketingprofs is now working on bridging the gap beween our newsletter and the blog, as Eric suggests. However, one thing we've learned from talking to real subscribers of MP (who are real working professionals) is that many of them don't like reading blogs.
I suspect its partly because blogs have gotten a reputation where people rant and rave, which is different than a place where you can learn how to do something (like marketing) more effectively.
Posted by: Allen Weiss | 07.06.06
I'm embarrassed to admit I barely knew what a blog was three months ago. There's definitely a big gap between perception and reality. Ultimately you have to experience it yourself to fully appreciate what's going on. So the real question is how do you induce trial? And point people to quality blogs to ensure a good experience?
Posted by: Mike Gore | 07.06.06
One of the reasons why many people -- marketers or otherwise -- might not read blogs is that the blogosphere has functioned in its own little orbit. From where I sit -- one foot in the so-called blogosphere and one foot not -- I see that changing in a big way every day, even for those real working professionals. "Blogging," after all, is nothing more than a way of delivering content...but the advantage to it is that it allows us to listen, as well.
Posted by: Ann Handley | 07.07.06
I think it'll take the initiative of marketers who are willing to abolish "techie" terminology and in favor of simple speak so that the average customer can "get it." My small business clients are now promoting their blogs to their customers as an "information source" or a "web site full of up-to-date information" etc. We encourage them to "get the articles delivered to their e-mail account." The one button click signs them up for Feedburner alerts. The terms Blog, RSS, Feedburner, and all the other social networking services and terms might as well be a foreign language. But keeping it simple equals real-world measurable bottom-line results.
Posted by: Marianna Hayes | 07.10.06
Marianna,
Exactly....I totally agree. Less tech geek - more simple speak.
Posted by: Ann Handley | 07.10.06
I think we keep on keeping on as other marketers gradually adopt the technology. Search ads used to be risky bets compared to online display advertising. Today, search and email are mainstream while rich media and behavioral targeting are getting there. I doubt avatars will ever make it, but in-game advertising will.
But what does a "healthy" marketing blogging community look like? If the other 99% of marketers were actively blogging, would it be a lively and engaging discussion, or a cacophony of "thought leaders and gurus"? And, as more voices emerge, how can we filter?
As a visual sort of person, it would be great if someone could put together a diagram to show the ecosystem of sources, connections, and users. Maybe Cymfony's Influence 2.0 wiki would be the ideal place for this: http://influence2.editme.com/
Posted by: Peter Kim | 07.10.06
"As a visual sort of person, it would be great if someone could put together a diagram to show the ecosystem of sources, connections, and users."
How about a visual for connectors, mavens and salesmen against a backdrop of the social media network?
http://darmano.typepad.com/logic_emotion/2006/07/visualizing_the.html
Posted by: David Armano | 07.10.06
Thanks for the comments. You will all play a critical role in carrying the message to the masses.
Peter - thanks for commenting. Forrester plays a critical role in briding the gap between the two roles
Eric
Posted by: Eric Kintz | 07.13.06