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Back in 1940 Paul Lazarsfeld did extensive research on the effects mass media had on people. In contrast to the commonly held idea that the media had a strong influence on most people, Lazarsfeld’s team discovered that in fact some people receive more information and influence others.
Some members of the public have more exposure to media, have more numerous and more diverse social networks, and they are perceived as influential. They also found that the response to media messages is influenced by the social relationships. Most of the people questioned during this research relied heavily on other people for the information they used to make their decisions.
Is any of this sounding familiar? Influencers, social networks, turning to others for information prior to purchase?
A recent study conducted by Rubicon found that some companies that have tried to work with communities online have found that the conversation is dominated by extreme enthusiasts rather than average users, and have concluded that online community is a distraction from their real customers.
That turns out to be a very dangerous mistake, warns Rubicon.
Here are some key findings of that survey, and its implications for companies:
- Enthusiasts do dominate online conversations. About 80% of the user-generated content on the web, including comments and questions, is created by less than 10% of web users. But the other 90% are listening.
- User reviews drive product purchases. Online communities have enormous influence on almost all web users. Online comments and reviews posted by the enthusiasts are second only to word of mouth as a purchase driver for all web users. Those personal reviews are far more influential than official reviews posted by a website or magazine, or information posted online by a manufacturer. The most frequent contributors are the influencers, and they have a strong influence on purchase decisions because they write most of the online recommendations and reviews.
- Your average customer is open to education and influence. Most content and discussion sites should be viewed as performances, in which you interact with a relatively small number of users in order to educate, persuade, or entertain everyone else. This means it is critical that companies understand who the influencers and frequent contributors are, and how to take care of them.
- Online communities are not created equal. Different communities have different dynamics and user bases. What works in one may fail in another. So you need to understand what kind of community you are engaging with.
Other insights from the study:
Search is the leading web category. It ’s essential that your site and your news content is found in search engines.
Community sites are in the top four web destinations. Ignore online communities at your peril. Find out where your customers are active. Identify the influencers in that community and figure out how best to work with them.
For more indepth information about Social Media and PR get the PRoactive Report
