Social Networks: Utilizing Leverage of your companies

I came across this great article from one of my Tweeps (Twitter People). It cites a study done by UC Berkely Haas School of Business Marketing Research which looked at the influence people have on their "friends" on social networking sites.

They found that people who have fewer contacts were actually MORE influential than those who had many contacts. The conclusion was that those with a few close contacts/friends were more influential because their ties were actually stronger and so carried more weight.

"For word-of-mouth or 'viral' marketing, companies would actually be better off trying to diffuse their product through those with a small number of strong ties, instead of those who appear popular, with many weak ties. This is interesting, considering many people (and companies) would assume that diffusion could be maximized by making a product successful with popular people. It turns out that the best strategy is to market to those with the closest friends."

It comes down to the old adage that marketers have been using--it's quality, not quantity, that counts. Work develop strong relationships with your core/target customers and focus your time and efforts on pleasing them. The Pareto Rule comes into use here: 80 percent of your revenues come from the top 20 percent of your customers. Keep those 20 percent happy and satisfied.

More on the study can be found here: http://www.newswise.com/articles/view/551499/

That's all for now. You can follow me on Twitter at: http://www.twitter.com/pjend

Using Twitter for business

As I gather interviews and information for an article on using social media for small business, I came across an article written by one of my favorite bloggers, Chris Brogan, "50 ideas on using Twitter for business."

Some of my favorite ideas from the blog (complete link is above if you'd like to read the whole thing) are:

• What to Tweet: answer the question, "What is on your mind right now" instead of tweeting about what you're doing.
• Reply to tweets publicly if you have something to add to the conversation or a link to add. Use the Direct Message feature if your conversation is more personal and the broader Twitter community won't find it helpful.
• Twitter doesn't have to take a lot of your time. It should be about the quality of what you are saying. I have heard that tweeting 2-3 times per day for a few minutes is more than sufficient. Again, it is about saying something worth reading.
• Follow interesting people on Twitter. For instance, I am following the major PR firms in the Twin Cities as well as interesting social media mavens around the country (Chris Brogan, Lee Aase, and SteJules).
• Commenting on tweets and re-tweeting (RT) is a great way to build a community.
• Twitter can break news faster than other sources.

I hope these tips have been helpful. Read Chris' entire blog for all 50 tips. Look for my article in the June/July issue of Upsize Minnesota magazine as well as more insights from my interviews published here.