Social Media Obsessions -- Caveat Emptor

Obsessed and Possessed

Corresponding with the rise in all forms of social media has been a growing fascination to the point of obsession on the part of some Marketing VPs to find their markets' key influencers.

I got to thinking about this after watching the movie "Elf" over the holidays -- the character of Miles Finch, who is supposed to be the key influencer of publishing in the movie, is the picture of a key influencer gone bad. If you haven't seen "Elf" and enjoy Will Ferrell, check it out; if you have kids, they will love it.

Find Me the Key Influencers

I know of a peripheral products company that put one of their best product directors on the task of tracking down key influencers -- this director is Harvard MBA no less -- and he came back with a handful of outside consultants and industry analysts who qualified for the title of key influencer.

This company next began to work with key influencers to provide them tentative product plans, invited them to speak to their resellers at exclusive events, and generally pampered them like superstars whenever they were invited to company events and yes, this included picking them up at the airport in limos. The Marketing VP felt that if they could be won over through pampering and ego-stroking they would sing the praises of the company. Trouble was, the company had serious quality product problems and a product strategy that was a generation behind the industry and only one of the key influencers held her ground and told the truth.

The results were predictable: the key influencers never turned down a paid speaking engagement or the occasional obligatory quote to the media or even in their own publications. The one troublesome key influencer that kept pointing to quality problems and late product roadmaps was never asked to present, never asked in for strategy sessions, and was mostly tolerated as the company had paid for a retainer with her advisory firm. One of the key influencers got so big headed they became the Brittany Spears of the influencer set and would skip calls, meetings, not bothering to phone ahead or send off an e-mail that they would not be there.

What are the lessons learned?

• First, be very careful about who you hand the title key influencer to. That is quite a pedestal to put someone on. Guy Kawasaki, who could certainly qualify as a key influencer, nails it with his http://www.esresearch.com/STVG on the subject. Going after word of mouth, as Guy mentions, is so much better of a use of time.
• Second, never trust anyone who tells you they are a key influencer in your markets. Immediately ask yourself, "So why are they telling me this?" The answer is most likely they seek a consulting gig with you.
• Third, key influencers are by nature disruptive and not affirming. Think about it; all the world's true key influencers are disrupting social, financial and even religious foundations. True thought leaders (and I would consider a key influencer a thought leader) have clear, crisp vision of the way things are and let's face it, have bigger and more expansive plans that just promoting your products.
• Fourth, take your key influencers off their pedestals and ask them to get out and push your company up the hill to its goals too. Too much pedestal polishing will create arrogance in key influencers; better to put them to work and tap their knowledge for how your company can improve. This is especially true of industry analysts; use them as strategy sounding boards and for goodness sake, do not act as if the Red Sea parted when they walked into your building. Set the tone you expect humility and hard work and get something accomplished with them.

Now, back to the scene in "Elf" that triggered these thoughts; it's the one where Miles Finch (played brilliantly by Peter Dinklage) is in the conference room of the book publishing house, just getting ready to share his insights. In bursts Buddy (Will Ferrell) and in total innocence, mistakes Miles Finch for an elf. Here's the clip on YouTube. No one needs a Miles Finch around; everyone needs more brainpower trying to solve problems though.

by Louis Columbus, Cincom Systems Senior Analyst