Influence Shift Marches
On

I suspect more than a handful of marketing and public
relations professionals wistfully yearn for the days when market influencers
fit neatly into well defined categories.

You had journalists, both business and trades.  Then there were a select set of industry and
financial analysts.  Sprinkle in a few
thought leaders from academia and not-for-profits and…poof…you had a target
list for your next PR campaign.

This methodology of influencer identification with the goal
of shaping market opinion sure got outdated…and fast.  The reliance by customers on social networks
and online communities has resulted in a dramatic shift in influence, tilting
power from traditional sources such as the news media to emerging channels.

Today’s super charged influencer could very well be a
blogger, Twitter junkie or Facebook fanatic. 
Just ask the folks at Za’s Brick Oven Pizza in Columbia, South Carolina.  An unflattering tweet (http://www.thestate.com/gamecocks/story/871489.html)
by a prominent college basketball coach with more than 1,500 followers sent the
restaurant’s business into a tailspin.

Unlike some respected pundits (http://www.brandrepublic.com/BrandRepublicNews/News/924099/Chris-Anderson-dismisses-newspapers-interview/?DCMP=EMC-DailyNewsBulletin),
I certainly believe in the continued importance and impact of the media and
analyst communities.  Most adhere to a
peer review process that produces a higher quality and more credible content.

It’s just time for all public relations practitioners and
corporate marketers to shed antiquated notions about where to find centers of
influence.  Strike a balance in your next
promotional campaign, based on who your key audiences rely on.

Marc Hausman is president/CEO of Strategic Communications Group, a public relations consultancy based in Silver Spring, Maryland.  Read more at http://www.strategicguy.blogspot.com.