2. {agenda}
• Defining influence in social media
• Building digital influence
• Using digital influence to lead as an HR
pro
• Key metrics for measuring digital influence
7. the goal of influence?
turn small groups of
enthusiasts, users,
customers and consumers
into authors, producers,
scouts, testers, collaborators
and broadcasters
into community members,
advocates, ambassadors
and evangelists
25. Lots of Tools & KPI’s – BUT…
• Conversational exchange =
The number of replies or
comments per post
• Reach = The size of the direct
audience
• Content amplification = The
number of shares per post
• Sentiment = The expressed
sentiment towards your post
• Content appreciation = The
number of appreciations per
post
26. What are your goals?
• Your career
• Personal brand
• Thought leadership
• Organizational influence
• Organizational results
Notas do Editor
Many of us here probably work for organizations where we are ultimately looking to move a product or service, right? Our lifeblood depends on selling something, and a lot of it. In my case, I recently joined Marriott International. And it’s all about treating our people right and giving amazing service which we believe in turn will bring our customers back to our hotels.So we have colleagues in marketing and sales. They come up with ad campaigns. They work relationships to do a lot of selling. But what I can also promise you is that they are focused on identifying influencers. For good reason.Influence, when clearly understood and well applied, can be a great boon to businesses. Empowering your loyal customers and fans to share the experiences they’ve had with your brand and/or products is the foundation of word-of-mouth. And today, it’s done both offline and on.It’s important. But I don’t think it’s limited to those who are marketing and selling a brand, or a product. For us, as HR pros, there’s huge implication. Especially when it comes to our employer brand, and our own individual personal brands. So today and tomorrow, we’re spending a lot of time talking about the nuts and bolts about social media in the workplace – how to tap into its power, the practical elements related to policy and more… but to get results on a personal or enterprise level, influence is important. Influence equals power and change.
First, there’s popularity. But in “digital” terms – it’s not the same as influence. You can have lots of fans and followers numbers wise… but that doesn’t necessarily mean anything. Especially if they do nothing for you. Or vice versa.
Work that we do in the digital space – while it can be fun and that might be your initial aim… the goal really should be influence which we can easily define it as… whatever you do as an effect – or even simply an “affect” on someone.There has to be results that stem from it. Meaningful results.So simple definition – cause and effect/affect.
Before we get into a more detailed definition of influence though – I think it’s important to take a step back even further – Why is influence even important in the first place? What goals are we trying to achieve in being influential?
The goal of having influence is ultimately to get to this last box – so let’s walk through this real quickly.You want to influence people…You want to align with other influencers if not turn those you’ve influenced into influencers –Then you’re leverage their influence – letting them do your work for you Lately, there’s a lot of talk about this notion of “social business” – how many of you have heard talk about social business models? Any thoughts on a definition of being a “social business”Well everyone has different definitions but here’s the simple one that I’m going by –There’s biz to biz communication and outreach – not too socialThere’s biz to consumer comms and outreach – probably social but in some cases very one-way…The goal of a social business, where a social business really is social is the consumer to consumer – they are talking to each other – but SOLVING YOUR PROBLEMS on your behalf. Let me illustrate this for a second –If you were to go to the Marriott International FB page… let’s say someone makes a nasty comment about a hotel experience. I can promise you that more often than not, we have people chiming in to say… what’s your problem? Get a life, etc. This is the ultimate, ultimate goal of influence.
And again before we get into the definition of influence… some more background.Influence is different on the web.The EFFECT with an E - It’s quicker because of the immediacy of the web plus vast exposure people and businesses can garner online. Stances and influencer status can change quickly because of a single person’s experience and accompanying online commentary. Super fluid; much like trust, for businesses at least, influence takes work to develop and can be easily lost.The outcomes of online influence can be easier to identify than offline influence
Lots of diff definitions for influence – and when it comes to measuring influence – all the tools are VERY IMMATURE. I’ve cobbled together some factors for how we might define influence from different sources though – and I’m going to talk you through a few different factors. Let’s start with trust.For someone to have influence in the digital space, it means they are trustworthy.When you trust someone – offline or online – what does this mean? It’s reliance on the integrity of someone or something. It’s pretty personal… and likely non transferrable. It probably means you are honest. And transparent too. On the social web, this may mean that the advice and words you dispense… people believe it to be true and reliable. It also means that links you share are going to be reliable – you’re not spamming them and you’re not going to send them a virus. How many times have you guys seen on Facebook when someone has clicked on a link for a contest, some sweepstakes… get this or that free, or a fat ole coupon for clicking on something… and then you realize it’s a gimmick. It’s not legit. It’s so annoying, right?If you look at this trust element… someone who is likely an influencer, this doesn’t happen. And you can trust what they push out or share is trustworthy.
Related to trust is value.A factor of influence is that you provide value. This might happen to consistency or always being relevant.You’ll hear the world “relevance” a lot when it comes to influence in the digital space. If you’re going to follow someone on twitter or read their blog… likely you have chosen to do that because they consistently deliver some kind of value and it’s usually relevant to you.
You know what you’re saying and doing. You have an opinion. People listen as a result and they take heed. This doesn’t mean you’re a know it all though or that you’re always spouting your expertise necessarily… but you speak freely about your beliefs and then it resonates with people. And this means you do it with some sense of passion and enthusiasm. It’s contagious, and infectious. And steers them in directions to want to go.
Next factor to consider when we try to define what it means to have influence in the digital space – connection. There’s got to be a connection. People are usually willing to act on behalf of others if not only there’s a benefit that outweighs the cost… but a mutual connectivity or bond exists. There’s got to be something that bonds the influencer with the influencee. Influencers are likely working to connect on many levels
I say reach as the last element of influence because I don’t want to contradict myself… popularity doesn’t matter *that* much. Numbers alone don’t tell the story… but, you do have to have some people to influence. To affect, or have an effect, it’s got to be on someone. So reach matters.
So that’s how we define influence in the digital sense. But how do you build it for yourself or your organization?
Before you build influence, there are some baseline things you need to do first.Whether it’s yourself or your employer brand… you’ve got to define and articulate the brand first. Again, reach isn’t super important but it still matters… so build your following up a bitThen you’re going to work to align yourself with influencers…Then it’s building your influence. Some of the things that I think you have to do in order to “build” influence directly tie back to how we define it… and I think there’s a lot of overlap but we’ll talk about some specifics.
When we talk about social media… you’re going to hear the phrase really often that “content is king”And content is king. Good content will bring you readers, followers and fans. And I think even as much as the digital space has evolved already, this still holds really true – especially for the sake of influence. So how do you pump out great content? You have to be relevant. This goes back to the part of our definition of influence including VALUE. And the notion of having AUTHORITY. And this also requires defining with clarity what your brand is about – and goals you want to achieve in playing in this space.
Once you’ve found that sweet spot of relevance for the content you push out… it’s got to be consistent. You have to consistently deliver that content and do it with relevance. In addition to that though, consistency is also about being there reliably.Responding in a timely fashion, being present pretty often and frequently.It’s like the sunrise and sunset. There’s got to be a factor of you being reliable.
So you’re relevant. You are consistent… but this is the social web after all… and this means you have to have conversation and engage. There’s no 2 ways about this.Even when you look at someone like our own POTUS and how he uses digital media – it’s about conversation and engagement. He has ALL the influence in the world – he’s the president – but to continue to build and grow your influence, you can’t do it in a vacum. And I think when you’re getting started… this might mean that you ask questions – of those who have influence and get visibility that way… leverage their authority…
So what does this all really mean? It’s like we’re talking about things in theory… so let’s bring this home and talk about us as individuals who are in the trenches and doing work.
And we’re going to start with me. So this is my new business card. I joined Marriott on January 23rd actually – and how I even got to the role and this amazing opportunity is a story of digital influence.Let me take you through a quick history of my career and then a tour of my own timeline in the digital space --
I started out in the HR space ten or so years ago. In my teens. I’ve done some serious trench HR work at interesting organizations but not at hugely well known organizations.Med-Data Inc.The University of WashingtonThe City of SeattleAPCO Worldwide… but an interesting thing happened when I went to APCO…Timing was right to jump into digital… but the reason I got into the digital space was totally accidental. Let’s flip to my digital timeline.
so here’s my digitaltimeline and then the second half is where “influence” started coming together. and this is without any help, without any guidance, this is me fumbling around in the dark – so you’ll be better off given the community of folks here, and by learning from my lessons learned.November 2007 – one of the big reasons I got involved in digital was a fluke. I was looking for a turnover calculator – of all things!
So along the way, when you go through my digital timeline… there were a lot of interesting things that started happening. And when I think about this so called “influence” I’ve been building, I think it manifests itself in a few different areas.BEHALF OF YOUR COMPANY - Huge implications for your employer brand. It’s bringing a voice/personality to your organization as an ambassador. Especially powerful to potential talent. WITHIN the ORGANIZATION. Let me start with my own story at APCO. Built my personal brand online, built influence, seen as “thought leader” – model for how to do it as a biz dev/marketing tool. Then, marketing vs me. CEO calling me for FB help. Working with, or beating them to the punch… you can influence corporate marketing, corporate PR and consumer marketing efforts. THEN, imagine also - influence among employees. A few years ago, when I was starting to speak at conferences or HR networking events about why digital – it was always for me a calling to help make HR cool again. Think about that. I truly believe that often, people need to hear it/see it from external sources to realize what they have. Outside In MentalityWITHIN the HR/RECRUITING INDUSTRY – Vendor angle. Favorable terms/cost – strategic influence with product development – and then even crazier… I have become privvy to and asked to speak to analysts and *investors* on behalf of vendors. Shaping the future of the industry is what that comes down to. Little ‘ole me. It’s crazy!Lastly - Influence and be visible for your own career’s sake