Everyday Influence

Open Registration for Think Influence Panel: Influencers to Advocates

I am very happy to be part of a dynamic panel of marketing experts and thought leaders, gathering in San Francisco on March 17th, for an active discussion about influence and advocacy in a world of social business.   

The panel is a joint production between BrightTALK and Think Influence. 

BrightTALK is a company that provides online events for professionals and their communities. Think Influence is a grassroots community of peers (across industries) focused on the exchange of ideas and best practices on the role of influence in business.

Barbara French is the inspiration behind the Think Influence community of which I am fortunate to be a founding member.

Below are details about the panel and how to register.

WHAT: Social media has enabled business professionals to quickly grow large spheres of influence in targeted industries. These power users hold the key for marketers trying to gain access to their niche audiences. The question is how to identify who the key B2B influencers are, how do you rise above the noise to capture their attention, and how do you encourage them to become advocates for your brand.

 

WHEN: March 17, 2011, 8:00-8:45am PDT. Also available for replay.

PARTICIPATE: Participate from anywhere, by watching the live streamed video webcast and posting questions/comments via Twitter. Or watch the replay. Register at http://www.brighttalk.com/r/kZS

Attend onsite in the panel audience or for a breakfast reception afterwards with the panelists. By invitation only. Space is limited. Join theThink Influence group on LinkedIn to request an invitation.

PANELISTS:

• Don Bulmer, Vice President of Global Communications, SAP AG
• Guy Kawasaki, Co-founder, Alltop
• Michael Fauscette, Group Vice President, Software Business Solutions, IDC
• Moderated by Barbara French, President & Managing Editor, Tekrati & Co-founder Think Influence

COST: Free, however registration is required for the live webcast and replays. Onsite event is by invitation only.

SPONSORSHIPS: Contact Barbara French for info on sponsoring Think Influence events. Contact BrightTALK for sponsoring their Social Media Marketing Summit.

ABOUT: This event is a joint production of Think Influence and BrightTALK. Think Influence is a grassroots community of peers discussing the role of influence in business.

Placing Value on Social and Online Media Buzz

Is it really possible to measure the impact and quantify the monetary value of 'buzz' generated through social and online media channels?

A few weeks ago, a New York-based company called General Sentiment released a report that attempted to do this.

Below is a graphic from the report where General Sentiment equates the value (in USD) of media mentions and buzz for 20 global companies, measured from October to December of 2010:

 
General Sentiment is a technology company that provides research to help businesses evaluate their brand performance in the media (social and online).  

Among other things they claim to have developed a system that automatically determines the volume of mentions and sentiment regarding a brand, company or person. Combining this data with website traffic and online/news readership figures, they determine the purchase equivalent value (in USD) of brand exposure for each company across the Internet.

I came across the report from a post written by Philip Elmer-DeWitt at Fortune online. Comments on Philip's post range from high skepticism to pure absurdity on the ability to place a true monetary value on the impact of social and online media buzz to a company and its brand.  You can read the story and comments here.

I give General Sentiment credit for taking on the very difficult challenge to develop technology and research to provide such measures, assessments and data points. 

These are important data points (in part) to support decisions associated with communication and social business program investments.  It is amazing how many business leaders underestimate, undervalue and misplace the importance and power of communication in the era of social business.  

What is buzz and can it really be measured?