Social influence marketing—what is it?
Social Media Marketing for Dummies defines social influence marketing as being “about recognizing, accounting, and tapping into the fact that as your potential customer makes a purchasing decision, he’s influenced by various circles of people through the conversations that he has with them online, when he shares his own social media and consumes theirs.” Social media marketing rests on the belief that we humans are influenced by those around us when we make a purchase, donate to a cause, vote for a candidate.
What someone we know (or don’t know) says about a product can have an impact on whether or not we purchase that product. In a retail environment, more and more companies (Anthropologie and WalMart are two examples) include a product rating system in their online catalogs. Once thought to be a possible deterrent to sales, the availability of opinions—both positive and negative—builds confidence in a purchase. In fact, studies show that people are more likely to buy a product that has a small percentage of negative feedback mixed in with the positive.
