How do you measure influence?

A naive question I know, but interesting to read that Richard Holway - formerly of Ovum and the eponymously named Richard Holway Ltd - now regards himself as an influencer not an analyst. And that he aspires to be a trusted influencer.

I've paid to get Holway's views on the tech sector for a decade or more, and without question would describe him as 'influencer royalty' within the UK software industry.

But the example of Holway also brings into focus why it is so hard to define what makes an influencer. Is it because he is an analyst, or a blogger, or trusted counsel, or a non-exec participant in boardrooms, or simply because he gets to engage with key people, speaks to them, informs their opinion and thus drives the marketplace?

How much of that authority comes fom his company and how much is attributed to the individual?

If in the pit of my stomach I instinctively know he is a significant player, why does any of this matter?

Well, because I have to measure his 'influence' in order to justify his inclusion in our client's relationship programs. Then I have to measure the impact of those programs to prove their value. Interestingly if he is to monetize his voice, as per his post, Richard too needs to find a mechanism for measuring influence.

Turning the measurement of influence among a new generation of influencers from an art form into a science is one of the biggest challenges facing communications professionals today. Yes, I have seen the different ranking tables, which mashup (if Excel counts as a mashup tool) various ranking sources in different proportions to suggest an uber ranking of influence but there are too many subjective leaps of faith, and too much underlying distrust in the measurement mechanisms and data sources to vest complete confidence in these tables.

Right now, there is no satisfactory answer. If you have one - a proper one that bears detailed review and doesn't feature the achilles heel of subjective ranking. I'd be interested to hear about it.

Published 12 Oct 2007 by Steve Ellis
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Comments

 

Steve said:

Peter Kim adds some more to this topic here - http://www.beingpeterkim.com/2007/10/nielsen-our-inf.html

Despite all the science, there is still the phrase <The result is a final score, an "ideal conduit" that can and should be weighted depending on client goals.>

All the different models I have seen so far, add that subjective weighting element. Which always undermines the concept of an ABC style influence rating which is a default standard figure (from which a thousand arguments spring forth, no doubt).
October 30, 2007 17:40
 

Duncan Brown said:

Hello Steve,

Sorry for the tardy comment but I only found you via Richard. In short, my company does what you ask, ie we idenitify influencers, ranked in order of importance.

Here are the caveats:
1. Influencers are contextual. So you have to know who you're trying to influence first. Richard may be an influencer on IT services firms, but probably not on pharmaceuticals firms. So the first question always to ask is, who am I trying to influence (my target market)?
2. Ranking of influencers only makes sense on a relative scale. So I can say that Influencer A is more important than Influencer B, within my market of interest. It's pointless to compare influencers across markets. Thus comparing bloggers in the blogosphere is silly, because the blogosphere isn't a market (unless you're selling blogging software).

Our methodology is both quantatative and qualitative, but reduces subjectivity to an minimum (I doubt anyone can eliminate it). We have four dimensions on which we measure influence, which allows comparing apples and oranges (or analysts and academics).

The value of this to marketers is that it provides focus for marketing acitivity. Know the five most influential journalists, three most important events, six most influential channel partners, etc.

Does it work? Our clients think so and are happy to talk about it. Also, I've co-authored a book on this, due out next month. If you allow me a plug, the web site is www.influencermarketingbook.com.

Sorry for the long post, but it's a big subject. Perhaps we should converse offline for more info exchange...?

Best,


Duncan
November 1, 2007 17:10
 

Steve Ellis said:

Hi Duncan

We too have a whole business around 'influence' and apply various approaches to determining influence for our clients, we group, rank, tier and score influencers among media, analysts, bloggers, NGOs, VCs, developers, channel partners etc.

I guess my point is there is no single industry standard methodology for determining influence, nor a definitive rating model (so all those 'lists' that proliferate in blogs are at best an incomplete answer).

In our experience the more we work with our own client companies, the more bespoke the answer becomes. Which is great but loses comparability across programs.

November 5, 2007 17:59
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