Influencers and "Viral" Marketing
Duncan Watts has challenged the idea that there are these mythical "influencers" out there who, if marketers just reach, will propel a marketing campaign to viral status. He is challenging a mutation of Malcom Gladwell's Tipping Point argument that raised the idea of influencers. In reality, Gladwell argued that epidemic ideas are spread through a combination of three types of individuals (Mavens, Connectors, and Salesmen). The mutation of the argument has shaped some marketing thinking that they must identify and target key influencers. I think Watt's point is that it is misguided to focus on finding a few key individuals and that ideas are spread more linearly without the need of a catalyst.
Seth Godin correctly adds to this argument that Gladwell and Watts are both right. He adds that ideas spread because passionate people love the idea. This all ties into my earlier post that viral marketing is an overly misused statement. I argued make the campaign resonate with people and everything else will take care of itself. Sure there are tools you can use to make it easier for passionate people to spread your message, but your message must get people passionate about it. And thats what a good marketer does.
P.S. There is passion in Gladwell's three individual types common to epidemics. Mavens are passionate about the topic; Connectors are passionate about linking with people; and Salesmen are passionate about selling an idea. If your message resonates with any of those types, you should improve the chance that your message will spread virally.
