While learning about marketing — either in the classroom or the boardroom — marketers are taught that influencers are of paramount importance when targeting consumers. Influencers are the market group that will not only buy your product, but motivate others to buy it, as well.

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	Especially in the Internet age, the fastest and most effective way to either encourage or discourage product use is for influencers to post their experiences or thoughts on community forums.

This crowd has social influence over other buyers; therefore, they have the potential to impact the success or failure of a brand. As a result, marketing as a whole has increasingly centered on influencers, usually only a few individuals with the most impact — versus targeting a massive group with little power.

One way marketers do this is by promoting products specifically to influencers so that influencers can create awareness of the product in their community. By encouraging influencers to use certain products, they become advocates for the company/brand/product/service. Especially in the Internet age, the fastest and most effective way to accomplish this, to either encourage or discourage product use, is for influencers to post their experiences or thoughts on community forums.

Attempting to harness such power, marketers have employed new — and sometimes questionable — tactics, such as posing as influencers on afore mentioned community forums. Subsequently, product review sites and community forums, which initially were created so that consumers could voice their approval or displeasure with products or companies, have since been infested with reviews that are posted by companies themselves (or those paid by the company) hoping to combat otherwise negative comments. As influencers have become increasingly aware of this practice, however, they have grown skeptical of the forums themselves and of the companies who employ these strategies.

A recent survey conducted by Burson-Marsteller, for instance, has found that influencers are no longer confident in reviews on community sites because they believe there is a high likelihood that they were posted by biased parties. The study, which was conducted in August, reviewed the attitudes of 1,000 consumers who influence their social networks' habits and purchase decisions, otherwise known as "e-fluentials."

In contrast to results generated five years ago, 30% of respondents said that phony reviews are a major problem. (This is compared to 20% in 2001.) Moreover, 57% of respondents said that they would be far less apt to purchase products from a company who was known to post, or had others post, bogus reviews.

As Ame Wadler, chief strategic officer at Burson, explained, "There's now a skepticism of what is happening online and an expectation [that] if you're in a community site and a commercial entity [is] being discussed, there's someone paid to be weighing in."

This increasing cynicism may in large part be related to the recent gaffes made by companies who tried to create positive word of mouth via online forums. For instance, Wal-Mart initiated a faux blog to generate buzz for the company. Microsoft also gave free laptops as compensation to selected bloggers to experiment with new software and then write about it.

Interestingly, the survey found that influencers not only don't want to be paid for their endorsement of products, but that they look down on those who are compensated. Instead of some type of monetary reward, 52% of these individuals support brands, products, etc., that will invoke some type of change, while 50% simply do this because they want to provide useful information to others.

Ultimately, even in the cut-throat corporate landscape, the old adage holds true: honesty is always the best policy. As Wadler explained, "There's no rocket science here: transparency matters. Those entities that are the most transparent and say, 'It's us, and we're proud of what we're saying,' do far better than those organizations that don't reveal themselves."

On the net:

Burson-Marsteller
www.burson-marsteller.com/default.aspx

Wal-mart
www.walmart.com

Microsoft
www.microsoft.com/en/us/default.aspx

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