While listening to a set of audiotapes on the history of philosophy, I was
struck by how well networked scholars and thinkers were in the seventeenth
and eighteenth centuries. When airplanes and computers, much less FedEx and
the Internet, were still science fiction, philosophers like Rene Descartes,
Thomas Reid and Immanuel Kant kept up very well with who was who in
metaphysics and epistemology, and carried on correspondences across national
borders and language barriers.
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In the Information Age, communication can occur instantly and it's easier
than ever to make personal contact with people whose opinions count. With a
judicious use of e-mail, you don't have to be a somebody yourself to win the
ear of someone with influence. Strangely, however, I don't see very many
people talking about this as a method of publicity or word-of-mouth
marketing.
Not long ago the communications consulting firm Burson-Marsteller
released a fascinating study that bears on marketing by making one-to-one
connections. The study identified "e-fluentials," about 8 percent,
or 9 million, of today's 109 million U.S. Internet users. When one of these
e-fluentials gets impressed by a Web site or a new product, he or she tells
an average of eight others, quickly producing an avalanche of interest
through an exponential multiplier effect.
Let's look at some of the characteristics Burson-Marsteller discovered in
the e-fluential crowd.
- They're three times as likely as the typical online user to be asked
for advice online.
- They convey their opinions to four times as many people as the typical
online user.
- They e-mail twice as many people as others online and more often
participate in online discussion groups.
- They are more than three times as likely to visit Web sites that do not
have an offline sponsor.
- They are almost twice as likely as the typical online user to be
politically active, make speeches, write a letter to the editor or an op-ed
piece, or serve on a community committee.
- They frequently make business contacts online.
We've heard a lot about "viral marketing," but almost always
with the assumption that any Internet user has a viral effect equal to any
other Internet user. This study clearly demonstrates that that's not true.
And while a few of the e-fluentials have traditional credentials or a
recognized position, such as editor, executive or forum sysop, that's far
from universally so.
To get an idea of the self-selected character of many e-fluentials,
browse the reader reviews at amazon.com. Occasionally you'll encounter
reader comments submitted by someone labeled a "top reviewer." In
contrast to formally appointed book critics in the newspaper or on radio,
this is someone who provides well-informed, in-depth reviews of books just
because he or she likes to do so and whose reviews are highly rated by
amazon.com shoppers. If you were publishing a book, it might be worth your
time to figure out which top reviewers gravitated to your topic and to make
sure they knew of the existence of your book.
Similarly, in your niche a top e-fluential might not be a popular keynote
speaker, CEO or trade association official but someone who simply knows
everyone else who's active online in that niche and communicates like crazy
with them. Specialized discussion lists and Web forums provide a convenient
window on who those e-fluentials might be. Look for frequent posters who
appear to have the respect of other list or forum members. Often they spread
their enthusiasm promiscuously, so to speak, from one venue to another.
Almost always you'll find e-fluentials responsive to e-mail contacts, so
long as you approach them personally in a spirit of colleagueship. Agree or
disagree with something they said. Flatter them mildly and sincerely. Ask
questions about what they do. In short, schmooze them up the way you might
at a networking event. After expressing interest in them, you'll often find
them receptive to what you do. Remember, how much does this cost? Only your
time.
As for those e-fluentials who do hold traditional offline positions of
one sort or another, many are much more approachable by e-mail than by
letter or phone. When you spot them quoted in Fast Company or some other
business magazine that provides e-mail addresses for those profiled in
articles, that's a perfect opening. You just might get the response
speaker/consultant Nikki Sweet got when she e-mailed one CEO she'd read
about but couldn't get through to by phone: "Wow, isn't this e-mail a
great invention? The answer to your question is, please feel free to call me
any time, here's my private telephone number."
