I had a chance to listen to Mark yesterday virtually through a guest speaker presentation sponsored by the IMC program at West Virginia University on the issue of influence and his new book titled “Return to Influence.” Great presentation and information – definitely was taking notes as I was listening to the presentation. I first heard Mark speak at the first Social Slam event held in Knoxville, TN (a great event to go to and learn from experts about latest trends and issues in social media) just before I graduated with my PhD from the University of Tennessee. Mark is definitely a great speaker with a very resourceful blog (definitely one I share with my students and on the reading list for my Social Media class at the University of Louisville for Spring 2013) and very charismatic about discussing social media and how it is integrated strategically into marketing and public relations practices.
Mark Schaefer's latest book "Return on Influence" - available on Amazon!
One of the things that I think Mark definitely touched on is the growing need to quantify what it means to be influential. What do each of these scores truly mean, and how can we effectively measure influence to fully understand what it means? This got me thinking – and I did ask Mark about the question if influence is universal. Sure, there are people that have a strong presence across all social media platforms (one of the characteristics that I looked at in my SMI study a few years ago), but there are others that are influential on one particular social media platform. In addition, influence is different across cultures. What is influential here in the States is going to be different from South Africa to China to even Brazil. Not only do we need to explore possibilities of how to measure influence more effectively, but we have to also look at these other variables and how they influence a person’s perception of influence.
Another point I would have liked to have asked Mark is the issue of mentoring. There are many influencers who have a strong following from thousands to even millions on Twitter and other social media platforms. But, how do you effectively mentor and help others for the long term with social media? When I think of influence, I think another component to look at is paying forward and help building the next generation of influencers and professionals in the field. What are some best practices for using influence for mentoring?
These are just a few questions I had – I hope to continue this discussion with other professionals in the field. Influence is a topic that will continue to be discussed in both professional and academic circles. I really do appreciate Mark taking the time to share his insights with us on this very important topic and I will make sure to pick up his new book /download the ebook as soon as possible.
Hope you all are having a great day!
Best Wishes,
Karen
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