Word of Mouth Advertising: What About the Middle Guys?

CNET recently put out a study that may put to question the traditional notion "that there's a small group of hyper-connected, influential individuals marketers should go after to strike word-of-mouth gold." The findings argue that actually "85% or 90% of the population has significant potential to influence."

The study found that these super-influential individuals had just as many interests as the average user. Unfortunately, the entire study was not available for evaluation, but it seems that this is what that conclusion was based upon.

If there is no further analysis to prove this point, then CNET may not be fully familiar with the diffusion process. These hyper-connected, super-influential individuals are not important because their number of interests. Instead, they're often more valuable for having a less than average amount of interests. Why could this be? Because they are often opinion leaders and information brokers on those topics, and disseminate it with a passion. Because of that, they are simply more influential, and a touch from one of them may be more valuable. They also tend to have a further reach, as users will seek these experts to answer questions or to point them in the right direction. Seeking out information is (at least in part) what the Internet is all about.

So it is a bit naive to say that the middle guys are just as important as the key change agents in the diffusion process. However, the advice to have as far of a reach as possible is not bad advice, but let's not downplay the importance of these key player in word of mouth campaigns.

Naming Your Blog for Effective Viral Marketing

Chris Garrett over at chrisg.com has made some great points about the importance of naming your blog.

In naming your blog or viral medium, you are creating a brand. Sure, you probably already have a brand, and it even is likely in the URL. However, the unique characteristics of URLs mean that the small differences between the it and the original brand can mean that it will have characteristics of its own, sometimes with only a partial relation to the original brand.

There are certain jobs that the name of the site fill in the diffusion process - as it is passed from one user to another - and all of them need to be fulfilled within the selection process - with as little as one word.

To start with, it needs to be unique. It needs to be able to catch the attention of the person who is expected to pass it on - it needs to be memorable. If a user can remember the content, but cannot remember the name, how can they be expected to pass it on? An unoriginal or unmemorable name can potentially kill a viral effect in its tracks.

It also needs to describe the content of the site. The sender may give little or no description along with the transmitted URL, or the receiver may not care to read it. If the URL can communicate what should be expected, the receiver may be more likely to visit the site.

Additionally, it needs to portray the correct image. Misspelling words or certain connotations may not portray the brand in the correct light (as ChrisG pointed out, a site for grammarians would not be well received if it used a creative misspelling), or carry other consequences.

The URL also needs to be able to be spelled easily. If one cannot simply rattle off the name, and instead needs to spend a moment explaining the spelling, or take the time to find a pencil to write it down, the extra effort may be enough to stop the potential transmitter from sending the message on. Viral messages are still often communicated by word-of-mouth the old fashioned way... which actually involves using the mouth!

These considerations are just a start of the what must be taken into account when naming a blog or viral campaign. Let it be known that the name is a very important part in lifting a campaign off of the ground and supplying the wind to keep it flying.