Those of us who spend any time inside the world of social media (SM) and social networking (SN) are exposed to the idea of influencers. I remain skeptical but not because I fail to recognize the importance of influencers in business, marketing and sales, but because some inside the SM and SN environment seem to be trapped inside a bottle when it comes to those they identify as influencers. In other words, they identify influencers based on their corner of the online world and mistakenly call those with lots of Twitter followers or those whose blogs get relatively high numbers of comments or even subscribers influencers. Although those attributes represent a measurement, they don't truly identify influencers.

Whether or not a person is an influencer depends more on what a business is trying to get noticed and on who will be interested than on whether or not a certain person on Twitter or a popular blogger has lots of followers. Remember followers in the online world represent an infinitesimal number relative to a business's most valued customers, so in reality they are unlikely to reach any level of critical mass in terms of sales and marketing.

I did a little research and rediscovered Dr Robert Cialdini's Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion. To research influence, Cialdini spent three years undercover, observing real-life situations of persuasion. What he learned results in his Six Weapons of Influence. They are:

1. Reciprocation - People tend to return a favor.
2. Commitment and Consistency - If people commit, orally or in writing, to an idea or goal, they are more likely to honor that commitment.
3. Social Proof - People will do things that they see other people doing.
4. Authority - People will tend to obey authority figures, even if they are asked to perform objectionable acts.
5. Liking - People are easily persuaded by other people that they like.
6. Scarcity - Perceived scarcity will generate demand.

As you can readily see, influence has little to do with followers, except in the areas of Liking and Authority, but for business purposes SM and SN numbers are too small to make much of an impact. If a business sells a commodity, the influencer needs to be someone readily recognized, trustworthy and popular within our most valued customer base. If a business sells a service, the influencer needs to have those three attributes plus be a happy client willing to reciprocate by offering referrals and leads.

Although there are instances where an online relationship might benefit a business in terms of influence, I think they are rare and that those influencers are more likely to positively impact someone's job search or a referral or lead for a tech consultant (e.g., SEO, IT, web site development, interactive design, etc.). For most businesses, online influencers might be helpful but they are not the people business leaders should first look to as those who can reach their customers or clients. Remember, influence should return results, not simply eyeballs.

Questions: Agree? Disagree? What are real-life examples that either prove or disprove my assumptions? Who are the influencers your business looks to? What do they look like?