Page 32 - Social Media Marketing for Dummies

Positional influencers

A positional influencer is closest to both the purchasing decision and to the con-
sumer. Called peer influencers sometimes, they are typically family members or
part of the consumer’s inner circle. They influence purchasing decisions most
directly at the point of purchase and have to live with the results of their family
member’s or friend’s decision as well.

As Shiv says, “I know that I can’t make a high-consideration purchase like a car
purchase without discussing it with my wife. Invariably, she’ll drive the car, too,
and sit in it as much as I will. It is as much her purchase as it is mine. Her opinion
matters more than anyone else’s in this case. After all, I need to discuss with her
the relative pricing of the cars available and whether one is more suitable for our
family versus another.” This person derives her influence from her relative posi-
tion and duties in relation to the actual consumer. She’s closest to the purchasing
decision and to the consumer and, therefore, has the most social influence.

Influencing on digital platforms

As we discuss earlier in the chapter, social influence impacts every purchasing
decision and always has in some form or other. Each time people make purchasing
decisions, they ask each other for advice. Sometimes they depend upon an expert’s
guidance, and in other cases, that advice comes from people they know.

So why is influence such a big deal today? This is because Internet consumption,
and social media consumption specifically, have hit the mainstream. For example,
as of June 2019, the social network platform Facebook had 2.41 billion users
worldwide, giving it a population larger than any single country in the world,
including China and India. That’s a lot of people talking about a lot of things
(including products) to a lot of people! But there’s more to it than that. Social
media traffic referrals have risen dramatically in the last few years. Facebook,
Pinterest, Instagram, and Twitter have 18 percent, 7.5 percent, 0.73 percent, and
0.73 percent, respectively, of global referrals per Shareaholic (February 2018).
These numbers show how much people are also acting on the influence of
others — they’re visiting the websites that they’re being told to visit.

People are making more and more purchasing decisions online every day. It’s as
natural to buy a product online as it is to go into a physical store. People buy
clothes and shoes online, not to mention high-consideration items such as com-
puters, cars (yes, cars), and jewelry. But that’s not all. Not only are consumers
buying online, but thanks to social media, they’re also conversing, socializing,
and influencing each other online on a scale never seen before.

16 PART 1 Getting Started with Social Media Marketing