Free Marketing: 101 Low and No-Cost Ways to Grow Your Business, Online and Off

CHAPTER 87

APPEALING TO THE INFLUENTIAL

Because I am a father of five, I've seen all of the good kid movies of the last decade. In the popular Pixar film Ratatouille the setting is a classy restaurant where some serious tensions exist between the cooking and wait staff because of the impending need to really impress the most influential and respected local food critics.

In this movie the restaurant has the advantage of knowing exactly who the food critics are, and they recognize them when they enter the restaurant. They are then able to put their best effort into making sure that the critics have a great experience. That's a bit of an unfair advantage don't you think?

In real life your business typically has no idea who the most influential customers are as they enter and exit your business. This is true if you are doing business online or offline.

Wouldn't it be nice to know how influential each of your customers really are? Unfortunately it's still impossible to identify all of these influencers, even with all of the technology we have. There is good news though. By tracking the social influence ranking of your customers, you can start to identify who some of the most socially influential people are in your customer and prospect base.

Sites like Klout.com and TwitterGrader.com can help you identify who the Twitter leaders are among your clients and prospects. You only need capture their Twitter ID and use the information you gather there to your advantage. This is an emerging ...