Yael Rozencwajg

Brand advocates spread the word online

Marketers trying to boost their earned media online are on the hunt for influencers, those customers who are ready and willing to spread the word to others about products and services. According to “The Influencer: A Consumer Voice with Legs,” a white paper from ICOM, a division of Epsilon Targeting, this key group of customers is most identifiable not by demographics but by behavior.

Influencers exist across age, gender and income breakdowns, and they do not interact with any particular media channel differently from the average user. The characteristic they share instead is the desire to talk to others about their experience with products and services.

Influencers were more likely than the general market to say others frequently took their advice and that it was fun to get people to try new products. They looked for new experiences, liked to know about new products first, and told their friends when they had problems with a brand.