These days, the vast majority of people use social media and that means if you want to influence them, you need to be where they are. Gone are the days of pushing products from afar, now you need to get up close and personal with clients. Top down branding is no longer the way to go, as customers aren’t getting their information from customers anymore.

An increasing number of people go through the internet to find out whether or not they should buy something. They listen to their online peers and this is where the social influencing comes in. Telling someone they should buy your product isn’t going to work. Showing people how your product can help them will provide results, however, because they are going to tell others and the news will spread rapidly about a great product. Many consumers are not even aware of the role they play in influencing the purchases of others, simply by commenting on products or services that they have used.

The report shows that despite the fact 62% of social media users say they don’t look for product recommendations on social media sites, there are still plenty of people offering their reviews. 42% say they share or recommend a product every few months, while a full 8% recommend products every few days.

What does this mean for businesses? Essentially, you need to be talking to your clients and making your brand more approachable. It’s a two way street now, with interaction on both sides making for the best relationships.

Finding the Influencers

With so much networking going on, just where are people gleaning their recommendations from most? While social media does play a part in customer decision making, more people claim that they listen to bloggers, particularly those who are established in the field. Knowing who is influencing your customers is important since you can then establish relationships with these people, mainly bloggers (key influencers) and friends on social media sites (social media influencers). To a lesser extent, friends and family (peer influencers) also help people make decisions.

Certain brand types are easier to use on social media. For example, a music label will find it far easier than a bank to discuss business with potential clients on Twitter. Surprisingly, two thirds of people surveyed for the Razorfish report had no opinion on brands in social media, meaning there is no widespread fear of companies entering the world of social networking.

Interestingly enough, more people trust television ads over social network product recommendations. This may be due to the fact that affiliate links are rampant and people feel that others are merely trying to earn a quick buck. Of course, friends and family come in as the most trustworthy when it comes to product recommendations.

Measuring Your Social Influence

Like anything in business, it’s important to track the effectiveness of your social marketing, but just how do you go about this? For most, this requires defining what you want to track, as well as what your success metrics are, more sales, more influential people talking about your business, etc. There are a number of ways to check how many people are discussing your services or product online, via Google Alerts, or several analytics programs.

The Future of Social Influence Marketing

We aren’t at the end of the possibilities that social media has for business. In fact, it’s just getting started. Interactive ads, for example, fit right into the idea of social media and relevancy is key. While traditional ads might not work within the social media structure, you can adapt and create a more powerful influence by providing relevant ads that integrate right into the networks that your future clients are currently using.

According to Razorfish, another development that we can expect to see, which is actually already in progress, is charging for social media advertising. This can be seen on YouTube these days, as the site adds pop up ads and links to the end of videos, all of which cost the advertiser.

That being said, social influencing is still very effective and far cheaper in most cases than offline marketing, so it is well worth moving into this arena. Anywhere you can interact with consumers and build trust, you will be able to create a loyal following. And these days, a loyal following can mean viral publicity, with everyone interconnected online.