How Social Media Is Killing the Celebrity Endorsement
Social sites like Twitter and Facebook are intended with sharing in mind. People can share almost anything, whether it is the facts from the outfit that they're currently wearing, or perhaps an interesting article about a new product. Average everyday "Joe's" are in possession of a captive audience. Individuals are watching "Joe", which means that "Joe" has power. Whereas this power was once restricted to celebrities and spokespeople, social networking has turned the normal folk into spokespeople, sometimes without one even realizing it. A Facebook user may observe that a buddy of theirs "likes" something. They trust that friend and value their opinion, so that they may check it out too. Without realizing it, the initial "liker" just endorsed an item.
This is why it's important for companies to be involved with social media. If a business has a social presence, it enables a chance to get "liked" and "followed" by many current as well as potential customers and clients. A company should not underestimate the power of its customers. In many cases, the chances are their support will get the company seen in an infinitely more targeted way than any celebrity would ever be in a position to achieve. Consumers aren't dumb. They know that Paris Hilton is getting paid a lot of money to advertise a product. Sally from Psychology class isn't, she genuinely "likes" the merchandise enough to aid it publicly, meaning it might be worth trying.
Obviously, some "regular" people have more influence than the others and it's better to try and obtain the attention from the "influencers" on social networking sites. The web site Klout measures a users overall online influence using over 35 variables on Twitter and facebook. Klout measures a users True Reach (the size of their engaged audience), Amplification Probability (the likelihood their content is going to be applied), and Network Influence (the influence level of their engaged audience). While Klout is unquestionably a useful tool, it is important not to get too stuck onto it. A social media strategy should be measured by its success in creating conversions, not on its Klout summary.