If a person has over 50,000 followers on Twitter, or over 10,000 fans on Facebook, does it mean that she is an effective Influencer? Not necessarily. It does mean that she’s good at building an audience, but appearances alone can be deceiving.
Luckily, there are ways to determine who is an Influencer and who is merely an Intermediary having a large quantity of passive followers and fans to whom they only regularly mention and promote products and services. An Intermediary broadcasts information, while an Influencer communicates, persuades and engages.
Influencers are people having small to large audiences and who passionately share information about products and services that they love or hate to their active, participatory followers, which often include other Influencers who may generate exponential value.
Would you rather connect with someone having 500 targeted, passionate followers to whom they will evangelize your company, or someone having 50,000 random, passive followers to whom they sing praises that fall on deaf ears?
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