The Traditional Influencer Model

For any business, identifying influential people is one of the most important activities to creating buzz around your product, service or offering. As Malcolm Gladwell describes in his book The Tipping Point, these people, with their charismatic personalities, ability to connect networks and interest in helping people make informed decisions, can create movements ranging from an increase in sales of a certain type of footwear to the spread of diseases.

Those working in the communications industry are well practiced in targeting influencers with huge investments made in persuading them to endorse a brand or product. The idea of identifying this small group of people or opinion leaders in order to spread corporate messages to everyone else is highly endearing and has been the bedrock of the communications industry since Paul Lazarsfeld introduced his Two-Step Flow Communications Model in 1944 and subsequently expanded on it with Elihu Katz in 1955 (Two Step Flow Theory, 2004).