The ongoing confusion between Advocates and influencers #NYBAS

An Advocate is not necessarily an influencer, and vice versa.

Bob Knorpp is frustrated with how Advocates and influencers are being dialed up and quantified by so many rating systems. The host of the marketing podcast The BeanCast and AdAge Outlook doesn’t think we can reduce advocates and influencers to a set of metrics.

Between Advocates and influencers we’re suffering a bad case of terms being mixed. To avoid the desire to hang onto a Klout score to mean anything about influence and advocacy is misdirected. The goal is to see how the person is connecting with your brand and community. Is their influence and/or advocacy real?

While I was in complete agreement with Knorpp, we have sadly seen people put too much stock in influencer scores and also try to equate that influence to advocacy for your product or brand solely because you happen to be in the same category for which that influencer has influence.

-David Spark, Social Media Journalist, Spark Media Solutions

David Spark Spark Media Solutions