Influencing the influencers the Pursway way

See RCR’s Video interview below
Just because you talk a lot doesn’t mean anyone actually listens to you and vice versa. While this may seem obvious to some, it is really less obvious to others, especially companies who have whole heartedly thrown themselves into the incessant noise and twitter twatter that is social media today.
One firm by the name of Pursway, however, believes it has pinpointed a way to separate the wheat from the chaff and identify those who really do have the ability to influence others into buying products and services.
Using a system known as Influencer Marketing Management, Pursway says it is able to help companies identify, measure, and impact how opinion leaders shape their followers’ purchasing decisions.
Unlike firms that monitor social media activities, Pursway says it recognizes influence based on the analysis of actual customer transactions, so influencers and followers can be identified whether they communicate online or offline, where most influence takes place.

Indeed there is much research to back up how little of traditional marketing hits the mark with consumers these days. Most people feel more comfortable and secure buying things which have come highly recommended by trusted friends, family members, colleagues, and, increasingly, online influencers instead.
Recommendations from personal acquaintances and online consumer reviews topped the trust list for more than 25,000 consumers from 50 countries, according to a 2009 Nielsen Global Online Consumer Survey.
90% of consumers surveyed trust recommendations from people they know, whereas 70% trust consumer opinions they see online.
According to the Pursway’s own data stemming from work done with a large European mobile operator, only about 20% of so-called “Alpha” users were truly influential in driving purchase behavior. At the same time, the customers who were actually the most influential in driving purchase behavior by other customers rarely showed up among the most connected.
Whilst most companies are now putting efforts into listening, learning, and collaborating via social media, Pursway says it asks “Can we take the basic insights of social media and apply them in a more strategic, scalable way?”

It would appear that the answer to that question is “yes,” as Pursway has already worked with the likes of Orange, T-Mobile, and Vodafone with what it claims to be great results. Indeed, Pursway claims its telecommunications customers are realizing 5-10x improvement in the ROI of customer acquisition, cross-sell, and churn prevention efforts.
See our video interview with Pursway CEO Elery Pfeffer below: