Is DIM the new enlightened?

 I’ve hooked up with inbound marketing experts Forth Metrics to write a series of blogs exploring best practice in modern PR and online marketing. Forth Metrics has developed a fantastic new blogger discovery tool, InkyBee (currently in beta), which aims to cut out the pain of finding relevant bloggers for an outreach campaign.

My first post reflects on the range of new tools designed to measure a person’s online influence, and asks if it’s really a worthwhile approach? Taster below…

There comes a certain moment in any good house party when you will find yourself slumped on a sofa, clutching a G&T and contentedly watching the general hilarity. You feel a bit like an anthropologist quietly surveying a microcosm of society.

There’s the Host, scurrying around trying to keep everyone in drink and Pringles. There’s the Mother Hen, usually found treating stains and consoling a sobbing, drunken guest. There’s the Loner who grabs a book from the shelf and smiles amiably at the general company. And right in the centre of the room, or on top of the coffee table, is the Exhibitionist, talking loudly to everyone who will listen.

Which of these people would you trust to recommend you a mobile phone? I bet it’s not the person who talks the loudest. In fact, nobody strikes you as being in any way pre-qualified for the job. Instead, you’d rate their opinion against a number of factors: how much you trust them, their knowledge of technology, their ability to listen to what you need, or even the brand of their trainers.

It’s common sense, right? And yet, many companies have fallen under the misguided belief that a person’s influence can be defined and measured, then harnessed to drive sales. This is dim. Or more fully, Digital Influence Measurement (DIM).

Read the article in full over on Forth Metrics.