The Social Media Tipping Point
September 3rd, 2009Author: Alex Payne
I’m always surprised by how “new” social media marketing seems to be to some people. Social media has always been about conversations to me and the marketing comes from common sense, authenticity, and an open line of communication. However it wasn’t until I picked up The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell at my local library that I saw that social media marketing has been around a lot longer than I could have imagined.
In The Tipping Point Gladwell examines some of most well know things in America’s history and culture and tries to understand why they work or why they became popular. For instance Blues Clues and Sesame Street are two beloved children’s shows, but how did they get that way? Was the success of Paul Revere’s late night journey through the countryside dumb luck or were there other forces at play?
Unsurprisingly, there is no simple answer to these questions. Word of Mouth feats like these examples can’t be accurately mass produced. Similarly, social media marketing professionals know that viral is a dirty word, simply because it can’t be controlled. Luckily, through his research Gladwell had identified three things that can help any message reach the tipping point.
- The Law of the Few- The Law of the Few is surprisingly simple. Through studies and testimonials Gladwell found that a majority of people can usually be connected to one person. Like a “6 Degrees of Kevin Bacon Game” on steroids, Gladwell determined that there are three people that tend to connect others: Connectors, Mavens, and Salesmen. The connectors are the people that can quickly disseminate a message to many. Mavens are those who study certain things very carefully and can always help you out. And salesmen are persuasive, knowledgeable and want to help you. By knowing your trusted mavens, your ultra-connected connectors and your salesmen, your message can easily be shared. Will it be viral? Perhaps not, but at least you are giving it a chance.
- The Stickiness Factor- When developing the show Seasme Street, creators saw that when a child was confused or bored they didn’t learn the lesson. It wasn’t sticky. In the same way your application/message/ iPhone app or whatever Web 2.0 tool you have need to make sure its sticky. If it isn’t then it won’t travel anywhere.
- The Power of Context- In any situation where a message is being spread, context plays a huge factor. In The Tipping Point, Gladwell examines the context of large scale events like the crime on subways in New York. You don’t need to go to that scale, but if you want to spread a message, you do need to know the context. For example, is Twitter the best place for your brand or are you just trying to jump on the hottest technology?
What are some of your laws for spreading the message? Have you found The Tipping Point?
Photo by jgarber on Flickr.
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Tags: Malcom Gladwell, Social Media, social media marketing, The Law of the Few, The Stickiness Factor, The Tipping Point
