When we work in social networks and social media, our intention is to influence others to read our material. We seek engagement with us in social conversation, we seek co-operative or collaborative relationships with us in the social environment, we are looking to find customers, suppliers, partners or associates.
To achieve any of these things requires that we influence our audience so that those who are interested in participating in that way step forward and engage in our conversations, our social conversations, as the first step on that journey. In order to do that we can use a number of influencing styles, and six key influencing styles are:-
- Reciprocation, where one party returns a favour done by the first.
- Liking, where support and help is offered as a part of friendship.
- Scarcity, where action is taken to avoid loss.
- Authority, where action is taken in order to meet an instruction or command
- Consistency, where action follows a clear message communicated over a long period of time
- Consensus, this is often otherwise called peer pressure or social proof.
These influencing styles brought to bear in a combination through our social media interactions will help us to deliver significant influence over a wide group of people. Remember, however, that influence can work positively or negatively. We can influence people towards us, or repel them away from us. Learning about these styles and understanding how they operate in the societal web will be key to becoming one of the more influential players using that arena and will be something that I’ll return to in later posts.
For now, I’d like to ask what other styles have you seen in operation. if any, that you think are important in influencing others?
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