Edelman has launched Bloglevel and version 2.0 of Tweetlevel, two new tools designed to help companies navigate social media platforms, like blogs and Twitter, to identify which users are influential on a particular topic.
Companies can track their influence online using a proprietary algorithm that uses forty different metrics to follow and score the influence of bloggers and tweeters in any language and country.
Highest ranks are given to “idea starters,” people who create the ideas that are then spread by others, and those who engage meaningfully with their followers.
The tools have already been used by analysts and marketing professionals to track the most influential users on any given topic, the ‘buzz’ or online presence of a topic, the dialogues and links that users are sharing, and the online behaviour of any given tweeter or blogger.
Nancy Ruscheinski, chief innovation officer at Edelman sees these tools as a ‘GPS’ of influence.
“Knowing which bloggers and tweeters are influential – and understanding who influences the influentials – helps us plan and measure effective campaigns and offer better, real-time intelligence to our clients.”
These tools bring a holistic approach to measuring influence by focusing on the interaction between different social media platforms. They recognize the way users may reference content from the blogosphere on different media platforms.
Bloglevel and Tweetlevel are set apart from existing influence-tracking algorithms in various ways:
- Differentiating between “idea starters,” the creators of ideas, and “amplifiers,” those who spread them. While both are important, these tools distinguish between them and their levels of influence.
- Bloglevel considers the interaction between social media platforms and search optimisation, by ranking how much a post is discussed on Twitter and how easy it is to search for content on any given blog.
- Tweetlevel places higher rankings on genuine engagement with a topic on Twitter, not just people who simply post their views. Tweetlevel helps communicators match their brands with the right people, so their brand has the optimal influence over their desired audience.