Influence: the power to change or affect someone or something; the power to cause changes without directly forcing them to happen
– merriam-webster.com
Influence
It’s the holy grail of social media marketing, and defines social media marketing in so many ways. All social media marketers want influence. It’s an abstract idea, yet we know what it is when we see it. And no matter how much we try to measure it, and what new metrics we put in place to become influential, there’s still a je ne sais quoi about influence.
Music tastemaking blog Style of Sound recently released a list of their Top 100 Most Influential Blogs. SoS defined influence as a combination of “quant and qual”, with the use of Klout, which measures size and interaction of social media networks. The top 10 most influential blogs break down as below:
10. Drowned in Sound
8. Pop Justice
7. Your EDM
5. Stereogum
1. Pitchfork
What are the big takeaways about gaining influence?
Content, content, content – Content is king. Successful sites produce content of all sorts – from music reviews, to live show photography, to podcasts.
Cover one genre deeply – Playing off the content theme, most successful blogs cover one genre deeply. From reviews to live music, to breaking news, to tour dates, a reader knows they can rely on a blog as a one stop shop.
Give away music for free – Letting readers stream music is a way for blogs to become tastemakers, and gain influence. Blogs curate their own identity.
Point of view – along with genre comes a point of view. This is essential especially in reviewing records.
Design is voice – The top music blogs are designed for content. Blogs are designed to separate reviews, breaking news, and interviews.
While each blog that shows up in the top 10 does influence differently, there are many similarities in the foundation of the approach. And those foundational ideas of influence translate accros all mediums. Become an influencer today.
