The Anatomy of Buzz/Rosen 96-97

97 Two traps companies can fall into..First is thinking that creating buzz is all about network hubs. If you exclusively focus on the two-step flow model, you can leap to the dangerous conclusion that directs communication with your customer is not important. Second potential trap lies in a narrow interpretation of the term network hub.

Numbers make a big difference in getting the word out.

If a company can reach the critical 10 percent, it will indirectly influence all the others. The word-of-mouth message will grow like a snowball rolling downhill, as the critical 10 percent pass the word to others. But in practice, marketers sometimes target just a handful of influencers..not full 10 percent.

Industry buzz tends to focus on the future. Not much about your product today.

If your products gets a lot of talk within your industry, that’s good. But if at a certain point this industry buzz doesn’t become customer buzz, you may have a problem. Ultimately customers are the people who have to recommend your product to their friends.