• by Tameka Kee , July 9, 2007

More than 28 million American Internet users will be Word of Mouth (WOM) influencers next year, according to eMarketer. These users are "opinion leaders whose advice is sought, trusted, and acted upon by other consumers," and while they only make up 18% of the total online population, marketers are increasingly seeking to leverage their influence.

These influencers are more avid consumers of news than the general population. Some 84% read their local paper in a given month, compared with 68% of the general population. And while 48% of influencers visit a broadcast news Web site monthly, only 38% of the general population do.

But Debra Aho Williamson, author of the eMarketer WOM Marketing report, cautioned that advertisers who focus only on using online media to reach the loudest of the influencers may be missing the mark.

"While there's a small segment of people who are very vocal, posting reviews and blogs, there is this vast middle ground of people who are moderately influential, the ones who pass a video on to their friends, or find a cool site and tell their husband," said Williamson. "Marketers can't forget consumers who are influential in their smaller circle, both on- and offline."

Online media may be a more cost-effective and quantifiable method for generating WOM traction than offline media, but the research shows that traditional advertising holds more sway over the influencers.

For example, 64% of influencers do online research after seeing or hearing an ad on TV, radio, or in a magazine--but only 30% notice a Web ad and later visit the Web site or check out the product in a store.