Every Friday I post links to a few of the blog posts that I read during the week that I found interesting and insightful.

Included in this week’s round-up is discussion about the shift from influence to advocacy in the development of online communities; the changing future of today’s corporate social media strategists; and best practice for growing an online community through a series of campaigns.

Shifting The Conversation From Influence to Advocacy

While I am not a fan of the term “influencer”, I believe that everyone on planet earth has some degree of influence, regardless of community size (friends, fans and followers). How many times have we been influenced to fly on a particular airline based on someone else sharing his or her positive experience with us? Or better yet, how often have we NOT booked a reservation on an airline because of a friend’s negative experience? It happens all the time. It’s in our DNA.

The Future of the Corporate Social Strategist

Much like the ‘web master’ role if the late 90s has now become a business function or dedicated social or digital strategist, this role knows that if they can get orginization on board to conduct social in a safe and systamatic way, they’re role becomes more of a coordinator.

Growing A Community: A Campaign-Based Process

Who are you trying to reach? Be very, very, specific here. The more specific you are the more you can target your community to this audience. Target a specific segment within your audience. This will be a segment identified by demographic, habits, or psychographic variables. If you manage a community of lawyers, you might target those with an interest in a particular type of law, a location, a shared belief, or common career goals.