Megan over at Bite Communications has written a thoughtful post on influencer marketing. She points out the innate common sense of addressing the rich variety of influencers part of so many purchase decisions. And, she ends the post with a very good question:

“Where do we draw the line between direct influence and a trickle-down effect of traditional comms?”

That’s an important point for everyone in consumer marketing. With the rise of social media and social networks, it’s also becoming an important question for B2B marketers working in press and analyst relations, advertising, events and partnering. We’ll see how both types of marketers answer that question as they reveal their 2010 budgeting priorities.

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I’ll be at BiteBash in San Francisco tonight, “Navigating Your Brand through the Great Recession”. It’s such a timely topic. Bite’s David Hargreaves sums up the risks and opportunities that surround marketing right now:

“Harvard Business Review recently reported that companies who slash marketing spending often find that they later have to invest much more than they saved in order to recover from their prolonged absence from the media landscape. A separate article from Harvard Associate Dean John A. Quelch suggests organizations should even be spending more during a downturn to exploit the gaps left by their competitors.”

I’m focused on working with influencers as a straightforward approach to aligning marketing with business objectives so I’m keen to hear perspectives from the different speakers and the audience participants.

Please say hello if you’re there as well.

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