Stephen Denny , a marketing consultant and good strategist recently interviewed Guy Kawasaki about his new book Enchantment. I haven’t read the book yet, but I like one idea being brought forward; that influence can be generated from the ground up. Here’s what Kawasaki says:

There are two theories of marketing. One is that there are a small number of influencers, experts, oracles, A-listers, reporters, journalists, and analysts who have the monopoly on insight and intelligence. You have to suck up to them and hope that they like your product and tell the ever-attentive and compliant unwashed masses what to do. If that happens, you are assured of success.

My theory is that social media has inverted this pyramid. Now, nobodies are the new somebodies—if enough nobodies like your product, then the somebodies, too, have to pay attention to you. So now the A-listers don’t make a product, they report on made products. The key is to get a lot of people to try your product because you don’t know who will make your product tip.

We’ve seen this happen at Channel Signal, where an influential blogger has reviewed a product and the traction has been minimal. However, the product got traction when consumers first gave it high marks on the product review sections of  Zappos or Amazon. Then it was picked up by the major Influencer.

And we watched with amazement when a commercial produced by Motrin backfired when it portrayed moms carrying babies in slings as causing back and shoulder pain. The moms who created the momentum were not Mommy Bloggers with a million followers, but average moms that tweeted, “was anyone else offended by that new Motrin commercial about moms?” The momentum was carried forward by other moms until it was noticed by the big bloggers and then taken to new heights. But, the momentum had been created.

Kawasaki continues:

I just don’t believe that it should focus on only the A-listers of the world. Somewhere out there is a bunch of “Lonelyboy15s” who aren’t rich, powerful, and famous, but as a group they could make your product succeed. Your job is to find them, and the only way I know how to do that is to plant many seeds.  I’d like to see a bottom-up movement at the user level take off, too.

Now he does make the point that major Influencers should not be ignored, but that there should be a two-pronged approach: Influencers and a seeding program. In the Outdoor Recreational Industry we believe this is the case, that seeding should be aimed at both the Influencers and avid users. And those users will be found in the active bulletin boards of climbers, hikers, mountain bikers, and skiers. People who have a passion and like to talk and write about product. You might not have heard of them because they really don’t sell themselves, and they don’t have blogs with a lot of advertising. But, these are the people who really create momentum.

Do your product seeding on the ground-level, with the enthusiasts. And with the Influencers. If the product is good, both groups will carry the message.

And you might be surprised where the real traction is generated.