Last month we published our research on Influence Measurement – a dive into consumers' influence over brands and the benefits it provides marketers who can identify a customer's relative influence. This research outlines a framework by which to measure an individual's influence and get the most out of the metrics you collect.

Now we've published our follow up, "Overcoming The Challenges Of Measuring Influence”. This research addresses some of the difficulties that influence measurement faces, such as the lack of accessible data and the amount of manual work required to compile the metrics. We've found that there are a number of problems, but it's still worth the effort. Sure ideal influence measurement requires access to things like number of Facebook friends, trust between connections, relevance of shared content, and offline sharing behavior – but there’s plenty of data readily available that Customer Intelligence professionals can use.

Right now most influence measurement will benefit from outside help, either from a listening platform or agency, but even these options face data restrictions and remain far from perfect. Check out the report for a full dive into influence measurement – and tips to help navigate around the challenges.