Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur researchers has developed an algorithm that tracks marketing and sales activities on social media. The solution is a model based on a computerized algorithm to identify social media influencers (with large contacts and followers) who have more reach and impact on social media.
According to the researchers, this is a low-cost solution would especially benefit micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs).
The algorithm is applied to the data derived from select social media pages of test products. This is a great way to optimize marketing for companies with fewer resources, said professor MK Tiwari, who is leading the research at IIT Kharagpur.
The algorithm was first tested on Facebook pages along with a few other social media platforms. It used online retail products, with a focus on fashion and apparel. The algorithm identifies social media influencers who could have more influence on potential buyers based on opinions and social ties social networking platform. In this research, the relation strength between influencers and adopters (potential customer) is considered to be the time difference between their comments.
The lead researcher Tiwari further added “We have considered the personal valuation of the adapters based on their comments. Initially, we segregated the adopters and the influencers based on their valuation and the threshold value to become an influencer.
