A key component of marketing has always been leveraging your fans and customers through word-of-mouth. While we know its importance, until recently the challenge has been measuring the success and reach of brand chatter. We now have the ability to measure the effectiveness of our social media and online initiatives, allowing us to collect the data we need on word-of-mouth initiatives and actually tie them to sales. This is extremely attractive to advertisers, marketers and their clients and, with the rise of “the influencer,†it provides an opportunity to extend our audience in a trackable and targeted way.
“We call them KOLs (Key Opinion Leaders) nowâ€, says Chris Breikss, Founding Partner of 6S Marketing, a marketing agency based in Vancouver, Toronto and New York City. “With the rise of popularity in incorporating KOLs into corporate marketing strategies, some agencies and businesses that aren’t jumping on board are being left behind. 
