We wrote about the power of brand buzz on social media sites yesterday, and one contributing aspect to buzz are individuals who are “influencers,” similar in some ways to the trend that Malcolm Gladwell highlighted in The Tipping Point. But how do companies find and then leverage the power of these influencers on the web? Israeli startup Pursway (formerly known as Datanetis), aims to help companies identify the influencers and followers for each product or offer within their customer database.
The startup has just raised $6 million in Series A funding from Battery Ventures. Pursway will use the funding to expand its operations in Europe and North America and hire more engineers to contribute to product development.
Pursway’s technology helps companies identify influencers and their followers by analyzing customer behavior data exclusively from its clients’ massive customer databases. The technology then identifies, measures, and shows exactly how opinion leaders shape their followers’ purchasing decisions, giving clients marketing intelligence.
And Pursway has several big-name clients who are using the startup’s technology. Vodafone Group, Orange and other companies are employing Pursway’s offerings to find the social influencers for products. Pursway faces competition from Media6.