We recently published an <a href="http://www.ahaamplifier.com">Aha Amplifier</a> social media enabled eBook called <a href="http://bit.ly/BehindTheBrand-AhaAmp">Bryan Kramer & Leadtail On The Influencers Behind The Brands We Love</a> that we're very excited about.

The eBook is based on a study that <a href="http://www.purematter.com">PureMatter</a> and <a href="http://www.leadtail.com">Leadtail</a> collaborated on. In  <a href="http://offers.leadtail.com/brand-marketers-social-insights-2014/">Behind The Brand: 30 Influencers That Drive Social Media For The Brands We Love</a>, the companies analyzed the behavioral data of 30 successful influencers on social media such as digital executives who influence digital and social programs for brands every day.

These influencers are people that work daily on strategy and execution for their brands; the study looks past lists and rankings and strives to view the influencers behind their brands as real human beings.

It focuses on answering some simple questions: Who are these people? How do they engage on social media as humans? Who and what influences them, and what can others learn from them? What can we learn from these top digital marketers, and how do we engage and influence them?

Bryan Kramer identified the 30 influencers and Leadtail analyzed over 20,000 of their public tweets, which included 9,413 links, 3,554 unique hashtags, 8,070 mentions/replies, and 2,589 retweets. In studying the Twitter behavior of the digital influencers, three distinct engagement styles emerged.

They identified them as:
<ol>
<li><strong>Conversationalists</strong> - Most likely to mention others and focused on engagement.
<ul>
<li>Almost every tweet published mentions someone.</li>
<li>Regularly shares links.</li>
<li>Asks questions, makes comments, finds areas of common interest with others.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Amplifiers</strong> - Most likely to share links and retweets andfocused on topics.
<ul>
<li>Shares links and/or retweets others' content at a higher rate than conversationalists and brand champions.</li>
<li>Centers around one or two core themes; shares content and perspectives that builds personal brand.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Brand Champions</strong> - Most likely to share multimedia and focused on brand.
<ul>
<li>Tone and content are consistently in strong alignment with brand.</li>
<li>Cross-posts from multiple networks through Twitter.</li>
<li>Shares more types of content (e.g., location check-ins, photos, videos).</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ol>
Here are the influencers that were studied in the #BehindTheBrand report:
<h3><strong>Conversationalists</strong></h3>
<ul>
<li>Tami Cannizzaro (<a href="http://www.twitter.com/tamicann">@tamicann</a>), Vice President, Marketing, IBM</li>
<li>Frank Eliason (<a href="http://www.twitter.com/FrankEliason">@FrankEliason</a>), Director, Global Social Media, CITI</li>
<li>Jeanette Gibson (<a href="http://www.twitter.com/JeanetteG">@JeanetteG</a>), VP Customer Experience &amp; Community, Hootsuite</li>
<li>Lorena Hathaway (<a href="http://www.twitter.com/lorenahathaway">@lorenahathaway</a>), Director, Global Product Management, Location Intelligence, Pitney Bowes Software</li>
<li>Eliot Johnson (<a href="http://www.twitter.com/eliotjohnson">@eliotjohnson</a>), Senior Manager, Global Social Media, KPMG</li>
<li>Karen Lee (<a href="http://www.twitter.com/karenlee">@karenlee</a>), Social Web Strategist, Stanford Graduate School of Business</li>
<li>Josh Martin (<a href="http://www.twitter.com/Jmart730">@Jmart730</a>), Director, Digital &amp; Social Media, Arby's</li>
<li>Maria Poveromo (<a href="http://www.twitter.com/mariapoveromo">@mariapoveromo</a>), Senior Director, AR, PR &amp; Social Media, Adobe</li>
<li>Julia Quinn (<a href="http://www.twitter.com/JuliaAQuinn">@JuliaAQuinn</a>), Director, Social Media, Amtrak</li>
<li>MichelaStribling (<a href="http://www.twitter.com/mstribling">@mstribling</a>), Social Business Program Director, IBM</li>
<li>Padmasree Warrior (<a href="http://www.twitter.com/Padmasree">@Padmasree</a>), Chief Technology &amp; Strategy Officer, Cisco</li>
</ul>
<h3><strong>Amplifiers</strong></h3>
<ul>
<li>Susan Beebe (<a href="http://www.twitter.com/susanbeebe">@susanbeebe</a>), Global Social Media &amp; Online Communities, Tyson Foods</li>
<li>Pete Blackshaw (<a href="http://www.twitter.com/pblackshaw">@pblackshaw</a>), Global Head of Social Media &amp; Digital Media, Nestle</li>
<li>Andrew Bowins (<a href="http://www.twitter.com/MasterCardAndy">@MasterCardAndy</a>), SVP, Corporate &amp; Digital Communications, MasterCard</li>
<li>LaSandra Brill (<a href="http://www.twitter.com/LaSandraBrill">@LaSandraBrill</a>), Senior Director, Paid &amp; Earned Media, Symantec</li>
<li>Dan Bulmer (<a href="http://www.twitter.com/dbulmer">@dbulmer</a>), Vice President, Communication Strategy, Shell</li>
<li>Dan Gingiss (<a href="http://www.twitter.com/dgingiss">@dgingiss</a>), Director, Digital Customer Experience &amp; Social Media, Discover Financial Services</li>
<li>Kevin Hunt (<a href="http://www.twitter.com/kevin_hunt">@kevin_hunt</a>), Social Media Manager, General Mills</li>
<li>Erich Marx (<a href="http://www.twitter.com/emarxe">@emarxe</a>), Director, Interactive &amp; Social Media / Public Relations, Nissan North America</li>
<li>Kaitlyn Wilkins (<a href="http://www.twitter.com/KaitlynWilkins">@KaitlynWilkins</a>), Global Director, Social Media, Burberry</li>
<li>Todd Wilms (<a href="http://www.twitter.com/toddmwilms">@toddmwilms</a>), (former) Head of Social Business Strategy, SAP</li>
</ul>
<h3><strong>Brand Champions</strong></h3>
<ul>
<li>Jamie Coomber (<a href="http://www.twitter.com/Jamiec">@Jamiec</a>), Global Director, Digital Brand Marketing and Communications, Converse</li>
<li>Jay Cooney (<a href="http://www.twitter.com/HalftimeJay">@HalftimeJay</a>), E-commerce Social Media Manager, OMNI Hotels</li>
<li>Abigail Cusick (<a href="http://www.twitter.com/cusick">@cusick</a>), Senior Manager, Social Media, BravoTV</li>
<li>Bill Johnston (<a href="http://www.twitter.com/billjohnston">@billjohnston</a>), Director, Online Community and Customer Experience, Autodesk</li>
<li>Chad Parizman (<a href="http://www.twitter.com/Cparizman">@Cparizman</a>), Director, Convergent Media, Scripps Networks Interactive</li>
<li>Marty St. George (<a href="http://www.twitter.com/martysg">@martysg</a>), Senior Vice President – Commercial, JetBlue</li>
<li>Caroline Watson (<a href="http://www.twitter.com/SweetCaroline83">@SweetCaroline83</a>), Social Media Manager, H&amp;M</li>
<li>Farryn Weiner (<a href="http://www.twitter.com/jetsetfarryn">@jetsetfarryn</a>), Senior Director, Global Creative and Digital Communications, Michael Kors</li>
<li>Lisa Weser (<a href="http://www.twitter.com/LisaWeser">@LisaWeser</a>), Senior Director, Marketing Communications, U.S. Brands, Anheuser-Busch</li>
</ul>
<h3>Key Questions To Ponder </h3>
<ul>
<li>What type of influencer are you?</li>
<li>What types of influencers are most common at your company?</li>
<li>What type of influencer is <em>right</em> for your company?</li>
</ul>