What is Hub?

Hubs are individuals who significantly contribute to the spread of an idea, word, brand, etc.

There are two types of hubs:

1. Expert Hubs: People who talk more than the average about a product in a specific category. They typically have more knowledge about a particular topic, such as cooking, computers, cars, books, fashion, sports, etc.

2. Social Hubs: Individuals with more friends and acquaintances than the average person, interested in various areas, social, enjoy spreading news (somewhat gossip-prone), popular among people, attention-grabbing, and perhaps a bit charismatic.

These two hub types don’t have to be separate individuals. One person can possess both expert and social hub characteristics.

Common Characteristics of Both Hub Types:

• Early adoption

• Connectivity

• Sociability

• Openness to information

• Vocal

• Exposure to media more than others

With these characteristics, hubs acquire and disseminate more information than others.

How to Use Hubs to Generate Buzz for Your Brand:

The author suggests two things:

1. Early Access: Providing hubs with early access to the latest information about your brand or products is crucial. Think of it like allowing certain people to try beta versions of a game for gaming companies or having a press screening for a movie. Identify hubs in your product category and grant them early access to create buzz.

2. Something to Talk About: Buzz needs ammunition. Hubs require a constant source of material to talk about. While you might tell your friends multiple times that you own a Jeep, returning from a Jeep Jamboree gives you a lot more to talk about. Jamboree is an off-road trip event specifically for Jeep owners. Though such events are not exclusively for hubs, individuals who dedicate time to attend such events are generally hubs. The lesson here is, if you want hubs to talk about your brand, give them extraordinary things to talk about.

In Summary, the Hub Concept:

Find people who talk a lot about your category, listen to them, and encourage them to talk more.

How to Find Hubs:

1. Let Hubs Define Themselves: These are the ones reaching out to you, sending emails on how to improve your favorite products. They are also the people who come to you with the most sought-after thing: information. They reach out through your company’s email or social media, asking questions and attending your company’s events, bombarding your staff with questions.

2. Hubs Make Noise: Thanks to social media, it’s now much easier to find people who talk, write, and share content about your product category. If a blogger, YouTuber, or Twitch streamer talks about your product category, don’t miss it. A social media user who produces more content and shares more than others is more likely to be a hub.

3. Identifying Hubs with Surveys:

There are three ways:

• Sociometric Methods: You ask all members of a certain network to name the individuals they get information from.

• Informant’s Rating Method: You ask people in a certain network to observe who the hubs are.

• Self-Identification Method: You ask people about their behaviors. The latter is the most popular method because it is the cheapest and easiest to implement. However, it’s the least reliable as it relies on self-reporting.

Keller claims that 15% of the population is responsible for 30% of conversations. If he’s right, it means that through hubs, we can reach more people. Moreover, since these people don’t need to be forced or incentivized to talk, making word-of-mouth marketing even easier for us