Follow the Queen Bee!

Step 1: Identify the Queen

Recognizing a Queen Bee is easiest in loyalty programs with member-get-member functionality, or any other situation in which relationships between members can be mapped like in social media networks. When a company can map relationships between consumers (by analyzing who invited who, or who provided the offered discount to her five best friends) potential Queen Bees can be identified. A Queen Bee generally is the first or second of a group to register and the one with the most and earliest relationships within the group. If deeper data details are available (in good loyalty programs they are), then analysis of who buys certain brands/products first makes an even stronger profiling.

Step 2: Apply the strategy

The next step is to implement strategies which make use of the identified Queen Bee and her group of followers. There are several strategies to do so. The most common ones are used for targeted advertising. Although this has an significant impact, more sophisticated strategies which take the group dynamics into account deliver better results.
Consider sending discount coupons to the Queen Bee for a new collection (an alternative is ‘early access’ to the newest collection, but it is a less stronger persuasion impulse) and none of such advantages to the rest of the group. Due to the early in season purchases of the Queen Bee, the rest of the group is inclined to follow, confirming both the status of the Queen Bee, as well as strengthening group identity and the role your brand plays in it. By nurturing that role and the position of the Queen Bee, a brand realizes a longer term preferred position in the group.

Do you know more cases of Behavioral Group Targeting? Do you follow your Queen Bee?

Let me know in the comments or on Twitter (@persuasionparad)!