Check out this interview with DoubleTree Hotels global head John Greenleaf about how DoubleTree is using contests and sharing around photos and videos uploaded by their customers, tied to specific locations.

Remember Conan O’Brien’s tour, and how he launched it with one Tweet? Think about how much commerce is initiated now through the recommendation of friends through social media. These are examples of Influence Marketing.

I recently had the opportunity to exchange a few emails with Azeem Azhar, the CEO of a startup called PeerIndex that is focused on “Influence Marketing”. Founded in 2009, the company provides a service that helps consumers benefit from their passions, interests and influence particularly with respect to the services they get from companies and for brands and agencies to better identify effective and interested word-of-mouth advocates, something they call “Influencers”. It’s a service similar to the other big player in the place, Klout, with a unique spin.

According to Azhar “Influence marketing is going to be huge – and will become an essential part of the marketing mix over the coming years. In essence, influence marketing recognises that buyers trust other buyers, their friends and experts they know. “

A recent McKinsey report shed light on the trend indicating that word-of-mouth recommendations may be the primary reason for purchases in 20-50% of buying decisions. Further adding to the buzz, Forrester stated that 80% of all B2C and B2B purchases there is some form of word-of-mouth recommendation at play during the purchase cycle. If venture funding is any indication of the success, Klout, with its more than $40 million, leads the pack of companies looking to capitalize on this fast growing trend. Yet Klout isn’t alone in this fast moving sector. Several other start-up companies are quickly adding their own unique approaches.

We’ll see of this particular startup does anything, but the idea of influence marketing through social media is something that every company needs to consider.

Have you noticed that practically every major brand now has a Facebook page? Have you started a Facebook fan page for your own business?

If so, that’s great. Now you just need to make sure you’re using it effectively. If not, what are you waiting for?

As for tips, here’s a great article listing 10 tips to help you improve your Facebook fan page. The second and third items are particularly important, as you can create a sticky post with the “Pin to Top” feature and also highlight certain posts with the Star feature.

If you use these tools you’ll greatly improve your page. That said, the most important thing you can do is create consistently useful and entertaining posts that engage your audience and customers. if you have no idea how to do this, you should engage a consultant to help you with your social media branding. Firms like EXPbranding and PJs and Coffee and help you develop a strategy and implement on a daily basis.