Six Social Currency Dimensions

Building Social Currency Study

The concept of social currency is often discussed in the brand and advertising world – campaigns are tasked with creating social currency for their brands.  By inserting brand names into the cultural conversation brands generate “emotional engagement” with consumers.  The question then becomes: what constitutes an emotionally engaging experience?  A recent Social Currency Study by Vivaldi Partners discusses why brands need to build and nurture social currency.  Here are a few intriguing lessons.

• Advocates trump followers – Dunkin Donuts has 80% fewer Facebook and Twitter followers than Starbucks.  Game over?  Hardly.  Dunkin Donuts fans are 35% more likely to recommend the brand, according to the Social Currency Study.  Dunkin Donuts promotions are built around turning real people into online celebrities and then endorsers; ultimately brand advocates.
• Context matters – A product that is consumed socially may have a natural advantage towards enabling social currency.  What is important to a consumer is the bonding or “social context” during consumption.
• Not every brand should be social -  Mass market brands that are positioned based on functional superiority, such as Gillette, aren’t likely to see much upside in social currency.  Loyal respondents gave the brand a 96% for good quality and reliability.  So what more is there to say?

The point, Erich Joachimsthaler, Founder and CEO of Vivaldi Partners, tries to make is that the study is not about social media or marketing tactics; it’s much bigger.  It’s about how customers relate to one another in the context of brands and, in turn, how those brands, companies, products and people relate to customers.

Frank Cooper, Chief Consumer Engagement Officer, PepsiCo

Pepsi Pushes Social Graphs to Help Consumers Build Identity and Brand Loyalty 

Frank Cooper, Senior Vice President and Chief Consumer Engagement Officer at PepsiCo Americas Beverages, believes the approach markers have been taken for the last 75 years is no longer relevant.  Today brands need to add value to our lives.  “We remain in the middle of a brand marketing crisis,” Cooper says.

Marketers need to create what Cooper calls ‘identity value’.  The current brand marketing model is broken but Cooper and other forward-thinking marketers think it can be fixed and even become more relevant than ever.  The trick is for marketers to go the extra mile to be sure their brands are servicing consumers in a relevant manner.  Marketers should focus on how digital technology allows consumers to relate to brands in ways historically not possible.  The goal is to discover opportunities to add value to the lives of consumers’.  “As marketers, we need to create meaningful experiences for consumers, not just sponsor content,” Cooper states.

Percent of Professionals Who Measure ROI

Measuring Return on Social Investment

Managers rely on ROI to measure the effectiveness of marketing campaigns and initiatives.  When calculating ROI, marketers must not forget about their beloved social media campaigns.

Wikipedia defines social media as media designed to be disseminated through social interaction and created using highly accessible and scalable publishing techniques.  Though social media marketing is scalable, according to a survey by Mzinga and Babson Executive Education, fewer than one in five marketers measured social media ROI in 2009.  “Marketers believe that measuring true ROI for social media is difficult” said Geoff Ramsey, eMarketer CEO.  “There are so many metrics available that it is difficult to choose which ones are the most important.  In addition, marketers do not start with clear objectives for using social media.”

Marketers should define their marketing goals and connect them to social media objectives.  Three steps can aid in the process; 1) identify marketing objectives; 2) choose measurement categories that match those objectives; and 3) track those metrics in the technologies they are using.

As more marketers measure social media campaigns, ROI, the true value of platforms that can effectively build brand loyalty will come to be known.

Integrated Communication Strategies Are More Important Than Ever!

Consumers Demand Engagement

According to Alterian’s 7th Annual Industry Survey, marketers must move from a focus on siloed campaigns to an emphasis on listening and communicating with consumers across channels.  More than one-half of marketers worldwide reported directing at least “a fair amount” of effort toward integrating their communication strategies to emphasize multichannel consumer engagement.

“The only communication tolerated by consumers are those that are appropriate, timely and relevant – regardless of channel.  Engaging with customers is becoming paramount and the yardstick by which we measure those brands that survive and those that don’t.  Marketers now need to appeal to the individual and engage with customers on a one-to-one basis,” said David Eldridge, Alterian CEO.