Earning loyalty is an ongoing quest for brands, but according to a new study from global consulting firm Vivaldi Partners, the impact of social currency in targeting customers is becoming a positive diffentiator.
Vivaldi Partners defines social currency as: “The degree to which customers share a brand or information about a brand with others.” The company based its study on three levels of conversion through social media: “awareness to consideration,” “consideration to purchase/use” and “purchase/use to loyalty.”
Consider the following social media facts: Facebook has increased its user base from 58 million to 1 billion over the past five years; Twitter has exploded from 1 million registered users to more than 500 million over the same time. Other social media sites like LinkedIn and Google+ have also attracted large followings. The proliferation of social media has every brand wondering how they can tap into this burgeoning database.
According to the survey, Subway, which has 38,000 sandwich shops in 100 countries around the world, earned the top social currency score. Subway has large Facebook (21 million) and Twitter (1 million) followings, but, more importantly, the company scored high on engagement.
Google ranks No. 2 thanks in part to its launch in 2011 of Google+, which now has 500 million users. Google benefits from its expansive product portfolio that consumers use daily, including Gmail, Google Maps, YouTube, Google+ and Google search.
Vivaldi surveyed more than 5,000 consumers in the U.S., U.K., and Germany regarding perceptions of 60 brands across 19 industries and their social behaviors. Vivaldi identified six key dimensions of social behavior: utility (value from engaging with a brand socially); information (ability to receive worthwhile info and share it); conversation (talk about a brand with others); advocacy (promote a brand); affiliation (connect to a community around a brand); and identity (consumers describe themselves via their relationship to the brand). The dimensions were weighted equally in the final scoring.
Target checked in as the top retailer and overall No. 3 ranking. According to survey research, Target has a well-organized social strategy across networks, including Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, YouTube, Instagram, Tumblr and LinkedIn.
Below are the survey’s Top 10 social currency companies, along with related comments:
1. Subway (Social currency score: 712)
Subway not only benefits from a large Facebook and Twitter audience but it also gets very high engagement scores. Subway fans and followers are very active.
2. Google (709)
Google’s success follows from its large branded ecosystem of products that consumers access in their daily lives.
3. Target (688)
Target succeeds because it attracts consumers using a 360-degree presence through numerous channels and in different functions to create buzz and awareness.
4. Heineken (665)
Heineken continuously creates high visibility for its brand through social media. Its users engage with viral campaigns and innovative concepts.
5. (tie) Verizon (661)
Verizon ranks high because of its presence in classic social media channels like Facebook and Twitter. Presence includes running customer support and engaging with customers’ social behaviors.
5. (tie) Dunkin’ Donuts (661)
Dunkin’ Donuts invested heavily in social media support with dozens of people engaging with customers and tracking responsiveness via social analytics and monitoring tools.
7. Home Depot (652)
Home Depot tries to get customers to think about home improvements, materials and renovating ideas. This happens successfully through Facebook quizzes or innovative design ideas on Pinterest that draw customers back into store. Competitor Lowe’s finished No. 12.
8. Amazon (649)
Amazon has high social features implemented on its site that enhance the shopping experience, resulting in very high affiliation scores that drives repeat purchases.
9. Microsoft (647)
Microsoft has integrated itself across social platforms with its push in the mobile operating system market.
10. Wal-Mart (646)
Wal-Mart’s engagement with its customers focuses on a social media strategy, which aims at building local communities to deliver shoppers more personal and targeted deals, as well as information about its stores.
“Brand performance requires continuous commitment and continuity,” according to the survey’s conclusion. “There seems to be no success in half-hearted efforts, or experimentation. There is a need to keep consumers engaged and to find the right balance between advertising, information and entertainment, or utility. There is a huge difference between brands and how they compete. What works for one brand does not work for another brand. Some brands like Playstation and Xbox compete on affiliation and community and have relatively little social presence on networks. A brand like Coca-Cola has much higher social presence, but relatively little engagement. There is no one success formula for brands, each brand needs a different route for achieving social currency that actually translates into brand performance. If there is a universal success factor, it is the degree of engagement that a brand and a social currency initiative achieve that really matters.”