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 company reconsidering marketing strategies and how they sell their products or services.
With that in mind, global consulting firm Vivaldi Partners has published a new study measuring the impact of “social currency” and which brands are using social media effectively to target consumers. Vivaldi defines social currency as: “The degree to which customers share a brand or information about a brand with others.” The study looks at the big brands that do the best job on three levels of conversion through social media: “awareness to consideration,” “consideration to purchase/use” and “purchase/use to loyalty.”
“Social currency is not just about social media and Facebook likes. You can change your entire business model or the way you bring a product to market,” says Erich Joachimsthaler, founder and CEO of Vivaldi.
Topping Vivaldi’s list is Subway, which has 38,000 sandwich shops in 100 countries around the world. Subway has large Facebook (21 million) and Twitter (1 million) followings, but more importantly it scores highly on engagement. Subway continuously manages to sell promoted deals without pushing the advertising theme too far, according to Vivaldi. Things like Subway’s “Flavorizer,” which lets users build and name a sandwich, promote brand identity with its followers.
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 in their daily lives, including Gmail, Google Maps, YouTube, Google+ and Google search. “This all encompassing business models boosts social media presence and leverages business impact,” says Joachimsthaler
For its social currency impact study, 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.
The best performers in the ranking address almost every dimension of social currency, including social buzz, engagement and large social audiences, according to Joachimsthaler. It can be an expensive proposition and there is no one size fits all strategy.
Target is the top retailer and ranks No. 3 overall. The brand has a well-organized social strategy across networks, including Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, YouTube, Instagram, Tumblr and LinkedIn. There is something for everyone on Facebook, including applications designed for newlyweds, bargain hunters, the tech savvy and everything in between. Target realizes a higher repurchase or loyalty rate than Wal-Mart (ranks No. 10 overall), according to Vivaldi.
Apple has taken it on the chin lately with the stock off 36% over the last six months. It gets a middling rank from Vivaldi as well at No. 19 sandwiched between Coors Light and AT&T. Apple does not rely heavily on its social media presence. “The brands’ strong performance as a company is driven by its design and product expertise, not by social media developments and network effects,” says Joachimsthaler.
The complete top ten in the Vivaldi study is below. Click here for the full study.
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° 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 its viral campaigns and innovative concepts.
5. (tie) Verizon (661)
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.
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