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Social Media in the Business World – Evaluating Your Social Currency

In a recent article from Social Media Today, the topic turned to Social Currency. In our post last week, we covered Understanding the Social Engagement Index. The discussion rounded on how the interactions in the social media marketing realm are changing to even higher quality, engaging and informative discussions between businesses and their prospects and clients.

We are now ready to discuss how a business using social media for their brand building and marketing efforts can not only reap improved response and ROI from their social media marketing, but the what, why’s and how’s of the content used to obtain these results.

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From Social Media Today, image via Wikipedia

How to Value your Social Capital

When you think of capital, you think of the currency you use to obtain what you want. Well, social capital has a similar definition. Imagine each post, discussion topic, tweet and blog post as the capital you are using to obtain what your social media is in place to obtain: enhanced brand awareness and ROI from your target market.

Each of the 6 circles in the graphic above represents an aspect of measurement of the value of your social capital. The content you share must include quality INFORMATION, with which a business should be able to begin and sustain a CONVERSATION with their prospects and clients. This conversation should help ascertain the company’s IDENTITY and UTILITY to their target market’s needs and goals, while informing of their ADVOCACY and potential AFFILIATION that can help tie a company to specific members of their target market.

Each aspect of this Social Currency Graph indicates a crucial aspect to any social media content being shared between a business and their target. Take a look at your most recent social media posts and shares and see which aspects they hit, and where they’re off the mark to begin increasing the value of your social currency.

What Makes a Social Buyer?

Now that you can assess the value of the content you are sharing in your social media networks, do you know what makes the social buyer tick? Keep in mind that like any shopper, the social buyer is well aware of how to spot the knock-offs from the real-deal when it comes to the social media content they choose to pursue. They’re discerning and are looking for interactions that are built for their benefit, and have real value.

The social buyer has been immersed in social media accounts long enough to recognize the quality from quantity and has continued to become more savvy regarding locating the information, services and products they seek via social media.

Today’s social buyer doesn’t want to interact with robot-like content, they want to build a relationship with the company’s or vendors that offer the services and products they prefer. It is this increased level of quality interaction that sets the bar for businesses looking to increase their ROI with their social media. (See our previous post, Understanding the Social Engagement Index)

Taking the concept of quality interaction to the next level, the newest version of the social buyer also considers the affiliations and identity of the businesses they research as a factor in their buying decision.

The quality of social currency will continue to be reevaluated as the social buyer changes their modus operandi, but businesses that mean to make the most of their social media marketing need to change their way of interacting to obtain the best possible results.

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