What is #socialcurrency and why do marketers need it?

A bucket of fruit gets posted to Instagram.

Said bucket of fruit gets seen by over 361,000,000 people.

Is it a magic bucket of fruit?? Can the fruit talk??!

Nope, don't be ridiculous. The fruit just happened to have been posted by Kylie Jenner.

So if you post a near-identical bucket of fruit, mimic the caption and use similar hashtags, will your bucket of fruit get millions of views?

Unlikely.

So what's the difference between Kylie's post and yours?

Kylie has social currency, and she has it in spades.

TechTarget defines social currency as:

The personal assets and attributes of an individual that help them succeed in interactive social channels

In the world of social media, social influence is a prime example of social currency.

Dr Luke Greenacre explains that there are three types of social currency:

• Bonding social currency, where emotional support is gained from a social network

• Bridging social currency, where we get value from others who provide access to places, people or ideas; and

• Maintained social currency, which is value we get from maintaining relationships with latent ties

In essence, social currency is that intangible thing that makes someone worth following.

And what is it about social currency that marketer should care about? Why is it relevant? Who cares?!

Well, global financial giant Forbes does for a start.

Forbes tells us that social media has seriously impacted how brands interact with prospective customers, and one of the major power-shifts to come from this techno-evolution is the rise of social currency.

This form of currency gives a monetary value to all online social interactions: follows, likes, shares, comments, views.

Forbes also details 6 key benefits to investing in your social currency:

1. Improved customer retention and conversion

2. Better lead generation

3. More website traffic

4. Increased brand awareness

5. Improved brand loyalty and credibility

6. More sales

Jonah Berger is another champion: he tells us that social currency is the very first of his 6 STEPPS for success in digital marketing!

Ok, so you believe me now that social currency is worthy of your attention?

Right. So we need social currency. Social currency is the greatest thing for digital marketers since PewDiePie.

But... how do we... get it?!

According to Haiilo, social currency evolves through everyday experiences. And there are ways that marketers can influence such experiences to help drive social currency,

And they claim it can be achieved by following these 8 steps:

1. Drive conversations

2. Create a sense of community

3. Promote advocacy

4. Create engaging content (this one always seems to come up, right?!)

5. Launch a formal advocacy program

6. Enable your employees to become ambassadors

7. Measure impact of your employees' engagement

8. Reward your advocates

I mean, it doesn't really seem that hard!

As with most things digital and social and marketing related, all it takes is a little insider know-how.

Do you have any tips on gaining social currency? Drop suggestions in the comments below!