It sucks to spend millions and earn nothing. Marketing departments have often had to justify their existence in board rooms. Not anymore.
Advertising has been around for decades and it has been used as a tool to reach large audiences and promote products and services. Traditional advertising at mega events like IPL is both inefficient and expensive. This has caused companies to look for new and innovative ways to reach their target audiences and maximize their marketing return on investment (RoI).
Digital marketing tried to solve these pain points. Brands needed to get in front of the RIGHT set of eyes in a cost-effective manner. While it used data to reach relevant people, it was still the same ad meant for a city, state or an entire country. The medium changed but the message was the same.
Enter Social Currency
What is Social Currency?
Social Currency is a type of marketing strategy that aims to capitalize on the power of word-of-mouth (WOM) marketing. By leveraging the power of social networks, companies are able to tap into their target audience’s network of friends and family, as well as influencers, and build relationships. Social Currency has been proven to be an effective way to build brand awareness and trust, as well as engage and retain customers.
The Benefits of Leveraging Social Currency in Your Marketing
Social Currency offers a number of benefits that traditional advertising cannot provide. It is cost-effective, as it requires a minimal budget, and it can reach a larger audience than traditional advertising can. Additionally, it is more engaging and interactive, as it allows customers to interact with the brand, providing feedback in real time. This helps to build trust and loyalty between the brand and its customers.
Another advantage of Social Currency is that it can help to increase conversions. This is because customers are more likely to purchase a product or service if their friends or family have recommended it to them. Social Currency can also be used to generate more leads and build brand loyalty, as customers will tend to be more loyal to brands that they have interacted with.
How To Add Social Currency To Your Advertising
Once you have identified your target audience and their preferences, it is important to create a strategy to maximize the potential of your Social Currency. This will involve understanding the different platforms and networks that your target audience is active on, such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn. and find the different types of content that are effective on each platform, such as videos, images, and text-based content.
Now create opportunities for your users to make talk about your products or services.
- Incentivise posting with hashtags or tagging you in social media posts.
- Create competitions for users (Clicking best picture with phone/camera etc).
- Rope in brand ambassadors to take the initiative or invite people from their network.
- Encourage User Generated Content by showing you care (comment on posts, react, repost).
- Use user generated content in your advertising so show social proof. (remember "Shot on iPhone" taglines?)
Tips for Optimizing Your Social Currency Strategy
There are a number of tips and tricks that can be used to optimize your Social Currency and maximize your RoI.
- Ask people. Be shameless to help people overcome inertia. People won't move until you convince them to and it all starts with a good motivation to move.
- Ensure that your content is optimized for each platform, as different platforms require different types of content.
- Keep tabs on the latest news, trends and even songs. Using trending pieces keeps you relevant and pushes your content.
- Read algorithm updates by platforms you rely on Google, Instagram, and LinkedIn. They offer clues on what to do and what not to do.
- Keep content that is relevant and engaging.
Measuring Your Return on Investment in Social Currency
It is important to measure the RoI of your Social Currency campaigns in order to ensure that you are getting the most out of your efforts. There are a number of metrics that can be used to measure the RoI, such as engagement rate, reach, followers, brand mentions, and website visits. Additionally, it is important to track customer feedback, as this will provide valuable insight into the effectiveness of your campaigns.
Some of the most successful D2C founders incorporate tracking key metrics mentioned above on a daily basis. Here's what Arjun Vaidya, founder of Dr Vaidya's wrote-
"Checking our Google Analytics every day at 11:59 PM to check our daily revenue and KPIs was a ritual for me before I went to bed."
Don't Waste Millions, Add Social Currency To Your Advertising Now
Social Currency is an effective way to reach larger audiences, engage customers, and maximize your marketing RoI. It is important to understand your target audience and their preferences, develop strategies to maximize your Social Currency, optimize your content for each social media platform, and measure your RoI. By leveraging the power of Social Currency, you can unlock its potential and maximize your RoI.
But don't take our word for it. Listen to multimillion digital marketer Neil Patel talk about the "Biggest Waste in Marketing". Expensive IPL spots, TV slots, gigantic hoardings are not for any brand looking to earn a bang for their buck.
WYLD is a Social Currency payments card that is helping 100+ brands to digitise word of mouth marketing like never before. Reach out to Priyanshh at 98200 96566 to hear awesome stories of our partner brands we bet you know names of.
