In the world of marketing, you’re likely to hear buzzwords often, and one that’s been floating around recently has been “social currency”; however, is this really a buzzword? Social currency essentially refers to the total value of all of your engagement on social media. For example, someone who has a million subscribers on YouTube is considered to possess greater social currency than a person who only has a few thousand views on a handful of videos. As such, the person or organization that has the million subscribers will be able to leverage this social currency in order to form partnerships, increase engagement, and build brand loyalty.

How to Obtain Social Currency

Just like financial currency, social currency is something that has to be earned. In a world where everyone thinks that he or she has a chance to make it big on the Internet, competition is fierce, so it takes an innovative approach to cut through the clutter and stand out. As a result, you’ll need to put your best minds to work when developing a social strategy. The first step, of course, is establishing social media profiles for your organization, but from there, you’ll want to create a brand that not only represents your organization, but also a brand that engages Internet users.

To do this, your organization needs to find a niche and a hook. Once you’ve found that, examine what the competition is doing just like you would in a traditional marketing campaign. How can you set your organization apart? What flaws can you exploit in the competitions’ marketing efforts? What is your demographic looking for online? The answers to these questions will help you on the path to earning social currency.

Nothing Attracts a Crowd Like a Crowd

Once you’re on your way to building social currency, it’s time to up your game. As the old saying goes, “nothing attracts a crowd like a crowd”, so the more you work to engage your existing base, the more likely you are to attract others. Online, people tend to follow trends and fads, so use this to your advantage as well. Pay attention to social trends by spending actual time online interacting with people. This can be done actively by posting updates and responding to comments, or it can be done passively by monitoring industry news and message boards. Once you’ve found what’s hot, use it to your advantage in order to attract more people, and before you know it, your organization’s followers will start to bring in new followers based simply on your organization’s perceived popularity.

Don’t Quit Now

What’s important, in the end, is to not let up once you feel that your social currency is strong. Too often, an organization will start to feel secure with its level of social currency, only to have the playing field shift. You’ll need to be vigilant and nimble in your strategy in order to maintain your level of social currency, and never stop working to build upon what you have.