428 Words on SOCIAL CURRENCY: the gap

Nice post. There are precious few people out there giving good,accurate information on this kinda stuff. I’m trying to get in touch with what my social currency is. Im not quite there yet but the fact that I am at least trying to figure it out makes me feel better!

Thank you Mark, what a great reply.

Yes. You’re 100% correct, I’m talking about the larger portion of the business community, which is, by definition not departmentalised and most definitely without sufficient knowledge of brand to get any value other than order value in the sales ledger, one where efficiency is key and there are no human resources to intervene.

Whilst networking, sure, we accrue capital in relationships, but what about at a business level, where brand doesn’t necessarily exist in a form that holds any real value, where there’s no real equity in it? How is it that we can create equity at every touch point? Should those who are networking really be looking to build a fluid currency that works outside of person-to-person relationship building? Is there an explicit ‘thing’ that can be put in to the system at one end, given to the customer for it to be spent in kind back at each social touch point?

The question I raise is using systemic logic, adding some form of goodwill in to the system that encourages a kind of synergy that propels the customer in to action to spend the good will back on the business to accrue value, create visibility via the customers network and build brand value from the ground up?

If it’s a question worth asking, it must be worth discussing.

Pizza Hut used something with 4Square… their currency was a kind of location check in thing going on. It’s pragmatic, so simple that it just makes sense.

There’s something to be said for simplicity.

How can we simplify?

If a small business with a small range of products or services tweets only about the business, the only followers they have will be the most fanatic, or spambots. I agree, you have to add something to make it worthwhile and bridge the gap.

As small businesses, one currency we have is giving away part of your real life, that is, personal information. So that you are sharing experiences and interests and behaving like an ‘ordinary’ tweeter.

Most people except this and will follow a business if they know there is a ‘real’ person behind it as well as occasional sales promotion.

This gave me a few worries at first. I am new to retail and thought that you must have a professional impersonal relationship with customers. My background is in homelessness and benefit advice where a professional distance is essential to your efficiency. I didn’t know about the sales maxim that people only buy from people they like.

My first quandary with changing this relationship was on Facebook. A customer had generously posted a glowing review about our product “Trabasack” ( a new type of bag that you can work on as a desk) on their blog. They had also mentioned us and recommended us on forums, all over the web. They found me on Facebook and ‘friend requested’ me, how could I snub them?

To my surprise, knowing the real me, with my rants and moans, did not put them off the product. I had previously reserved ‘Facebook friend’ status for trusted old mates. Changing my attitude made be more generous and trusting and I have lots of new contacts, opportunities and laughs now because of it.

I think that with small businesses using social media we are returning to the retail model of our grandfathers. You buy from people who you know quite personally. The relationship is like visiting the newsagent/corner shop, you know a bit about the retailer, his family and his social life. You like him and use his shop, you don’t mind if he has an orange luminous ‘buy now’ stickers up or points you to a new product, as long as he has a chat and a laugh as well!

Great post from Duncan. I completely agree about social media making retail personal. I too am new to retail and am a lawyer by background, a profession not known for being particularly personable. I had to put aside decades of learned caution to engage with social media and have been astonished (and heartened) by the results. As internet retailer we cant have a chat with our customers in the shop but we can tell them who we are and speak to them via Facebook and Twitter.

1. First I’d say ‘brand’ is often erroneously associated only with large corporates and their offerings. The ‘one-man band’ is a brand in their own the right, the esteemed local butcher serving locally sourced meat has a brand identity – the accumulation of perception, values, financial value, and equity of associated goodwill, loyal customers, and a role that impacts on the market in which they operate.

2. I take your point on the ‘hard value’ point in para 2. Outside of the sale on the order book, the value in social media terms I’d propose is the; content provided, the willingness to support and advocate another, the act of advocacy and referral itself, the opportunities that arise form that value exchange – e.g. referring someone so they pick up an order, or can source a product/service they need, or locating expertise they may need. In a sense its building the ‘credit of goodwill’ which we can trade with others. I see this as running parallel with financial transaction of business, and they can operate separately or together, generating further ‘goodwill income’ or ‘financial income’.

3. I don’t quite understand the question in para 3. Are you asking how does that goodwill help build the business? Or how does it translate into business equity? Or how do we get the customer to ‘spend’ the goodwill? My initial reponse to this point is goodwill is amorphous, and difficult to quantify like £. A trade in goodwill is a fluid arrangement, whose success can only be seen when both parties feel that mutual benefit has been gained. The problem with this is that it’s highly subjective, and can vary considerably between different parties. I don’t think over-scrutiny of ‘goodwill’ should extend beyond recognising that it involves the exchange of ‘like for like’.

I see your point with 4Square – but I have a fundamental issue with 4Square anyway. I just don’t see the value of it. I know what it does, and the premise on which stands both for advertisers and the end users – however, for me the benefits don’t outweigh the losses made by the end user when it comes value exchange – i.e. loss of personal privacy. I see 4Square as an idea based on technology capability, rather than meeting a real need of the end user. A classic example of ‘because we can, we should’…. although I continue to watch with interest.

Hi Mark,

hmmm @saraharrow of @blogmistress are the gatekeepers to the blog. Try a different web browser, I’m logged in via TwitterAPIComments…

Phew! I thought I might have to go behind the scenes and edit it for you

Phew! I thought I might have to write a blog about Sarah going behind the scenes

Doug,

As always a really well written piece. I love the thought process. I do have a ‘but’ & really it is a big ‘BUT’ (no comments). I say this as I feel you’ve started debating too far down the ‘food chain’ to make broad sweeping assumptions. It is a common mistake. Media planners will tell you Message, Audience, Media is the mantra for planning.

Social media as a communications channel, (like TV, press etc.) will have a very different use/purpose depending on market sector, target audience etc.

Social media can be used, in very simple terms, in 1 of 4 ways.

‘Awareness’ – When asked someone says ‘Oh yes, I have heard of them’.

‘Perception’ – When asked someone responds with view about ‘subject’ that is different to norm.

‘Influence influencer’ – When asked someone responds saying ‘Well x says they are great’.

‘Direct’ sell. As per your blog.

I have tried to keep this very simple but hopefully it makes sense.

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A nice article Doug, as always thought provoking.

Everyone uses SM differently, some just to chat, others to attempt to promote themselves, some to promote their business and then some businesses purely for customer service.

You hear a lot about “klout” and all other kinds of social media buzz words. Is there really any value in having klout in SM? Personally I couldn’t give a monkey’s about a score here or there and it would not make me a follower or fan.

I like to use it to chat to good people and raise a little awareness for myself and my business. Rather than spouting off about the business I’ll drop the odd link from my blog or interesting article.

I have my twitter name on my business cards in the hope that clients who also use it will talk to me there from time to time or drop the odd good comment. I’ve had a few nice comments from clients which is always nice.

One thing I’ve noticed is the rise of the professional moaner. People now moan first on Twitter or Facebook about a company or product than anywhere else. Some even before they have made contact to get the company to rectify the problem. This is why is it always great to see a company respond to complaints

Not fully on topic with your blog, but this is what came to my mind after reading.

Not sure I’m qualified to comment on this Doug, but as you have asked me if I’m interested in joining the discussion, I’ll add my thoughts.

I’m a fledgling business owner; a sole trader that is home-based. Whilst I’m part of a wider network of similar franchisees, if I’m not out meeting customers, most of my day is spent alone, in my office, at my PC. As it should be you may think. But my background is corporate. Big company, big budgets, lots of people and bolt on agencies = lots of buzz. I miss that. Whilst being a sole trader gives me a unique sense of fulfilment, and a whole new wave of self-motivated pressure, I miss the people, the buzz.

And then you Doug, introduced me to Twitter. With help from yourself and Helen Stothard’s ‘I don’t Get Twitter’ guide, I soon got to grips with it. My colleagues of old that I shared a drink with at the coffee machine, the drop in’s from colleagues and agencies were simply replaced by a new work based, social environment sitting on my desk – happy for me to drop in and out as I please.
For me, that’s exactly what it is… A social environment. I don’t use Twitter to broadcast my products or services, I use it to chat, research and meet people in a similar situation, looking for similar things, ie the ‘I’m not alone’ feeling in my sole trader environment. I don’t see that as social currency, and I’m a little baffled why we have to term it as such. To me, all that does is give the wannabe gurus another stock phrase to blast at their clients, who will end up paying a small fortune for something they don’t understand either.

For me, I’d ban the terms ‘social currency/social capital’ and get back to basics. Just as I have a bee in my bonnet about the trendy use of the word ‘journey’ to describe a certain period/patch of people’s lives, ‘social currency’ is in danger of confusing people, when really we’re just dealing with personalities.

Interestingly, I see that you tweeted to the lovely @totally4b that her social currency is #lovelylady and cc’d myself (@dititoria). I don’t see that. I just see a lovely lady that I met on twitter, I get on with, can engage with because I like her personality. Simples.

So Doug, unusually for me (I’m generally a great supporter of your blogs) I hope you don’t mind if I pass on the ‘social currency’ bandwagon. You guys go ahead, this one’s not for me.

Again, yes.

But not quite as you describe, slightly different and something that is more harmonious.

I’m taking about parallel running through sales, production and order that spurs the customer to engage online, but not engage, come running on to the network shouting their head off like a maniac discussing it with all friends, neighbours and connect’ees.

It’s social right? Let it be so… does a businesses (not a self employed person) need a currency, a very social currency to bridge this gap?

Would love to put this in to more concise words, but the reality is, discussion is where it’s at ))

What were you using before? I am on a Mac using Safari. I won’t be very impressed if this change means we all have to change our browsers.

A social currency is not a currency. They are nothing more than a “token” with restricted use value and when used no longer have any intrinsic value whatsoever. A true currency circulates as it represents a “unit of account” that has an intrinsic stored value that is accepted in the marketplace. For example take a look at WIR Bank in Switzerland, an excellent example of a complementary currency, something that a social currency most certainly is NOT.