You often hear companies, organizations, and even celebrities claim social media success based on how many fans, friends and followers they have. But is that really an accurate measure of success?
We at APCO believe that influence is a far more important gauge than raw numbers. Those Internet users with the most influence among their peers don't just have followers -- they have engaged followers. And by promoting this engagement, these influencers -- a group we call Social Informants -- have the ability to build buzz behind new products and spark debate with new ideas, creating a ripple-effect by sharing information.
According to new research we've done with the Huffington Post, Social Informants spend nearly 200 percent more time online than average Internet users and are 56 percent more likely than online news readers to have over 100 people in their social network. These are the people corporations and organizations want to reach - and who we want to better understand.
To get a better handle on the behavior of these users, we conducted a new study that examines what we are calling Social EQ -- the expectations Social Informants have for how companies use social mediato market their products, shape their reputations and advocate for the ideas in which they believe.
Based on opinion polling conducted among this group, we were able to isolate the six key factors Social Informants view as cues that a company's social media presence is effective and worth supporting. We stress-tested our Social EQ model against Fortune's 40 most admired companies, and got a Social EQ index score for each. When we re-ranked these companies according to these scores, the list was drastically different.
One thing we noticed right away: tech companies dominated the top of the re-ordered list. You might think it's just because they are "tech," but then why are some tech companies near the bottom of the list? We believe you need only look to Social EQ's most important effectiveness factor - dialog. This factor is based largely on whether company leaders and employees are actively using social media. It makes sense: allowing people to directly connect to people inside a company, especially at the top, makes the company feel more human and makes participating in its social media efforts feel more impactful and worthwhile. And because the CEOs of tech companies are frequently more comfortable with social media, they more regularly participate in these types of activities.
We were surprised to discover that companies that are heavily investing in emerging social media platforms aren't necessarily rewarded for it in terms of Social EQ. Yes, taking risks and
demonstrating innovation gets you some credit among Social Informants, but our respondents were much more impressed by companies that ensure their various social media efforts are well integrated with each other and with the company's overall Web presence. And you get bonus points if your social media outreach is optimized and easy to find.
Companies with the best content and the most interactivity didn't automatically outperform those without these attributes. While quality content and customer engagement are both very important, creating the perception that you openly solicit feedback and have a responsive and transparent social media-based customer service function carries more weight with Social Informants.
Some companies have social media programs that we would have expected to score much better in the Social EQ model than they actually did. This is because, when it comes to Social Informants, perception matters more than reality. Those companies might be doing all the right things, but the Social Informants don't yet recognize them for it. That's a communication gap worth closing.
These findings may have a significant impact on the way companies approach their corporate communication and marketing in the digital world. The link between successful social media engagement and an enhanced reputation is clear. Not engaging isn't an option. Our findings show that companies will be better able to understand and leverage social media if they follow these important trends...
1. Because employee participation is so important, evolve the job of the communication leader away from message scripter and into story harvester, social media trainer, and internal communication cheerleader.
2. Transform customer service from a function designed to respond to in-bound inquiries into an active, information-seeking team of investigators, mining platforms like Twitter, Epinions and Amazon.com for disaffected customers and then deftly and respectfully converting those moments of frustration into opportunities to excel.
3. Let the tools, communities, and platforms take a back seat to a highly integrated approach. Don't assign people to manage the company's Facebook page or Twitter feed. Those are now office utilities, like electricity and paper. Instead, teach business managers and their communication staffers how to apply these new tools to resolve business problems in a holistic way.
4. Make sure awareness of your efforts remains high, and that you regularly track how they are being perceived.
In a world where 87 percent of consumers trust a friend's recommendation over a critic's review, and social network users are three times more likely to trust other social network users' opinions over advertising, Social Informants play an increasingly important role in communication and marketing. Understanding what motivates them to back specific efforts is crucial.
The Social EQ model demonstrates that the typical reach metrics of fans, friends and followers is less important than overall effectiveness as indicated by factors like visibility of leadership, proactivity of customer service, and depth of integration. We believe it will change corporate and business leaders' perspective on how to prioritize tactics and invest in what matters most. We'd love to hear what you think. Let us know in the comment section.
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