What is social currency? and why it matters for your brand.

What is social currency?

Social currency is the value your brand gains through its presence and interaction within social networks and communities. (Both offline and online)

So it's defined by:

• Your interactions

• Network

• Reputation

• Visibility

It's having h meaningful interactions that benefit both your brand and and your audience.

This should make you think about your content as well.

Are you sharing quality content? - or only focusing on followers?

Only having followers does not mean that you have good social currency.

Why does it matter for your personal brand?

Enhanced Brand Awareness: If you engage actively and have quality, your brand will stay memorable. This will not only increase your visibility and trust, it will also help people discover you.

Increased Loyalty and Credibility: Social currency boosts loyalty and credibility. As you interact with quality, people will inevitably be more likely to connect with you and stay. And of course, will trust you more than they trust a random person.

Boosted Sales and Conversions: The more your personal brand is memorable, the more likely they are to buy your products or services. It is the rule of familiarity. People feel better when they have a certain level of familiarity. Social currency can directly influence buying decisions.

How do you build social currency?

Create Valuable Content:

Everyone says it right? but the value is different for every person.

So you have to find what is valuable for your audience.

You have to do at least one of the following:

• Educate

• Inspire

• Entertain

• Motivate

• Make them feel understood

And of course, your delivery method matters too.

Engage Genuinely:

Don't:

Write AI comments

Say "great post" only

Summarize the post

Advertise your services on others' posts

Post and ghost

Do:

Add your unique insights

Ask a question if you don't know

Add a new perspective

Simple.

Collaborate with others:

The best way to improve your social currency is by collaborating with other relevant people.

If you collaborate with other people who have a good reputation, it will be a win-win situation for both.

Do:

Write an article together

Mention their insights in your articles

Attend podcasts

Short interviews.

Don't:

20 people in one post or article. But I have to say that if it is still delivering value, you can do this. But don't mention people just to get engagement.

This is usually obvious and bad for your reputation. Just saying.

What is good social currency?

Good social currency means that your brand is valued and respected within your audience and/or industry.

It is not having more followers.

So for a good social currency;

Focus on quality, trust, and gaining respect. Not only followers.

Followers will come.

Conclusion and my thoughts:

I see many people sharing certain content types just to get more engagement. This can only increase your visibility but doesn't build any social currency.

And it is one of the reasons you see people with 100k followers and almost 0 engagement.

See you next week!
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Seha Okudan