Digital to Human Persuasion: Social Monetization | MMA Global

Digital to Human Persuasion: Social Monetization

July 12, 2012

Brand Believability and Spending Money  

Believability is a significant component of the why, where, and when consumers join a social community or use their wallet to purchase goods and services. You can accomplish both at the same time if you apply certain behavioral marketing strategies. Now, what is your brand’s “Believability Score”? How do you improve it? But first, what is my definition of Believability?   

Monetize Social MediaBelievability consists of two main components- trust and credibility. If your brand scores high in both consumers will more readily “like” you on Facebook and convert to being a customer for less acquisition cost than the industry average.  Let’s explore the differences between trust & credibility, and then how you can apply these concepts to increasing ROI of your social media marketing budget:

  • Trust –an individual’s belief that you will not put them in harm’s way. Is being a part of your brand community and purchasing your products going to be customers “hide” and do quietly  or do they feel a need to integrate your brand into their circle? For example, interviewing at a creative agency would a candidate be more apt to say they “like” and “buy” Apple, Dell, or Microsoft products? Which one will they trust not to put them in harm’s way to getting the job?
  • Credibility –an individual’s belief that your brand will further their cause and help them succeed. Credibility has more emotional leverage when it comes to belonging to a social community, while trust has more pull in purchasing; but they go hand in hand.

Simple example;  Sara needs to make sure her alarm clock gets her up every day at 6AM to go to work and believes BRAND XX is the brand she can trust the most to not fail her (as it would not put her in harm’s way of being late and suffering consequences) but does not buy it because she feels uncomfortable associating with that brand. She feels the brand does nothing for her perceived credibility with her friends who typically make more money than she does, so she buys BRAND YY and uses her cell phone to set a secondary alarm.

Brand XX gets high scores for Trust and low scores for Credibility and ends up a loser, especially when it comes to the intersection of social and commerce strategies.

My Favorite Digital Methods on Monetizing Your Social Marketing

  • Immediate Rewards Gratification with Total Convenience: Imagine a social “like” or other Facebook activity that can place a special offer, coupon, or money off directly on your brand’s loyalty card. And on the backend, provide one stop financial settlement and clearing between the retailer and the brand coupon.  Great for all stakeholders!
  • Friends and Family Commerce Sharing, Anywhere and Easily: Imagine your brand enabling social consumers with an easy way to share rewards and participate in “group buys” without giving up most of the revenue to third party organizations. Just like cell phone “friends and family” plans where families can share talking minutes, your loyalty rewards program can offer the same. Now this is real social commerce!
  • Deploy a Cardless Rewards Loyalty Program: Except for the very large enterprises and brands, it is difficult to maintain a high class and worthwhile loyalty program due to the tremendous costs and logistical issues associated with a card based program. Skip it. Deploy a mobile rewards loyalty wallet that engages, transacts, and rewards. The future is now with cardless programs!
Please let us know any examples you may have, or if you interested in testing and tracking analytics surrounding digital to human persuasion regarding social monetization. 

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