Brand reputation today is shaped just as much-and often far more-by digital and social experiences.
Recently, the Lithium Social Power Ranking (formerly known as the Klout 50) was revealed, which ranks the top 50 global brands using social strategies to create the ultimate customer experience.
This year, Microsoft lands the #1 position, bumping Amazon to #2. This is a huge surprise to some, considering Amazon has double the social media followers that Microsoft does (Microsoft has a combined Twitter and Facebook following of +14 million; where Amazon has +28 million combined followers).
Microsoft takes the crown because they are the most active and produce the most engaging content. They have a smaller social audience than other brands, but what sets them apart is that they engage. Their engagement with followers on social is critical (and some may say the only thing that matters) to their very high Klout Score of 98.90.
Microsoft also stands out in social, because they constantly share compelling stories (i.e. authentic customer stories), leverage other corporate accounts (such as @windows, @nokia, @outlook) to cross promote and are very active with customer care issues. They don't shy away from responding quickly to customers (even with the good, bad and ugly commentary).
Not only are Microsoft's revenues up, but they have also had recent successful product launches (i.e. Surface, Windows 10). All this, has helped their social ranking for 2015.
The Top 5 Brands
The top 5 brands in the Social Power Ranking-Microsoft, Amazon, MTV, Facebook and Google- have a few things in common that all brands should know to master their social skills.
Here are five tips all brands can do to improve their Klout Scores:
1. Personalized posting schedules: The top 5 brands are all global so HQ time zones don't really matter (and they shouldn't) when engaging with social audiences. They post during the times of maximum engagement. For example, @Google (#5) posts at all hours and when it makes sense for their target audience. A recent tweet regarding German artists was posted at 4:00 a.m. PT (1:00 p.m. GMT).
Klout recently found that by posting personalized schedules brands can see an increase in reactions of 17% on Facebook and 4% on Twitter. For more information on the best time to schedule your social posts, check out: When's the best time to post on social?
2. Compelling content: It's no secret, content is still king especially when it comes to social media. The top 5 brands excelled at posting relevant, authentic content. They make it so easy for followers to want to "favorite" or "like" for maximum engagement. It's all about provoking a conversation with consumers and @MTV (#3) is the poster child for posting compelling content. They frequently post (on Twitter +16 tweets a day) on the topics that matter most to their audience - everything from fashion, celeb news, music - obviously, food and all things pop culture. Another thing that sets @MTV apart is that almost all their posts have a visual asset - an emoji, photo, meme or a video. It's all very compelling!
3. Engage, Engage and Engage: Twitter recently reported that there has been a 250 percent surge in tweets to B2C brands and their customer service usernames in the last two years. It's no surprise, more customers opt to go to social media to interact with a brand and the brand must deliver. Engaging audiences with compelling content is pretty table stakes at this point, but the top 5 brands took engagement to the next level by providing social customer care. Microsoft (#1) is a great example of this - they integrate with other corporate handles and are quick to respond to customer care issues.
4. Be real (and in real-time): Social media is all about real-time content. Be ready to post about things that are currently happening to stay relevant and authentic. @Facebook (#4) is a good example because they retweet and post about live events. Most recently, their social team was all over Mark Zuckerberg's town hall and helped their +179 million Twitter and Facebook followers feel a part of the live experience.
5. Have fun! Psts should not all be corporate focused, but should be about having a pulse on the latest trends. There's so much going on every day and whether you're a B2C or B2B brand, why not jump on the trends? All of the top 5 have fun with their daily posts and have a "personality." Almost all brands posted about #NationalDessertDay, holidays, fun facts, promotions and sweepstakes. For example, @Amazon (#2) posted a "Too Much Monday, Not Enough Coffee" tweet, which received over 200 retweets and favorites.
Give social audiences the daily content they desire and that will help boot any brand's social Klout.