By: Jodie Shpritz, Vice President of Branding and Media Relations

In this day and age of Facebook, Twitter, Google + and Pinterest , it seems now more than ever that popularity matters.  Now I’m not talking about popularity in the sense of the 1980’s movie flicks where the cheerleader and football player win prom king and queen and end up happily ever after.  No, I’m talking about the fact that the more followers, the more fans, the more pins you get, the better marketing effect you will have.  That’s why it pays to be popular.  People that have mastered this skill are benefitting in ways never imagined before.

It makes sense.  It actually goes back to the basics and the foundation of building meaningful friendships.  Be honest, be responsive, be giving and most of all keep it real.  Oh and don’t talk behind a friend’s back.  Meaning don’t diss your competition.  Remember, you want to be liked.  And the more people like you, the more they will trust you and want your opinion.  It takes a while to build your online social popularity.  Just remember, people know when they are being marketed to. 

On Facebook, it’s a matter of how many friends/fans you have.  The more people you are connected with, the more you can get your message out there.  But you want to create an open forum where people feel that they can get their feelings and emotions out there.    The same goes for Twitter.  The more people you follow, the more likely they will follow you back.  As you begin to gain a following, it will be easier to reach more people. 

Pinterest is an entirely different beast.  This social medium has blown up in the past few months.  Back in December, I wrote a blog on the importance of Pinterest and its place in public relations.  Well, now more than ever, it is my belief that Pinterest is playing a critical role in marketing and public relations.  Fans and friends will follow you and your products on Pinterest.  There is no limit to who can follow you or why.  The more people like the stuff you are pinning, the more likely they are to trust that you are bringing them quality pins.  On the flip side, bloggers and writers are now looking to Pinterest to find new products, ideas, trends and more.  There is even a link on Pinterest titled “popular”.  This is a place where top trending or popular pins are kept.  This is an easy way for you to know if your pinning techniques and marketing outreach is working.  Like I said, in a funny way popularity really does matters. 

I’m not suggesting that you start asking everyone to be your friend, rather, I’m expressing the importance for clients to not forget about these sites and the true meaning behind them.   Our culture is rapidly changing, but the fundamentals still stay the same.  And while I hate to say it, in this realm the person/product crowned king and queen are ultimately the winners.