The "Steps" to STEPPS

“Steps” is in quotations as there is no chronological order of what the acronym, STEPPS, stands for: Social Currency, Triggers, Emotion, Public Visibility, Practical Value and Stories. As a digital and/or social media marketer, comprehending STEPPS would prove useful thus I shall briefly delve into more detail of these message characteristics for transmission.

(Image Bank from UnSplash)

Social Currency

People love to share their feelings/opinions (ego-centrism). To seem less egotistic, sharing content to make them look good to others for social approval is a core motivation. It is this sharing/spreading that makes social currency. The more a netizen makes people feel like insiders, they embody intel and the community and marketers will build social currency off of them.

Triggers

This is more psychological and inspired by building theory. There are different types of triggers, including: natural connection, associate brand with the context, repeated pairings (a new habitat for the brand) and point of purchase. An example of a trigger is the Snickers chocolate bar’s slogan ‘you’re not you when you're hungry’: Consistently, naturally segueing this phrase at the end of each ad with the consistent context of fixing hunger to get back to one’s normal state.

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Emotion

Emotional messaging is more likely to be connected via a network. The level of physiological arousal or activation that a message triggers also affects sharing. To break it down further, positive high arousal includes excitement and amusement. It’s low arousal includes contentment. Whereas, negative high arousal involves anger and anxiety and low arousal includes sadness.

Said emotions can be via a digital or tangible product.

Public Visibility

Like the name suggests, public visibility talks of the social proof/acceptance driven in the conformity and actions of the public sphere.

It is highly recommendable to attach your branding to your meme or content and reinforce it like a trigger for marketing context usage.

Practical Value

It is smart to market practical value as they are socially approved and popularly spread. However, the main focus should not be on brand advertisement and should have restrictions (for instance, quantity limits so it is not over-baring). E.g. Monday Mindfulness.

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Stories

Last but not least, it is human nature to appreciate story-telling for it fabricates fascinating narrative and investment. That being said, be wary of it becoming a parody (which is commonly occurring) as it then becomes too cheesy and unbelievable. Do not fake authenticity for the same reason!

To all digital and social media marketers reading, have ever used STEPPS? If so, what did you think of the system and why?