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What if, whenever you posted a #foodporn Instagram photo or tweeted something quirky about the sweet potato fries you just inhaled, your social media finesse was rewarded with an on-the-house steak instead of just likes, comments, and shares?
It may seem like hunger-induced fantasy to many millennial foodies, but one Chicago company is looking to do just that.
Meet Wordperks, a dual-sided tech platform that wants to build mutually-beneficial relationships between social media users and businesses. It works like this: social media gurus can download the app and browse through advocacy campaigns posted by local businesses. Then, depending on the user’s own interests — as well as their pool of friends and followers and engagement levels — users post and tweet about a company, redeeming their social media posts for products or services.
“We started Wordperks to make it easier for companies to put their marketing dollars where their consumer’s mouths are,” said Wordperks co-founder Max Bryan.
And businesses benefit, too: Through Wordperks, a company can quickly acquire and manage virtual advocates to amplify their online presence and messaging efficacy.
“What we realized is that most purchases are informed by word of mouth recommendations,” Bryan said. “It’s estimated that around 50 percent of all purchases are influenced directly by word of mouth recommendations. When we looked at what companies are spending most of their marketing dollars on, it wasn’t there.”
According to Bryan, the platform’s dashboard provides all of the advocacy metrics and analytics a company needs to best leverage online word of mouth marketing.
The app is free for consumers, who login through their social networks so companies can evaluate their accounts. Bryan said that someone with 6,000 to 10,000 followers might be worth $70 to a business.
Meanwhile, Wordperks takes commission from any completed deals. That commission depends on the amount of deals companies post — Wordperks might take 10 percent from a single deal, but lowers that rate if the company has multiple offers listed.
The freshly-minted startup is helmed by a three-person team, which just launched this Saturday. Though the company faces competition from platforms like Popular Pays and Freebie, Bryan said Wordperks is grinding away to make it a top choice for consumers — and companies — in the city.
“We’re working hard to get a lot of really great products and services on the platform, especially for people here in the Chicago area,” Bryan said.
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