A new ranking out of Switzerland is a neutral – and revealing – look at which social media brands have been deemed “most valuable.”
Released Friday, the results are compiled in “The Most Valuable Social Media Brands 2013” report, a joint effort between HWZ University of Applied Sciences in Business Administration Zurich’s Social Media Management department and BV4 Certified Brand Valuation Experts.
The ranking shows that the companies with the highest brand value are Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and Qzone (a Chinese network). These same four brands were at the top of the ranking in 2012, “thus confirming the oligopoly of their brand values,” as the report states.
Most Valueable Social Media Rankings
1. Facebook ($34.32 billion)
2. YouTube ($26.82 billion)
3. Twitter ($23.66 billion)
4. Qzone ($16.34 billion)
Google+ had the greatest year-over-year improvement, jumping 14 ranks this year to a valuation of $5.88 billion.
The study measures the strength and monetary value of 50 brands to begin with, though it only lists the top 30 in the final report.
New to this year’s rank were brands including Instagram and Pinterest.
According to the report, one of the major trends that had a positive impact on the strength and value development of the top brands was the way consumers are increasingly using mobile devices to connect with social media platforms.
The valuation process used a method that “determines brand value as the earnings of a social network that are attributable to the brand.” It involved three steps: determining the financial and income figures of the brands; calculating a “brand value ratio” based on brand strength and criteria including brand awareness and loyalty; and determining the monetary value of the brand.
For more details on the valuation process and the detailed ranking results, click here.
