Measuring has always been one of the hot potatos in the social media scene. It seems some people still find it hard to believe that social media actually pays off. Weird stuff… :)
In measuring, social media is sometimes (falsely) equated with banners, search engine marketing and direct digital marketing. Thus, with a lack of better key performance indicators (KPI), the same ones are copied and fancount/followercount is added. The latter often since that’s a number we can compare with colleagues. Fancount is important, don’t get me wrong, but as a sole measurement it is false. Hear me out here: it’s more than “not enough”. It’s “false”. It points you in the wrong direction. A similar mistake would be evaluating Apple as a company by how many tons of metal it purchases.
I do underline that actions require KPIs. Your webpage, office building, and Facebook Page all require measuring. Indicators are also the right way to go. I have not, and probably will not see a valid calculation of “ROI of a Facebook fan-page”. If you are doing it right, you cannot find out the ROI. (not in under 20 years anyway) Sorry.
The KPI’s of a Facebook Page are somewhat comparable to the KPI of our office building and surroundings. They sure are important, but showing where the money is sure as hell ain’t easy. However, you can and should keep track of indicators: are the people in your neighborhood glad your office is right next to them? Do random people sit on the benches next to your office building? Do your employees smile as they open the office door in the morning? There’s some hardcore measurements for you.
And what does fancount as a sole KPI tell us? It does seem to boost the egos of marketers, and it always says more about the company’s line of business and natural environment.
- The air is getting thin for Facebook rivals; still breathing but threatened with extinction -
As a user of many German social networks it is noticeable that more and more users migrate to the “one and only” platform. By now, Facebook can show off very good results in Germany (18,4 Million users) however at the expense of its competitors, e.g. wer-kennt-wen.de, studivz.de, meinvz.de, lokalisten.de.
The following graph (Google Trends) shows the development of daily unique visitors of the biggest social networks in Germany (2009 – 2011).
Daily Unique Visitors (social networks)
The underdogs struggle with migration of users, laziness regarding the use of the platform, writing status updates or just getting ’social’ with their friends. The copycats could never compete with the pace of Facebook. The platform was always one step ahead in providing the better solution for users. Regardless of whether nicely made apps, interesting and addicting games or a far more developed user interface (chat, real time status updates, implementation of videos etc.). The competitors missed the chance to invest more money and time to develop their services further.
New and more profound concepts are needed to get the ball rolling (again). Marketing ideas like “get a free SIM card and call your friends free of charge” (studivz) are a good way to keep users but it needs a bit more than a SIM card to use a social network.
Maybe the easiest way to understand the ongoing process with social networks in Germany is just part of the globalization. The competitors of Facebook using the German language for communication within the networks and seen from this angle, Germans are forced to use Facebook to stay in touch with friends and colleagues from different parts of the world.
Well friends, come up with something new or perish… ;)
Like many Finnish ideas, our company name originates in the sauna. More precisely on a break between sauna sessions: sitting by a natural lake with a cold beer and some makkara. Just throwing ideas at the view.
While listening to the unique call of the Artic Loon, we thought our name should derive from the sound of a new status update. So what should it sound like when the Facebook newsfeed, or a Twitter homepage is refreshed? “Ding!”, “Tsirp!”, “du-dii!”. Nothing quite sounded right.
With many options left we moved on to other things. Namely content. Brands could not bring traditional communications methods to social media. Social media is like a cocktail party, except its digital. So brands should mingle – digitally. And there it was.
Dingle celebrates its first birthday right about now. Join the fun.
Dingle is looking for content producers/moderators.
We’re a service agency specializing in social media. We help our customers to step into the world of social media by assisting them in creating a strategy and providing the resources for continuous engagement with their customers.
We are constantly looking for producers who:
- Moderate and respond to user generated content in our customers’ social media channels
- Create and update new content in our customers’ social media channels
- Report regularly on the activity and results within the social media channels
What we are expecting from you:
- Excellent verbal & written English (or other job specific language skills)
- Good knowledge of social media channels (especially Facebook, Twitter and Youtube)
- Good knowledge of MS Office and internet use
- Professionalism, flexibility, and team working ability
The job is paid by an hourly rate, and you may work from your home. You also need to have an access to the Internet. The role is suitable e.g. for students.
We are currently looking for especially native Swedish, Danish and Norwegian speakers for a project with one of our international customers.
For further inquiries please contact us at juho.jokinen@dingle.fi
To apply for this role, please send your CV and cover letter by email to info@dingle.fi
Nissan’s rowdy JUKE model is on Facebook also in Finland, Sweden, Norway and Denmark. Whole Scandinavian presence is driven by the same energetic concept. (And Dingle)
Get an extra pair of ears, hands and brains to help in the new Internet era. Our focused, relentless work will help your brand benefit from digital conversation in Scandinavia.
