Category Archives: Marketing
Why are Nordic marketers troubled by social media?
A segment in the Marketing Monday series at Socialmedianordic.com.
A couple of weeks back, I wrote about a recent study of Chief Marketing Officers where Nordic marketers didn’t rate their own social media efforts too highly. I also promised to offer my thoughts on what the reasons may be – and here are my two cents on the matter: We are intimidated by the impact of social media.
Less marketing,
less measuring
Maybe Nordic marketers have a better picture of just how high the jump needs to be in order to master social media? (Photo from Schnappi at Flickr, CC-BY-2.0)
I do believe that Annika Lidne gets quite a few things right over at Disruptivemedia.se, and that her thoughts on Swedish marketers are probably valid for the rest of the Nordic countries, too:
- Nordic businesses tend to be less marketing-oriented than other European or American businesses, and don’t view marketing as one of the most important business areas – it’s more of a “nice to have”. Some companies’ marketing costs are less than 1% of their total budgets.
- We don’t measure or analyze our social media efforts. Consequently, we don’t know what works and what doesn’t, and this means that our social media marketing may be less focused than elsewhere. (This goes for communicators, too – even though the Swedes are at the top of the European game there, the rests of the Nordics are lagging behind.)
- We are suffering from Facebook blindness. Lots of Scandinavian marketers see Facebook as the only social media arena. So, if they don’t naturally see possibilities within the Facebook framework, they write off social media altogether.
Do Northern marketers simply know better?
But to give credit where credit is due, I believe there may be one more reason why Nordic marketers rate their social media capabilities lower than other European CMOs: We know too much about the impact of the Internet. And then we get scared.
Not only is Internet use sky high in Northern Europe, we also have some of the highest social media penetration rates in the world. Our media are filled with stories about Faceook/Twitter/LinkedIn changing lives/businesses/society (pick your favorite). We cannot possibly discount the meaning of the Internet in modern communication and marketing.
Also, the people in the Nordic countries are so internet savvy, they will have come to expect a lot from marketers (and communicators). We have the affluence, the bandwith, and the skill set to demand a whole lot from brands when it comes to social media.
Are we there yet?
So maybe one of the reasons for the low self-satisfaction scores for the Nordics is just this: We have a more realistic view of what it means to be good at social media. And we know we are really not there, yet. Maybe we have a truer picture of what it will take to get us there, plus a more demanding online population?
What do you think?
Social media in Nordic B2B marketing
A post in the Marketing Monday series here on Socialmedianordic.com
While Scandinavian B2C marketers seem to be quite convinced of the possibilities offered by social media – evangelizing, even – B2B marketers here in Northern Europe are not quite there yet.
Where to begin?
I strongly believe that social media offer great prospects for business to business marketing. We just need to get out of the “we need to be on Facebook, then the world will magically transform into a wonderful and happy place” misconception. Social media may do great things for you, but only if you apply yourself and keep your business goals in mind.
But as an inspiration to B2B marketers in the Nordics, I will start compiling a list of social media B2B efforts in Northern Europe. I have realized that trying to dig out all the examples before ever starting this post would be too daunting a task (see, I do have the occasional insight).
List of social media efforts
Instead, I will start by just posting the ones I’m aware of as of yet – mostly Norwegian examples, since Norway is the market I work in every day. And then I will start expanding the list. Hopefully, some of my Swedish, Danish, Finnish, and Icelandic readers will contribute along the way. Please email me or leave a comment if you have interesting info!
This is just the mere beginnings of a Nordic catalogue of B2B social media initiatives:
- Shipserv : A great example of content marketing for the shipping industry. This case study is carefully documented in a master’s thesis by Haakon Jensen (where there’s more gold to be found for those willing to read the whole thing – download his thesis here).
- Visma, a Norwegian supplier of business software, have built a community for their customers in order to improve customer support and satisfaction.
- Companybook is a Norwegian startup trying to combine social media and business intelligence for businesses. They want to be somewhere between Facebook and LinkedIn – a place where businesses, not people, can socialize.*
- Mintra is an e-learning supplier focusing on the offshore industry. Their efforts in social media have been beautifully detailed in this blog post by digital agency Halogen (in Norwegian, but ask the author Helena Makhotlova for more insights)
Nordic marketers struggle with social media
Marketers all around the world have a hard time harnessing the power of social media, IBM’s Global CMO study published today reveals. IBM have surveyed 1700 marketing pros all around the globe.
World vs. Northern Europe: 3-0
The stats for the Nordics? Not so good.
Swedish social media pro Annika Lidne has been able to extract the stats for the Nordic countries on the Disruptive Media blog (which is a great source, and you should follow it if you understand Swedish!). I haven’t been able to locate the numbers for the Nordic countries myself, so we’ll have to take her word for it:
According to IBM, the knowledge and skills for social media marketing in Scandinavia and Northern Europe is lacking, compared to the rest of the world.
Not ready, not measuring, not competent
While social media use in Northern Europe is in the top-of-the-world range, our marketers do not feel that they are coping:
- 88 % of Nordic CMOs do not feel ready to fully harness social media. The world average is 68 %.
- 75 % of Nordic marketers feel they are not capable of measuring the results of their marketing efforts. World average: 56 %.
- 88 % of Nordic marketers say they lack the competence and ability to handle the ongoing information explosion. World average: 71 %.
- Nordic CMOs don’t rate social media as an important part of their marketing strategy nearly as often as their international colleagues.
Why? Why? Why?
The possible reasons for this are way too many and too complex to dive into here. For those reading Swedish, the Disruptive Media post lists several explanations.
I think most of Annika Lidne’s insights are pretty valid. And I hope to find the time to give my own two cents worth on the matter soon. Hopefully, by then I will have had a look at the numbers in their original form, too.
What do you think – are the stats true? And what might be the reasons for this discrepancy? Leave your opinions in the comments, please!
Bloggers influence fashion purchases, Swedish study suggests
A segment in the Marketing Monday series at Socialmedianordic.com
While blogging in Scandinavia has been studied mostly quantitatively (how many bloggers, readers etc.), not too much is said about bloggers’ importance in defining taste, influencing purchases etc.
I came across this essay from the Swedish School of Textiles in Borås (in Swedish), published in 2010. Students Zandra Eriksson and Louise Persson conducted a survey among young women in Borås (aged 15-20 and 21-25), fashion bloggers, and retailers.
While the sample size is nowhere near significant, the essay may still serve as an indication of bloggers’ importance in fashion retail in Sweden.
Young girls trust less
Conclusion? Yes, bloggers matter. But the younger girls are less influenced than their older peers.
Do you trust bloggers? Yes/No.
I will summarize some of the conclusions briefly:
- 68% of women surveyed (very small sample) read fashion blogs – 31% in the 15-20 age bracket and 47% in the 21-25 age group do so every day.
- Young girls are not easily convinced. Older girls place greater trust in fashion bloggers than younger girls; 58% in the 21-25 age group vs. 35% in the 15-19 age group
- Both consumers and retailers see an increase in demand for certain items after bloggers have mentioned them
- Few actually say they buy items after reading about them on blogs
- Getting PR on blogs by sending items to bloggers in hopes they will write about them, is concidered more effectful than advertising on the same blogs
If you see any other studies on the actual impact of blogging on marketing and sales in the Nordics, please let me know by leaving a note in the comments section. Thanks!
Communities for marketing in Northern Europe
Another post in the Marketing Monday series here on Socialmedianordic.com.
Despite the Nordic obsession with Facebook and the media’s focus on Twitter, I like to dive into old-school social media now and then. One of my first forays into online socialization was forums and online communities. And despite not being talked about a whole lot, the communities are more alive than ever.
Screenshot from the Fiskateers community by Fiskars.
Forums and communities
A lot has happened to the forum scene since the late 1990s (the fact that it’s no longer social suicide to admit to frequenting them being perhaps the most important change). Marketers have started to use them – and even build them.
And so I would like to find out which community and forum initiatives are moderated or run by brands/for marketing purposes in/from Scandinavia and the other Nordic countries? Which brands know the value of cultivating a community of those truly passionate about their products or subjects? Be it for business to business purposes or business to consumer marketing, a community can be a powerful thing.
I know of a few:
- Kings Club, Scania‘s driver community.
- Trådsnella, a handicrafts’ forum in Norway run by publishing house Egmont Hjemmet Mortensen.
- Fiskateers, the scrapbooking ambassador network established by Finnis cutting specialists Fiskars.
Smartphone explosion in Norway: 60% of users watch TV on their phone
This post marks the start of another series here on Socialmedianordic.com: Marketing Monday. Stay tuned for new marketing insights from the Nordics at the beginning of each week!
A recent survey among smartphone users in Norwegian telecom operator NetCom‘s user panel reveals that a staggering 64 % of users now watch TV or movie clips on their phones.
- YouTube is probably the most-used service, but we see an increase in the use of other platforms as well, NetCom product director Lars Ryen Mill says to Mobizmag.com (article in Norwegian).
50% of Norwegian cell phones are smartphones
Norway has one of the world’s highest smartphone penetrations – 90% of phones sold through NetCom retail channels in August were smartphones, according to the article.
This extremely high figure is confirmed by independent analysis agency TNS Gallup. In a breakfast meeting I attended there September 16, they quoted statistics claiming that more than half the phones currently using mobile internet services in the country, are smartphones.
What of offline smartphones?
There is of course one possible flaw in these statistics: The NetCom panel is opt-in, recruited from among the company’s smartphone-using customers. And the TNS Gallup numbers do not take into account mobile phones that are not used to surf the Internet.
Nonetheless, smartphones are emerging as one of the most interesting marketing channels anywhere. The high smartphone penetration in Scandinavia makes the region particularly interesting to follow, and I am confident that great marketing case studies will come out of the Nordic countries before long.
iPhone most popular smartphone in Norway
I am trying to find recent figures from the smartphone markets in other Scandinavian countries as well (let me know if you have an inkling where the best stats are to be found). In the meantime, here are the most popular smartphone manufacturers in the Norwegian market, as quoted in another Mobizmag.com article:
1. Apple (33 %)
2. HTC (19 %)
3. Sony Ericsson (14 %)
4. Samsung (12 %)
5. Nokia (9 %)
6. ZTE (7 %)
7. LG (6 %)
Finnish contest merges national obsessions: Social media and earth diggers
A really innovative contest came out of Finland this summer, joining the Finns over two of their national pasttimes: Social media and power vehicles.
A takeuchi digger is the prize up for grabs in the Kaivuriskaba contest. (Image from Flickr/Joost J Bakker Ijmuiden/CC-BY-2.0)
Kaivuriskaba promises a mini-excavator to the man/woman who really proves to have Finnish sisu, or determination and staying power – whoever can stay in a mini-excavator longest, wins the earth digger.
23,5 hours a day in a digger
They only get to come out for 30 minutes a day, during which time they must shower, go to the restroom and stretch their legs, writes the Ubiquity PR company on their blog (where I became aware of the contest – thanks for writing about it first! Also, I must take their word for it when it comes to the rules of the competition; unfortunately, I can’t read Finnish).)
Some people really are proving their determination. At time of writing, the contest has been in progress for 103 days – and
three of the original six competitors are still fighting it out for the mini-excavator.
Social media drives the contest
The rest of the population can watch their struggles throughout the contest, through videos, Facebook updates, and other social media efforts. In fact, the contestants must stream live video and chat with their audience throughout the contest in order to remain eligible for the big prize. More than 5,000 fans are following the contest on Facebook.
I guess this just goes to show that there is no limit to what people will do in order to drive home on a shiny, new mini-digger – at 4 km/h!
Have you seen any other Nordic examples of social media-driven contests lately? Please let me know! (And if you Finnish is better than mine and you understand more of the concept behind the contest, tell me!)
Scandinavians slow in adopting social media for travel
Scandinavians are slowly embracing social media for travel purposes, a recent study by Amadeus reveals. This very interesting report focuses on how the adoption of mobile communictaion will transform the travel industry, and is worth a read.
Asia, UK and Latin-America in front
On a Nordic note, however, I was surprised to learn that we Scandinavians have fallen behind our fellow travellers when it comes to using social media for travel related purposes.
Social media travel statistics. Screen shot from the report "The Always Connected Traveller" by Amadeus 2011.
Sweden and Denmark are two of the countries featured in the whitepaper. Just over half of Swedish and Danish travellers, 53 percent, report using social media for travel. This figure is far behind our British (77%) or Spanish (71%) counterparts. And it hardly even registers compared to the eagerness Chinese, Hong Kong-based or Singaporean travellers demonstrate in their use of social media services for travel (92%, 85% and 81% respectively).
Hints of possibilities to come
In many respects, it’s impressive that more than half of the surveyed Scandinavians use social media for travel. In the egalitarian and affluent North, most of the population travels frequently, be it for work or leisure. It is probable that a greater specter of the population could be counted as seasoned travellers in Scandinavia than in most other parts of the world. Still, there is a long ways to go!
With smartphone adoption on the increase here in Northern Europe, and the Scandinavian travel marked being one of the most online-oriented in Europe, marketers should expect more social media interactions from travellers in the years to come. The Asian numbers only hint at the possibilities in social media marketing for travel.
A hat tip to my Swedish fellow social media enthusiast Hans Kullin who blogged about the Amadeus report first and brought it to my attention. Thanks! (I do promise to not go quoting your blog posts all the time; you just do a splendid job of being interesting!)
