Tuesday, 30th June, 2009 at 13:06
Maria Sipka, (CEO, Linqia) on ROI, decentralization and network fatigue
Serial entrepreneur and Linqia CEO Maria Sipka is a passionate community creator with many years’ experience and a number of successful businesses under her belt. In this interview Maria talks about social network fatigue, the limits of decentralized business, and emerging trends in measuring social media ROI.
This article is part of an ongoing series of guest posts for SOMESSO by leading experts and practitioners in social media for business.
Balancing creative freedom with focus and leadership
Mary: You often mention ‘The Starfish and the Spider‘ (Brafman, Beckstrom), which looks at the power of self-organizing as opposed to top-down command and control organization structures. And your company is called ‘Starfish Group’! However in conversation you have also emphasized that a degree of structure and hierarchy is still important in business. What one tip would you give businesses to help them unlock the power of decentralization without creating chaos?
Maria: We were crazy about the principles and stories shared in ‘The Starfish and the Spider’ for both the idea of Linqia and how we wanted to operate the company. We romanticized the idea of creating a flat structure in our company. Unfortunately it didn’t entirely work work the way we thought it would. Where we got stuck was in decision making and focus.
Ultimately, leaders need to make decisions within a company. And when time and money are extremely scarce, the team needs to be highly focused and co-ordinated. If everybody is doing what they want to do and there exists no controls then the results mean either complete chaos or winding down the company.
What we did retain however, were principles about how one can lead a company. Instead of a ‘command and control’ culture, we’ve adapated a ‘inspire others to take action’. We’ve created sandboxes where team members are able to create and contribute. If they happen to develop ideas or solutions in other areas of the company we provide a platform where they can share and pass on this value to the respective team lead.
Keeping a cool head in the midst of social networking fatigue
Mary: There are thousands of social networks in existence today, and many of us are experiencing some degree of social network fatigue. In this crowded marketplace, what tools or practices do you think hold the most promise for businesses looking to reach out and build community online?
Maria: There are also thousands of social networks existing offline too. The main difference on the internet is that you can create or join a social network ‘instantly’ around any topic or interest. You can gather people quickly from all around the world and achieve business objectives at lightning speed.
The ’social network fatigue’ we are all experiencing is a result of receiving and accepting too many invitations from our friends. Many of us have succumbed to the pressure of joining large social networks such as Facebook, LinkedIN, MySpace and Twitter - and we realize sooner or later that we’re spending more time in social networks than other important activities in our lives. Social networks have become the ‘fast food’ of relationship building. It’s quick, easy, addictive & creates an imbalance in our lives.
So what are some of the solutions to these challenges?
First step is to have a plan. Somebody once said, if you don’t have your own plan you become a part of somebody else’s. And that’s exactly what happens in social networks. Set a purpose and clear objectives as to why social networks are important to you and your business. Be mindful to separate your personal objectives to your business objectives. Do you want to invest time into social networks to learn and meet new people? Develop relationships with potential customers? Deepen relationships with existing customers? Find a job? A life partner? Once you know your purpose jot down some points painting a picture of success and how much time you want to invest.
Second step is to find the places online where you’re going to hang out.
An easy way to do this is to browse through your existing connections and see which social networks, communities and groups they belong to. Many social networks also have a search feature where you can insert key words that describe the place you’re looking for. Make sure that the community or group is active and the relevant discussions are taking place. Unfortunately most communities and groups online are inactive and deserted.
The final step is to be a frequent visitor.
Visit the places you’ve signed up for, and participate in activities such as reading existing posts, connecting to people you find interesting and contributing content. But do this thoughtfully: do a pulse check every month and evaluate what’s working and what’s not. The upside to online social networks is that you can leave at the click of a button and the chances are nobody will notice you’re no longer there.
Trends in social media ROI measurement
Mary: One of the core questions for many businesses exploring social media tools at the moment is how to measure ROI. At Linqia you are running regular workshops exploring monetization with a number of social networks. What trends do you see emerging there, and are there lessons businesses can draw from these experiences of these social networks?
Maria: The wonderful aspect of social media is the extreme level of transparency. People either engage with your offering or they don’t. ROI can be measured on many levels, depending on the set objectives. We’re seeing a significant shift from page impressions and clicks to performance based metrics such as leads, viewing time, responses, referrals and so on. Businesses are using social media to spread their message and seeing how many people pick up on the message and share it through their networks, recruit new team members, conduct research to create new products or test existing ones amongst focus groups through questionnaires, surveys, polls and discussions, acquire new customers and business partners. There are hundreds of case studies and people discussing this topic - just search for social media ROI in twitter and you’ll find endless references and insights.
ABOUT MARIA SIPKA
Before founding Linqia, Maria spent 2 years at XING, initially as their COO responsible for the company’s international expansion and then as the Director of Community Development building and monetizing their group offerings. She launched one of XING’s flagship groups, ‘Global Business Women’, attracting more than 15,000 women from around the world and famous for its Positive Monday Booster.
From the age of 18-28 Maria founded and led a specialized communication/ marketing agency in Sydney, Australia focused on customer acquisition and retention strategies. More recently, she has worked with Fortune 100 companies and organizations on community and social media strategies.