"More pleasure-driven than marketing-driven"

The (provisional) conclusion of the series of mini case studies on the use of social media is not about the big names and the high-flyers, but about examples that are less prominent in the WEmad.org rankings. Because these can be just as successful in their respective environments - even if they don't have huge fan numbers.

Angelink: We don't use Facebook with great economic calculation, but spontaneously," says Markus Gabriel, owner and creative director of the crossover agency Angelink AG, which specializes in online and social media marketing. The aim of the Facebook page is to "make the human side of the company tangible" and also to increase the reach of web posts. They enjoy the "Facebook playground" and run the page "more for fun than for marketing". In a small company, this is primarily a matter for the boss, but the rule is: "Everyone can, no one has to." This means that nothing is planned and Facebook serves "as a vessel for spontaneous ideas that are then given a home and would otherwise peter out". And this also has a positive effect, as Gabriel concludes: "Some people who didn't know us before now think we're worth recommending."

Comparis: "We had to learn that our core competencies of health insurance and insurance are not topics that easily work in social media," says Dominique Candik, summing up the experience to date. As Online Marketing Manager at the comparison service Comparis, he is also responsible for all content, appearances and functions in the area of social media. In the beginning, it was not yet clearly understood that the sole dissemination of news via these new channels "basically does not correspond to the nature of social media". Today, the company is trying to offer a good mix of information and entertainment. The aim is to "specifically promote dialog with our users in order to create added value". There are four fan pages on different topics on Facebook, but "the potential here has certainly not yet been exhausted". On Twitter (786 followers) and YouTube (250,000 views), however, the company can "show good figures". However, the company is not only interested in quantitative targets (number of fans), but also wants to "communicate qualitatively well above all". Comparis therefore relies on funny and entertaining clips to explain the rather dry content in order to appeal to users more through emotional content.

Hostpoint: The leading Swiss web hosting provider (according to its own information) has engaged Thomas Brühwiler, who has been known as "BloggingTom" in the online scene for years and has the relevant expertise and contacts, to manage its social media presence. For him, "pure information distribution via social channels as an advertising slingshot is an absolute 'nogo'". Instead, the dialog with existing customers and new prospects is "very diverse" and ranges from information on services to support requests. So far, the main focus has been on establishing Twitter as a communication channel. After the summer vacations, there will be increased activity on Facebook, as the company has "deliberately taken its time". He emphasizes that Hostpoint actively participates in the community and has supported the bi-monthly pokeRT social media party in Zurich as a presenting partner from the very beginning. Because, says Brühwiler, "we believe that 'social' is not just limited to online."

Aeropers/SwissALPA: When the pilots' negotiations with Swiss over a new collective labor agreement stagnated last fall, the pilots' staff association launched a social media presence, as board member and press spokesman Thomas Steffen reports. "We are very satisfied", because "very quickly" there was "a considerable number" of fans on the Facebook page, and the blog is also read and quoted by the media. In this way, the company was able to ensure that the true facts were reported and not simply the employer's account. On the other hand, the company learned from Swiss when setting up and operating its social media activities, but sought advice from an experienced professional. Steffen cannot put a figure on the amount of work involved in social media, "because a lot of it takes place in our free time".

ASIP pension fund association: "Social media is an important channel for us to maintain a direct exchange with parts of the interested public, but also to bring our information, which actually affects the entire population, directly and unfiltered to the public without major costs," says Peter Metzinger from Business Campaigning Switzerland, who manages the site on a contract basis and spends 15 full-time equivalents on it. The social media commitment was triggered by the federal vote on the adjustment of the conversion rate in March 2010, when, according to Metzinger, "massively false information about the second pillar was spread". A pilot project was therefore launched in May 2010 with the aim of increasing traffic on the www.mit-uns-fuer-uns.ch website and encouraging the public to contact ASIP directly with questions. It is "not so easy" to produce interesting content from the pension fund world every two to three days, which is why Metzinger draws on daily media and web monitoring and picks out the most interesting articles, comments on them or uses them as an opportunity for his own contributions. "The biggest challenge is getting enough attention and stimulating dialog. For many people, the topic of pension funds is too distant and not emotional enough." But things are going well: "We have managed to generate just as much traffic as we had directly before the vote, when interest in the topic was very high among the population. On Twitter, we're well on the home straight with important political opinion leaders following us."

Business Campaigning Switzerland: Metzinger is a pioneer in the use of online communication tools. He blogs and is active on social media channels himself, using the in-house development seReive to post on several channels simultaneously. He comments critically on the current development: "I see an unhealthy hype in the last year and a half, which makes me fear that it will be followed by a big disappointment." Because: "Firstly, too many companies and organizations do not have a proper social media strategy and secondly, they are not aware of how huge the cultural change in the company has to be in order to be able to use social media properly so that it really pays off." Although there are many providers with strengths in the operational area, there is too little strategic know-how.

Christoph J. Walther