I was really disappointed when Saint Vincent's Hospital in Manhattan closed in April after 160 years. A great, storied institution that helped tens of thousands of New Yorkers, it's where emergency crews took people after the 9/11 tragedy, and where they took all 155 passengers on the flight that Captain Sullenberger scuttled in the Hudson.
Meanwhile, the "Save Saint Vincent's" page on Facebook had 12,204 fans! (The current equivalent would be people who "Like" it.)
It's one thing to be a fan or click on the "like" button; it's quite another to actually do something!
There are all sorts of metrics assigning values to "fans" or people who "like" a page/business/concept, ranging from a few dollars to a few hundred. I don't know what they're thinking, but until you get a fan - someone who clicked that "Like" button - to actually do something, you have nothing! There is more to conversion than a single mouse click.
Remember, folks enjoying their social media habit - whether it's overdosing on Farmville, Café World or cousin Jenny's photo album from her camping trip - don't really want a sales pitch!
For more thoughts on this topic, check out this article.
Ken Greenberg, President and CEO of Long Island advertising agency Austin & Williams, is an expert in all aspects of financial marketing, Predictive Analytics and Geo-Mapping. To read more about Ken, visit his bio section on the A&W Web site.
Comments – 7 responses to “What's it Worth When People "Like" You?”
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Jan 16, 2011 at 9:13 AM What a strange post. Not sure what point you're making about St. Vincent's Hospital and it's Facebook fanpage - that the 12,000 fans should have done something to prevent the closing of the hospital?
You use the phrase "actually do something" twice (separated by just one sentence), as you imply an out-of-touch old school contempt for Facebook.
Idle, rambling posts like this sound like an old man yelling at kids to get off his lawn. I'll be sure to take my business elsewhere. How's that for actually doing something?
Michael Lewis
Jan 17, 2011 at 10:33 AM I agree, it's sad to see an institution like St. Vincents Hospital(SVH) close down. I do see the connection here with the value of a "like" in the context of the relationship between the "liker" and the "likee" (OK, I know I am making up words here).
While many are focusing on the cost of a "like", I agree that the value of a "like" (as the simple action of clicking "like" on Facebook) is pretty hard to quantify.
With SVH, it was one of those things where if you were from NY and saw your friends liking their page, you'd have to join the herd. However when you click a commercial brand, in most cases you are consciously saying "YES, I like this brand so much that I want all my friends to know that I like this brand and I want to receive all news related to this brand! In my mind, there is much greater value in the latter.
Jan 17, 2011 at 11:07 AM Michael -
Thank you for commenting. Facebook has made it very easy for someone to 'Like' a page or group, but in the end what does that mean? Pressing the 'Like' button is not the equivalent of writing to city officials or calling state representatives. Had the 12,000 fans of Save Saint Vincent's picked up a phone, would anything be different?
-Ken
Jan 17, 2011 at 1:16 PM @Michael,
I think your 'idle, ranting' 'old man yelling' comments are really off the mark. While Ken's post is far from comprehensive on the topic (dude, it's a 10 sentence comment), it's a good enough parable to start an interesting conversation; a conversation that you opt out of by going so overboard.
@Ken & Andrew,
I agree that quantifying the value can be tough, particularly when we try to do it generically. Each client, each campaign, each org has a different goal and should keep that goal in mind when valuing their 'likes' or 'follows' or impressions. It might be outrageous for 3 person Not For Profit to pay $1000 for an impression that led to an action, but the same cost for action could be a bargain for a 1 woman Realty.
IMHO it comes down to 2 things: good tools & competent people. Good tools seem to cost a good penny though. The monitoring & measurement tools on the high end ($3,000/mth +) are good and getting better, but that's not an option for our main street businesses who really *need* the benefit of the new media outlets like Social Media. I hope someone's working on that (I've heard that Synthesio may be working on something, could be wrong though). And competent people (also not cheap btw, but always a good investment) will keep the project focused on the right goals, working towards converting those likes to a desired action instead of making them the goal.
btw Ken, sad as it may be, I'm not convinced getting those folks to call would've changed much either...
Jan 17, 2011 at 2:01 PM Andrew & Jeff,
Thanks for the feedback.
Jeff, you're absolutely right: 12,204 calls probably would not have done it. 6,000 people at CIty Hall might have, though.
Little publicized fact: Goldman & Citi stepped in at the 11th hour with the money to save St. Vincent's. They needed the good PR, and decided to throw in with Mayor Bloomberg's office for even more press coverage.
The shocker: Bloomberg told them to "let it go down. It will make the remaining hospitals stronger." Presumably he changed that position at almost the 12th hour, but the Department of Health was singing from that same playbook.
I suspect that Bloomberg's change of heart, while leaving the ultimate decision to close with the Department of Health, was just political cover. This way, he could point to them. To the average New Yorker, none of this made any sense - since there were no other hospitals to serve the downtown West side.
St. Vincent's never should have closed.
Jan 17, 2011 at 2:31 PM "It's one thing to be a fan or click on the "like" button; it's quite another to actually do something!" Does anyone disagree with this?
A Facebook like means at some point in time, and for whatever reason, someone declared an affinity to you, your brand, your hospital, whatever. That either does or does not have value depending on about a trillion different variables.
It's idle to say it has no value, and insensitive to use St. Vincent's hospital, and its Facebook fans as an example. I disagree with you Jeff (dude this is the President and CEO of a company that claims expertise in this area).
But Jeff I do appreciate your c.2007 social media expert impression - hysterical! ("folks" - lol!)
http://tpdsaa.tumblr.com/page/3
Jan 17, 2011 at 3:28 PM @Ken, that's disappointing to hear, but unfortunately not totally shocking.
@Michael, finally a useful addition to the conversation, the TPDSAA blog! My favorite: http://tpdsaa.tumblr.com/post/2640039726 - I've heard most folks who are Social Media Ninja Rockstars like me like this one.