Social Media and Social Networking

Challenge for Social Media Marketers: Adjusting to Community Conversation Dynamics

Vaibhav Kalamdani — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 19:17:43 +0000

How often do you come across Brands that speak the community’s language and tone? The basic mantra of social media marketing is to understand who your members are, what tone do they speak in, where they are from, and what is their want. Another important component to identify is what environment these members are conversing in. For example, a set of members at a seminar would react and communicate differently compared to Facebook.

Brand Pages are typically classified into:

Customer Service Pages: These include the typical customer service voice that tries to address queries, provide latest information, etc. Their main intention is to protect the Brand’s online reputation, irrespective of the number of fans and interactions they generate. You would mainly find service-related or technology-related Brands taking this route.

Community Pages: These Pages are dynamic in nature. They include a mix of communication tones to best suit the community’s characteristics. You can expect lots of conceptualization, innovations, flexibility and transparency in the way they manage the community members. They speak the tone that their members speak to make them comprehend the information better, create opportunities for interaction and build value over a long time.

Typical Promotional Pages: Generally, all that these Pages care about are numbers, mostly in terms of fans. They sometimes go to the extent in believing that having 10,000 BASIC fans and an average post interaction of 30 is better than having 2,000 QUALITY fans and an average post interaction of 35. A general perception that they carry is higher number of fans means higher impressions, which means more chances of getting clicks and reach of their promotions. But what they fail to consider is how many active users they have on the Page.

Community Members Rule:

Irrespective of which genre your Page is, what matters at the end of the day is that your community members must find a reason to join and stay glued to your Page. For this, you have to closely observe what they say, how they say and when they say, and chalk out a communication tactic around it.

Your community members need to be felt special, important, respected, and friendly in order to create an environment of trust, transparency and fun, where they are comfortable to talk to the Brand. Hence, think before you upload that next post on your Facebook Page!

Facebook’s Loss is MillatFacebook’s Gain

Vaibhav Kalamdani — Sat, 29 May 2010 16:11:56 +0000

Since the last few days, Facebook is experiencing tremendous pressure from certain regions across the world. Not only this, the social networking powerhouse has also been put to test because of the privacy issues, leading to agitation amongst some users who have already threatened to quit the site on May 31st this year.

To add more salt to the wound, we now see the emergence of new social networking sites that seem to capitalize on the opportunity and take the giant head-on. “MillatFacebook” is one of them! It has just been over a week that Facebook was banned in Pakistan for showing “blasphemous” images of the Prophet Mohammed. Similarly, YouTube (along with hundreds of other websites) too was put under the scanner and eventually blocked by agitated users in the region.

About MillatFacebook:

With about 8,000 users already, MillatFacebook, a newly launched Facebook-like social networking site has created a stir in the Muslim world. With six young IT specialists from Lahore rolling out the site on Wednesday this week, the aim was to register their disapproval of the images of Prophet Mohammed and to offer a substitute to Facebook, which is currently facing the heat from thousands of its members.

According to one of the founders of MillatFacebook, the move is also to propagate their technological independence and notify Facebook that it cannot make money from users and then disrespect their views.

Carrying on with Social Networking:

Social networking has become a habit today, and there seems to be no stopping to it. As people across the world embrace Web 2.0, one can only expect innovations to take place in the social media space that would help them connect with each other. Considering this aspect, majority of the Pakistanis have certainly not given up networking after the Facebook ban, but are seeking alternatives of keeping in touch with their friends and family.

It is also believed that several users in Pakistan have switched to other social networking sites, while some have got hold of the proxy servers to access Facebook. Therefore, understanding the popularity of Facebook, it seems the designers of MillatFacebook decided to replicate the login page with a hope of attracting people of all faith, however largely focusing on the Muslim community.

Social Media Opportunities for the Direct-to-Home Industry

Vaibhav Kalamdani — Fri, 21 May 2010 12:51:05 +0000

Not so long ago, social media was a hot-spot for companies belonging to the hospitality, travel & tourism and the financial services industry. But now that the time spent by average users on the social media sites has increased significantly, we have several companies from other industries stepping on the gas and rolling out their official platforms on popular sites like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, etc.

Just recently, Videocon d2h, a popular Direct-to-Home (DTH) service provider in India, launched its official account on Facebook, Twitter and Orkut to engage with users. As the brand is quickly catching up in the Indian market, going social is probably the best way it can further build relationships with the users by addressing their queries, interacting with them, launching campaigns and educating them about their products & services. The response so far that it has generated is tremendous with active user participation and constant brand engagement.

Following are some snapshots of how Videocon d2h is actively addressing user queries and building relationships with its consumers on Facebook.

While the DTH market is large and is entertainment – oriented, brands certainly have tremendous scope on the social media platform to convert users into ultimate consumers and communicate with the existing ones. There lies an opportunity to use the medium as an effective CRM platform by regularly monitoring the brand across the Web and adding another touch-point for Customer Care Support.

Facebook Application “Zoo World” Supports Haiti Cause

Vaibhav Kalamdani — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 11:02:32 +0000

The recent catastrophe that took place in Haiti shocked the entire world. The region not only witnessed a mammoth earthquake, but also saw thousands of its people becoming a victim. Though we cannot blame the nature, nor can we bring back the lives of people, all that we can do is support the families of those dead, provide relief to the ones saved and give our condolences to them.

However, with social media empowering users to voice out their opinions on a large scale, there are certain initiatives that play key role in encouraging people take a step ahead. A popular application on Facebook “Zoo World” has found out a unique – or rather enticing way – to encourage people contribute to the Haiti relief campaign.

The application, which pops up various elements of its application once logged in, had a surprise for its subscribers today. It popped up a “Helping Haiti” message to support the campaign by inviting its users to donate US $1. The proceeds would be passed on to the American Red Cross in its Haiti relief efforts. In addition, it also reciprocates a “Haitian Relief Flamingo” along with 2 “Wildlife Points”, a feature that is part of the application.

About Zoo World: A Facebook application through which users can build their own zoo by purchasing animals and related zoo elements, thereby earning zoo coins and wildlife points that could be used to buy “exclusive animals” within the application.

India’s Leading Mutual Fund Company “UTI” Embraces Social Media

Vaibhav Kalamdani — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 08:39:01 +0000

Unit Trust of India, popularly known as UTI, recently marked their presence on social media to engage with their consumers. The leading mutual fund company – with over 1 crore investor portfolios – has taken the digital route to promote the “Language of Investment” by addressing user queries and helping them achieve a stable financial life.

The mutual fund giant has set up official accounts on social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube to spread its message “Kisney Sikhai India ko Investment ki Bhasha” indicating that UTI MF has taught India the Language of Investment. It conducts activities that lead people to think about investments, wealth management, smart ways to getting rich, etc.

In order to attain user views about the different aspects of finance and investment, UTI MF announces polls to test their knowledge on its fanpage “UTIMF – Let’s Plan to Get Rich”. Besides, it provides investment tips, engages with users from across the world, and provides suggestions for investment on Twitter. The company also has an official YouTube channel featuring its advertisements.

Being one of the oldest firms in the mutual fund industry, the latest move by UTI MF just goes on to show how important “social media” is in today’s marketing context. Platforms like Twitter, Facebook and YouTube have become an essential tool to communicate with users from across the world.

The move also implies that Indian corporate firms are now ready to take up the challenge and be present amongst their consumers online. Is this again a threat to SMEs targeting social media as their strategic marketing channel? Will social media emerge out as the leading marketing channel in 2010? Feel free to share your thoughts and comments.

In Demand: Social Networking On The Move

Vaibhav Kalamdani — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 21:28:35 +0000

You are at a party and wish to upload all the fun on Facebook for everyone to see it. What do you do? Wait for the party to get over, come back home and upload the pics on the computer, eventually uploading it on your profile? Nah! Who has so much time, especially in this fast-moving impatient world? This gave rise to mobile social networking that is fast catching up in developing economies like India and China.

Today, one of the biggest drivers for sales of mobile phones is social networking. Millions of units are sold across the world to users who are social networking addicts. Also, the number is only expected to rise in the coming years as the propensity to spend amongst the users increases. In fact, according to eMarketer, the number of mobile social networking users will grow to 607.5 million globally by 2013, representing 43% of mobile web users worldwide. It also estimates that 13.3% of global mobile users will access social media sites by 2014.

India, with its one-billion-plus population is considered to be one of the strongest markets driving the growth of mobile social networking. Today, an estimated 2.5 million youth access social networking sites and instant messaging on their cell phones in India, suggesting amazing growth opportunities for social networks, telecom service providers as well as handset makers. Statistics show that Facebook, Orkut, Twitter and MySpace are some of the leading social networking sites that are primarily visited by mobile phone users.

Complementing the popularity of social networking sites are handset manufacturers like Nokia and Samsung, who believe mobile-based social networking apps could drive growth amongst a certain section of Indian telecom users. The year 2009 saw mobile manufacturing companies focus on boosting demand in the market by product innovations and channel expansion in metro and semi-urban markets. The near future promises more and more people gaining quick access to the Internet through their mobile phones with faster download capacity.

Pepsi Dumps Super Bowl for Social Media

Vaibhav Kalamdani — Sat, 26 Dec 2009 20:22:33 +0000

Those who are skeptical about social media’s popularity and ability might put their thinking caps on after reading this post. World’s renowned cola brand Pepsi has astonished the advertising industry by its latest move to ignore Super Bowl this year and instead focus on social media. For those unaware, Super Bowl is the championship game of the National Football League, and is considered as the most-watched American television broadcast.

Pepsi, in an effort to leverage social media, has opted to award grants of thousands of dollars in its “Pepsi Refresh Project”, which would be rolling out in January, 2010. As social media is all about people and communities, that’s exactly what Pepsi would be focusing on. It would allow people to visit the “Refresh Project” via several social media platforms and suggest ideas on how the brand could refresh their community. The next process involves voting, which would be carried out during February. Finally, the amount of money ($20 million) saved by not advertising through Super Bowl would be diverted to the project in form of prizes.

Advantage Coke?

Would Pepsi abandoning Super Bowls provide an opportunity for Coke to capitalize on the opportunity? Certainly! As we know, the two brands have been arch enemies since a long time and have tried every possible way to flaunt their superiority through comparative advertising. Embracing social media would allow Coke to enter the scene and create a threat to Pepsi. Saying so, if social media clicks for the latter, it would mean we can see a new kind of competition arising between two of the most popular global brands in the modern media.

Mission Social Media – Would it be Successful?

Over the years, consumers have seen Pepsi as a brand associated with celebrities like Britney Spears, Cindy Crawford or Justin Timberlake, thanks to Super Bowl. But with the change in decision to adopt social media and build communities for a cause, could it mark as a milestone for the company in setting up a trend for other players? Will social media prove to be the right decision for Pepsi over Super Bowl? It is difficult to predict! However, one thing that is indeed certain is that if the plan works, the social media fraternity would be taken even more seriously, forcing other brands to consider it as a powerful marketing medium.

Bharti AXA General Insurance sets on a Stress-free Journey on Social Media

Vaibhav Kalamdani — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 09:07:25 +0000

Brands that are helpful always find a special place in the consumers’ heart. As more and more companies follow the “social media” way to reach out to their customers, there are companies that are taking an extra step to make sure they create a positive impact not only on the business front, but also on the society. Bharti AXA is the latest company to join this list and use social media in a healthy way to promote its messages.

Bharti AXA General Insurance has a dedicated micro-site that focuses on providing solutions to people who are in stress. Besides, it aims at encouraging people to lead a “holistic” life by involving Mickey Mehta, India’s Holistic Health and wellness Guru, to share his health tips and secrets. The site also incorporates exclusive elements like ‘Dare Stress’, ‘Kill my Stress’, ‘Face your inner self’ etc. to provide meaningful experiences to people.

Moreover, those who are addicted (and probably stressed) by over-using social-networking sites also have a reason to rejoice. The company has set-up its own “StressFreeZone” on Facebook, where it discusses interesting and hilarious stuffs to release your stress. The fanpage has already amassed more than 100 fans and is growing stronger day by day.

This is another example of a company that believes in including social media into its integrated marketing strategy. While the motive is to educate people about the ill-consequences of stress, it is remarkable to witness such initiatives taken by brands through social media tools. It also gives a clear signal to those who are still reluctant in using social media, believing it as a waste of money and time.

Orkut Counter-Attacking Facebook?

Vaibhav Kalamdani — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 19:58:31 +0000

It was only 3 to 4 years back when Orkut was the dominating social networking site in Brazil and India. No doubt, it still maintains the lead in these two regions, however the growing popularity of Facebook has forced it to put the thinking cap on to maintain its leader’s position. Not surprisingly, Google-owned Orkut has decided to refurbish its interface and design, which would be rolled out in few days.

Users switching to Facebook from Orkut permanently would now have a reason to stay back due to the latest developments planned by the site. To start with, the new site has fewer pages and quicker browsing to help people connect with each other through multiple activities like chatting, watching videos, browsing and searching within full friends and communities lists on the same page. Secondly, it has reorganized the most important activities on the site for easier navigation and usage with a clean, simple interface.

To give its members a platform to do more than just regular text IM, it now also has video chat along with access to other Google services like maps, Gmail and search within the homepage. Unlike Facebook, users would be able to customize their profile a page with faster photo uploads.

Since the beginning of this year, two of the fastest growing social networking sites in India – Facebook and Twitter have been trying to disturb Orkut’s stand in its domain Brazil and India. In fact, the Zuckerberg-owned Facebook had also proposed an option for its users to switch their friends from Orkut, which might have provided some benefit to the social networking leader.

Moreover, Orkut seemed to have been getting the pinch, especially after it saw a decline in its million unique visitors in September. But with the latest developments in the pipeline, it is roaring a strong message to its competitors that it would not step back. Will this be a redefining phase in the history of social networking, and especially Orkut? We’ll wait and watch!

Unilever Ambitious About Asian Market, Adopts Social Media

Vaibhav Kalamdani — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 15:11:13 +0000

Looking at the rate at which social media is growing amongst small businesses across the world, corporate giants are making sure not to be left behind in experimenting the latest marketing medium. We’ve already seen companies like Ford, General Motors, Coca Cola, Southwest Airlines, etc. embrace social media and using it effectively to create a strong online presence. Now, its time for FMCG (Fast Moving Consumer Goods) companies to set the gear high and ride its benefits! According to Advertising Age, FMCG mogul Unilever is all set to whirl the social media wand in the Asian market.

Apparently, Asia is the biggest market for the FMCG companies to market their products, with demand escalating from fast-developing nations like China and India. Being aware of the growing competition, Unilever has decided to promote three of its popular brands, Pond’s, Lux and Comfort through social media. The aim is to target specific regions and engage users via certain social media platforms like blogs, video-sharing sites, etc. For example, the company plans to use bloggers in a blind test of Pond’s Age Miracle moisturizer as part of its experiment and marketing strategy in the region for the skin-care brand.

The consumption level of skin-care products in China is high, with the Chinese women being particular about the products that they use. This is good news for Unilever, but the growing competition from other brands like L’Oreal, Clinique, Olay brands, P&G’s SK- II and Lancome is a reason to worry for the multinational giant.

Realizing that traditional media causes deeper holes in the pocket than the digital media, Unilever opted for a stealthy digital campaign to generate buzz, establish the product’s credibility and invite Chinese women to try Pond’s Age Miracle. An initiative towards achieving this goal is Onlylady.com, where Unilever asked for volunteers to try out an unidentified anti-aging solution and quickly signed up with 150 official testers, according to Advertising Age.

With over 100 million Chinese claiming to communicate via forums/discussion boards, and 41 million being heavy social-media contributors, it could be risky for Unilever to influence such a massive community. In case if women do not accept the brand, it could fail in the market within no time.

But looking at the past where bloggers gushed over the mysterious moisturizer in several numbers of posts during a 7-day trial last month, with 9 out of 10 continued to promote the brand as enthusiastic, unpaid brand ambassadors, Unilever wouldn’t need to be that worried.

The aim behind the digital campaign is clear. Unilever would like to leverage the tremendous demand available in the Asian market by connecting with its target audience. With this kind of hunger, the company would also like to hunt for customers in other countries like Singapore, India, Indonesia, Vietnam, Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines.

The initiative to launch the campaign could be similar, i.e. targeting bloggers, forums and other social media platforms where users flock in huge numbers. This means, one can expect several activities by the firm in the Southeast Asia belt. With digital media being 1/10th of the cost of traditional media, this strategy could certainly prove useful for Unilever in the short as well as in the long run.

Using Facebook and YouTube:

With over 300 million users on Facebook, a large part of the population apparently comes from Asia. Hence, Unilever plans to exploit the various Facebook fan sites and communities that are dedicated to its brands (like Pond’s). For example, one in the Indonesian city of Bandung has approximately 10,000 members, which the company is using as a test to reach young Asian women, develop tailor-made Facebook activities like games, invitation to events, branded merchandise program offering discounts to local lifestyle hangouts and a mobile app with girl-friendly content, according to Advertising Age.

In the previous month, Unilever invited top beauty bloggers from India, Indonesia and Malaysia to encourage fans and followers to view a spot, called ‘Behave Beautiful’ which features Bollywood star Priyanka Chopra. The contest then requires users to create and upload their own ‘Behave Beautiful’ clips to the Lux YouTube channel.

In fact, it’s not only in Asia, but also the Far-east and Africa that Unilever plans to focus its social media campaign. With so many activities, the company certainly seems to set an example and embark on a long social media journey.