Blog Visibility | Indian Social Media Landscape - Part 7 Indian Social Media Landscape

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Social Media Mascots Amplify Brand Voice

Friday, February 15th, 2013

Precisely, a mascot visually represents complete attributes of a brand. Consumers have seen, appreciated and related very actively with brand mascots. One reason also being that mascots are very capable in distinguishing between the competitors by striking an emotional connection with consumers. Mascot is therefore also considered as powerful as the logo. Now, with the social media sector booming, mascots are also on the verge of and are already portraying immense success for brands through this platform.

It goes without saying that with rising competition in the world of marketing and branding there’s a great need for the brand managers to instill in the big idea into their branding. Brands, recently are imbibing the trend of marketing with a sophisticated approach wherein mascots are trying to step in to add a personal touch to the corporate brands too.

These brand imageries or mascots which were known to communicate the most essential echelon of advertising and marketing seemed to have faded in the past few years. They were again brought oi light by a few brands. During those days animation was not active as today and ad men used to play with unrealistic characters trying to stand out in terms of the brand.

Introduction of social media to brands using mascots occurred during the phase when Pillsbury doughboy and Ronald Mc Donald were created.

Brand mascots are usually very creative, colourful, dynamic and appealing making them recognizable and easy to identify with. Once this association wherein consumers could easily relate with the brand is established brand awareness increases.

Gone are the days when products had a few seconds television commercial to generate the character of the brand and mascot. Today the advancement in technology lets the creativity to flow across brands allowing them to play with photorealistic stuff or mascots. Virtual brand mascots are now playing another great role to enhance the characteristics of a brand.

Social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, brands have unlimited space, time and flexibility to create, integrate and evolve with mascots or brand characters. The direct approach attribute along with the sharing capacity that these digital platforms provide render a much wider, louder and fairer space to communicate to its audience.

Nowadays, the frequency with which brands are exploiting the social media platforms to communicate with or through mascots or animated characters is adding a new dimension to their branding strategies. Entrepreneurs and brand managers are now developing more integrated branding communication wherein they are taking efforts to couple the viral online campaigns with television and radio slots etc. this in turn encourages the viewers and audience to engage with the brand and learn online about their much liked mascots.

A question thus arises that what are the benefits of owning a brand mascot, and that also digitally or socially?

Well, this approach gives marketers a chance to endow the brands with an embodied face and voice for their brands. This not only humanizes the brands and its products but brings them closer to their consumers too. The consumer of today loves to interact online, like, comment, tweet or share with a cute mascot or character than with a faceless brand communication.

Industries like insurance have also taken a leap ahead to try their hands on the use of mascots. Use of animated characters is seen creating a significant impact within the social media buzz through their brand mascot. These mascots and animated characters have also started spreading the brand message either through YouTube videos, Twitter, games on Facebook etc.

The appearance and voice of the mascot is equivalent to the voice of the brand.

When its about Social media marketing techniques, the efforts by these brand mascots are a really great way to engage more consumers and grow the business.

Consumers on Facebook also want to dynamically bond with the mascot or animated character than just interacting through the traditional techniques of delivering product or industry news and features. Mascots on social media platforms soft sell the products which is greatly in sync with the psychology of online consumers. Consumers nowadays are less likely to interact with a logo or the PR person on social media.

Mascots are a delight to a brand as branding elements that help to connect allowing the digital marketing methods to emerge with a ‘timeline’ story, a completely new thing. Sustaining a character requires manpower that is dedicated to keep the mascot alive, active and going. Some old mascots and characters like the Amul Girl have already become active on Facebook and tweeting out the brand message across successfully. Vodafone Zoozoos have captured millions of hearts by not only communicating the core brand message but doing it with an element of fun and excitement to which consumers could relate to easily.

The animated characters or mascots are adorable, likeable and fun creating a long lasting impression on people’s minds. Be it naughty Amul Girl or Ronald Mc Donald these mascots or characters perk up the characteristics of a brand on social media if you ‘Like’ or ‘Tweet’.

Amul Girl

Seen in the Polka doted dress, the lovely Amul Girl has initiated the concept to showcase picture of (politics, entertainment, sports, culture) Indian or Global. Creatively showcased, this is a popular brand mascot.

You can also check how consumers are following Amul on Twitter fostering brand recall.

Vodafone Zoozoos

Encouraging more followers on Twitter brought Vodafone a great brand loyalty towards its offers etc.

There are a certain parameters that brand managers and social media strategists should think about like:

· Do these characters and mascots relate to the Target audiences?

· Does it display the brand attributes strongly & effectively on social media?

· Do these characters give a fresh and new angle to your marketing and branding?

· Does it foster brand recall?

Whereas, if we look at celebrity endorsements one cannot avoid the fact that they come with higher costs of brand endorsements. One celebrity endorses many brands causing a clutter factor and poor brand recall. Brands apparently are considered to be the same as the celebrity who endorses it. So, any negative happening on their end would affect the brand personality and the complete brand association might go for a toss.

On the other hand, mascots and animated characters are flexible. They are very unique and do not fade with times. No two animated characters and mascots are alike. Brands just need to add in life-like situations and a tinge of imagination to enjoy a completely different world of their brand/product altogether.

ICICIDirect also went the animated way on social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. They introduced Mobo & Gyano to educate users about financial planning via Social Media. In this campaign, Mobo & Gyano talk about why people need to do financial planning. Click this to know more on how a brand campaign, ICICIDirect in this case through animated characters and mascots can be fruitful.

Garnier Pure Active had also initiated a ‘Bust blackheads’ campaign with Facebook. It was a great campaign starring blackheads as characters with names and personalities and who live on your face.

This is a great example of how a brand can relate with the consumers psyche for better engagement and identity.

An International brand GEICO- an auto/car insurance brand which has this Gecko, a popular spokeslizard sharing views and advices related to the brand attributes of car insurance.

The Facebook page is popularly called as The GEICO Gecko.

Twitter

On Social Media:

During a launch phase of a product, giving your mascot or character a Facebook page and a twitter is a brilliant idea. Besides posting and tweeting about new product developments, the page could be filled with humour and latest news too.

Encouraging and interesting tone of language will foster interactions. The character or mascot has to be a part of your marketing strategy which has to be simple and precise.

Regular interactions, answering queries along with tracking the suggestions by fans are also very important.

Mascots and animated characters keep the interest levels very high. Social media helps for personal interaction. Platform like Facebook give a face to the brands if they are willing to use mascots. People easily connect and communicate with these elements online.

Mascots on social media promote soft sell.

Presence of mascots consistently across all social media platforms for spreading the brand message throughout render uniformity to the brand attributes.

In case of an economic downfall or financial crisis the goodwill that a mascot had created goes a long way in sustaining the brand.

A huge potential lies in unleashing the mascot or a character as the consumers today also respond more frequently to these non-human characters positively. They have now become receptive to the mascot concept on social media.

When voiced through an element of affection like a mascot, campaigns garner more interaction, passion and brand loyalty; successfully tapping into the consumer psychology. Storylines, personalized updates and profiles that are rendered to these mascots pull in more audiences to the brand page augmenting more interaction between the consumer and the brand. Mascots and characters have a personality of their own that has successfully resonated with the consumers in a positive way. And this goes without saying that the growth that these mascots are adding is more likely to stay in times to come gifting the brands with larger loyalty and recognition levels.

A lot of brands have started setting standards with mascots on social media, going viral, amazing content etc. to make their products interesting. This is helping them generate a great amount of traffic to their social media presence. It’s a great opportunity for other brands to exploit this idea for their brands too.

In a nutshell, mascot can reap amazing benefits for a company on social media because:

They will personify your product online. Users tend to enjoy operating within a particular network. Hence, an ad campaign attracts more conversations when everything is available on Facebook page of the brand.
Customer service gets a facelift with an imagery or character interacting with consumers to solve their queries and problems. Mascots with an added element of fun and entertainment make consumers happy in a big way.
Content being the king on social media, a great content engages, entertains and encourages consumers more to understand the brand/product. Therefore, a good content helps companies to deliver their message through mascots.
Concluding on a core thought about mascots, brand managers should use the mascots skillfully to communicate the brand message effectively. On the other hand, if it is allowed to drift even a little, it can surpass the core message fostering inappropriate brand associations.
With emerging competition, brand managers should now start to shift the paradigm of their minds to Mascots for the brands. This in turn should be implied strongly through social media platforms. More social the mascot takes the brand, higher the benefits, and greater the brand recall. Do you think bring mascots on social media is a brilliant idea? Will mascots on social media propel greater brand associations and loyalty? Do you think the current trend of conveying the message and brand attributes through these characters on social media will render a strong branding? Will the consumers online be able to get the complete brand message through mascots voicing the brands?

Tags:Brand Mascots go Social, Mascots, Mascots on Social Media, Social Media, Social Media Mascots
Posted in Blog Content, Blog Visibility, Blogs | No Comments »

Stationery Brands Go Social

Friday, February 1st, 2013

Social Media has reached a phase where a person’s tweet is a great matter of concern for all brands, Facebook posts are clearly analyzed by organizations, followed by Linkedin updates which foster insightful studies. Pinterest, YouTube & Google+ also queue up as some of the most effective social media tools triggering the finest marketing strategy for brands across the globe. In the past few years technology has changed the way Stationery brands approach their target audience.

Now, its not just the next door neighbor who hears about it, but the entire World. The basis of this fact is a clear indication of Social Media influence. Stationery Industry is moving ahead with a great pace to stand out from the competition and acquire attention from its consumers.

Kids being the primary target followed by corporate and other segment it turns out to be great challenge for the stationery sector to structure its loom towards them. Innovations, designs, variety and quality in the stationery products are some of the top attributes that instigate the buying behavior.

With social media, marketing has become more like a conversation. People view, review and communicate your brand out to the World across platforms. Blogs, social media platforms, review sites, videos and a lot more are branches to the root of your communication.

Marketing your stationery products online has a potential to offer you a variety of benefits. Spreading the word about your stationery business can lead to increased sales, fans and identity across. Social Media also allows you to stay in touch with existing customers, which can help you develop long-term relationships with loyal customers. Many stationery brands like ITC Classmate, Faber Castell, Staedtler, Staples, Post It, Scotch, Pentel, Crane & Co. etc. implementing social media strategies into branding & marketing effectively. Marketing is measurable; therefore, one can track and re-use the marketing strategies that produce the maximum return on investment for your stationery products business.

Social media integration into the stationery sector sounds as a challenging factor but when blended together with appropriate strategy and planning, it exhibited flavourful outcomes. As a stationery sector one must talk about the strength of social media and using internet as a marketing tool with an emphasis on synergizing the paper with the online.

Have a look at how some of the Stationery brands are shining on Social Media:

ITC Classmate

Classmate has gradually evolved with its successful presence across social media platforms. Its presence on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube has added a silver lining to its cloud of products, services and offerings. Its loved by students and appreciated for its approach.

Facebook

Twitter

YouTube

Staples

Staples is the world’s largest office products company and a trusted source for office solutions. It provides products, services and expertise in the categories of office supplies, technology, furniture, Copy & Print, and cleaning and breakroom. It has achieved a great recognition on Social Media.

Facebook – India

Facebook – US

Staedtler

Post-it

Faber Castell

Faber Castell is a leading stationery company which offers range of colouring and writing instruments for schools and offices. It exports to over forty countries and has seven manufacturing units across India producing high quality products, safe for children and environment.

Twitter

Moving on there’s Crane & co., a stationery brand that has implemented immensely beautiful innovation and design into its products. It is very active on Social Media and a very inspiring brand of the industry.

Crane & Co. is a well known brand in stationery and innovations.

Facebook

Twitter

YouTube

User experience should be the top priority in order to acquire the best fans to your brand and in turn retain them with the best social approach. The digital connection that is efficiently blending into the world of stationery brands is evident across multiple platforms. This is further creating an amazing digital impact on stationery design and messaging that the manufacturers & retailers do to market and promote the products.

A social shift like this is a major driving force for this era, whether its Facebook, Twitter or Pinterest, every platform is playing a great role in connecting the consumers to one another trying to fit their brands into their digitized and communication grid.

Now the question evolves what if consumers talk negative about your brand or business? The hidden fact here is that if your marketing has been strong to reach them, they will at some point talk about your business, be it positive or negative. They might have had a poor experience at your store, disliked your product, or maybe their queries would have been unanswered for long. Here, you just need to address the issue, work on it and resolve it! This approach will, in times to come prevent a retailer or manufacturer from losing a customer on account of an off experience.

It is extremely essential for a Stationery Brand to connect with its consumers on all the social or digital outlets. From having a faint idea about a product to a clear understanding of the same makes a lot of difference not only for the consumers but for brands too. Allow your consumers to discover your product offerings, generate interest and in turn experience it. As a Stationery brand work towards building an emotional connection, appealing your consumer’s minds and implementing innovation in your product.

Moving on, Design is the most important key for stationery companies if they want to tap into and sustain in this tech savvy, art-loving and fast moving consumer block. A great attention is being paid to the ‘Likes’, ‘Shares’, ‘Tweets’, 140 characters, ‘Pins’ etc. by stationery brands. Perhaps, their marketing strategies are gradually blending with social media at a remarkably consistent pace.

Whatever the fusion, but stationery is turning out to be a great sector in this social space and digital culture creating wonders. Traditional techniques of approaching the stationery buyers have changed on a large scale and this fresh revolution is very much appreciated by the masses.

In the Stationery sector; design, innovation and creativity will always be the major attractions. Depicting the brand offerings in 140 characters have been and will always be a challenge for this sector. With new media changing constantly, what are the challenges that have you encountered in your social media marketing as an Entrepreneur or a Brand manager? Will your ‘stationery’ brand no more be ‘stationary’ and successfully be on a constant move to shape future communications? With so many brands on Social Media will it be able to penetrate through the brand clutter? Is your social media strategy strong enough to facilitate a real time return on investment?

Tags:Social Media, Stationery Brands on Social Media, Stationery Sector, Stationery sector on Social Media
Posted in Blog Content, Blog Visibility, Blogs, Social Media | 2 Comments »

FMCG Brands Now Powered by Social Media

Tuesday, January 15th, 2013

When we discuss about the FMCG sector, we can see that nowadays consumers are provided with numerous choices in every shelf of every category. Those days have also faded away when there was only one-way communication and are very positively replaced by two-way communication in the social world. This in turn affected the decision making process of the consumers in a great way. The consumer behavior is different now compared to what it was years ago.

Consumers’ today research, review & seek recommendations; analyze the post purchase experience etc. before initiating any purchase. Their will to reach out to the brands directly and with ease has become easy with social media wherein the engagement and interactions lead to purchase decisions.

When leveraging an FMCG firm using social media, one should base it on few parameters like: core consumers, their engagement, tracking the interactions about the brand, measuring the success of the brand in social media and most importantly the challenges faced by FMCG brand managers in the social space.

In order to identify the core consumers, FMCG brands should not think of segmenting their social media audience. Instead, they should try engaging with the existing customers irrespective of whether they are core or not and utilize the social media tools to achieve brand’s goals.

When you are planning out a social media strategy for your FMCG brand, the initial step is listening to what your consumer has to say. Therefore the social journey of your FMCG brand should always begin with social listening. This will build up a lot of possibilities that the brand can utilize to further strengthen the bond with its customers.

Analyzing the interactions will help you gain a deeper insight into your consumer’s minds and their sentiments towards your brand. For a solid measurement of your Return on Investment always keep a consistent eye on your competitor’s activities and structure your activities accordingly.

Social Media facilitated FMCG brands to become more self expressive and stand out amongst the rest as a more challenging one.

When it’s about FMCG brands, they are amongst some of the most innovative and prompt in their Social & Digital media use. What potentially matters are the efforts taken by these brands to stay ahead in the market.

Before moving on, here are a few ways that FMCG brands should take up to market in social media:

· Plan and implement your marketing activities to know what the consumers feel about your brand. Let them not only know about the brand, but understand it, relate to it.

· Engage with your consumers. Try to reach out to their needs and directly connect with them.

· Your marketing activities should be a part of your consumer’s lives. It should reach out to them to wherever they go as they are the ones who will initiate the final purchase.

· Social media is more of a two-way communication. Do remember to ask questions to your consumers and get ideas.

· Last but not the least; do not confuse social media with media. Both have a different approach and strategy.

Challenges for FMCG brands in Social Media

An effort needs to be taken by FMCG firms/brands to not just limit their strategies, thoughts and marketing activities to campaigns in social media, but to think beyond that. They need to structure ways in which the can use the social media tools to engage more consumers persistently.

There is a great potential for FMCG firms to create a mark through social media platforms. Moving ahead, viral videos etc. can be great for an FMCG brand, but they might end up being recalled as a video or some game, but maybe not as a brand. Therefore, a strong consumer engagement through effective social media marketing on a regular basis sees greater prospects for the brand.

What the entrepreneurs need to focus on today is that social & digital media need to be integrated with all the marketing activities effectively for a successful rise of their brands.

Social Media offers the FMCG marketers a direct access to the users of their products. Engagement, of consumer with the brand gives an insight of what people actually want from the brand.

Well, there can be times when an FMCG brand has to face problems such as time consumption and signifying the Return on Investment followed by lower levels of commitment by the consumers more likely occurring due to reduced brand resonance. In order to avoid or overcome these hurdles, FMCG brand managers need to focus on a certain principles to work successfully on social media:

– Set Goals

– Clearly understand the Social Media Tools

– Set up metrics to measure success

– Relate to the consumer

– Discover influencers & Invest in success

– Flexible approach

– Measure social media responses

– Consistent Interactions/Conversations

FMCG firms need to monitor and analyze the insights of their brand’s social media presence on a regular basis. One has to keep a check on what consumers are talking online about their brand and their competitor’s. An essential social media strategy will help a brand to maintain its industry standards and stay on top.

Therefore, the most authentic part of any social media strategy shines when an FMCG brand manager takes care of certain parameters namely:

– Consumer Insights: Examine the conversations happening about your brand and your competitor’s brand and plan your communication based on that.

– Competitive Analysis: Identify what your competitors are doing already and design your strategy to stand out as a stronger brand.

– Customer Service: Interact with your consumers, respond to their queries, enquiries etc.

– Track Trends: Discover the trending topics regularly and track them for a better understanding of your communication strategy

– Category Research: A regular study of your product category will give you a larger picture of your presence in the same.

– Crisis Management: Stay well equipped to identify and respond to potential crisis circumstances.

The marketing of FMCG products on Social Media, as we discussed earlier is not an easy victory that can achieved in a day’s time. One has to be aware of the fact that a consumer nowadays is more concerned about what they feel when they purchase and use a particular product.

FMCG brand marketers therefore stress largely on the feel good factors and factors with which consumers easily relate to.

Have a look at an exciting blend of information on the Social Presence of few of the FMCG brands:

Cadbury

With a focus to make everyday a celebration, Cadbury Dairy Milk went a long way to establish itself socially. When Pappu passed his exam, Cadbury came up with its ‘Kuch Meetha Ho Jaaye’ proposition followed by the ‘Shubh Aarambh’ one. Its doing really well on social platform. check out Cadbury Dairy Milk on Facebook.

Maggi

The lip-smacking noodles delight, Maggi came up with the ‘Meri Maggi’ concept and reached out to the nation widely. Its tonality online is very generic, neutral and simple.

Facebook

YouTube

Nescafe

Nescafe India Facebook page’s communication is based on the “Shake it, Make it” campaign. Although the brand does not involve lot of things that can be spoken about but its online campaign and activities keeps a major consumer base hooked to the page. Nescafe on Pinterest works a lot in creating an interest in consumer’s minds regarding the brand.

Pepsi

Pepsi as a brand is more youthful, fun and exciting. Its presence on Social Media is a well thought marketing strategy that incites the target audience to live the brand. It achieved great responses online which further helped them to structure their marketing strategy.

YouTube

Google+

Pinterest

Facebook

Twitter

There rests a great potential for FMCG brands to explore Social Media platforms and leverage their brand identity. The rising competition in times to come will surely influence and encourage the FMCG sector to create a name in Social Media World.

In the FMCG sector, a desire to be elevated on social media will always prevail with the hits of yesterday transforming to the likes of today. What is essential is how you differentiate your brand and make it unique amid the brand clutter. As Entrepreneurs and Brand managers of FMCG firms, what challenges have you encountered in your social media marketing? How have you structured the social media plan for your FMCG brand? Is your social media strategy strong enough to facilitate a real time return on investment?

Tags:FMCG, FMCG and Social Media, FMCG Brands powered by Social Media, Social Media in FMCG Sector, Social Media Marketing, Social Media tools
Posted in Blog Content, Blog Visibility, Blogs, Social Media, Social Media Marketing | No Comments »

Social Media Leverages the Beauty Industry

Monday, December 31st, 2012

Social Media is emerging like wildfire, with sites like Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Google+ and YouTube growing by leaps and bounds. The beauty Industry has realized the advantages of social media and is using this platform to market and engage new customers. Many reputed beauty brands have already taken a leap into the bandwagon and have successfully leveraged social media to connect, engage and interact with consumers, current and prospective thereby building strong relationships.

Beauty is a worldwide phenomenon with a multitude of brands making name and building reputation from the consumers wanting to look pretty. Beauty is slowly turning into a breeze in Social Media and people are happily buying into it.

Have you ever wondered that social platforms like YouTube, Pinterest, Facebook, Twitter and Blogs do keep us connected, help us gain knowledge etc. but can they make us beautiful too?

Its very much apparent that whenever somebody talks about the possibilities of social media for the beauty industry all faces light up. This lighting up indeed is followed by a series of questions with raised eyebrows as to how to handle it? What about the monetary aspect behind it? How to do it properly?

Well, one perfect start and a premium marketing strategy will speak for itself in the long run.

Women are very much passionate about their beauty, looks, beauty products and overall skincare. This is a strong point for the entrepreneurs who want to get into the league of leveraging their brand through social media. One thing that has to be kept in mind for sure is giving great experiences to your consumers, yes, and this is the key!

Beauty Industry is very competitive as every brand aims to stand distinct from the crowd, creating a social brand identity. Social Media plays a vital role in uplifting and highlighting your brand’s strengths and forte to the World.

Integration of Social Media strategy into the marketing mix when focused in the right direction generates brand awareness, attracts more fans to your product and thereby increases customer loyalty.

Word of mouth endorsement, when it comes to selling beauty products is incomparable. Target audience for this sector being women, they always admire the first hand personalized experience of any product. Beauty Brands like Lakme, Ponds, Be Beautiful, Avon etc. to name a few have embraced the power of social media in a way that increased their graph of brand awareness and customer loyalty. Regular interactions, enticing product updates, contests, freebies etc. are a few activities through social media that create engagement.

Studying the growth happening online, there lies a great potential for the Beauty Industry to craft online communities of fans and attract the authentic customers for your brand. They can basically help you promote your brand. ‘User generated content’ here holds high power as when it is about beauty products and cosmetics, an advice or commendation from a user or consumer does a great job.

Beauty Industry is also realizing the importance of communication with their customers through social media. Besides, social media is also generating revenue for this industry like never before. Analyzing the current scenario, Blogs are more likely to drive product purchases than magazine ads.

When we talk about fans and followers we can clearly see how the reputed names in the beauty industry are racking up the fans on these social media platforms.

Many international brands are doing a great job via this platform. Mac Cosmetics, Sephora, Maybelline, L’Oriel Paris, Estee Lauder, Revlon to name a few have a great fan base that not only follow these brands but represent the complete brand.

The top searches on YouTube and Google tend to be from women searching for beauty information.

Integrating the Beauty & Social Media aspect

People do share about beauty online. Social networks today, enrich a complete brand experience for consumers. Product recommendations, opinion building, sharing interests etc is a common happening that is spreading online on social networks. The strength of word of mouth is clearly illustrated through the way people share views about beauty products online. It influences the consumer behavior towards the purchase of any product.

Facebook:

Top barnds like MAC, Lancome and Unilever surfaced as leaders on Facebook with powerful campaigns. Dove & P&G being the next, who also used Facebook as the CRM tool.

Focusing on Community & Engagement and not sales is sure to give you fruitful results. Reward fans on a regular basis. Create a communication plan. Interact with your customers and provide them support on a regular basis. Below are the snapshots of what Lakme Salon, Be Beautiful, Pond’s India, Dove Avon etc.

Twitter:

For an engaging Twitter experience for your customers in just 140 characters you need to take into consideration a few techniques.

You can release special codes and discounts via Twitter. Crowd sourcing is a new untapped resource which can be thought of too. Customer service, interactions and regular tweets on your products through your brand profile on Twitter builds your brand identity to a great level.

Pond’s India

Dove

Lakme Salon

Avon

Google+:

We believe a Beauty Brand’s presence on Google+ keeps the consumers updated with the content or discussion from the though leaders in social media & marketing. Google+ is expected to gradually roll out more features for brands in times to come.

So, if you are on Google+, you standout in the Google search. Retaining customer loyalty is another advantage wherein, you as a beauty sector on Google+ reflect both social and search influence through your actions and activities on this platform. You can therefore appear in the search results by sharing keyword related posts about your brand or product.

Be Beautiful

YouTube:

Video sharing websites are flooded with Beauty or Hair & Make-up related videos like: How to get a perfect eye makeup? How to straighten or curl your hair? Or maybe How to get that star or celebrity look?

After you upload them, these beauty videos have the potential to receive millions of views. Beauty video holds great possibility of going viral in a very short time as people will be sharing it via other social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest etc. interested users can watch, comment and post their responses on the videos. This is very helpful for the brand to reach out to the World.

Dove

Be Beautiful

Avon

Pinterest:

Pinterest is a great social media tool that creates a lot of Beauty noise visually. Its a complete visual treat to the eye as consumers get to see what they love and pin it. They can create boards for a variety of styles they like, for makeup and other such beauty related material. For brands it is a very essential tool as Pineterst encourages the sharing & re-pinning of photos enhancing the possibility of them spreading worldwide audience over a very short period. Photos can also be linked to the websites and blogs.

Lakme Salon

Avon

Blogs:

As compared to the magazine ads, Blogs hold great power in terms of the beauty information they provide. Purchase graph also is more likely to rise. Beauty bloggers post about the brand, its products, trends in the market, tutorials, beauty tips & techniques and a lot more on topics to which users are more likely to relate themselves with.

Beauty Industry or companies can take another beautiful route of enlisting the reputed beauty bloggers and giving them a product or service to blog about. This will help your company receive a huge amount of publicity not only from the blogger’s audience but beyond that too. There rests a immense chance of them to visit your website and maybe make a purchase.

Let’s talk about some of the best practices for any beauty brand online. In a Nutshell,

A beauty Industry needs to:

Get Visual: Be it Facebook or Twitter, pictures speak a lot and get a lot more response than the textual posts only. You can try updating a trendy haircut, or a smoky eye makeup, your latest salon equipments, or some nail art etc. People love the visual treat a lot.

Engage Fans: Communication, when done in a two-way process goes a long way. People generally start talking about your brand. You can start asking questions and engage with your fans or consumers. Start asking questions, conduct surveys or start etting feedback on your products and services.

Keep it casual & Have fun: Social Media is not designed to keep it all corporate, so ensure you design your posts, tweets, pins & updates in a way that reflect your brand identity & your business on the whole. Whether your brand deals in cosmetics, spa or hairstyling; you should keep it in mind to display your brand standards.

Cross Promotion: This is where you need to take into use all your Social Media handles. You can include the links into your social media accounts, website etc. Placing a signage on your salon windows, style stations help a lot too. You can also state the link on your business cards shifting your business cards encouraging the people to follow you on Twitter, Facebook or Pinterest.

Track the Results: Keep a regular track of the responses your brand is getting on the Social Platforms its present on. Types of posts, time and day, social media promotions, everything can be measured. A consistent analysis of the same will help you plan out your online strategy accordingly and drive more and more traffic to your spa, salon or store.

Beauty Industry embraces a huge scope in terms of growing through social media. Brands need to be honest when they speak out their brand or products to consumers; the sole reason being people. Yes, people nowadays are too much into online research before they head to purchase something. So you as an organization need to listen; talk and then share valuable brand information. Fan following reaches to its peak when you showcase your passion and expertise in the beauty product you are talking about. To create that special beauty buzz, contests and giveaways are very effective. What we mean to say is, the strategy with which you move ahead should make your fans talk about you and love your brand.

Social Media marketing is the talk of the industry nowadays. Amidst the innovations and developments, Beauty and personal care companies must work towards growing their channels of communication with their consumers. Creating applications that sync with the technology today will go a long way in leveraging the Beauty Sector.

In this Industry, where every new day witnesses a brand evolving with a strategic Social Media plan and gaining successful outcomes, what is your take on the Beauty Sector going Social? Will this sector touch the graphs of success leveraging it through social media? Will it stand out as the one stop shop for all Beauty needs post identifying their business niche’ in this crowded market segment?

Tags:Beauty, Beauty and Social Media, Beauty Industry, Cosmetic Sector, Social Media
Posted in Blog Content, Blog Visibility, Social Media | No Comments »

Tourism Industry Enticed to Social Media

Saturday, December 15th, 2012

Tourism Industry has witnessed a great transformation compared to the bygone days. Today, with technology taking a superior stand in people’s lives, an era of connectivity and engagement is born. A large part of traditional way of communication is swapped with the Social Media way of communication. This change and adaptation was expected as there rests a great potential for this sector to implement social media in the way they market or brand themselves as tourists and travelers. Not forgetting what some of the brands like Make my trip, Yatra, Travelguru, Expedia India, Kerala Tourism, Cleartrip are already doing.

Harnessing the power of social media for Tourism Industry will go a long way. The cut-throat travel communications online are also functionally leveraging tourism industry worldwide.

We have made an attempt to throw light upon this globally booming sector of Travel and Tourism and discuss the most effective tools and applications that will help you promote and leverage your business and attract more people to your website, in turn increasing the profits. Let us discuss the ‘Why’s’ and ‘what’s’ of the social media integration into this sector.

To start with,

Why would a Tourism Industry need a Social Media?

The reforms in the usage of Internet and the facilities one gets through it are tremendous. Nowadays, along with the industry experts, we find internet users publishing and exchanging information about their favourite destinations, photographs, videos, and reviews on the places they have or want to travel etc. what is more to this is Social Media spreading this information across places and with minimal or no cost. Word of mouth has always been proved to be essential part of promoting businesses. Thus, you can build your marketing techniques to reach this rising engagement of people that will render great prospect of profit to this sector.

You can basically create a buzz about your brand and services around the world with social media tools, showcasing and discussing about best travel destinations all over.

You can basically look into:

Monitoring: Travel and Tourism companies can analyze or monitor the preferences, reviews and interactions online and use it to generate more traffic to their brand increasing loyalty and driving sales.

Reviews by customers: During a travel plan, a positive review or feedback online is very influential. Customers make informed decision based on fellow travelers feedback and ratings by reputed travel sites like TripAdvisor for instance.

Social Media Platforms: From Facebook and Twitter to Bloggers the Tourism industry is penetrating the market aggressively. For example an attractive Facebook page to display ads etc. also works well with this industry. Location based search can also be done through Facebook or Foursquare making it more significant.

Here’s an insight into how you can shine across platforms as a Tourism Industry. Create/Improve your Social Media Presence with:

Facebook

You can create a page and share informative content, photos, videos, news etc. You can, as a Tourism Company promote a lot of events, integrate applications or custom tabs, come up with offers for your fans, get reviews from your customers. You should make a great effort so that people ‘Like’ you. Have a look at the Kerala Tourism & Expedia India Facebook page.

Twitter

Here you can update travel related news, facts etc. Explore or search for travel experts and bloggers as the inputs given by them on travel influences a lot of people. You can follow them on Twitter and share your views and your content. You can engage guests on your Twitter page in interactions. You can try being an active part of travel forums which will drive them ‘follow’ you.

Kerala Tourism on Twitter.

Blog

Blog can help you build a much closer connect with your customers and potential visitors. An inside view of destinations, offers and experiences create an interest amongst the visitors. Pictures shared in the blog will help build a curiosity in them to be at that place. People who have already visited places and planned a package through you and have liked your service will comment happily. This will help you build the trust and loyalty and more visitors will visit you. For example: – Cleartrip went social with a belief that travelling is a naturally social activity. Once on their website, one can sync it to their Facebook page and explore and extract the information needed.

Youtube

People get attracted to the audiovisual substance majorly. Therefore, you can set up your own YouTube channel and place a call to action for your viewers to ‘watch’ your videos & subscribe. Videos throw a light upon the admired destinations worldwide, which makes people yearn for exploring the same. A great amount of information can be given out through these videos. Just like Epediaindia’s presence on Youtube is liked by everyone.

Flickr

Sharing photos of beautiful destinations that embark a curiosity amongst travelers is a great concept. Uploading them on regular basis will attract a lot of people. With many other Tourism Companies present in the market, Yatra is also on Flickr.

Foursquare

Get listed on Foursquare and let people find you and ‘Check in’. It is also an interesting way to gain information on social networks. Makemytrip, for example is present on Fourswuare.

Trip Advisor

You need to list your company with Tripadvisor which is an online travel community reached by lakhs of monthly users. Comments and reviews made by you visitors will help you promote your brand in a great way. It will be easy for you to manage your brand well when you get the feedback directly from your visitors. You can motivate them to ‘recommend’ you.

Twitter presence of TripAdvisor:

Website

All your Social Media handles can be promoted through your website. This is an effective way to drive the traffic or potential customers to your online presence. It will enhance the interaction and engagement. Content creation should be interesting in a way that more and more readers get attracted to the word given out by you and leverage your brand identity across the Tourism sector.

Madhya Pradesh Tourism’s website is creatively designed. It persuades a major audience to explore their website.

Pinterest

People view, admire and follow and pin to the boards they like. It is also a great platform for a Tourism Industry to add images of awe-inspiring travel locations with the reviews. People get attracted to the visual presentations majorly. Tamilnadu Tourism has beautifully created boards on Pinterest on various travel locations.

Google+

Expedia US has their presence on Google+ which helps them connect to a wider audience globally. This helps them spread their word for travel locations, experiences and everything about tourism. Businesses can very well leverage their organizations through this platform.

Social Media Bookmarking

It goes a long way to leverage your business online. You can convey your brand message clearly and promptly just like Delicious, Digg etc. are doing. Blog promotion can also be done successfully with this effort.

In a Nutshell,

Engage with wider groups and build a community to interact.
Keep a consumer centric approach.
Share experiences and ideas to maximize impact.
Encourage visitors to upload and share photos of real experiences.
Engage through rewards and offers.
Offer free WIFI to visitors/guests making it easy for them to share their views on the place.
TripAdvisor can be utilized to a great extent with its listings and forums.
Emphasize on value generation for your brand.
Integrate location based services or have QR codes to let people through links with offers etc.
Aim to integrate your Tourism Company with web presence to convert them to bookings.
Testimonials or foreword from the work force of your organization goes a long way in engaging people by invoking fruitful communication.

You can leverage online bookings and travel plans as major of the World’s travel is now researched looked for, advertised, booked and procured online. The decisions of travelers, tourists and other people are influenced by the technology, mobile apps and social media when they are planning their travel. Even the bulk travel plans by travelers are done via internet.

Though changing trends, booming technology and numerous options depict a great shift in the consumer buying behavior patterns; they still trust word of mouth. Digitally speaking, word of mouth is everywhere! For example – a status update by your friend on a vacation on Facebook, a hotel or an accommodation review on Foursquare, a trend followed on Twitter, a Youtube video, a travel blog and so on so forth. All these activities online create a spark of inspiration within the users of Social Media platforms. They view, like and get inspired!

With millions of users present in social media world they are sure to Like, Follow or Share the things they admire before planning a vacation!

Effective communication, commitment and authenticity in the response you make to your guests through social media are essential. Social media strategy will help you persuade your Tourism business to new heights. Therefore, use your social media presence to give value to your customers, treat them like royals, reward them; then see how they recommend your brand when spoken about travel.

To conclude on the points stated above, what is evident in the social media driven psychology of today’s travelers is that they rely almost completely on the resources online, wherein Tourism Industry needs to keep a check to strategize their targeting. Tourism Industry specialists need to upgrade to latest technology and concrete social media strategy to connect with their customers better. They also need to track the development of mobile apps which also prove beneficial at most places.

Integration of Social Media aids in establishing a brand with a strong foundation and promising the best travel experience. Therefore, a well planned central marketing strategy will help the Tourism companies go a long way in building their brands and making them known.

While a few major players of the Tourism and Travel Industry explain a remarkable presence on social media platforms, what do you think should be the next step towards leveraging their brand? What effort should be taken to create a long lasting impact on the population? Do you think Social Media tools, if implemented in a competitive way will help promoting and building their brand in the industry. Will Social Media escalate the interactions, engagements and excitement for the brand?

Tags:Social Media, Tourism Industry, travel, Travel and Social Media
Posted in Blog Content, Blog Visibility, Social Media | 1 Comment »

Business Blogging

Tuesday, May 24th, 2011

Not long ago, blogging was considered as an online diary or journal where the writer documented his/her day to day activity. It was a space for people with creative bend to showcase their talent. It was personal and it was only shared with a select few. Circa 2011 and blogs have evolved into a vital communication tool that every brand is looking to incorporate in their marketing plan.

Keeping this in mind, it is important that this social media tool be well understood and its potential be highlighted. Here we look at key ways of making a corporate blogs work for your brand. To start with, a corporate blog need not be serious and perched on an ivory tower. Like any other social media tool, blogs too can help you build a friendly relationship with your consumer. Splash some creativity and humor in the content, especially, if your brand personality is such. Be vibrant, colorful and vivacious. It can go a long way in making your blog reach out to your target audience.

A colorful blog title can personify your brand image

Being a blog should not restrict you to just putting up articles. Break the monotony by posting, video blogs and/or photo blog posts. Not only will this make your blog more interesting, it will also present you with the opportunity to showcase your product features without suggesting that you are advertising your product. Also, it can help you in letting the world know about your organization, its culture and ethos of the place. It also helps in building a strong employee-employer relation.

Add photos to your blog

Another way of building employee-employer relationship is by allowing employees to post on your corporate blog. Empower them to promote the company’s products through informative tutorials, advice, and reviews that not only sell the products, but also offer some valuable tips. Not only will this help in content generation, it will also help in giving face and name to the organization.

Blogs need not always be about the products. It could well become a research platform for your company. Inviting the readers to suggest the kind of product they would want to use can help in getting valuable consumer insight at a very low cost. Adding comments and a rating system can make the blog highly interactive. The aim is to experiment with ideas, something that you can’t do with your website.

Make your blog user friendly and sharable

An important point to bear in mind is to be unique in your style. Stand out and be seen. Change your blog theme to reflect colorful seasonal themes. Add animation to bring alive your blog. The more effort you put in, the more appreciation you shall get. It is not about being different for the sake of being different, but because you truly are.

If changing your style is something you cannot suggest as a brand, then choose a very simplistic, neat and corporate look. Have a professional and simple blog design. A clutter free approach helps in easy navigation and a more pleasing experience for the reader. A decent mix of pictures and words will be enough for you to get your point across. Be simple in your language as well. Always remember, the idea is to let people know what you are talking about, not to send them on a wild hunt through online dictionary sites.

Neat and clean look for a corporate blog

Another sure shot way of getting people to your blog and keep them hooked is by inviting guest bloggers. Everyone is keen to know what a celebrity has to say or what a famous person thinks. Having such a person write an article on your post will help you achieve huge readership. Also, sharing of these posts will make your blog achieve virility like never before.

If you don’t have access to celebrities, then turn the table and give access to your readers about inside news and pre launch stories. Share all behind the scene action, through videos, photos, descriptive blog posts, and interview with people who have been part of the development process of the product.

Share exclusive details on your blog

These are just a few ideas on how a corporate blog can help you and your brand connect with your audience and potential customers. Like any other communication tool, there is no set pattern but being clear of the idea and your personality would be a perfect way of defining your blog personality.

Successful and Outstanding Bloggers

Sunday, February 22nd, 2009

Windchimes blog recently earned official badge of achievement as ‘Successful and Outstanding Blogger’. Liz Strauss describes in detail the idea behind running the successful and outstanding blogger program in detail and how you can earn it too.

She states on her blog that this badge is awarded to bloggers who “take the conversations to their readers, contribute great ideas, challenge us, make us better, and make our businesses stronger”.

Successful and Outstanding Blogger Badge

You can view the directory of all the blogs that have been awarded the badge. As Liz says, “Good Conversation shared can only improve the blogging community”. We couldn’t agree with you more Liz!!

Tags:conversations, Liz Strauss, SOB badge, Social Media, successful blogs, Windchimes Comm
Posted in Awards and Recognition, Blog Content, Blog Visibility, Blogs | 12 Comments »

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