Social Media Marketing | Indian Social Media Landscape - Part 10 Indian Social Media Landscape

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Insight in to new Facebook Insights: Part I

Tuesday, November 1st, 2011

Facebook Insights had always been a handy tool for page owners irrespective of the size they command. It always provided information about how to make the page even better. Last month Facebook launched a new version of Facebook Insight. Many had speculated it to be a paid service, but so far Facebook is not charging anyone. Here is a look at how the insights have evolved.

Section 1: Reach Measurement

1.1 Friends of Fans

Facebook advertising provides the option to target friends of fans. Essentially this means that the ad will only be shown to friends of people already on the brand page. Now through Page Insights, one can see the total reach of ‘friends of fans’. This is an important number to keep an eye on, as it will ensure that when someone engages with a piece of content on the Page, their friends are being alerted to it. It gives a more accurate reflection of your ‘ambient’ audience. i.e. those who might not be fans of your Page themselves (as this number excludes current fans) but who may have been exposed to your message :

1.2 People Talking About This

This is the most hyped feature that Facebook has introduced. It gives a figure, for the time period that one selects, of the number of times a post was generated about the Page, including links in personal profiles, or posts in which the Page has been tagged in.

Within this new metric, one can see a demographic breakdown of people who are talking about the Page by age, gender and location. One can also compare the viral reach (the number of people who saw your Page), compared to ‘talking about this’ (the number of people who actively created a story). As reach just takes into account people that were exposed to your content, this figure will always be a lot higher than those people talking about it. Individual ‘story’ can be compared, for example the number of times someone tagged the page in a post or photo:

1.3 Weekly Total Reach

Earlier for a post on Facebook Page one could see the individual number of impressions, but not the cumulative total. Now Facebook has introduced a feature that gives the weekly total reach, which is the number of times someone has been exposed to the Page, either through a post, a friend commenting, or through an ad. One can see the percentage change over time, thus, if there is increase in fans but the reach is going down, brand may need to think about creating more engaging content, so as to grow organically:

Section 2: Post Insights

2.1 How viral is a post?

Facebook ranks the posts in order of engagement, as before, but this has been massively expanded on. Now, ranks also show a number of different metrics, which cover : Reach (the total number of people that saw your post) ; Engaged Users (people who interacted with the post in some way, such as clicking on the post in their newsfeed or leaving a comment) ; Talking About This (the number of people who have created a ‘story’ from your post, such as leaving a reply or sharing with friends) and Virality which is slightly more complex. The ‘virality’ of a post is expressed as a percentage of people that created a story about the post, against the total reach. Seeing the posts in this way allows brands to see the content that clearly worked, or didn’t work:

2.1.1

One can then expand on a particular figure, to get more detailed insights. Clicking on ‘reach’ reveals a breakdown of whether that reach came directly from your Page activity, Facebook Ads, or whether it was viral (fans generating stories)

2.1.2

Clicking on ‘engaged users’ shows: Other clicks (clicks on other parts of the post, such as the name of the person that posted it) ; Link clicks (the number of clicks in a link on your post) ; the number of stories generated from the post, by fans :

2.1.3

Clicking on ‘talking about this’ allows people to see whether these stories generated were someone who likes the post or sharing it:

Click here to read part two of this post.

Tags:Facebook, Facebook Pages, Frequency, Growth, Insights, Likes, Posts, Reach, Virality, Visits
Posted in Facebook, Social Media, Social Media Marketing, Target Audience | 2 Comments »

Facebook becomes a year book

Monday, October 3rd, 2011

Facebook has made a radical change to its user interface- the first since the launch of Google +. While it would take some time for the entire gamut of changes to make a marked difference to our experience, let us peep under the hood, at how the Facebook is set to change.

Timing the changes

The most striking feature is the new Timeline, a chronological layout of the profile/page which shows everything that the user/page has done since getting on to Facebook. It is a more simple and efficient way of checking out a profile or a page. The interface itself is far neater and clears a lot of clutter. One interesting feature is that now a lot of options have been put in a drop down rather than a separate button.

Each friend is important

Facebook has also introduced new friend lists, which is an optional feature, and is essentially a redesign of a feature it’s had for years—Lists. The original Lists were difficult to navigate and tedious to update, which was the reason for the revamp. If you choose to activate the lists, Facebook will generate four separate lists for you: work, school, family and city. Facebook puts people into these lists based on information they have in their profile. For example, if you list Harvard University as your alma mater, and so do 25 of your Facebook friends, they will be grouped under "school." In addition to this you also get two lists that you curate on your own to distinguish close friends from people you don’t know well.

The news maker

Before these changes, when you logged into Facebook you could toggle between two views of your News Feed: Top News and Most Recent. Now, Facebook combined these two in a single News Feed. Now, what you see when you first log in depends on how frequently you log in. If you don’t visit Facebook regularly, the next time you do you’ll see top photos and status updates that were posted since the last time you visited the site. These are marked with a blue corner. If you log into Facebook frequently, such as several times a day, you’ll likely see the most recent stories first.

1: Top Stories 2: Side Panel 3: Recent Stories

News keeps trickling

Another addition to the system is the Ticker. This is a smart move as all the updates which are not direct interaction with an individual will show up here. Thus, clearing the wall for more direct status updates and relegating your friends Farmville exploits to the ticker. Furthermore, note the updated photos. New Facebook interface is now enlarging its size so it looks more clear and comfortable to view while users navigate and have fun.

Know more than just friends

Subscriptions, another key feature launched recently, lets you see people’s public posts in your News Feed, without having to friend them. And while Facebook Subscriptions is an interesting way to broaden your network and connect with people you otherwise wouldn’t have contact with, it also gives people who had a page and a profile to merge it.

The Verdict

The changes are intended to help you keep up with people that matter to you, regardless of how often you visit the site. The new Timeline interface is beautiful and a major time sink. Overall, Facebook has made profiles more personal. Users are going to be spending hours in their friends’ Timelines. The addition of the Cover Photo makes the Facebook interface more beautiful, and the timeline is easy on the eyes. While it will take some time to get used to the two-column layout, it actually is easier to navigate than the old Facebook. Facebook thought hard about the design of this change.

As a business entity, this means more display space for the brands. The cover photo can actually be used as banner ad space for which they won’t have to spend anything. Also, with expected time spent on Facebook going up, it can only be good news for the brands. What is most interesting though is the fact that Facebook seems to be quite sure of the changes and that could be a worry for Google.

Tags:Facebook, Friends, Social Media, Timeline
Posted in Facebook, Social Media, Social Media Marketing | 1 Comment »

Feeding the Page Likes

Tuesday, August 16th, 2011

If you have seen the film, The Social Network, you would know that Facebook was not looking at putting any advertising on its clean image. Unfortunately, with time and growth, advertisements have crept into the website.

However, Facebook is now making the ads part of the page. Early this year, they launched a new advertising mechanism that promises to make ad units more social and in fact become a true word of mouth promotion rather than pure advertising.

A story to tell

Sponsored Stories, a new advertising technique launched by Facebook, takes news feeds and converts it in to a display unit. This display unit pops up on the right side of your page as you navigate through Facebook. Interestingly, Facebook has placed these stories above ad units. Just goes to show what Facebook hopes to do in the future.

All the Google Plus Points

Friday, July 15th, 2011

Over the last couple of weeks, you may have heard the buzz about Google +, the search giants third attempt at social networking. After disaster becoming the size of Google itself with Buzz and Wave, Google is determined to take on Facebook afresh. And this time, it seems, they have made a good start. As of now at least!

Adding to Google’s might

According to Vic Gundotra and Bradley Horowitz, creators of the new platform, Google+ is more than a social product, or even a social strategy, it’s an extension of Google itself. Hence, ‘Plus’! It is ‘Plus’ because it takes products from Google and makes them better. And that is the key element of Google +. Google already had some of the best platforms online, right from video sharing site (YouTube), photo sharing site (Picasa), and blogging network (Blogger) to video chat facility and unique signing facility of Gmail, which ironically even Facebook has been using for ever.

Google Plus

With Google +, Google wants to replicate our true social structure online. Many may say that Facebook is exactly this but there is a big difference, or so Google would want us to believe. While on Facebook, sharing can be limited, in essence, when you post a comment it goes out to the world. According to Google, that is not true replication of our communication system, where we are communicating with certain groups meaning our topics are restricted from group to group. This is the base difference between Google + and Facebook.

The Circle Advantage

Google+ is built from the ground up around the concept of sharing material with groups of people, called “Circles.” It’s through Circles that users select and organize contacts into groups for optimal sharing. Unlike Facebook, You simply select people from a list of recommended contacts (populated from your Gmail and/or Google Contacts) and drag them into Circles you designate. Once done, you can share anything across all of Google’s service by clicking on the new Google menu bar that will sit atop all the platforms of Google.

Grouping friends in to Circles

Sparking up some fun

One thing that no one can beat Google at is searching for content that you would want or are interested in. The search giant has taken the effort to categorize things on web in to sub heads. When you click on one of the sub heads, you will find a host of links to the related topic. You can read the same and/or share it with your groups. Google believes that, things which are a common interest can "Spark" conversation and this exactly what Sparks does. Google has rightly said that it’s not a search engine or an extension of the same but a sharing engine. Also “Featured interests” area could well become the revenue source for Google +.

Spark up a conversation

Adding some stream

Information appears in your “Stream,” which is akin to Facebook’s news feed. At the top of your stream is a sharing box. Actually two sharing boxes. First, in the navigation bar there’s a “Share” area to the right side. Second, in the Stream itself, there’s a longer box, where you can enter a status update or use icons to upload and share photo and videos. You can also share links or your location, if you’ve allowed Google to track that for you. On mobile devices, you can select from a drop-down of nearby places to check-in.

Adding Stream Through Stream Box

Adding Stream through Share Box

Another Hangout

Google Hangout, amongst all the features given to Google +, is the stand out feature and one that can really push people to switch from Facebook to Google +. The key is to get several people all involved casually, rather than to barge in with a solitary invite. It is like finding people who are already there for talking rather than dropping in uninvited. Hence the name Hangout! It is like the real world hangout where people gather to talk. If you’re chatting with a Circle, everyone else in that Circle will get an alert to come hang out. This works for up to 10 people. And seeing it in action is a bit magical. The Google+ system is smart enough to focus on who is controlling the conversation at any point of time. This makes the conversation like a real world chat. It is as if the producer of the show knows which camera to switch to at the right time.

Google Hangout Screen

Another feature of Google+ is called “Huddle”. It’s essentially a group messaging app that works across Android, iPhone, and SMS to allow you to communicate with the people in certain Circles. In fact the Android world gets added benefit of one touch sharing on plus, with applications that let you share everything from photos to your game screens.

Google Huddle Feature

More Pluses

Apart from these highlighted features, there are many other utilities that Google + has, which are similar to any other social networking site. Like sharing photos through albums, adding links to your posts, videos, putting your location and giving thumbs up to a post you fancy by +1 button and the standard Google chat. But all these are done with small Google add on. Like in your albums, when you roll you mouse over an album, the photos fan out to show more. Also, an important feature being tested is tagging approvals.

Google Touch to Plus

There are many such little features that the early adopters of Google + are discovering every day. For some time that would be a fun task. This would give Google enough time to get the brand pages up and about, which as of now, is not allowed on Google +. A non individual profiles are not allowed by Google. Only MTV and Ford have profiles on Google + because they are their development partners, which shows, there is some loops that Google is thinking about for Brands as well.

Tags:Facebook, Features, Google, Plus, Social Media
Posted in Social Media, Social Media Marketing | 4 Comments »

Getting in line with the new Facebook Promotion Guidelines.

Friday, July 1st, 2011

In last one month, there has been a major development on Facebook. Brand pages in India have found their page disappear without any notice. Brands like Pizza Hut India, FCUK India, Cadbury Bournvillie and few others went missing for quite some time from Facebook. Apparently, the pages were not confirming to the promotion guidelines as stated by Facebook.

Not only has this made everyone sit up and go over their own pages, it has also highlighted the need to have the right people handling the brand pages. This incident is another instance which will necessitate companies to engage with established social media partners to manage their brands. As a continuous process of educating right social media, we bring to you the Facebook guidelines that the brands have to follow from here on, at least for now.

Simply Put

In its current format, the Facebook promotion guidelines simply bar any page to run a promotion campaign where you wish to select a winner via its page or the wall. This means brands are not allowed to collect entries in form of picture, videos or comments, conduct a draw, judge entries or notify winners through its mechanisms.

Avoid

In order to administer any kind of contest, you have to use an application or risk having Facebook come down on you. While liking the page and restricting the contest to the fans of the page is allowed, liking the contest entry or making it the only criteria to select a winner is not.

Ginger Hotel Contest Application

Nor can a winner be selected randomly to be given a prize, without any show of talent or ability. That would imply administrating a sweepstake, which is not allowed by Facebook. You cannot have a contest running which would make a purchase of a product a necessity to participate in a contest either.

A Sweepstake is not allowed

Also, you cannot contact winners inside Facebook at all—via email, chat or posting on their wall—nor can you post winners on your page wall. What you can do though is, select a fan at random and feature him or her in your page photo. Or possibly feature chosen fan(s) on a custom tab (link). As long as you don’t have other fans vote or submit nominations, etc. A good example of this is the current Toys R Us tab.

Featured Fan Profile Picture and Tab

Any predefined application of Facebook can also not be used for administrating any contest. This would mean, you cannot ask people to upload photos to a page album. You can have a photo gallery contest administered via a third party application.

Utilize

You CAN, although, provide a giveaway and even collect names and emails from fans and visitors to your page via a third party application and can be used develop an email management system. You can also use a piece of “fan only” reveal code to give away a coupon code or special gift to everyone who likes your page.

While it may seem that Facebook cannot possibly check each and every page to see if they adhere to promotion guidelines, it is not a risk worth taking. If the page does get pulled down, the PR disaster it will create is way greater than anything a brand would gain by flouting these guidelines.

Focus

Also, as much as people would like to believe that Facebook is trying to bully brands or promote application developers, this whole episode should only be seen as a reminder that promotions on Facebook is not about gaining numbers but building relationships via engagement, just like Facebook would want us to believe.

It also points to a more serious question of who should be allowed to handle the image of a brand like FCUK and other brands that suffered. People who are not aware of promotion guidelines, rules and regulations, agencies that pop up like wild mushrooms would only cause more grief.

A proper structure utilization and knowledge of the platform is a must for anyone handling the page. This is the time that the so called experts of social media will be separated from those who truly are evolving along with Facebook.

Tags:Applications, Brands, Contest, Facebook, Guidelines, Pages, Promotions
Posted in Brand Promotion, Facebook, Social Media, Social Media Marketing | No Comments »

Box of Surprises

Wednesday, June 15th, 2011

World’s largest video sharing site and the second largest search engine, YouTube, launched its Hindi movie sharing site, YouTube Box Office where movie buffs can watch premium Hindi super hits every month, without having to pay anything. The service was launched with the surprise hit of last year, "Band Baaja Baaraat."

Click on the Image to play the video

Now Showing

YouTube Box Office allows Indian viewers to watch the new and popular Bollywood movies in full HD (1080p) for free, and all you need is a decent internet connection. YouTube will collaborate with its partners in India on a revenue share basis. Intel will be the exclusive presenting sponsor for the channel.

YouTube hopes the initiative will help draw more viewers for their premium and exclusive content. Apart from the expanding its popularity, the video sharing network also aims to create opportunities for marketers.

IPL helped YouTube generate major revenue

The video giant made inroads in the country with the web telecast of the IPL tournament in 2010. The cricket crazy nation lapped up the dosage in full scoop. This has galvanized the YouTube think tank to foray into the other passion of the country, movies.

A recent screening of the hit movie Dabangg garnered 1.3 million hits on YouTube, highlighting that the platform has hit a golden formula in the country. With the Indian market ripe for the picking, the site wants to gain as much as it can through Indian films.

Super Hit Formula

The service will be ad-supported. With film makers looking to recover maximum cost even before releasing the film through selling the rights, this is just another medium for them to get as much as their product has to offer. This gives brands another opportunity to ride the success train of a film and put their ads during the airing of the film.

As many viewers are cautious about the level of advertising in the ad-sponsored Box-Office, YouTube has assured that the sponsoring companies would get their chance to showcase their YouTube videos and promote contests/campaigns tactically without much interrupting the movies.

Contest and Promotions administered through YouTube Box Office

This not only gives them the chance to link their YouTube channel to the Box Office channel but also insert captions that would run throughout the length of the film, giving enough exposure to the brand, unlike ads on television where only specific time slots are allowed for ads.

Impact

Many believe the move is certainly going to stiffen the competition in the online movie streaming business in India. Considering the growth in broadband penetration and improving internet connectivity speed in the country, online video browsing is going to be more fun and lively. It is expected that several more prominent names in the business are going to enter the Indian market in near future. This will create bigger and more engaging platform for brands to advertise through their channels on YouTube and other such platforms.

Tags:Band Baaja Baaraat, Box Office, Dabangg, Marketing, Movies, Online Videos, Streaming, YouTube
Posted in Online Videos, Social Media, Social Media Marketing | 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.