Social Media | Indian Social Media Landscape - Part 17 Indian Social Media Landscape

Archive for the ‘Social Media’ Category

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 »

Applying Social Media for Recruitment

Wednesday, June 1st, 2011

A Human Resource personal’s most important task is to hire best available talent for a position that will lead to substantial growth of an organization. Indirectly, the HR role becomes as significant as any other department. Earlier, industry contacts and expertise were the best methods to locate a perfect match. But today, things are a little different.

Changing Playgrounds

While contacts are still very important source for finding a key member for a team, recruiters are also looking to social media and finding success in spotting the right person to hire, regardless of the type of organization or industry they work in.

(Source: http://goo.gl/xCUAo)

Whoever you may be, a job seeker, a professional recruiter or an organization looking to hire, and wondering if social media can help you hire, the answer is Yes! International entertainment giant TiVo reported an 11 percent increase in referrals thanks to social media tools like LinkedIn. The company has also made job opportunities “portable” so that anyone can post, direct message or update their status across major social media platforms.

Improving the Game

What is more, specific job searching tools on social media platforms have also been introduced. This is just an indication of how serious this phenomenon is. TweetaJob is a tool that uses targeting technology to tweet jobs which match the location and career interests of job seekers. This comes out of the fact that just as candidates don’t want to be contacted with irrelevant positions, organizations don’t want their openings to be overwhelmed by other offerings.

TweetaJob Tool for Twitter

Where to Play

While such tools are being developed across social media platforms, many recruiters struggle with the options of various social media platforms itself. Which platform to use is something everyone wants to know? While it is obvious that LinkedIn is the global playground of professional and an obvious choice for recruiters and job seekers, one cannot rule out the usage of other platforms. With social media, everyone has a particular platform that they are most similar with and vocal on. Someone on Twitter may well be as much the right choice even of s/he is not on LinkedIn.

(Source: http://goo.gl/xCUAo)

Going Global

Another advantage of using social media tools is their global potential. One post can reach across the globe in matter of seconds thus giving a healthy exposure to your requirement as well as your organization. This works at two levels. First, an economical way of hiring from across the globe with proper background knowledge about the candidate. Second, the talent is rechargeable and in infinite quantity if you know where to look.

Hidden Benefits

While there are benefits of recruitment through social media which are evident, there is another benefit that comes as a part of the process. Through the usage of Social Media for recruitment, organization tends to build a better relation with people. Since it’s an interactive medium, the recruiter and the candidate engage in one on one conversation thus making it more conducive to a positive result.

Get into the Gear

It may be pointed that while the hiring manager looks for the right candidate, having the right profile too is very important. A complete profile with a display picture and all the professional details on LinkedIn acts like a digital resume open for anyone looking to hire. Similarly, a good twitter interaction can help in showing your charming personality to potential recruiters.

Complete Profile on LinkedIn

Conclusion

While it can be said that in no ways, Social Media Recruitment can be the only method of recruitment in an organization, but it can surely be one of the most viable method to contact people who can fit in to the company. In a survey conducted by us, we found that 48% of the respondents have been contacted for jobs via different social media platforms. Of these, almost all had an offer made to them via LinkedIn and few of them even had offers through Twitter and Facebook.

Facebook Poll (above) LinkedIn Poll (Below)

Thus, it is safe to say that although Social Media recruitment is yet not mainstream process, it is surely gaining popularity. And no one platform can cover all the possibilities that you can avail of.

Tags:HR, Human Resource, Recruiment, Social Media, social media and employee relations
Posted in Employee Relations, 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.

An offer you cannot resist

Monday, May 2nd, 2011

By the time this post is up, Facebook would have already launched its next tool for world domination. Facebook Deals went live in 5 test market cities in USA on the night of 25th April 2011. With it, Facebook hopes, it will give 600 million users more reason to stay on Facebook even when they are outside or visiting a store.

What’s the deal?

Facebook Deals offers Facebook users’ access to Deals which are a steep discount to the actual price of the product. This is in addition to the earlier check-in based deals offer on Facebook Places. Now Facebook Deals will allow you to purchase a voucher on Facebook Deals itself and then redeeming it at the store. You can also check into a place and claim your discount using your phone application.

Each deal will have a separate landing page. Users can opt in to receive updates on their news feed about deals that are running close to their location. Once you spot the deal that you want, you can go to that deal page, like the deal, share the deal and/or purchase the deal right away using either a credit card or Facebook Credits. Once you have done so, you get a voucher that can then be used at the store.

A screenshot of a landing page for a Deal

Other than this, the old system of checking into a store and finding the available deals will also be retained in all likelihood. This will help Facebook not only target Groupon but also take on Foursquare through its Facebook Places application

Facebook Places Deal Application Screen

How should brands deal with it?

As a brand, this is another opportunity to reach out to your clients. Creating something that users can enjoy with their friends is something which gives maximum benefit of using Facebook as a marketing platform.

People like doing things with friends. Brands can use Deals on Facebook to offer people unique social experiences that they can share and enjoy together. Offering these experiences can bring more people to your business. Deals are a valuable new way to reach customers and build loyalty. Encourage people to share their excitement about the experience you’re providing, not just the discount you’re offering.

Why Deal with it?

For a start, Deals are going to be free as for now. Like any other Facebook offering, a free exposure to 600 million people is incentive enough to try it out. More so, it makes sense when you get the Facebook marketing team to push and promote your offer.

This will help in creating a buzz about your brand and more importantly, for the first time, offer direct sales opportunity via Facebook. All this time, when brands where wondering on how to gauge the ROI of Social Media Marketing, especially on Facebook , now is the time to cash in on the fan base and push deals.

Also, keep in mind the virality of the exposure your brand can get through this. Each person on Facebook has 130 friends on average, which means that if someone purchases a deal from you, that information can spread quickly and naturally on Facebook. Imagine if these 130 people share or buy your deal with their friends. These actions can help spread the word about your business to all of the friends of these 130 people through News Feed stories, Wall posts, and personal messages. And, because these stories are coming from a trusted network, people will be more likely to pay attention to what you’re offering.

Last but not least of all, use Deals to make your business a place where loyal customers bring their friends. Deals focuses on helping your business provide unique social experiences so that people are interested in what you have to offer, not just the discount you’re offering. Build long lasting relationships by offering people unique things to do with those that matter most in their lives.

Tags:Credits, Deals, Facebook, Foursquare, Groupon, Places, ROI
Posted in Brand Promotion, Facebook, Social Media, Social Media Marketing | No Comments »

A New Mobile Revolution

Friday, April 15th, 2011

Look whose calling

With mobile coverage penetrating the length and breadth of the country and new technology helping deliver better and faster connectivity, mobile internet access is gaining acceptance with Indians. Also, with the tariff plans now looking much better than what they were a decade back, the cost of logging on to the internet is as lower than sending a standard message. This has helped the growth of a new networking platform, the Mobile Communities or the Mobile Social Networking.

Mobile Communities

The new number

Mobile social networking is social networking where one or more individuals of similar interests or commonalities, conversing and connecting with one another using the mobile phone. Much like web based social networking, mobile social networking occurs in virtual communities.

Native mobile social networks focus on mobile use like mobile communication, location-based services, augmented reality requiring mobile devices and technology. Advances in hardware and software technology have facilitated the existence of these mobile virtual communities.

With the current software that is available, interactions within mobile social networks are not limited to exchanging simple text messages on a 1-to-1 basis (SMS) but are constantly evolving towards the sophisticated interactions of Internet virtual communities.

Mobile Communities are scoring over SMS based communities also since they eliminate the annoyance of constantly receiving SMSs. This also means that for an individual to send a message to the group they themselves don’t have to use SMS facility but either use the WAP or Internet connection which is now cheaper than SMSs in many places.

Different connection

Lets face it. Facebook and Orkut are more or less an urban trend. It is a tool for youth of Tier I and to some extent Tier II cities. With an established tone on these platforms, it takes a lot of adjusting for people from smaller cities to get used to what is being said. With smaller numbers as of now, mobile communities are still shaping up. People are finding it easier to get an acceptance in such places rather than on Facebook where snob value is now at an all time high.

Also, the key difference between a web social networks like Facebook and Orkut and mobile social networks is that while Facebook and Orkut are a global platform, a lot of mobile social networks are region specific and catering to the non Facebook/Orkut markets where mobile internet is growing faster than pc based internet usage.

(Source: http://www.pluggd.in/mobile-only-internet-generation-in-india-297/)

Say Hello

Amongst the various providers of Mobile Social Networking or Community gateway, mig33 is a leading player. Present internationally and in India as well, mig33 has users from over 100 cities in the country. Essentially mig33 is a free online mobile application that lets users send cheap texts, make cheap calls, chat in one of the many chat rooms and you can even add your MSN or Yahoo buddies and talk to them.

Mig33 user profile

When users open mig33 on their mobile it will connect to the Internet or WAP as it is known. The application has seen a huge growth and an uptick in download from Tier II and Tier III towns in India. Its members engage in vibrant chat communities, share photos, send gifts, play games, post on each other’s profiles, join groups, create avatars and much more. It is optimized to work on practically any internet enabled mobile phone in India, even low-end handsets.

Chat Room

mig33 has several million users in India, providing entertainment services beyond instant messaging, including social games and virtual gifts. Its player-to-player games like ‘mig wars’ and ‘heads and tails’ are especially popular in India, while leader boards and virtual currency has led to the stickiness of the application and user loyalty.

Mig33 Cricket Game

The virtual gifts are something which is most popular amongst the users. According to a survey done by mig33, Indian users feel that virtual gifting helps them save costs on real gifts and 69 per cent of the users spend on virtual gifts that cost less than Rs 15. Such gifts usually include a hug, a kiss, virtual roses etc. The survey further said that in tier II cities, 40 per cent of the users spend on gifts that cost between Rs 5 and Rs 15.

Mig33 Gifts

Another great feature to this is that user can add groups, so for example if a user has lots of family contacts on different sites but they also use Mig33, then he/she can keep them separate from the rest in a group called “Family”.

mig 33 and other social networking is more about entertainment and making new friends in tier II and III towns as opposed to tier I cities where it is about being in touch with majority of friends. For the mobile-first community, social network is a friend itself rather than a place to meet friends.

Brands dialing in

Brands are starting to see this is as precise and targeted ways to build an emotional connect with the users. Early on, when ‘Luck by Chance’ was released, BIG Pictures hosted a contest with Mig33, with people getting to talk to the stars of the movie over their network. People were asked to share their lucky charms, and in less than three weeks, over 15,000 entries were received.

With target audience number reaching close to 50 million on some of these networks in India, it is now sounding as a very attractive marketing tool. Though it is still in nascent stage of development, the first mover advantage cannot be neglected.

Mumbai Indians Group on mig33

With the belief that the rise of IP and wireless technologies would redefine the way people connect and build their relationships and communities, the brands are looking to at every opportunity to reach out to an awaiting audience.

Sponsored community channels that add value to users while building a brand are another effective tool. Another tool that these networks can offer is the sale of branded virtual goods and social games. All these work very well with smaller cities as not everyone in these cities get to log on to internet using their laptops or computers. Their mobile phones are their only constant source of internet connection and hence, it is very important to be present on these devices since they spend more time on mobile, thus, leading to higher brand recall.

Verdict

It seems clear that mobile networks are going to continue to grow, and represent a viable channel for advertising and marketing efforts. What’s key though, is that like any of the new digital mediums, advertisers have to be willing to learn how to effectively use the medium, before they worry about RoI.

Tags:brand, Branding, cell phone, communities, mig33, mobile phones, social, social games, social gifts, Social Media Marketing, WAP
Posted in Brand Promotion, Social Media, Social Media Marketing, Target Audience | 1 Comment »

Marketing through 140 Characters.

Friday, April 1st, 2011

Our last post, The Business of Tweeting, was an attempt at understanding what goes in creating a Twitter handle that is optimized for business communication. In this two-part post we will discuss what business requirements can be addressed through the use of Twitter account.

Twitter Network

The rise and rise of Twitter

Since its launch in 2006, the micro-blogging website has grown to become one of the most important online marketing and communications tools – which many people would say is second only to Facebook. It now hosts more than 1 billion tweets a week and is estimated to be worth around $10bn.

(Source: http://newtechpost.com/2010/08/03/twitter-grows-up-the-start-of-a-new-more-mature-era)

The growth has not been in just personal usage. From November 2008, when Barack Obama thanked supporters via Twitter after winning the US presidential election, to March 2011, when news of Tsunami striking Japan was being relayed via the micro blogging network, the growth has simply been phenomenal and diverse.

The untapped business tool

It’s true that Twitter is what a user makes of it. Some people publicize their daily activities, some make it about link love, some share quotes all day long. Smart people using Twitter for business mix it up. It must be noted, that while any business tool always aims at instigating a consumer to buy a product, social media tools such as Twitter are meant to build relationships with consumer. Hence harnessing the power of 140 characters becomes essential for Twitter Marketing.

Approaching Twitter Marketing

Twitter is a tool that can be utilized for sharing information about a brand, a person and at some level the offers that may be available through these brands. The three broad and distinctive areas where twitter marketing can be used are

Sharing information
Gather market intelligence and insights; and
Build relationships with people who care about the brand

As one would agree, a free tool which reaches out to 150 million users worldwide and roughly 5 million twitter users in India, that’s a lot of consumers waiting to be engaged without much expenditure.

Click here to read the details of conducting Twitter Marketing.

Tags:Branding, Handle, Micro Blogging, PR, Social Media, Social Media Marketing, Twitter
Posted in Social Media, Social Media Marketing, Twitter | 1 Comment »