Posts Tagged ‘Twitter’

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LinkedIn’s Friday Dressing

Wednesday, August 1st, 2012

f4269_linkedin-logo1-580x385With the big giants like Facebook and Twitter having already received a facelift in the last one year or so, could LinkedIn be left far behind? The world’s leading social networking forum for professionals has recently undergone a cosmetic facelift and it looks quite promising. Let’s take a look at how impressive these changes are.

Lasting Impression:

The first impression is that LinkedIn has definitely geared up to become more engaging. The user interface has seen some dramatic changes while retaining many features almost as it is. The most visible change is doing away with the additional white space that the previous layout had.

Additionally, LinkedIn has introduced a clear demarcation of the various elements of the page into sections for comfortable viewing and ease of access. A dash of blue, black and grey has been added to the menu bar at the top to give the home page a more dynamic look. This menu bar though floats around at the top of the page regardless of wherever one navigates to within the page. This makes navigation simpler and holds the attention of the people on the page longer.

Linkedin

Also, in order to keep the platform dynamism quotient high, the new layout gives the user more updated information through his/her networks with the introduction of a small blue box at the top that keeps a score of updates in the real time; and they don’t stop at that.

Few of the sections to the right wing of the page give out clear numbers and statistics to an individual’s networking circle. The ‘who’s viewed your profile’ is the cue to discovering potential connections based on interest and an option to connect or message them is present, based on the degree of connection one has with that user.

Getting Personal:

The most radical feature that now greets us as we land on to our page is the introduction of LinkedIn Today panel that acts as a storyboard for all the information or news feed that one would require. What this means is, there is more customized flow of information on the news feed that is virtually impossible to miss out. Add to that, the improved graphics and bigger images that utilizes the space with a photograph to supplement each story. What’s more? Just like Twitter, this feature enables user to be in tandem with the hottest trending topics in their professional network with suggestions to follow industries and customize news. We say, it’s a winning move indeed. Although we must add that the photographs of users in the feed could have used some better placement as the left edge has no margin space, which makes it appear to end abruptly on one side.

Linkedin Today

Linkedin’s Caroline Gaffney had to say this about the move behind these changes – “We’ve revamped the entire homepage experience with a new look and feel to make it easier to scan and find the information that matters most to you”.

So long, Twitter:

In extension of the same, another key feature that many experts feel will be instrumental in determining the course of LinkedIn is the much talked about fallout with Twitter. Previously, a lot of content that used to surface on LinkedIn was directed through Twitter and not all of them were relevant to the professional network. Twitter now has limited its API to prevent tweets from automatically posting to LinkedIn’s social network, which means the amount of effort and time that goes into sharing information across platform will go up. Such a move can be viewed with a double lens. It can either mean that people will get to LinkedIn and post content which would mean more relevant and platform centric posts. Or it could see a drop in engagement as not many would like to take this much of effort. The jury is still out on that.

What is your initial reaction to the changed layout of LinkedIn? Is it a better shift than what Facebook and Twitter underwent? Share with us your feedback in the comments section below. We are always happy to hear from you.

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Posted in Brand Promotion, Social Media, Social Media Marketing | 3 Comments »

A Social Learning Experience

Monday, July 16th, 2012

The use of social media in primary education has been debated over a lot by the likes of social media experts, teachers and parents in recent years. While traditionalists say that allowing children to access social networks in schools would distract them from the very purpose of discipline and education, some argue that there are unseen and unfelt benefits of the same for students which outweigh the risks.

We think, if used with care, established social media platforms could be leveraged to build schools reputation and can also, on a microscopic basis, provide a sound education to students through involvement of teachers and parents. Of course it goes without saying that all the activities that a student undertakes on the social platform is under a teacher/parent’s able guidance.

A new book

It is surprising that a platform as popular as Facebook has yet not been an active provider in the education sector. What is more surprising is the fact that there are host of features that a student can capitalize to broaden their knowledge base or simply assist them in the process of learning.

For instance, a class can be divided into groups based on interests, subjects, extra-curricular activities etc. and students could be provided with access to Facebook groups under the teacher’s guidance at school and the parents at home. The groups could turn out to be quite an ideal platform to share assignments, homework, ideas and learning within the members. It can also be used as a collaborative platform for project work and assignments.

Also, features such as notes can be used to come up with feature writing on a particular topic. Teachers can use the page to:

  • Upload questions
  • Do polls
  • Use photos to educate
  • Quizzes
  • Notes

On a broader level, a school can run its own page. This would be a more universal display of talent and activities happening in a school. Not just that, the Facebook page can be used innovatively to live stream events/lectures etc. to a whole set of audience anywhere in the world. This would give collaborative learning a whole new meaning. Schools can work together on global projects. World history, for example, would become so much more fun if students of a country would explain their country’s past to a logged in global audience.

School PostAlso, the page could be a true notice board for parents. If used properly and correctly, the page could be a source of information for parents to regularly log back to see the calendar of events of a school. Pinning important events and notice to the page can help them communicate the news effectively.

One opportunity lies in the Discussions tab on the Facebook Page. A school can create a discussion about a specific topic and allow members of the community to share their thoughts within the thread. Page admins can engage with parents to understand their concerns and help the school address those concerns.

Bringing education to life

Information that involves more senses is known to be absorbed in a whole lot better than that which involves just one. It is always easier for students to learn new things if they see and hear things at the same time.

YouTubeThis is where a platform like YouTube can come in very handy. Not a lot of people know that YouTube has a dedicated YouTube for school service. YouTube for Schools gives you access to the hundreds of thousands of educational videos on YouTube EDU. This includes short lessons from top teachers around the world, full courses from the world’s best universities, professional development from fellow educators, and inspiring videos from thought leaders.

Teachers can log in and watch any video, but students cannot log in and can only watch YouTube EDU videos and videos their school has added on their school channel. All comments and related videos are disabled and search is limited to YouTube EDU videos.

Teachers can now use YouTube videos to:

  • Enrich classroom lessons
  • Spark a conversation
  • Make theory come to life
  • Tap into the mind of the visual learner

The universal encyclopedia

The biggest collaborative knowledge pool that is out there on the internet, Wikipedia, is a constant source of updated information. Teachers along with students can jointly set up internal wikis where they can add, edit, create and develop a learning theme.

Furthermore, incentivizing it with shares, likes, comments on other platforms only gives a boost to a student’s moral. Needless to say, when learning can be this fun, more students would be actively engaged in learning and sharing knowledge.

Answering the inquisitive minds

The question and answer platform, Quora, serves as a repository and knowledge pool that’s there on the internet. It is strictly a place for those who need accurate answers to questions related to a specific subject. Could it appeal to the students in schools? It mostly definitely will, we add.

QuoraStudents can create boards on the basis of a group of batch mates with similar interest areas after inviting them to the forum. After this it is pretty much creating a ready pool of discussions, problems, solutions in most of the recognised streams.

The summary section lets an individual collate the important points from all the posted answer and write one perfect answer that can be used by students. It is almost like a collaborative construction of an answer to a question.

A lot of schools in India have already started using these platforms. MIT Vishwashanti Gurukul, Rajbaug, Pune is a good example of such a start. We would love to see more such initiatives. After all, of what use is technology if not used for the enrichment of the mind?

What do you think about usage of social media in schools? Do you think this could be a sound platform for improved education system? Share your views with us. We would love to hear from you.

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Posted in Facebook, Social Media, Social Media Marketing | No Comments »

Social Media Case Study: Pond’s Perfect Match

Saturday, June 30th, 2012

PONDS NEW LOGOAfter researching with over 20,000 genes, the Pond’s Institute identified a specific gene that significantly affects melanin production. Through this discovery, they created their most effective skin lightening formulation containing the revolutionary GenWhite™ formula. With so much work going in the product, the next challenge was to promote this product on social media platforms.

The idea that was identified was using the gene technology that the product uses to form a perfect match with your skin. This ‘Perfect Match’ concept was represented through Facebook applications and Twitter hash tag. A dedicated campaign featuring actor Rannvijay Singha was launched.

We share with you, how the application and the hash tag helped Pond’s India add 11,482 fans on its Facebook page and trend for almost 31 hours in India.

Do share your feedback with us. We would love to hear your opinion and thoughts about this campaign and in general as well.

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Posted in Case Study, Social Media, Social Media Marketing | No Comments »

The Social Star

Friday, May 25th, 2012

The Social StarThe unprecedented involvement of Social media in our daily lives has made it impossible for anyone to overlook the impact on an individual’s image. A celebrity in this regard is therefore at the crossroads of a vigorous image makeover and upkeep. The celebrity today has associations, most of which are beyond the realms of self.

There are a few factors and situations that are to be considered while dealing with a celebrity’s presence on the Social Media. Here’s chronicling a few of them:

Celebrity for Image upkeep and branding:

A celebrity’s popularity in current times is subject to the number of fans and the positive share of voice, online. Image building traditionally, used to be a painstakingly slow and elaborate process. Thanks to a slew of social platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Myspace et al, the process has picked up a bit of pace.

A celebrity’s presence on social media needs devoted time, energy and a bit of predetermined strategy with occasional spur of the moment thoughts. Each celebrity has a distinct nuance and tonality to his/her way of being and the fans know it well. This is why it becomes crucial to establish a voice that reflects the personality, opinion and brand of an individual.

Celebrities like Lady Gaga (just breaking the 25 million followers mark on twitter) and Ashton Kutcher have a humongous fan following on twitter and they engage pretty actively with them by posting events and activities from their daily lives, quotes and share links that interest them etc.; enough to provide fodder for their star-struck fans.

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Lady Gaga’s Twitter page reflects the largest fan following for any any celebrity on Twitter

Closer home, celebrities from various walks of life have already started to connect to their fans via Social Media. Close on the heels of their international counterparts, our very own Bollywood actors, leaders, sportsmen, celebrated authors etc. have resorted to twitter, Facebook, blogging platforms etc. to strengthen their appeal among fans. The new breed of celebrities including the likes of Deepika Padukone, Ranbir Kapoor, Sonam Kapoor, Mahinder Singh Dhoni, Priyanka Chopra, Chetan Bhagat, etc. along with the old stalwarts like Amitabh Bacchan, Shahrukh Khan, Aamir Khan and others have connected with fans to provide a sneak peak of their future releases, share their daily routine, practice sessions, etc.

A platform to showcase talent:

This is not just with established actors. In fact even musicians who look forward to making a cut have been using MySpace besides twitter, Facebook and blogs to promote their initial releases. This mostly works as a precursor to generate enough buzz that could subsequently lead to album sales.

Actor Charlie Sheen, who had at that time just recently taken to twitter, on 7th March 2011, tweeted for an ad “I’m looking to hire a #winning INTERN with #TigerBlood. Apply here http://bit.ly/hykQQF #TigerBloodIntern #internship #ad”. Needless to say, the response was quite overwhelming. By March 11th, there were already 475,375 clicks on the original link and about 82, 148 in surplus applications for the internship that had been received by Sheen’s social media firm from around 181 countries. If statistics are anything to go by, this kind of response is evident that a celebrity’s word to fans, draw in a lot of attention and could in turn inspire action.

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Charlie Sheen’s tweet that caused quite a sensation

Celebrity as Cause Endorsers:

Promoting a social cause and committing to humane activities is what a modern day celebrity is leveraging the social media for. Owing to a large number of doting fans, a celebrity in a way becomes the torch-bearer for a more optimistic, tolerant and compassionate society. On occasions, they lend in their support for various fund-raising campaigns and help spread awareness and put up a show of solidarity through Social Media.

For instance, celebrities like Ian Somerhalder, Nina Dobrev, Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, Matt Damon, Ben Affleck and Oprah Winfrey spend an incredible amount of time working and supporting charities and other fund-raising causes. Ian Somerhalder, who is a prominent user of Twitter and known-environmentalist, tweets about his charities to help draw in support from his fans.

Lady Gaga’s ‘Born this way foundation’ is one such initiative on the similar lines to build a society that is more acceptable of differences and celebrates individuality. This movement was to empower the youth and inspire bravery.

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Lady Gaga’s ‘Born This Way Foundation’ Facebook tab

Two years after the devastating earthquake off the coast of Haiti, ‘Haiti: Aid Still Required’ online campaign took off. The ones who lent their support included about 40 celebrities (Maroon 5, Sting, Alicia Keys, Lady Antebellum etc.) with a combined social following of more than 125 million people on Twitter and Facebook. The money raised in collaboration with www.snobal.com (an online micro-donation portal) is to be used for funding infrastructure, trauma relief, rape victims, reforestation, schools and orphanages.

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Haiti: Aid Still Required

 

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The video made by Maroon 5 in support for Haiti: Aid Still Required

In India particularly, Social Media has another dimension to its functionality. In a country where the grapevine stirs up quite a lot of buzz, often harbouring on borderline slander, Social Media provide a platform to the celebrity to voice out their opinions and add credibility to their brand.

Also, Social causes have received a fair share of boost, riding high on a celebrity’s mileage. One of the foremost, Aamir Khan who is regarded as a part-time activist because of his several associations with social issues has garnered enormous support through his fan following.

Nurturing the Medium:

The most evident advantage that a social media platform provides to the stars and their fans is the proverbial breaking down of the 4th wall. Not till this medium came up, would a common person have imagined having a direct conversation with their demi-gods. What it also means is, that this platform is a very important listening tool for the celebrities. While they would want to deliver what their fans want, this would only happen if they listen to the audience and there is no better place to listen than social media.

The Scope Therefore:

With celebrities mushrooming from all sections of the society at a pace that can outpace the medium itself, it is increasingly getting important for celebrities to know their game well and play it in their favor. More often than not, time does not permit a lot of them to nurture their association with fans and at the most what happens is information is doled out just to keep that eager fan on the hook. To gain a following that is healthy and interactive, one must invest time.

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Posted in Brand Promotion, Social Media, Social Media Marketing | No Comments »

Killing The Messenger

Monday, January 23rd, 2012

stop-sopa-bill-300x300Over the past few months, the netizens have been irked about various developments surrounding the much talked about Anti piracy acts and censorship debate. Leading the pack are PIPA and SOPA. Various other issues have also cropped up on similar lines. Concerns pertaining to censorship of social media in India being one of them. For the ease of understanding let’s break them down and do a quick recap on what has been causing the stir in the cyber space.

 

The PIPA-SOPA effect

PIPA (Protect Intellectual Property Act) and SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) were both bills introduced in the US Congress. Introduced by Patrick Leahy on May 12, 2011, PIPA is a law enactment (awaiting a sanction) that aims at providing the US government and copyright holders with additional tools to combat websites that cater to infringement or counterfeiting goods, especially outside the US.

sopa pipa
Support against PIPA & SOPA

The PROTECT IP Act says that an "information location tool shall take technically feasible and reasonable measures, as expeditiously as possible, to remove or disable access to the Internet site associated with the domain name set forth in the order. In addition, it must delete all hyperlinks to the offending "Internet site"

The Stop Online Privacy Act was introduced by Lamar S. Smith on October 26, 2011 on the lines of the previously launched PIPA months ago. This bill was propounded with similar aims to fight online trafficking in contented Intellectual Property and counterfeited goods. Provisions include the requesting of court orders to bar advertising networks and payment facilities from conducting business with infringing websites, and search engines from linking to the sites, and court orders requiring Internet service providers to block access to the sites. The law would expand existing criminal laws to include unauthorized streaming of copyright material, imposing a maximum penalty of five years in prison.

What followed next and what’s lying ahead:

Aided by a visible support from entertainment related groups like the MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America) and National Music Publishers Association, major pharmaceutical corporations, etc. along with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other law enforcement agencies, the PIPA and SOPA picked up steam. But was quickly opposed by a widespread opposition from the biggies of the internet namely, Wikipedia, Facebook, Google, Amazon.com, Yahoo!, Twitter et al.

In the weeks that followed, things seemed to have stalled for the activists. Wikipedia (English) called for a blanket ban on what the world would be like without access to free knowledge. Google also did their bit by creating a dedicated landing page (with a blackened logo) on 18th of January, 2011, the day to be remembered in recent times as the day the internet went dark. Social networking giant Facebook voiced its concern over the Act considering the huge user base of Facebook and taking into account that majority of them are based outside the geographical boundary of USA. It stated it is a nearly impossible task to monitor what a single user is uploading. Facebook and many other social networking sites are platforms and not content filtering sites.

218648-wikipedia-blackout-in-protest-against-sopaWikipedia Blackout on 18th January as a support to ban PIPA & SOPA

A recent setback of sorts was Twitter’s (a youth oriented social networking platform that has in its basic fabric, promoting freedom of expression, 140 characters at a time) has now put a system in a place to have region specific censorship of its tweets. Considering the fresh infusion of US$ 300 million from a Saudi investment holding company one could only speculate why. This rather surprising move by twitter was opposed by major activists like those based out of Egypt and Libya where Twitter played a major role in ousting the then existing government tyranny just about a year ago. Also, a Twitter blackout day was observed on January 28th, 2012 to protest against Twitters decision.

On the Indian shores

Closer home, In India, the limited but an ever growing internet audience is fighting its own battle against the government’s censorship policy that has proposals to add more clauses in the Information Technology (IT) Act specifically targeting the content that is posted online on social networking sites at large. This includes previously enlisted clauses like monitoring of digital signatures, security and hacking.

Following a string of posts that have surfaced up lately on various social networking websites like Facebook, Twitter, ibibo etc. where strong sentiments are made vocal by exploiting various tools like pictures, videos, updates, notes, tweets etc. the government is looking to pull the chord on the social media platforms.

This has made some 80 million Indians very unhappy. With all the censorship and the unrest that has been going on with various people led campaigns and the support garnered through social media, this has been taken as a way of governments attempt at curtailing the fundamental right of freedom to expression. Many have suggested that such a step is like killing the messenger.

cesoring-social-media-in-India
Social Media Censorship Ban

Cause for concern?

For any brand, such a step of preventing free speech or even an open platform for expression is a cause of concern. No other platform gives you such easy access to more than a billion people with such little investment. Although PIPA and SOPA acts have been put to rest for now, the fight in India is still going on. Many have said that the Indian government cannot take a totalitarian stand like China.

Also, the government of India would have better sense to go back to 80s when foreign MNCs were asked to leave the country. With Facebook IPO just round the corner, killing investment opportunities with such giants would eventually harm the country’s economics. Something which the government can’t afford.

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Posted in Social Media | No Comments »

Twitter takes a tweak

Monday, December 19th, 2011

twitter tweaks2011 has been a remarkable year for many startups and stalwarts in the arena of Social Media. For most part, the socially active would remember this year as the year of major changes being rolled out by most social networking sites.

Even the most popular micro blogging site, Twitter, underwent a major UI changes. The ‘New Twitter’ was launched amidst much talked about anticipations and apprehensions. Here is a look at how the tweaks make Twitter grow.

Navigation Keys

At the top panel of the newly refurbished Twitter, users have 4 easy to navigate keys which are essentially the Home, Connect, Discover and Me keys. Besides, there is also a Tweet icon that is omnipresent so that one can tweet no matter where they are on the page.

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Home

This is essentially where one views tweets from the people they are essentially following including their retweets. With the new twitter, photos, videos and conversations are embedded directly in tweets so that one can see the whole story at a glance.

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Image courtesy: www.fly.twitter.com

Connect

An easy conversation ready reckoner where one can initiate or continue conversations, see their RT’s, favourites, followers(these 3 clubbed under Interactions) and mentions.

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Image courtesy: www.fly.twitter.com

Discover

By far the most significant and distinct feature highlighted in the new twitter, discover aims to stream customized content and in most cases they are different for each user (Stories). Along with this, it has integrated the last rolled out Activity tab where one can keep a track on their followers, find friends from various mail portals, browse categories(according to the interest areas).

The Stories are visually presented with much revelry, aesthetically speaking. They highlight the name of the topic on the masthead where tweets regarding them can be viewed by a single click and are supplemented with a recent article on the same beneath.

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All about Me

The last of the tabs is a personal dashboard to the lists one has subscribed to/is a member of and an all new window to the Direct Messages which now appears in a separate window. The layout of the DM window is a lot more user friendly and packed. Clicking upon each interaction opens up a chat like window within the existing window with the latest messages exchanged appearing last.

The most prominent feature in the Me being the display and layout of the page that offers one to showcase to the world their identity. With an enlarged masthead where the profile picture is big enough to create a statement with enough space to key in an individual’s story. Not to leave out space to provide a link to one’s website.

This however, is one of the key benefits that Twitter Brand Pages would have in customizing there page layout.

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Image courtesy: www.fly.twitter.com

Also, when one gets’ to Browse categories, this is where the major development comes into foray. This is where most Brands would be interested and looking forward to. This is one stop shop for any brand or person with a public profile that are clubbed together in broad categories in order of their relevance. For e.g.: Sports, Music, Technology, Books, television etc.

Branded Tweets

Interface facelift and the potent mobile platform

Now that twitter has revamped its web interface with additional features, brands and users can exploit it like never before. Earlier high-powered twitter users made use of 3rd party tools like hootsuite, TweetDeck etc. which enabled them to manage their twitter presence because of elaborate and feature enriched interfaces. With the advent of the new twitter this trend is likely to get more users get hooked on to the web interface. The simultaneous launch of mobile apps also shows that Twitter is gearing up for the future.

Preemptive content curating

For brands, to build engagement it’s essential that they do a preemptive study on the nature of their followers. By knowing how their followers function could really work wonders. This way, the brands can think ahead of their followers and develop content that would have definitive response to.

The Activity tab has the Discover element under it. This lets the users and brand pages find out relevant content material that is in sync with their followers interests. This can subsequently be incorporated in their further dissemination of information/tweets.

The Brand Pages & Advertising

Twitter’s brand pages that were much anticipated has come with power packed features and is definitely a boost in the arm to woo major brands into the twitter ecosystem especially by integrating richer content and using paid advertising through its in-house developed advertising tool.

Last but not the least, as previously mentioned, brands could now use the page layout in doling out information about them in a much enhanced fashion. For e.g.: The mast head on top of the brand page has a huge space for bio and relevant/connected websites and makes for a promising stand out statement.

Also, the backgrounds could include more elements from the brand portfolio that defines it’s core fabric.

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The final tweet

Although it is still dicey as to how twitter would go about this, the content diggers on twitter will definitely discover twitter as a great reserve. As time rolls by and the brand pages gain prominence in the brandscape, the new twitter will definitely prove its mettle as far as effectively reaching out to consumers is concerned.

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Posted in Social Media, Social Media Marketing, Twitter | 1 Comment »

Google+ lures the brands, finally!!

Monday, November 21st, 2011

Google_plus_logo_thumbAfter much anticipation, Google finally allowed brands to create their pages on Google+ social network earlier this month. With lots of pre-launch speculation as to features, functionality and the impact Google+ Pages for brands could have on search and on Facebook pages, many brands will surely be very very excited to make their presence felt on the latest social media platform. An early adoption may boost the brand numbers in short run but a close look is a must before diving in.

While it will be essential that brands make the most of the functionalities and features available to add something new and fresh to their social media user experience, emphasis will also be on the way they integrate their approach to social media and SEO which would be a very important element of Google+ pages.

Impact on brand search

Knowing Google, it would have been hard to believe that they would not have used their core product to jump start the Google+ page promotion. Google search is the single largest provider of information on the net today and not using it to its benefit would simply not make sense. Thus, the new Direct Connect feature – a feature that will enable users to search for brand pages within the Google search page by simply adding ‘+’ before their search has been established. This not only gives a great boost to the brand page but also thumps Facebook page search abilities which are far more complex.

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Google Search for a Google+ page of Pepsi

Also, the tie-in between +1’s and brand page content will be a very important search engine optimization tool now. It is widely thought that content receiving +1’s, whether this is inside the Google+ platform or indeed on a brand’s own website, will appear considerably higher in organic searches. Additionally, when a user is logged-in to their Google+ account, Google also takes the +1’s of both the user and their connections/circles into account when delivering the search results it serves to users. Essentially, Google is assigning weight to social recommendations through Google+ as a metric of content quality and relevance to the user, making search results more personalized in a way we have not seen before.

The clean and clear advantage

The Google+ page retains a very bright, big colorful layout. It feels less “narrow” than Facebook, and one does not have to scroll down so much to see previous conversations. This makes photos a lot easier to view, also, with an easy-to-spot conversation bubble to notify which photos had comments attached to them. There’s just something about that clean design that is a breath of fresh air from the ad-and-content-cluttered Twitter and Facebook.

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A clean and crisp page layout

On first look, Google+ brand pages may look remarkably similar to the layout we have come to know and love on Facebook. However, it is in the additional visual features available beneath the surface where things start to come to life on Google+. Like the dynamic profile pic option that changes every time you click on it or the animated header profile picture gallery, Google has added stuff that are nice and pleasant on the eye.

Another Wave

Google wave may have died but Google has introduced Ripples! It shows, in a web diagram, how a content piece has been shared, who are the main influencers on the page, and other fascinating statistics that one can’t find anywhere else.

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Google Ripple

This helps in making the page a lot more convenient and easier to interpret. Add to this, the Hangout feature will surely help bring down the gap between the brand and the people who follow it. A direct interaction with those who run the brand will only serve to establish a better relationship.

Not yet there

While a direct connect and a straight link to YouTube will add to Google+ pages advantages, the lack of APIs will hurt as much. Facebook was not just a standalone platform. It was a ground to work on. It has helped make industries out of game makers and application developers. How Google+ pages counter that is yet to be seen.

Also, the strict policy of not allowing and contest or promotion on the page is a hurdle. One cannot ignore the fact that promotions and offer are key to social media marketing in our region. Thus, while it makes sense to give Google+ a thought, a wait and watch approach may give a clearer picture to the brand managers.

Click here to read more about Google +

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Posted in Brand Promotion, Social Media, Social Media Marketing | No Comments »

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