Internet v/s Social Marketing

The article gives a visual depiction of Internet v/s Social Marketing, published in Qatar Today Magazine - June 2011 issue.

Internet v/s Social Marketing 

In my previous post I had given few tips to convince your boss to adopt social media for commercial purposes. If you have managed to even partially convince your boss on introducing social/online media in your organization, the next step is to determine the possible ways of reaching your customers on the web. In the initial days of the web, one of the most common ways to advertise your product was by placing a banner ad on a website, or a pop up ad to get the attention of the website visitor. We have come a long way from those days and have more intelligent and less annoying ways of creating awareness for the product/services.

Internet Marketing is still one of the most popular ways to target your potential customers on the web. It is an enhanced traditional advertising campaign measurement with the addition of unique visitors, clicks, bounces, page ranks, keyword authority, link tracking etc.

Internet marketing is predominately focused around the following *terms: -

SEM (search engine marketing) - is a form of Internet marketing that seeks to promote websites by increasing their visibility in search engine result pages through the use of paid placement, contextual advertising, and paid inclusion

Cost per impression (CPI/CPM) - CPM for Cost per thousand impressions is another way to measure the worth of an online campaign.

Cost per click (CPC) - Advertisers pay the hosting service when the ad is clicked, to direct traffic to the respective website.

Cost per action (CPA) - the advertiser pays for each specified action (a purchase, a form submission, and so on) linked to the advertisement

SEO (search engine optimization) - is the process of improving the visibility of a website or a web page in search engines via organic search results.

An online campaign is needed to spread awareness which can ultimately lead to sales. Some online campaigns are purely meant for awareness while other’s prompt the user to click on the banner ads, which direct them to a landing page that has a list of the products available for sale.

You need to help the internet user understand what he/she can expect post clicking an interactive banner. If the expectations are not met in the first few seconds, you have lost your prospective internet partner. You need to develop more interactive ads to get the attention of the person viewing the ad.

Internet has come a long way from Web 1.0 to evolving Web 3.0. We can associate these trends with the following terms: -

Web 1.0 = Content

Web 2.0 = Conversation

Web 3.0 = Convergence

At present we are in Web 2.0 but slowly progressing towards Web 3.0.

Social Media Marketing (SMM) is another form of communication with your customers. I feel it’s all about Conversation. As a product manager if you are successful in speaking to your online audience in their language, you have won half the battle. It is dynamic, vibrant, emergent, compelling and insightful. Hence, Social Media Marketing (SMM) is not just a medium of communication but a place for marketers to understand its target audience.

Social Media as a conversation is not organized, controlled or in a form of an advertisement.

It is the conversation that takes place between Customers, Marketers, Employees, and Investors and web surfers.  On a larger scale, it’s the appeal of belonging in the group as you take action together. “l am trying this brand so why don’t you try it as well?”

Some social media tools that you could use for engaging the audience with your brands

Blogs - I don’t need to define ‘blogs’ for you, however, ensure you regularly update it.  Most corporate companies host blogs on their website. Alternatively you may use popular platforms like Blogger, Wordpress or Typepad.

Microblogging – Twitter is a classic example of microblogging. You need to engage your customers within the 140 characters. Companies use it as a customer service tool.  Check out Jaiku which is another popular microblogging website.

RSS - It a syndication format that allows websites and blogs to distribute their content as feeds to users.  Instead of having to visit the website, users can sign up for the feed provided by the website or blog and using an RSS reader or aggregators like Google Reader, Bloglines to access the feed.

Photo Sharing - Sites like flickr, picasa are popular photo sharing websites. One common technique used by online community a manager is to ask their subscribers to upload photographs on photo sharing websites and ask their friends to vote for the best photographs. Such competitions help the brand to reach out to non-consumers through their existing users.

Podcasts – It is a digital audio that is distributed via the Internet for playback on a user’s computer or portable media device. Link your podcasts to different websites and your blog and make special announcements via it.

Social News and Bookmarking - Social bookmarking allows web users to share their bookmarks of web pages on the Internet. You must have seen websites offering to share their article on sites like Delicious, Digg, Reddit etc are typical examples.

Social Networking – Facebook being the most popular social networking site can be used to engage customers by creating corporate pages and groups. Some other popular social networking sites are Ranren.com (No 1 in China), Myspace, Hi5, Bebo.

Setting the objectives: The SMM goals will be different for every business or organization. SMM can create brand awareness or build idea, increase visibility, leverage existing social media sites to the company’s advantage, help in creating a multi-pronged marketing strategy attract & motivate through Potential Customer Experience etc.

One thing that many digital marketers face difficulty is in measurement and the first step to measure is to set RIGHT objectives. The objectives should be in the interest of the organization and community.

To conclude both Internet and Social Media Marketing have their advantages. To have maximum impact on a campaign combination of both the marketing techniques can be infectious.  

Women Take the lead on Social Media

Dedicated to all the ladies - the below post articulates various trends observed on the online media. The article was published in the Woman Today Magazine - May 2011 issue. Click on the below pic to continue reading.

***Women Rule the Roost***

Both men and women have basic differences in their opinions and habits, which can seem a little confusing, depending on your perception.

The irony is that from conception stage until the eight week of development, both men and women are almost exactly the same. The differences that manifest then grow with them and are evident even in the online presence and usage.

According to a research conducted by Comscore (global source of digital market intelligence) as a percentage of global Internet users, women are catching up quickly with men. In fact, in North America both the genders are at par.

Communication and Social Networking are central to women’s Internet experience. Men may have taken the lead in the global Internet user’s category, but women occupy a larger proportion of time on the web, and this is increasing over time. The average 15+ female spends 8 percent more time online than her male counterpart.

While Social Networking has become a popular activity for all Internet Users, women take the lead in the usage. As per Comscore, globally women spent an average of 16.3 percent of their online time on social networks, compared to only 11.7 percent for the men.  The Social Networking King Facebook depicts similar picture, where the female users exceed the males globally. In the Middle East the men still take the lead on Facebook.

The Twitter technology being popular among both the genders has been adopted for a different reason. A general observation is that, women like to have a conversation within the 140 characters, whereas men prefer sharing information and links. According to the study, a larger percentage of female Twitter users say they use the site to find deals and promotions. Women are also more likely to use the service as to follow their favourite celebrities.

Females are definitely the drivers of the e-commerce business on the Internet. This is evident from the revenue figures of the below sites: -

Zappos (>$1 billion in revenue last year), Groupon ($760m last year) Diapers ($300m estimated revenue last year) are all driven by a majority of female customers.  According to Groupon, women form 77% of their customer base. Definitely the online retail therapy helps the women to relax and brightens one's mood.

Today’s tech savvy woman 18-34 is heavily addicted to social media networks.  An overwhelming majority (57%) admit to talking to people online more than face-to-face, while 34% say checking Facebook is the first thing they do when waking up in the morning – that includes brushing one’s teeth or using the bathroom, as per Oxygen Media.  Even more surprising is the 26% who get up in the middle of the night to read text messages and the 21% who confessed to checking Facebook during the night. When it comes to dating, Oxygen Media reports that 50% of single women 18-34 (vs. 65% of single men) think its okay meeting and dating other singles they meet through Facebook. 

Sheryl Sandberg, COO of Facebook has reportedly said women drive 62% of activity in terms of messages, updates and comments on the website.

Online Videos have become a popular medium of communicating on the web. The consumption of online videos among women has surged. A Nielson study in 2010 shows women aged 25-44 are a major force behind the rapid adoption. The consumption changes over the course of the day and varies according to time, mood and location. More than half of the women interviewed during the study admitted watching video during the course of the day while at work.

Men are more upbeat about Online Trading, Sports, Games, Personal Finance and Technology.  Men also dominate the internet search world (71.6 searches per searcher for men vs. 64.0 for women)

Johanna Blakeley, who was recently featured on Ted Talks spoke on End of Gender on Social Media. She said women are the drivers of Social Media, they actually out number men in all the age segments on use of Social Media. She is the Deputy Director of the Norman Lear Center, a media-focused think tank at the University of Southern California

If men are the amplifiers of the web then women are the speakers. If men lead the online technology then women drive the e-commerce sales.  Certain activities such as shopping and socializing are known to be favored by women in the physical world and this behavior is replicated online, especially on Social Media front. 

Boss we need to Socialize

The below article was published in Qatar Today's April 2011 issue. Click on the below pics to read.

Text Version

*****Boss - We need to Socialize…*****

The last conversation with your boss on adoption of Social Media may have left you stranded and you may be wondering how to convince him/her. You may conclude that the person is rigid not open to new ideas. A close minded person is difficult to convince and it requires strong will to change ones thought process. According to marketing guru Seth Godin, “a closed-minded worldview doesn't mean you're stupid, it means that you are selling yourself and your colleagues and your community short”.

Your boss is not stupid, probably ignorant. One of the best way to change perceptions and open a close mind is to present data in an appealing manner.

The adoption of Social Media in the Middle East for commercial purpose has been encouraging however it still needs to reach an advanced level. Senior management is still puzzled by the question – “Why the company should explore the Social Media route to reach their customers?”

Here are some tips that could help you to sell Social Media to your senior management:-

Show Them Facts and Figures

A survey conducted on Media consumption & habits of MENA Internet users in 2010 by Spot On PR firm based in Dubai showed that

- Social Networking is the second most popular activity carried out by Internet users after email.

- 32% of all Middle East & North Africa Internet users surveyed, bought products or services online

Spot On PR has reported that the Mena Population on Facebook has reached 17.3 million as of August 2010.

According to InsideFacebook.com, a leading source of news and analysis on Facebook, informed that Arabic language version of Facebook was the fastest growing language as of August 2010.

Blogs: Over 5 million blogs are tracked by Technorati, the “Bible” of Blogs with 600,000 being corporate blogs (Technorati)

Keeping up with the Competition

The hype of Social media would have caught your boss’s attention and there is a possibility that he/she may have seen some social media work at other corporations.

This means your boss is likely in a position to have a conversation on commercial aspects of social media. You just need to develop an online strategy that fits the organization’s business objectives. Your boss might just be looking for someone to take the lead. A survey conducted by IQPC in 2010 showed that 80% of corporate executives consider Social Media as an important aspect of the online communication strategies.

Customer Feedback Online

Every year companies spend millions on customer service surveys. This helps the executives to get an insight on what is their customer thinking.

When you go online try searching “your company name + bad experience”, you would be surprised at the results. Unfortunately, this freely available data online is overlooked by companies. ICICI bank is known to monitor 3-5k tweets per day via its Twitter handler @icici_care. The bank also monitors online conversations on Facebook, Blogs and other social mediums, to help stop rumors.

Listening to your customers creates strong relationships and helps you develop the right products. This would eventually lead to monetization.

Instant Response

Social Media not only gives you customer feedback online, but gives you the opportunity to respond back to your customer online. Many companies in Qatar like Qtel, Virgin Mobile give instant response to customer queries on a social network like Twitter. Customers are keen to interact with their brands online. A study conducted on MENA Twitter habits by Spot-On PR in Feb 2010 gave the following results: -

- 50% of the surveyed had purchased a product or service as a result of Twitter

- 88% of Twitter users recommend products / services

- 65% of respondents were interested in receiving special offers & coupons from brands on Twitter

Here is an opportunity for many for you to sell these stats to your boss which would help you build a case to monetize the investment in online media.

One step at a time

If your boss is partially convinced and asks you to give him a lead, start with maintaining an online blog. It is not that difficult to move some corporate offline content online. Recommend a person who has the passion for writing and can update the blog on a regular basis.

A few more reasons: -

Using SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and Social Media - Get your website among the top 10 searched items on Google, which leads to more traffic and visibility of your brand.

Reputation Management – Customers are discussing about your brand online, whether you like to listen or not.

Customer Service – Twitter, Facebook and various other social networks are becoming prime source of direct interaction with customers.

According to the Internetworldstats.com the Middle East has 63 million Internet users. So, if just 50% of those are affected by brand recommendations online, that’s 32 .5 million people are reachable through online mode of communication. Internet is here to stay and grow big; however, it’s your choice to ride the wave or stay onshore to make a difference.

The Doha Twitter Story

The below article was published in Gulf Times on 09 June 2010, my initial interaction days with the people in Doha to speak about twitter. Click on the below image to read the article.

Twestival Article in Qatar Tribune

The below article was published in Qatar Tribune on 26 March 2011 for Doha Twestival. Click on the pic to read. Doha Twestival Team managed to raise QR 87,000. Proud to be part of the Doha Twestival team.

Mobification of your Website

The below article was published in Qatar Today's March 2011 issue (Qatar's No. 1 business magazine). Click on the images to read through.


*** Article Text***  Mobification of your website!

 When was the last time you spent more than 30 seconds on a mobile based website to find some content? You may try using your iPhone, Android or Blackberry to get a daily dose of news, social media or other information, however the experience may not be pleasant if the website is not mobile friendly and takes time to load? As new mobile devices, development platforms are introduced it is difficult to keep pace with the technology. A classic example is a Financial Institution planning to introduce mobile banking; however the management is not able to make up its mind on various options like -  Developing an iPhone Application

- Creating a customized mobile website for devices like Blackberry, iPhone, Android etc. A recent study by a Dubai based PR firm *Spot On Mobile Internet Usage proved that 45% of the MENA Internet users use mobile phones to access Internet This means there will be less dependence on the use of desktop computers as people prefer to access information on the move. The question is how your website will appeal to those 45% users who access it from a mobile device. Despite the fact that the expansion of a mobile web business has been on the industry list for a while; the dazzling adoption of smart phones will see it actualize in this decade. As per Mary Meeker, the managing director of Morgan Stanley and an active Internet analyst, the world is going through a 5^th major technology cycle within last five decades. The 60’s was a mainframe era, the 70’s was a mini computer era, and 80’s was the personal computing whilst 90’s was the desktop Internet era. The current cycle is the Mobile Internet era, as per Mary Meeker who was dubbed as “Queen of the Net” by Barron’s magazine in 1998. Let us see few bite sized tips which may help you catch up with the 5^th tech cycle and enhance your mobile based website: - Having the best of technology doesn’t guarantee traffic on your mobile website – With the massive influx of iPhones and other smart devices, users are migrating from desktop to these devices at a rapid pace. Some of these devices like iPhones don’t support the multimedia platforms like flash and others may have issues with JavaScript. Till date approximately 85 mm iPhone devices have been sold and your website may not reach these customers due to flash limitations. A few alternative programs like HTML 5 and CSS 3 can do the trick. Simplify your website – The mobile version of your site needs to be simple with minimal graphics. Eliminating graphics is an effective way to optimize your website. You may redo your website layout, menus, content etc. Develop an application for various platforms – As previously mentioned in the article; influx of various mobile development platforms has left many websites in a dilemma. Many organizations are not willing to pursue an app for various platforms/mobile devices. However it is wise to invest in the popular device like Google Android and definitely iPhone to extend your reach. Irrespective of the devices visitors are using, give them a link to access your standard website and vice versa. This can be done be placing a small link at the bottom of your application. Track your visitors – I am rather concerned but not surprised that many commercial websites don’t have metrics software installed to help them track usage. There are some good analytical software’s like Google Analytics and Piwik that can be used by your website to track number of visitors, daily traffic, etc at no cost. With the help analytical tools you can identify the pages that are frequently visited by the users. If the users immediately navigate away from your landing page, it may need to be redesigned. Another reason why you should consider launching a mobile website is because Qtel may launch Long Term Evolution (LTE) in 2011, which was announced in the World Mobile Congress, 2011. LTE is 4G technology which will result in: - High-Speed data connection can delivers speeds than can be 10x faster than 3G Lower operating and expansion costs for the operator may lead to reduction in customer usage prices. To conclude, mobile websites are here to stay and if you are new in the business ensure that your new website doesn’t get outdated before its launch.The mobile internet is so addictive that the embracing of the Apple devices is taking place at the rate of 11 times faster than that of AOL, as per Meeker. Helping to drive this is the 3G technology, which is expected to reach a penetration rate of 19% by 2011 E in Middle East and Africa. Wait and watch as the global mobile usage is expected to surpass desktop internet usage by 2013.