Deskaway started their stint with the Social Media on Facebook and Twitter a year after their launch. Yolkshire on the other hand started early with a month long pre-launch campaign on Facebook. While the timing might be different the approach has been the same for both. ‘Content is king’ and the platform is majorly employed as a conversation medium. Sahil Parikh quoted in particular that no strategy is followed for their online campaigns per se. It is intrinsically about making conversations in the virtual world with your customers and potential clients. “Do you have a strategy when you go to a social event or a party? Unless you want a pick a girl!” said Parikh in jest. Sahil Khan couldn’t agree more on this. Yolkshire believes in creating content that is interesting enough to generate interaction by the users. The two almost said in unison that the social media platforms are not being used with sales as the primary objective. “Pushy sales are a complete No No!” The simple idea is to create awareness about the product! As Sahil Khan quipped, “Talk everything about eggs.” Effectively tapping the medium to connect like-minded people is another way leading to content generation by the users.
Yolkshire has been rewarded with a healthy fan base due to their daily campaigns viz. “Fan of the day” on Facebook offering a 10% discount to the winners. Various online contests and events at the eatery are synergized with the social media. The prizes, discounts, twitter coupons, free event passes act as incentives and increase the brand following while keeping the current and old relations intact. Constant awareness about product launches, gaining feedback, engaging in discussions about the new trends of the industry, etc keeps the online campaign alive.
Having a social media presence calls for not only interaction with the users but dealing with criticism as well. Online reputation management is a key in such situations. For Deskaway, an online helpdesk is the simple solution. Yolkshire being an eatery chooses to give online reassurance of services and quality. Fighting the viral nature of online criticism is tough but not impossible. Candidness and acceptance about the failures is essential. It never hurts to share inside stories of work productivity, scoops and scandals of the trade either. It only generates more user interest and increases the relativity to the product.
The open discussion saw many members suggesting that an integrated online strategy is the current trend for SMM. Different online tools have to be incorporated with one another to have a streamlined online campaign. Blogs, videos, pictures, etc. from different sites can be shared on all social networking sites. One has to ensure that all the followers are virtually on ‘the same page’ (Pun unintended) with the product’s and/or service’s progress and growth.
Investing time and money into anything, involuntarily asks for measurable results. Online tracking is therefore an essential part of calculations. Hootsuite is an indispensable part of Deskaway’s online accounting, measuring clicks, followers, engagement, etc. With Hootsuite integrating various social media profiles into one makes it easier to keep tabs, make reports and access the analytics. It helps you acknowledge the source of online traffic. One can see the buzz growing with time. Paid and unpaid online tracking tools are available but not necessarily used by all. All said and done, Yolkshire and Deskaway shared similar views on the ever debatable issue – ROI! While the analytics and monthly reports aid in reviewing the online campaigns they can never promise actual conversions in any certainty. Social media is a relatively small part of any marketing plan. And it is fundamentally more of a branding and engagement channel than an advertising portal. In fact the ‘I’ in ROI can very well be called an “Influence” than an investment. To put it simply – ROI is difficult to measure for the social media campaigns. “Don’t sweat it!” But since the finances are being drawn into a campaign one has to make sure it is headed towards some practical fruition.
Both the Sahil(s) revealed their further plans. Future online prospects for Deskaway aren’t revolutionary in any respect as of now. Facebook hasn’t turned out to be as good as Twitter for the software giant in terms of online conversions. The results on Twitter are far more promising and they plan to continue their campaigns there. Yolkshire plans to embark on a more elaborated online drive with collaborations with DealTadka and Foursquare.
There are a plethora of options to be harnessed for one’s social media campaigns. Identifying what suits your trade the best is of importance. Raking in the confidence of industry influencers viz. the food bloggers, the software critics, etc is just one way of being smart in the trade. There are more untapped options and secret windows like these and we hope to explain, debate, share and learn about them in our coming seminars.
-Bhakti
SMC Mumbai
Deskaway started their stint with the Social Media on Facebook and Twitter a year after their launch. Yolkshire on the other hand started early with a month long pre-launch campaign on Facebook. While the timing might be different the approach has been the same for both. ‘Content is king’ and the platform is majorly employed as a conversation medium. Sahil Parikh quoted in particular that no strategy is followed for their online campaigns per se. It is intrinsically about making conversations in the virtual world with your customers and potential clients. “Do you have a strategy when you go to a social event or a party? Unless you want a pick a girl!” said Parikh in jest. Sahil Khan couldn’t agree more on this. Yolkshire believes in creating content that is interesting enough to generate interaction by the users. The two almost said in unison that the social media platforms are not being used with sales as the primary objective. “Pushy sales are a complete No No!” The simple idea is to create awareness about the product! As Sahil Khan quipped, “Talk everything about eggs.” Effectively tapping the medium to connect like-minded people is another way leading to content generation by the users.
Yolkshire has been rewarded with a healthy fan base due to their daily campaigns viz. “Fan of the day” on Facebook offering a 10% discount to the winners. Various online contests and events at the eatery are synergized with the social media. The prizes, discounts, twitter coupons, free event passes act as incentives and increase the brand following while keeping the current and old relations intact. Constant awareness about product launches, gaining feedback, engaging in discussions about the new trends of the industry, etc keeps the online campaign alive.
Having a social media presence calls for not only interaction with the users but dealing with criticism as well. Online reputation management is a key in such situations. For Deskaway, an online helpdesk is the simple solution. Yolkshire being an eatery chooses to give online reassurance of services and quality. Fighting the viral nature of online criticism is tough but not impossible. Candidness and acceptance about the failures is essential. It never hurts to share inside stories of work productivity, scoops and scandals of the trade either. It only generates more user interest and increases the relativity to the product.
The open discussion saw many members suggesting that an integrated online strategy is the current trend for SMM. Different online tools have to be incorporated with one another to have a streamlined online campaign. Blogs, videos, pictures, etc. from different sites can be shared on all social networking sites. One has to ensure that all the followers are virtually on ‘the same page’ (Pun unintended) with the product’s and/or service’s progress and growth.
Investing time and money into anything, involuntarily asks for measurable results. Online tracking is therefore an essential part of calculations. Hootsuite is an indispensable part of Deskaway’s online accounting, measuring clicks, followers, engagement, etc. With Hootsuite integrating various social media profiles into one makes it easier to keep tabs, make reports and access the analytics. It helps you acknowledge the source of online traffic. One can see the buzz growing with time. Paid and unpaid online tracking tools are available but not necessarily used by all. All said and done, Yolkshire and Deskaway shared similar views on the ever debatable issue – ROI! While the analytics and monthly reports aid in reviewing the online campaigns they can never promise actual conversions in any certainty. Social media is a relatively small part of any marketing plan. And it is fundamentally more of a branding and engagement channel than an advertising portal. In fact the ‘I’ in ROI can very well be called an “Influence” than an investment. To put it simply – ROI is difficult to measure for the social media campaigns. “Don’t sweat it!” But since the finances are being drawn into a campaign one has to make sure it is headed towards some practical fruition.
Both the Sahil(s) revealed their further plans. Future online prospects for Deskaway aren’t revolutionary in any respect as of now. Facebook hasn’t turned out to be as good as Twitter for the software giant in terms of online conversions. The results on Twitter are far more promising and they plan to continue their campaigns there. Yolkshire plans to embark on a more elaborated online drive with collaborations with DealTadka and Foursquare.
There are a plethora of options to be harnessed for one’s social media campaigns. Identifying what suits your trade the best is of importance. Raking in the confidence of industry influencers viz. the food bloggers, the software critics, etc is just one way of being smart in the trade. There are more untapped options and secret windows like these and we hope to explain, debate, share and learn about them in our coming seminars.
-Bhakti
SMC Mumbai
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