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Event wrap up: Emerging Social Media Practices by product companies

9 Jun

The members of SMC Mumbai met again after a prolonged time-out on May 7th 2011 to discuss the emerging social media practices for product companies. The seminar was held at Directiplex in Andheri. The refreshing and encouraging fact was that many new members participated in the meet summing the total attendance to an approximate 30. The awareness has fairly increased with SMM. We hope that the trend will only continue to grow.

The seminar was slated to see three product companies – Deskaway, a software company primarily dealing in SaaS and Cloud; Yolkshire, an egg specialty start-up restaurant in Pune; Hokey Pokey a growing national chain of ice-cream parlours. Unfortunately Nitin Jain from Hokey Pokey couldn’t be present for the discussion. Nonetheless the seminar turned out to be quite enriching as Sahil Parikh and Sahil Khan, the respective owners for Deskaway and Yolkshire shared their experiences and thoughts on social media for their businesses.

Emerging Social Media Practices by Product Companies

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

The Industry Speaks- Sanjay Mehta

16 Apr

Name – Sanjay Mehta
Designation- Jt. CEO
Organization- Social Wavelength
How important do you think Social Media platforms are? Or do you think this is just a passing fad?
They are big. They are here to stay. Not a passing fad by any chance. Social Media enables people to do, what they naturally like to do, e.g. staying in touch, making new friends, belonging to groups, getting validation, etc. When something helps you do, what you anyway want to do, its here to stay!
Do you see an ROI from the medium? How would you define it?
ROI for sure, if we are talking of “Risk of Inaction”! Then again, what is the ROI of the telephone? Of the accountant? Social media is part of the business ecosystem, and it recovers money at end of the day, via various contributions or alternately cost savings, that it enables. In some cases, it can drive transactions as well, and those are the cases, where ROI is faster.
What challenges do you think people/brands/organizations will face in accepting this medium?
The biggest challenge is one that is faced by all new breakthroughs in technology related space. Waiting for others to do it first. Waiting for case studies to happen. Waiting for later. Waiting for references. In short.. waiting!
Then, when it gets to the point where competition or a senior in the company drives one to the space, then there are mistakes made. Because decisions are made hurriedly. This will then see, knee-jerks that don’t work.
Obsession with the way things used to happen, is another challenge. Benchmarking with different types of traditional media is a challenge, when these are not comparable.

Name – Sanjay Mehta

Sanjay Mehta

Designation- Jt. CEO

Organization- Social Wavelength

How important do you think Social Media platforms are? Or do you think this is just a passing fad?

They are big. They are here to stay. Not a passing fad by any chance. Social Media enables people to do, what they naturally like to do, e.g. staying in touch, making new friends, belonging to groups, getting validation, etc. When something helps you do, what you anyway want to do, its here to stay!

Do you see an ROI from the medium? How would you define it?

ROI for sure, if we are talking of “Risk of Inaction”! Then again, what is the ROI of the telephone? Of the accountant? Social media is part of the business ecosystem, and it recovers money at end of the day, via various contributions or alternately cost savings, that it enables. In some cases, it can drive transactions as well, and those are the cases, where ROI is faster.

What challenges do you think people/brands/organizations will face in accepting this medium?

The biggest challenge is one that is faced by all new breakthroughs in technology related space. Waiting for others to do it first. Waiting for case studies to happen. Waiting for later. Waiting for references. In short.. waiting!

Then, when it gets to the point where competition or a senior in the company drives one to the space, then there are mistakes made. Because decisions are made hurriedly. This will then see, knee-jerks that don’t work.

Obsession with the way things used to happen, is another challenge. Benchmarking with different types of traditional media is a challenge, when these are not comparable.

by

Ankita Gaba

The Industry Speaks-Gaurav Sharma

27 Mar

Name – Gaurav Sharma
Designation- Business Head, C2W Digital
Organization – C2W Digital, the digital arm of contests2win
How important do you think Social Media platforms are? Or do you think this is just a passing fad?
Social Media is just as important as any other medium, if not more and in fact deserves much more detailing and thinking for a branded campaign. I have always likened social media marketing on the part of a brand as entering the ‘home’ of a user and talking to him / her unlike any other medium. This is why it is so important how a brand says, “Hello, may I come in?” to the user. It is definitely not a fad like a few brand owners would like to believe.
Do you see an ROI from the medium? How would you define it?
Yes, of course there is visible ROI in the medium but it takes time to happen. One cannot view the medium as a lead generation catchment area or just the ‘number of conversations’ generated around the brand. It is much more than that. It is about organic spread amongst the community. Let me illustrate this with an example – we had released the ‘Happy Diwali’ app on FB for Cadbury last year in which users could gift virtual chocolates to their friends. More than 215000 chocolates have been gifted since the app was launched and all this without the brand having to spend any money to advertise and ‘push’ the app.
What challenges do you think people/brands/organizations will face in accepting this medium?
Knowing what the medium can and cannot do is the biggest challenge according to me. Most brand owners feel that if they do a month long campaign on SM, they should see some visible results, whereas for a social movement  to happen, it takes more time than that. The point I am trying to make is that you need to sustain your act on SM and can’t do it to just to show it in the annual review presentation to highlight you did something on SM.

Gaurav sharmaName – Gaurav Sharma

Designation- Business Head, C2W Digital

Organization – C2W Digital, the digital arm of contests2win

How important do you think Social Media platforms are? Or do you think this is just a passing fad?

Social Media is just as important as any other medium, if not more and in fact deserves much more detailing and thinking for a branded campaign. I have always likened social media marketing on the part of a brand as entering the ‘home’ of a user and talking to him / her unlike any other medium. This is why it is so important how a brand says, “Hello, may I come in?” to the user. It is definitely not a fad like a few brand owners would like to believe.

Do you see an ROI from the medium? How would you define it?

Yes, of course there is visible ROI in the medium but it takes time to happen. One cannot view the medium as a lead generation catchment area or just the ‘number of conversations’ generated around the brand. It is much more than that. It is about organic spread amongst the community. Let me illustrate this with an example – we had released the ‘Happy Diwali’ app on FB for Cadbury last year in which users could gift virtual chocolates to their friends. More than 215000 chocolates have been gifted since the app was launched and all this without the brand having to spend any money to advertise and ‘push’ the app.

What challenges do you think people/brands/organizations will face in accepting this medium?

Knowing what the medium can and cannot do is the biggest challenge according to me. Most brand owners feel that if they do a month long campaign on SM, they should see some visible results, whereas for a social movement  to happen, it takes more time than that. The point I am trying to make is that you need to sustain your act on SM and can’t do it to just to show it in the annual review presentation to highlight you did something on SM.