India has close to 243 million Internet users and 100-120 million active social media users. Brands are aware of the power of social media and strive hard to reach out to this audience. The temptation of engaging this vast untapped pool of potential consumers has lured brands into entering the social media space. However, this engagement activity, that looks deceptively simple, can spell disaster if not used cautiously and meticulously. It requires clear objective, clever strategy, impeccable execution and most importantly, proper understanding of consumer behaviour and needs. “Social media is a mighty beast that can neither be owned nor controlled,” commented Anurag Bhatnagar, Director, Client Services, AKQA, at a session of Digital Market Asia’s Socialathon 2014 held recently.
Digital Market Asia, the Singapore based media house, organized Socialathon 2014, in order to better understand this ‘mighty beast’ and how the immense power of social media can be channelized by marketers to extend their reach, effectively engage their consumers and use it for functions beyond marketing.
The top 7 ways by which brands can best utilize social media are:
#1. Build and engage your social media community effectively. Growing a community online and how brands can build trust with their consumers and convert them into advocates of their product and service. According to Zoe Cairns, Social Media Specialist, Trainer & Consultant, Cairns Media, the few key ways of doing so are:
- Embracing an organic strategy instead of a paid approach
- Using offline connections
- Focusing on the quality of followers rather than the quantity
- Steering clear of spamming
- Measuring social media activities
#2. Never promote a product separately from the brand. Cairns believes that consumers differentiating a product from the brand can severely hamper the brand and its businesses.
#3. Use email marketing effectively for the next level of engagement. Around 90% of the mails are not subscribed by the receiver and in many cases, gets checked even when marked as spam. Email IDs have become a digital identity. Tanishq Juneja, Business Director, NetCore, explained that emails are a key tool for social platforms because if there are a million users engaging on Facebook, this already provides a reference point for other social media platforms and related activities. This is one of the reasons why most social platforms have submission forms and other ways of acquiring email IDs at the beginning of a conversation itself.
Emails can play a supporting role for digital campaigns including on social media platforms. From delivering messages to tracking interest, email marketing when done well can make immense difference to all stakeholders ranging from marketers and media-owners to app developers.
#4. Avoid social media red flags. Many brands have had their image tarnished, courtesy a small blunder on social media. Brands have to be extra cautious while using their social media handles and expressing themselves on social media. According to Ahmed Naqvi, Co-founder and CEO, GoZoop, the 10 things brands must avoid on social media are:
- Being careless about one’s account security, Newsjacking, Indulging in plagiarism, Using bad copy, Using auto reply, Ignoring customers, Ignoring social media ROI (return on investment), Not having a social media policy, Using all platforms as one, Spamming hashtags.
Sandeep Amar, COO, India.com Media, laid down a few commandments that brands should follow while using social media to engage consumers. Some key ones include:
- Thou shalt be humble!
- Thou shalt not buy likes, follows and views, without really understanding how it works and how it’s done.
- Thou shalt not avoid social media analysts!
- Thou shalt not communicate irrelevant content!
- Thou shalt have proper understanding of Facebook algorithms, newsfeeds, Twitterfeeds and YouTube optimization.
- Thou shalt not be on social media just because everyone needs to be on social media.
- Thou shalt not get in on all social media trends.
#5. Focus on your employer brand as well, using social media. Brands need to also explore the power of social media for functions beyond marketing. “Informal employee engagement programmes and social groups and Facebook pages are a great way to flourish. But, I still think we miss massively on how much potential there is on social media to build the internal engagement in an organization,” stated Sanjay Menon, VP, Marketing Services, Lead, SapientNitro.
“Social is very important, it’s all about social networking. It’s important how we look at social beyond marketing attribute and add value. HR and sales can leverage their performances; can create a pool where people can refer which can further build customer interaction,” opined Gautham Maediratta, GM -Digital and Mobility, Omnicom Media Group.
#6. Use the messenger app platform for instant engagement. The abundance of affordable smartphones and high speed mobile Internet has resulted in a sudden spurt in the users of messenger apps. Currently, this vast user base grows exponentially with each passing day. Effectively using these messenger apps can open up untapped engagement channels. “Line started three years back, but, we have grown at a really scorching pace globally. In India we have more than 18 million users. We think of ourselves as a smartphone platform. We have stickers that enrich a conversation and convey a lot of emotions much better than emoticons. It also helps a brand engage with the user in a very different way,” stated Damandeep Singh Soni, Business Head - India, LINE.
#7. Embrace the power of content marketing. Content reigns supreme when it comes to engaging consumers in today’s world. Arjun Tomar, Associate Business Director, Jack in the Box, believes that content marketing is the best way to engage consumers who skip ads.
“Brands can turn publishers and use content to engage their consumers. The answer is to offer people what they are looking for. There is a significant shift from product-led communication to relevant content based on futuristic insights,” he stated.
#8. Adopt a mobile-first approach. There are approximately 200-300 million Internet users in India and this has witnessed 180-200% smartphone user growth. Arjun Kolady, Head of Telco & Tech, Facebook India, stated, “We have about 100 million monthly active users in India, out of which 84 million are mobile. Facebook, as a platform, has evolved from a desktop to mobile platform.”
According to Nilay Arora, Vice President, Marketing and Business Head, WeChat India, people who have not used Internet on PCs have already accessed Internet through mobile and they are not aware that this access is through apps. “Their first tryst with the Internet has been through a mobile operator,” he stated.
There are two kinds of Internet users - the mobile and Internet-enabled PC users, and the only mobile enabled category that comprises youngsters and people above the age group of 40-45. Mobile thus becomes their first tryst with consumer technology. Therefore, a lot of brand services and marketers need to closely examine the difference in behaviour and engage them accordingly.
Rajiv Dingra, Founder and CEO, WATConsult, shared some interesting facts during a session, to highlight the growth story of digital in India. “Digital, overall in India is growing at 35%. Social media is already crossing 120-150 million users in India and is expected to reach close to 400 million users in the next three to four years. Digital, as an industry, in terms of branding, advertising and marketing spend, is somewhere between 8-12% of the overall advertising spend; which is somewhere close to $ 800-900 million. The question here is how do brands perceive social media as a standalone medium for branding, advertising and marketing,” he asked.
Adding to the growth story, Kolady of Facebook stated, “When I joined Facebook in 2012, it had 42 million users and 20 million were on mobile. In two years, the number has doubled and we have double the number of users on mobile than we had overall on Facebook in 2012. The growth has been staggering!”
The inaugural Socialathon 2014 was Digital Market Asia’s first event in India and its sincere endeavour to reach out to the marketing community in India and celebrate India’s best social media work with Socialathon Awards India Chapter. The Socialathon APAC Awards honoured the region’s best social media work.
