The success of social media campaigns

The success of social media campaigns, and utilization in general, does not, in any way, rely on some magical formula or any secret ingredients we might need to acquire from the belated witches of Salem! Yet, it is a careful mixture of simple and valuable elements which need to be present before, through and after the implementation of any social media campaign. Some elements could be very obvious, while others need some research and attention to be achieved.

• Make sure that you apply smart integration with the “right” social media channels that suit your brand image, the product/service you are trying to promote and its value. Not every social media channel will bring about the positive feedback you are waiting for!
• Take time to choose the team who will be in charge of executing your social media plan. It is not about the quantity, it is about the quality, remember that! Experience and already established online PR agents or staff members will be of a higher value to your campaign in comparison with anyone with a lot of free time to waste!
• Again, content is king! It is a must to make sure that your social media campaign’s content is not offensive, biased or easily misinterpreted. This could be easily used against you!
• Just as it is important to know your target market online, learning more about your online target audience is very important! This will not only help you know where to find them, it will also guide you in designing the campaign that will intrigue them and lead them to take actions!
• You are under the microscope; play nice! Always be aware that once your social media campaign has hit the hot topics’ list, you are now being watched. Try to be continuously involved in any conversations, posts, chats and/or forums taking place regarding your product, service or campaign.
• Be innovative and try not to imitate whenever possible. You might use the same social media channels others are utilizing but try making your benefit and reward systems varied. Your audience is not always looking to get a free coffee!
• Constantly measure the depth of your social media campaign’s fulfillment of goals and returns. The ROI should always be bigger, or at least equal to, the invested money, time, effort and resources that you are putting in the project.
• Put effort into making the overall social media campaign’s experience fun, engaging and proactive. Adding games, puzzles and teasers can be very addictive!

In a nut shell, though it might be tricky to implement each of the above steps within the right time frame, remember something: impossible is nothing!

Difference between WebConferencing and WebCasting

I have been using both Web conferencing as well as Webcasting for a long time now. But, sometimes when clients ask me what to use for some of thier events or a promotion of a product to a particular audience, they are confused. So I tought of putting up the comparoison and also the right usage both for Web conferencing and Web Casting. Hope you find it useful to make the decisions in the future on what to use.

Both Web conferencing and Webcasting eliminate travel costs, increase productivity, and allow people in geographically dispersed areas to meet or hear presentations in real time. They both are used for sales and marketing, communications, and online learning. Vendors in both markets continue to enrich the conferencing experience with video, search, and more user control. Sometimes this means the differences between the two conferencing tools tend to blur.

However, the two types of media conferencing have different purposes and involve different technologies for communicating information. Webcasting is a video and audio streaming presentation tool for events, while Web conferencing is a collaborative tool for interactive meetings. In five years, these technologies will converge, but this will happen only after the existing distribution and network issues are solved. In the meantime, resellers will offer both solutions as two different lines of business. If a decision seems difficult to make, the cost may be the deciding factor.

From a functionality perspective, Web Conferencing involves:

Information sharing. The presentation material typically involves slides, but spreadsheets and word processing documents are also common. The meeting leader may share the desktop or application with globally distributed participants (e.g., to demonstrate software, design products, or review creative material).

Live audio. The audio may be the traditional circuit transmission of Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) or Voice over IP (VoIP), which sends voice data in packets using IP with the Internet as the transmission medium — but either way, full duplex audio is key to the communication process. One clear advantage of VoIP is that calls do not incur a cost beyond paying for Internet access — just as users don't pay for sending individual emails.

Real-time polling and quizzes. A presenter can get a sense of the audience's background and opinions or the quality of the experience they are having in the session through polling or asking multiple-choice questions. Web conferencing products have out-of-the-box functionality that allows polling results to be shared with participants in graphical format.

Archiving. Web conferencing products record audio and synch the recording with the slides, allowing replay from the Web server. Users can control the slide movement to hear certain sections again or skip over others.

Webcasting Delivers Live Or Taped Video Events Over The Internet:

A one-to-many stream of video and audio. High-quality video with or without data slides is central to the presentation. One difference between Webcasting and Web conferencing is the use of streamed audio and video. Since most users don't have fast enough access to download large multimedia files, the client browser or plug-in can start displaying the data before the entire file has been transmitted. Conversely, if data comes more quickly than required, the excess data is saved in a buffer. If data doesn't download quickly enough, the presentation will not be smooth.

Audiences that range from 50 to 5,000. Viewers listen and watch the live or on-demand presentation through their computer speakers. They do not expect to interact online, although in some Webcasts, they may submit questions through a chat feature.

Availability of other media and additional services. A slide presentation may accompany the video and appear in a separate panel on the participant's computer screen. Depending on the Webcaster and the functionality chosen for the event, the viewer may also see the agenda, send text questions, or move to a Web site and access other material by using navigation tabs.

Recordings. A live Webcast generally is recorded for an on-demand audience that typically is larger than the live audience, which accesses the replay at a convenient later date. Some Webcasts are produced only for on-demand access from a Web site.

Media players. Webcasting uses standard technology and software that is easily accessible or already on most computers. Participants need a media player such as QuickTime, RealPlayer, or Windows Media Player; a Web browser with an Internet connection of 56K or above; and Macromedia Flash Player.

As vendors in these two conferencing markets grow their offerings, customers must understand their specific requirements to make the best purchase decision. Here are some guidelines based on use cases. In these situations, the users want:

To see the participants when having a small group discussion. The focus on documents means that Web conferencing is most appropriate for this situation, along with Webcams mounted on participants' computers or installed in the conference room. Some vendors like Raindance Communications have the "follow me" feature — whoever is speaking appears in the video section of the screen. With Web conferencing, video quality is generally poor but viewers do get some sense of who the speaker is.

The speaker to use slides and take questions at the end. If you want to see the speaker on TV interspersed with slides and the group size is more than 50, a Webcast is most appropriate. However, if a still picture of the speaker with his/her voice over the slides will suffice, use Web conferencing instead. Both formats can incorporate text or telephone Q&A at the end and allow recorded playback. The extent of playback interactivity varies with the provider but is usually more extensive with a Webcast than with Web conferencing.

To close the sale on a new product by showing results of a study. The focus is on data with supporting visuals and discussion among a small group. Web conferencing will work well with the presenter highlighting sections of data with markup tools.

A charismatic presenter who will interact with a panel. The focus is on communicating with the participants, which suggests a Webcast. High-quality video is important if there are no slides and people are the center of the event.

To depose witnesses over the Web. When law firms conduct depositions, which are witnesses' sworn testimonies outside of court, they need high security and often good quality video. Either a Webcasting or Web conferencing provider with demonstrated strong security can provide this service. If broadcast-quality video is essential, a secure Webcaster may be the best choice.

Moving to CRM 2.0

Many organizations these days are overwhelmed with this new phenomenon: The Social Media. The Social Media which I call as Web 2.0, includes fast-growing peer-to-peer (P2P) activities like blogging, RSS, file sharing, open source software, podcasting, search engines, and user-generated content.Out of the total 50 Million Online user base — 82% of users come from the Urban Cities and out of those 81% now read blogs at least monthly, and 73% are members of a social networking site like Orkut, Facebook or LinkedIn. (Reference)

Even more amazingly, almost one-third of all youth publish a blog at least weekly, and 41% of youth visit a social networking site daily. These new technology and social changes are transforming the way all businesses operate, create products, and relate to customers.

Web 2.0 changes the game for your CRM strategy too — big time! CRM strategies are moving beyond their traditional goal of optimizing a two-way relationship between an enterprise and customer to include the simultaneous relationships that customers have among themselves. Including social networks changes the definition of CRM from the stale exchange of data to a live, vibrant network of connected individuals who share their abilities, expertise, and interests.

So, in this new world Web 2.0 your company will be able to:

Collaborate with Customers and Partners in new ways

This will result in genuine business relationships form, and the external perception of an organization changes from sterile and faceless to a collection of individuals who are ready to help

Collaborate within the enterprise to deliver more value

Online networks with even basic profiles of its individual members' experiences, locations, and interests can cut problem-solving time by enabling faster connection between a questioner and a person who has solved similar problems in the past. An internal social networking capability can also help the individuals responsible for creating relationships with customers to pull together the "right" team of individuals who will resonate with the prospect at a personal level.

What I am now describing are the new methods or new CRM landscape which all the marketers should definitely learn to navigate with.

1. Power up market research with "listening" capabilities.

Traditional: Engaging with customers begins with understanding their needs and goals, behaviors, and their value to the enterprise. This activity has traditionally been the domain of market research.

CRM 2.0: But if you redefine the role of market research to include the capabilities for actively "listening" in the Social Computing context, then you should establish customer sounding boards for researching decisions. You can monitor market buzz and measure ongoing trends and customer perceptions using solutions from BuzzMetrics and Cymfony (a division of TNS Media Intelligence).

2. Make marketing more relevant with "talking" capabilities.

Traditional: The traditional role of marketing is to support outbound communication to prospects and customers to raise awareness for products and services and establish favorable attitudes towards your brand.

CRM 2.0: However, marketing in the world of CRM 2.0 must establish a dialogue between sellers and buyers. This means developing capabilities to have conversations with your customers. Use interactive dialogue and help your brand fans spread your message more easily through social networks like Twitter and Facebook. Establish the ability to communicate continually with customers and monitor responses using blogs.

3. Boost selling with "energizing" capabilities.

Traditional: Old-school CRM thinking defines the role of sales primarily as carrying out the tasks of identifying decision-makers, making contact, and securing orders.

CRM 2.0: Next-generation CRM thinking consider the use of customer opinions to increase sales through ratings and reviews using discussion forums. Learn how to designate lead customers to energize others through brand ambassador programs. Link with and gain introductions to influential customer network members by using business-oriented social networking and contact management solutions like Linkedin and Plaxo.

4. Strengthen service with "supporting" capabilities.

Traditional: In conventional world we support users by addressing there problems and issues through different mediums like Telecon or Videoconferencing and remote access. Sometimes our support people need to personally visit the customers to resolve there issues.

CRM 2.0: In the new world of the social and connected customer, help customers to support each other. To enable customers to solve each others' problems, consider solutions that support customer forums. To enable customers to build solutions together, think about using Wikis like Confluence, Socialtext, and Wikia.

Customers who are using social technologies to seek better experiences threaten to make traditional approaches to CRM obsolete. For the most part, enterprises understand that there's no choice but to jump in and improve how they architect a differentiated customer experience and use some of the new technologies — blogs, communities, wikis, widgets, social networks, and the concepts of dynamic applications — to their own advantage. The most important question is not what technology to use; most important is determining who you're trying to reach, what you're trying to accomplish, and how you plan to change your relationships with your customers.

Hope you found my blog post useful. If you have any comments or queries do mention the same below and I would try to answer the same as soon as possible.

India Online Comparative Study

When I go for the client meetings most of the times the clients asks me certain questions which are very difficult but important for his decision making on choosing the online media.

The question is generally about how many people are online in India as compared to other markets like Europe and North America and also how much is the spend in the digital medium. I therefore have tried to come up with a comparative chart which I am sure should help you and also your clients to refer to.

The first table talks about the Internet Penetration figures currently and if we keep on growing on the numbers the way we have been growing in the last seven years then what would be the figures in 2012. (The figures in the table are taken from http://www.internetworldstats.com)

The second table talks about the ad spends happening in various mediums and where the market in India will go in terms of Ad Spends by 2012. This is keeping in mind again according to the increased penetration in increased spend in the Digital Medium. (The figures of 2008 spend have been taken from Group M media report)

Hope this will help you in answering the client questions.

Insights on Digital Campaign

Digital Marketing as we call it requires lots of things to be worked upon when doing a campaign for a brand. These are some of the points which one should definitely look into while working for a campaign in Digital Marketing. Now I am not talking about the 4 P's or the 4 C's as people talk about it most of the time. It is something much more than that. I think it is definitely worth mentioning as it gives you a complete insight on what you are doing with the brand.

1. The First Step is PLANNING.

Now there are various aspects which goes into planning a campaign. You need to understand the brief as there can be different objectives in planning as well once you have a specific goal you need to achieve through Digital Marketing.

• Start by always laying down the OBJECTIVES of the campaign. Example: If there is a campaign for Automobile getting launched then your objective could be - "Create the buzz and generate more visibility of the product". If there is a campaign where you need to sell like a Real Estate property then the objective could be - "Get leads and generate interest / intent for the user to purchase the property". Always make sure that your objective will lead you to the overall strategy of your campaign.

• This is the most common but somewhat difficult in the online space as the availability of data is a little difficult. This part is understanding the TARGET GROUP (TG) / TARGET AUDIENCE (TA). I am highlighting the fact of it being difficult in the online space as you have more mediums where your TA is present than any other medium you are catering to. For Example: In case you want to do a TV AD you already know that either your audience is consuming it while at home or at the friend's house. In case of the online space the audience is either consuming it at home, office, cyber cafe or may be through a mobile. There might be some exceptions but we cannot generalize them. With my experience of doing campaigns for lots of TA like Women or Kids we sometime need to rely a lot on the publishers data or through some assumptions which might be correct or wrong. But still outlining there behaviour as well as there consumption patterns help us a lot in establishing our strategy.

• The next phase of planning is COMPETITION RESEARCH. This is also a bit tricky but definitely much more accurate and visible than the TG / TA part. Specifically on the online space with Social Media being helping a lot. How to go into in detail is something I will take up some other time.

• Once we have done all these activities the next step should be to summarize all this research and put them in perspective with the brand and the campaign strategy. It's definitely an art but still doing all these in the planning phase will definitely bring the credibility in your over all strategy.

2. The Second Step is to map the Buying as well the consumption pattern for the Target Group you have identified. This is the toughest and most helpful part in working on the complete digital campaign.

Establish what are the different media activities they are most likely to consume and then identify the pattern of their engagement with these mediums in each of the customer engaging and buying cycles.

• The first is the Intention to Purchase. Example: Here mostly the user is looking to research for the product he/she intends to buy or know more about. Example: Few of the media which we can choose is "Search Engine Marketing".


• The second is the user looking for some promotional / offers for the product: Example: The user might want to purchase the product but looking for some offers which he can benefit from. Display Advertising as well as the offers mentioned on the website are the most common mediums he may be targeted with.


• Purchase Online / Offline: The reason I am also mentioning Offline is typically because for some of the products it is totally not feasible to purchase online. Automobiles, Real Estate are some typical examples. In the online case e-Commerce enabled site really helps but in the offline you can empower your site with enabling the user to fill a simple form or call your call center for the nearest dealer / reseller in the area.


• Opportunity to Service and Create Loyalty: Your customers are your brand ambassadors and it is now very easy to engage them through the power of social media as well as through CRM activities. Email Marketing as well as making them interact with your service teams through blogs and discussion forums helps a lot.

After establishing the media as well as the behaviour consumption pattern we now go into the detailing of the mediums and what activities we will do in each of the specific mediums.

In case the strategy has the new Website to be built then we should try to showcase some of the layouts. In case it is a Search Campaign then we should go for a complete Keyword as well as the Search competition analysis. For the Display Ad there should be a detailed media plan with some benchmarking in terms of number of visitors / leads we expect from it. The Social Media strategy should lay out the engagement as well as the moderation details in order to maintain the control.

4. And the Last not the least is Measurement and Optimization: You should set up the goals and always benchmark your results based on that. In case you need to go detail refer to the link here http://www.kaushik.net/avinash

Hope this blog helped you in getting some insight on going and creating a Digital Campaign. Will look forward for your comments and suggestions on the same.