23 June,2009 10:54 AM IST | | Bhairavi Jhaveri
Author of Social Media Marketing: An Hour a Day, Dave Evans is in the country for a 3-city workshop tour. iTALK got him to reveal why tweeting and facebooking are a big deal for business growth. After all, Ratan Tata, Dr Vijay Mallya and Kumaramangalam Birla think they are
It's a revolution in the online world constructive faffing on networking sites could actually land you with an opportunity that would never present itself at your workplace. It could be a job overseas, or a new "follower" who is an indispensable resource to your company. If nothing else, the eclectic mix of statuses help you stay updated with what the world is doing, talking about, thinking... To let social media work for you, the key is to remain consistent. So that you aren't forgotten.u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0
Why are Facebook, Twitter intrinsic to the new communication plan?
For most marketers, some portion of the audience is using social media. Therefore they do expect to be able to engage a brand or learn about what is being offered through social channels. For these marketers, a range of social channels again driven by where their customers are will likely be a required part of the marketing plan.
What kind of business can benefit?
Provided that the customers of the business are using social media, nearly any type of business can benefit. It can be as simple as simple as listening using Google Alerts, a free software service for example to understand what people are saying about the business right now. This helps direct the next generation of products. Social media can be used within an enterprise for both, listening getting a peek into the perspective of employees and for collaboration.
The Indian inspiration: Aditya Birla Group has deployed this type of method in creating a collaborative experience across multiple divisions to identify and leverage best practices for the benefit of the business and
its customers.
Is there a "Don't" in social media marketing?
DON'T present yourself as someone you are not, when engaging customers on the Social Web. For example, it is perfectly okay to read a comment about your product, and to identify yourself as a product representative and then respond to the comment. This adds information to the overall conversation. It is NOT okay to act as if you are simply a customer and talk positively about your brand or negatively about your competitors. Eventually, you will get caught.
DELL, for example, goes to great lengths to ensure that its employees who blog or use Twitter, do so with full disclosure of their relationship to DELL.
Any new social marketing tools?
There is a growing market for phone-based applications, serving the iPhone and Google Android-based handsets. These applications are making use of the combined social and mobile aspect of handset users and are poised for dramatic growth.
Aircel picked up on this recently with its Facebook "voice messaging system".
Which is the most effective tool?
The simple answer here is, "The one that does what you want it to do." Facebook has a very nice built-in advertising platform, though it is mostly useful for those who are on Facebook.
Twitter provides a very simple learning curve, but has a relatively limited tool set, though this is changing very rapidly as developers create application that tap into Twitter.
Support forums are useful for many businesses as they increasingly come under pressure to reduce costs and improve service.
Case Study
How Tatas used Twitter, Facebook to launch Nano
So, what's the big deal with Twitter?
When I first tried Twitter, about two years ago, it didn't make sense. But then, as I started using it, and realised how easy it was to connect to people, it became increasingly valuable to me an information resource.
u00a0
Now, it is one of my most important channels. I use Tweetdeck, a Twitter software client, to monitor in real time all mentions of my name and my book, for example, so that I can respond quickly when readers have questions, and post them on Twitter. This has proven very effective for me.u00a0
Dave Evans
The Indian inspiration: Kingfisher Airlines is using Twitter in much the same way to reach out and engage with its customers, and to answer questions that they may have.
The workshop
The social media workshop organised by 20:20 Media is scheduled for June 26, 8.30 am to 5 pm at Sahara Star Hotel, Santacruz (E).
Registration fee: Rs 7,500
Log onto: https://www.socialmediaworkshop.net/ for detailed itinerary on the workshop and to registeru00a0
Call Abha 080-22123111 or Mohit on 09818821641 and 0120-4642034
This is a hands-on workshop for communications professionals, PR and advertising strategists, entrepreneurs, and marketing heads who want to learn how to integrate social networking tools like Facebook, Orkut and Twitter intou00a0 communication plans.
