The Internet was abuzz with the launch of Apple’s iPad. While the world was busy reacting to the iPad, our team set out monitoring social networks to track iPad buzz. We tracked activity from January 27 through February 28. The results are here to see!

Priced modestly at $499 for the 16GB base version, the iPad packs in quite a punch. Compared to e-readers, this sleek unit has a stunning screen, wireless broadband connectivity, a touchscreen and the ability to run over 100,000 iPhone apps. However, the iPad has received mixed reactions online. Critics have written about missing features like a camera, flash and the fact that it cannot multitask. You cannot listen to your favorite Pandora station while writing an email. At the same time, with winners like the iPod, iPhone and iMac, it’s hard to count Apple out.

Below is a summary of the tracking study.

Number Of Mentions – Apple iPad

Among social networks, there was an explosion of Tweets with over 5.2 million posts. There were 70,796 news articles, 199,979 forum posts and 246,886 blog entries. Rarely would you see so many articles about a product launch, even an Apple one.

Overall Popularity



After a burst of posts on January 27, iPad social media mentions had its normal drop in popularity. What is more interesting is how there is a steady stream of posts even over a month afterwards. There are still around 50,000 mentions per day for a product that has not shipped or advertised on TV. That is, until the Oscars on March 7th. The ad is worth watching.

Sentiment Analysis Of Blogs

In the blogosphere,

• The overall sentiment was split into neutral at 47%, positive at 41% and negative at 12%.
• After an initial burst of positive sentiment, it turned more negative as critics commented on missing features.
• Towards the end of February, positive sentiment has been rising as negative sentiment is dropping. More people are making decisions about the device. It will be interesting to observe sentiment once advertising picks up.
• Among countries, U.S. blogs commented most about the iPad followed by U.K. and Germany.

Features

• It’s a light-weight device with a 9.7 inch display
• iPad’s multi-touch screen makes gaming and navigation an experience like no other
• The new iBook app transforms the iPad into a digital reader
• For a modestly priced gadget, the iPad has a long battery life of 10 hours
• The app store with 140,000 apps make the iPad a real steal

The Verdict – Lines At The Apple Store?

With lines at the store for upgrades of the iPhone, the answer is… definitely. The Apple iPad launch demonstrates the power of consistently strong marketing and product development. Loyal and vocal followers drive the mix as well. The initial buzz has translated to consistent mentions over a 30 day period. Sentiment has varied with time because experts were expecting more features and functionality than what was announced. At the same time, positive sentiment has risen consistently as people are digesting a new product category distinct from the Kindle or Tablet PC. The power of Apple’s positive brand equity is clear when news stories are reporting on TV ads released during the Oscars. It’s clear that Steve Job’s company is a master at marketing. While we do not know whether the iPad will be a high-flyer like the iPhone or a relative dud like Apple TV, we’ll continue to track the buzz.

Methodology: We compiled results from Sysomos as well as the Google AdWords keywords tool, to arrive at a keywords set for the Apple iPad.

Keywords: “Apple iPad”, “iPad”

Contributed by Sanjeev Dhanaraj, Social Media Marketing, Position²

It is an established fact that Facebook is one of the most popular social networking sites today. Some social networking sites are personal and some formal, but Facebook is a mix of both. It has a major impact on business primarily because the creating pages and groups as a marketing/educational/promotional aspect is free and effective compared to some of the paid advertising methods. Facebook can be used effectively to build a business presence and influence the target audience.

Get Started

1.    Join Groups: Search for groups in Facebook related to your business and join them. Do not exceed a limit of four groups a day. This amounts to spam and is not taken lightly by Facebook. Facebook has a stricter set of guidelines as compared to others. So network wisely.

2.    Post: Post a short description about the business on the wall of each group you joined. Creativity is allowed but a few guidelines to be followed before posting
a)    Don’t market your business when you first introduce yourself to people
b)    Provide valuable information that your target audience can use
c)    Don’t communicate as a salesperson
d)    Keep your conversation short

3.    Add friends: Pick one of the groups each day and add between a few friends a day. Keep the numbers as low as possible. Too many messages are considered as spam and a violation of Facebook rules. Write a short message addressing the member you are sending out a friend request clarifying why you would like to connect to them and how they will also be benefitted. Wait a couple of days before you start again. Facebook will always warn you if you exceed the numbers, stop when a warning is given. Too many warnings will lead to the account being suspended.

4.    Create a Group: You can create your own group and send an invite to everyone in your friend’s list to join your group. Repeat this for every100 friends that you add to your friend list.

5.    Create a Page: You can create a Facebook page for your business. Create a page so that it reflects the logo of the business and give a short description. Fill in all the information under each section that you can, and update the page’s information box because this is displayed on every section of the fan page. Send invites to the friend list to become a fan of the page. The main advantage is, when there is a wall post to page’s wall (also known as a status update) the post is submitted to every fan’s homepage feed.  This means every “fan” of the page will see all posts made on the fan page.  This can generate a lot of interest towards your page but remember not to spam your fans with status updates because it will spam the wall of the members and they might just cease to be fans.  Another great feature about fan pages is the discussion boards. Every time anyone talks on a discussion topic on your Facebook fan page, it will send a notice to their profile “wall” saying they have participated in a discussion on “topic title” at *fan page name*. This generates interest and also creates visibility leading to higher brand recall.

6.    Interact: Interact with friends in the list. Comment on their photos, updates and ask questions. This creates trust among members. Facebook is a networking site; remember networking is a two way communication channel.

7.    Share information: Once an identity and expertise of a business profile is created on Facebook, people will seek advice and inputs from the ‘persona’. Always respond to queries, ask questions in return, continue to educate yourself as you go, and help everyone you can.

Facebook’s influence is continuously exceeding other online communities thus making it a popular site for businesses and brands to connect with their audience.

Contributed by Seethalakshmi