This week’s hot news, events and videos from the online marketing and social media world.

From the Position² Blog This Week: Online Marketing for Luxury Brands – Simplifying a Complicated Relationship Part One: Information Mining, Online Engagement. Part Two: Social Media Content Creation, Contests, Discounts and Exclusivity.

Social Networks Show Deeper Penetration, More Trust in Emerging Markets. Advertising Report: Facebook Now Earns 23% More Per Impression Than In Q1 2011. Bookmark: 11 Useful Tips for Marketing Your Brand on LinkedIn. Social Media in Asia: Understanding the Numbers. Marketing Strategy: Integrating Social Media Still Challenges Marketers. Social SEO: How Google’s Search Plus Will Impact SEO And Why It Matters. Web Analytics Tools: 7 Alternatives to Google Analytics. Search+: Why Every Marketer Now Needs a Google+ Strategy. Google+ Update: Google Says Social Network Has 90M Users. According to Google: SOPA Bill Petition Collects 7 Million Signatures.

Video of the Week Digital and Mobile are Underspent Says Sir Martin Sorrell at CES 2012. WPP CEO Sir Martin Sorrell talks to Mel Carson from Microsoft Advertising about where advertisers should be spending their money online and says his agencies will be concentrating on mobile devices as one of the growing contexts marketers should be looking to target consumers.

Position² Brand Monitor™ is Now Free to use! Social Media Monitoring Just Got a Whole Lot Easier With Brand Monitor™, you can: Monitor social media conversations in real-time Track brands across social media, blogs, news, discussion forums, video and photo sharing sites Get detailed analytics and in-depth reports on the entire process Sign Up for Position² Brand Monitor™!

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This week’s hot news, events and videos from the online marketing and social media world.

From the Position² Blog This Week: The #SOPA Story So Far – Social Media Reactions The Stop Online Piracy Act has been a very controversial piece of legislation, inspiring debates all over the world. A handful of companies support SOPA, and there are quite a few organizations vehemently opposed to the bill. The Brand Monitor team tracked the debates on social media and here’s what we found…

Survey: Enterprise Companies Overload on Social Media, Average 178 Accounts. Research: Why Social Customer Service Will Come of Age in 2012. Major Marketing Mission: Figuring Out Generation Y. Internet Drama: Twitter Criticizes Google+ Content in Search Results. The Infographic That Makes Me Want To Marry Mark Zuckerberg. Paid Reviews: Google’s Sponsor Review Campaign Shocks the SEO World. Paid Search: Tips For Managing Negative Keywords In PPC Campaigns. Tech Today: Google Makes New Push in China. Google, Google+ and Search: Maybe It’s All an SEO Play. Search Engine War: Google Just Made Bing the Best Search Engine.

Video of the Week How to Develop a Successful Multi-Author Blog. Joe Pulizzi, author of Managing Content Marketing, co-author of Get Content Get Customers and founder of the Content Marketing Institute shares the story behind the Content Marketing Institute and explains why content marketing is not a fad and is here to stay.

Position² Brand Monitor™ is Now Free to use! Social Media Monitoring Just Got a Whole Lot Easier With Brand Monitor™, you can: Monitor social media conversations in real-time Track brands across social media, blogs, news, discussion forums, video and photo sharing sites Get detailed analytics and in-depth reports on the entire process Sign Up for Position² Brand Monitor™!

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This week’s hot news, events and videos from the online marketing and social media world.

From the Position² Blog This Week: 2011 Recap: Looking Back and Learning Happy New Year! In our last blog post for the year, we look back at some of the most important social media stories in 2011 and the lessons we learnt from them. For companies, politicians and celebrities, 2011 was essentially the year where social gained the most traction as an important channel for brands, for marketing campaigns and for engaging with customers.

Social Media ROI: The Value of A Like. Marketing Tips: Five Tips For Your 2012 Social Media Strategy. The Daily Start-Up: Companies Step Up For Social Media Analytics. Social Search: Why Google-Plus Has No Competition. Bookmark: 12 Google+ Marketing Tips From the Pros. Mobile Search: SEO Considerations For Google Mobile Search In 2012. Stats: More Brands Eyeing the Interactive TV Ad Format. Best of 2011: Top 10 Enterprise Cloud Apps and Services. Tips: How to Launch a Google AdWords Campaign the RIGHT Way. Report: Google Tops Facebook.

Video of the Week What Topped Social Media Sites in 2011. Social media users were clicking, tweeting and buzzing in 2011. What topped the list?

Position² Brand Monitor™ is Now Free to use! Social Media Monitoring Just Got a Whole Lot Easier With Brand Monitor™, you can: Monitor social media conversations in real-time Track brands across social media, blogs, news, discussion forums, video and photo sharing sites Get detailed analytics and in-depth reports on the entire process Sign Up for Position² Brand Monitor™!

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This week’s hot news, events and videos from the online marketing and social media world.

From the Position² Blog This Week: Social Media Marketing For The Holiday Season During this holiday season, digital marketers are expecting online sales to grow 15% YoY. What can pep up your social media marketing this holiday season? What type of campaigns, across which popular channels will help you achieve your goals? Read on for tips and tricks to get the most out of your social media efforts this season.

Benefits: This Is Why Social Media Marketers Should Not Be Ignoring Google+. INFOGRAPHIC: Here’s How To REALLY Use LinkedIn. Research Report: Facebook Still Top Social Marketing Venue for SMBs. Tips: 5 Tools to Increase Your Social Media ROI. Seamless Sharing: Facebook Hasn’t Ruined Sharing, It’s Just Re-Defined It. SERP Turkey: A Free Tool to Split-Test and Gather CTR Analytics of SERP Entries. 5 Steps: Smarter Data Analysis Of Google’s Https (Not Provided) Change. Mobile Barcodes: How to Use QR Codes for Better Conversion Rates. Out-Of-Service: Google Kills Off Seven More Products Including Wave. Search Vs. Display: Which Will Come Out On Top In 2012?

Video of the Week Jonah Bloom and Scott Donaton on the Future of Branded Content. Just what is the future for branded content? At Ad Age’s ME: Media Evolved Conference in New York last week former Ad Age Editors Jonah Bloom and Scott Donaton discussed their views of the space.

Coming Soon! We’re delighted to let our newsletter readers know that a new, revamped version of Brand Monitor™, our Social Media Monitoring & Engagement platform, is nearly ready. Launching with 4 editions, a completely FREE version of Brand Monitor™ will also be available! We’ll send you an invitation to sign up and experience the new Brand Monitor™ next week. Can’t wait and want a sneak peek? Write to us!

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This week’s hot news, events and videos from the online marketing and social media world.

From the Position² Blog This Week: Improving Your Brand’s Visibility on LinkedIn Boosting a brand’s image on LinkedIn is usually just about getting the basics right, but many companies are yet to exploit its full potential. By asking for recommendations and joining industry-specific groups, online marketers can do wonders to their brand’s image via LinkedIn. Read more to know how to get the most from your LinkedIn presence.

Get Started: How to Set Up a Google+ Page for Your Business. Opinion: Social Media – Oversold and Overrated. Tips: 10 Words That Will Increase (or Decrease) Your Twitter CTR. Google+ Killer?: Microsoft’s ‘Secret’ Social Network Not So Secret Any More. Social Media: Google Vs. Facebook And LinkedIn. Analytics: Quantifying the Impact of Google’s Keyword Referral Data Shutdown. The Experts’ View: Google Dropping Right Hand Side Ads. Blogging Tips: Beat the Content Scrapers with Fat Pings. Michael DeHaven SES Chicago 2011: 7 Principles for User Generated Content. Tech: Google Music Store Chases Apple’s ITunes 8 Years Too Late.

Video of the Week How to Connect With Local Customers Via Facebook. Dennis Yu, CEO of BlitzLocal (an agency that does Facebook advertising for businesses with a local presence), shares tips on how to set up a successful Facebook strategy for local businesses.

Coming Soon! We’re delighted to let our newsletter readers know that a new, revamped version of Brand Monitor™, our Social Media Monitoring & Engagement platform, is nearly ready. Launching with 4 editions, a completely FREE version of Brand Monitor™ will also be available! We’ll send you an invitation to sign up and experience the new Brand Monitor™ in a couple of weeks. Can’t wait and want a sneak peek? Write to us!

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Email + Facebook + Twitter: Connecting the Dots to ROI

Free, Live Webinar | November 17 2011 – 02:00 PM ET/11:00 AM PT.

As a modern marketer on the front lines, you’re charged with engaging customers and prospects to deliver value and drive revenue. With the explosion of digital channels – from Email to Facebook to Twitter – it’s become even more challenging to reach this audience in a powerful, relevant and compelling way.

Join us for an enlightening conversation with Position² CEO Rajiv Parikh and Lyris SVP of Marketing Tina Stewart on how modern marketers use the latest and greatest tools and strategies to plan, execute and achieve effective cross-channel marketing.

Learn how to:

• Gain social and email marketing intelligence



• Create a holistic digital marketing plan
• Define, track and drive Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
• Promote and protect your brand reputation
• Leverage insights from real-world success stories

As a special bonus, all attendees will receive a free copy of the Lyris Guide, Email + Facebook + Twitter: Drive Revenue through Cross-Channel Marketing. This guide provides tips and techniques for leveraging cross-channel marketing to deliver value and drive revenue.

Speakers

	Rajiv Parikh, CEO, Position²		Tina Stewart, SVP of Marketing, Lyris, Inc.
About Position²
Position² is a Search and Social Media Marketing firm that delivers continuous growth for our clients using our proprietary “Surround and Intent” Marketing Methodology. Position² Brand Monitor™ is our flagship product, a real-time social media listening and engagement platform that powers actionable engagement for companies.

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From the Position² Blog This Week: Tracking the Growth of Social Media in Emerging Markets Social Media usage in emerging markets is growing very quickly, with higher engagement and higher levels of usage compared to those in advanced markets. How does this matter to marketers and brands? Here’s a little research on the difference between emerging and developed markets as well as online marketing tips to get started.

Ads: Big Brands Like Facebook, But They Don’t Like to Pay. Social Media: 4 Social Enterprise Trends to Watch in 2012. Think Tank: Making Social Media Sites Such As Facebook And Twitter More Personal. “No Tweeting!” How Restricting Social Media At Work Affects Productivity. Facebook vs. Google: The battle for the future of the Web. SEO Tools: 3 Tools To Instantly Boost Your Online Marketing. Dynamic Indexing: Google Can Now Execute AJAX & JavaScript For Indexing. Paid Search: Adwords Location Improvements Help Advertisers Target Better. Acquisition: Yahoo Agrees to Buy Interclick for $270 Million to Improve Ad Targeting. New Partnership: Firefox Partners With Bing as Google Search Deal Nears End.

Video of the Week Fan Fiction and Social Media: Lessons From the Trenches Carri Bugbee, founder of Big Deal PR is better known for her role tweeting as Peggy Olson, a fictional character on AMC’s Mad Men. She shares the story behind her fan fiction role and the lessons brands can learn from her story.

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The Marketer’s Goldmine

Emerging markets, which constitute for approximately 60% of the world’s population, are rapidly taking over social media. Although the primary reason for people in these markets to join Facebook or Twitter was to stay in touch with friends, this is gradually changing. Emerging market consumers are using social media to share content and photos, shop online, recommend products and post reviews among other things. According to the new GlobalWebIndex Social Networking Map 2011 study, people in emerging markets such as the Philippines and Indonesia were much more engaged in social networking when compared to those in advanced markets. This, along with the fluctuating economy in developed markets such the USA, is driving brands to explore new markets which are brimming with opportunities. Despite the challenges that come with marketing to foreign customers, our research showed that brands were more than willing to take their chances. Here are some reasons why:

• Recent studies show that the BRIC markets (Brazil, Russia, India and China) will collectively have 2.577 billion mobile phone subscribers by 2014. Besides texting and calling, a large percentage of these users are expected to use their mobile devices for networking, blogging or making online purchases.
• For brands specifically looking to sell their products or offer their services abroad, social media marketing is the easiest and the most cost-effective way of entering new or emerging markets.
• According to research by TNS Digital Life (2010), online consumers in emerging, rapid growth markets are more engaged than those in mature markets. This means broader reach, more opportunities and a larger customer base for brands with ambitious growth plans.
• The study also showed that Egypt and China had comparatively higher levels of digital engagement than Japan, Denmark and Finland.
• Malaysians had the highest number of friends across various networking channels (233 on an average), followed by Brazilians (231).
• A 2011 study shows that Brazil, at 86%, has the highest level of social penetration.
• Even within developing markets, ethnic minorities visited social networking sites more frequently than non-Hispanic whites.

The rapid increase in social network users in emerging markets has dispelled the myth that people in these countries are slow to adapt to social media. A large chunk of Facebook users come from countries such as India, Brazil and Malaysia. In fact, Facebook use is growing faster in Africa than on any other continent, while the Asians simply love to share photos over the internet. For advertisers and brands, these largely untapped markets look promising. While each country has its fair share of quirks and challenges, we believe that emerging markets are a social media marketer’s goldmine.

Marketing Beyond Borders

Unlike earlier, when people in countries such as Russia or India had to wait for a product to be ‘imported’ from developed nations, buying something today is just a click away. The growth of e-commerce has benefited both consumers as well as brands immensely. Today’s marketers are no longer confined to advertising or selling a product within their home countries. Whether it is retail brands or FMCG companies, it is as simple as promoting their brands on the plethora of networking sites out there. What makes social media a lucrative platform for online marketers looking to discover emerging markets?

• More than the Big Three:

  Besides Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, there are other social networks in emerging markets that attract users too. For social media marketers, local platforms equal to higher possibility of reaching local users, in the language they are comfortable with and on the channels they are most likely to use. For example, QQ is China’s largest social network; V Kontakte is the most popular in Russia; Orkut is strong in India and Brazil; Hi5 leads in Peru; and Maktoob is the most important in the Arab world. Also, in many countries, Western networking channels are blocked. This however, does not mean marketers should give up on online promotional activities in these nations. Our suggestion? Try the popular local equivalents. However, recent research by eMarketer indicates that consumers in D&E markets like Brazil are gradually opening up to Facebook and Twitter, challenging the dominance of Google’s Orkut. Twitter was ranked #1 among the top ten social networks used by consumers in Brazil, closely followed by Facebook. Here’s a tip for brands entering emerging markets: do your homework and study what channels are popular in the country you wish to advertise. This way, your chances at successfully reaching the right audience are higher.

• Wallet-Friendly Marketing:

  Rewind a few years back when American and European brands hesitated from advertising in emerging markets because of the expense involved. Print and TV ads required huge investments, and did not always guarantee returns. A lot has changed since then. The advent of social media tools like Facebook, Groupon and Twitter opened up a world of marketing opportunities for Western brands. The biggest USP of social advertising in emerging markets? Low-cost investments with little worry about the returns. When American company Heinz launched its ketchup and other products in India, the company’s biggest challenge was gaining visibility. Additionally, Heinz faced the risk of being overshadowed by Kissan, which was synonymous with ketchup in India. Instead of investing all its marketing dollars in putting up billboards and print ads, the company advertised on YouTube. The award-winning commercial, which required comparatively lesser investment, was a huge success and helped the brand test the market before rolling out offline campaigns.

• Reaching Out to Economically Empowered Consumers:

  The incorrect perception that emerging nations are economically weak or unstable is gradually changing. The International Monetary Fund has predicted that the total GDP of emerging and developing economies will equal those of advanced economies by 2013-14. Some of the so called ‘emerging markets’ are not just technologically advanced, but also boast consumers with solid disposable incomes. These consumers are willing to try out new products and are open to the idea of shopping via social networking sites. Simply put, consumers in these markets have the money and are willing to spend it; for Western brands dealing with slow domestic sales, it can’t get better than this.

Emerging Markets vs. Developed Markets: The Fundamental Differences in Marketing

While people across the world join social media for common reasons such as connecting with their friends, blogging about their experiences and sharing information, brands need to keep in mind that social media marketing is not a one-size-fits-all endeavor. There are certain fundamental differences between marketing in developed markets versus emerging markets. Social networking behavior is largely dictated by cultural differences and economic disparities that exist in developed, as well as developing nations. This presents a challenge for brands designing universal social strategies and requires them to analyze and understand the varying social networking behavior across different markets.

• Low-Internet Penetration:

  While consumers in emerging countries are rapidly going ’social’, one of the biggest challenges online marketers are likely to face is low-internet penetration. Unlike advanced markets, some developing countries are still faced with this problem. However, getting around this problem is simply a matter of designing marketing messages that are easily viewable in mobile format. According to BCG’s September 2010 report The Internet’s New Billion, BRICI countries—Brazil, Russia, India, China, and Indonesia—will represent more than 1 billion internet users by 2015. Many of these users are expected to develop distinct internet usage patterns, including major reliance on mobile phones as their main access point.



• Overcoming the Language Barrier:

  Brands that are determined to establish a strong social media presence in these countries don’t let language issues deter them from targeting their customers. According to Internet World Stats, English is still the most widely spoken language online. Yet, it only accounts for a quarter of all online usage, with simplified Chinese running a close second. Although bilingual users may look for important information in English, they are more likely to engage in social media in their own language. In our opinion, brands turning away from these markets because of language barriers are overlooking an important demographic. The answer lies in hiring native speaking translators who are also social media experts. Although machine translators are comparatively inexpensive, they are not usually accurate and cannot understand informal linguistic terms that are usually used in social media.

• Comfort with Remote Payments:

  Much before the concept of online shopping caught on, the Americans were already comfortable with purchasing products remotely using catalogues, infomercials etc. With the emergence of e-commerce, they adapted faster to virtual forms of payment by using credit or debit cards, unlike their counterparts in emerging markets. People in emerging countries were slower to get accustomed to the idea of paying virtually and preferred to use cash and pay in person. Although this is gradually changing, for online marketers, the ‘mode-of-payment’ is one of the biggest challenges they face. In order to overcome this hurdle, here’s what we suggest: a) use virtual coupons (e.g.Groupon) or b) partner with a local agency to work out the cash-on-delivery system.

Creating a Solid Online Marketing Plan

While creating marketing messages and social media campaigns for audiences in emerging nations, brands need to keep in mind the cultural differences, economic situation of the region, and have a thorough knowledge of customers’ online buying behavior. A solid online marketing strategy is vital for brands that are keen on succeeding in these markets. Here are some key points to be remembered while creating an online marketing plan for emerging markets:

• Educate your Customers:

  It would be incorrect to assume that your target audience has prior product knowledge and knows what your company does. As an online marketer entering a new market for the first time, educating customers about your products is a must. Targeting an audience that is unaware of the services offered or the products being marketed increases the possibility of your promotional messages getting ignored. The best approach would be to effectively communicate what your company does before launching a complete social advertising campaign.

• Understand the Culture and Behavior:

  Countries such as India, China, Russia, Malaysia etc are loosely grouped as ‘emerging markets’. Yet, your marketing strategy for Indian customers, for instance, may not be as well received by those in Russia or vice versa. Our research shows the online buying behavior in these countries is largely dictated by the culture unique to that region. As a marketer aiming to engage with your customers via social media it is important to do some background research and understand what drives them. When American coffee giant Starbucks, decided to strengthen its footprint in China, the company wisely decided to go into location-based marketing via micro-blogging, Weibo. There were three things that worked for Starbucks 1) Weibo is China’s third most-visited website, with vast user base and strong brand awareness. 2) Having done the required background research, Starbucks understood that the Chinese were not open to strangers and especially did not like the idea of Western networking sites. By leveraging on the popularity of Weibo, the coffee company managed to reach out and engage with their target customers. 3) The predominately tea-consuming population of China was trending towards coffee, especially the younger social media savvy demographic.

• The ‘Pay Less, Shop Often’ Formula:

  As discussed earlier, consumers in emerging markets are more financially empowered than ever before. However, the recent economic empowerment has had little effect on the ‘hunt for bargains’ approach to both online as well as offline shopping. Most often than not, the bargain hunters are on the lookout for the “less than $2″ offer on their local deal-of-the-day website. Online marketers targeting this demographic should understand that these consumers wouldn’t mind shopping for the same product frequently…as long as it is marketed as ‘inexpensive’.

Conclusion

Emerging markets are e-commerce magnets. What makes countries such as China, Brazil, Russia etc the marketer’s goldmine is the improving economic situation in these regions, as well as people’s willingness to shop online. Marketing in emerging countries comes with its unique set of challenges. This, however, has not deterred popular Western brands such as Nike, L’Oreal and Starbucks to name a few, from successfully establishing a strong presence in these countries via social media. While internet connectivity can be a hurdle in some countries, the rise of mobile social networking can help brands connect with their customers. We expect to see a significant increase in mobile social media users in the years ahead.

Earlier, brands that had otherwise established a solid social media presence in advanced countries, shied away from emerging markets because of cultural differences and linguistic issues. For today’s marketers these factors are hardly perceived as barriers. While understanding the customer, studying their shopping behavior and cultural make-up does require time and effort, many brands are willing to go that extra mile. This is because of the exponential increase in the number of people engaging in foreign language social media channels. Also, the fact that social advertising in these markets does not require huge budgets is an added advantage. That said, emerging markets are undoubtedly the world’s fastest growing consumer markets; for companies looking to give their sales charts a shot–in-the-arm, these markets certainly look promising.

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From the Position² Blog This Week: Social Media Users React to Facebook Changes Facebook occasionally updates their user interface with a new look or new features. Every update, however, does not always go down well with the site’s users. This article has a brief analysis of the social media reactions to the most recent set of changes made by Facebook in September 2011.

Twittad to Twitter: Twitter Secures Trademark for ‘tweet,’ Report Says. Survey: Marketers Struggle to Harness Social Media. Social Media ROI: How to Estimate Your Social Media Return on Investment. Research: How Web’s Biggest Sites Leak Personal Data to Google and Facebook. SMM Tips: How to ‘Mobilize’ Your Social Media Marketing. SEO Tips: What is a Reverse Proxy and How Can it Help My SEO? Search Update: Google Spell Checking Within Search Box? Stats: Marketers Optimize Mobile Search With Better SEO Practices. Ads+: +1 Buttons on Google Display Network Ads. Analysis: Are You Placing Too Big of a Bet on Social Media’s Direct Impact on SEO Rankings?

Video of the Week An Interview with John Battelle: Our Digital Society in the Next 30 Years John Battelle is the co-founder of Wired, Founder of Federated Media and Executive Producer of the Web 2.0 Summit. He’s also the author of an upcoming book, What We Hath Wrought, which gives us a forecast of the interconnected world in 2040.

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The Facebook Facelift

When Facebook users logged into their accounts a day before the F8 Conference on 22nd September, they were surprised to see an unexpected facelift. While the users were still trying to figure out the new layout, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg formally announced the design overhaul at the company’s Annual Developers Conference. According to some industry experts, this was Facebook’s response to Google+, while the skeptics felt that the changes were uncalled for and could raise security issues. However, Zuckerberg thought otherwise. According to the CEO, the new Timeline and Open Graph features can radically change how users display their information and the way they discover new content. Nevertheless, the changes baffled the networking behemoth’s users. Some threatened to quit Facebook, while others simply ‘tweeted’ their displeasure. This is not the first time Facebook has made changes. In 2009, the network revamped its page, eliciting similar reactions from users who were not too happy with the changes. However, Zuckerberg preferred not to revert to the ‘old Facebook’ format despite the demands from fans, and stuck to his decision. Critics were sure to see a dip in the networking giant’s then 175 million user count. Considering Facebook’s dominance in the networking world and the obvious lack of competitors, the company’s user count has crossed a healthy 800 million today; that was until Google+ was launched. Let us look at the how Google’s networking new-kid-on-the-block and Facebook have played out so far:

• Late June 2011: Google announces the launch of Google+, creating a stir in the tech world.
• Early July: Google+ allows limited users to register through invites (similar to its Gmail launch).
• Almost simultaneously Facebook announces plans to introduce its video calling option, in partnership with Skype.
• Early August: After going from ‘invitation-only’ to ‘open-access’ Google’s latest attempt at going ’social’ amasses +20 million registered users.
• September was clearly a busy month for both; A few hours after Google+ announced a host of new features, Facebook responded by unveiling their redesign.

The Facebook community does not seem too happy with these changes. Also, Facebook’s latest batch of online sharing technology has raised privacy concerns from critics and privacy groups. According to Internet security software developer Bitdefender, Facebook’s changes may expose users to targeted attacks from cybercriminals, spambot infestations like the ones that plague Twitter, interactive scams, and other unwelcome threats. While the critics and privacy groups continue to debate about the network’s advantages and restrictions, let us look at how the users reacted.

Changes Spark Online Reactions

The Brand Monitor Team at Position² analyzed the social media buzz surrounding Facebook’s design overhaul (for the time period between 11th September 2011 and 11th October 2011). Unsurprisingly, the conversation volumes for Facebook spiked significantly after 21st September (4,855), with baffled users discussing the change, exchanging opinions, and complaining about the unexpected move. With more and more people joining the conversation, the volumes peaked on 28th September 2011, at 6,942.

Overall Sentiment Analysis and Top Media Breakdown

With the digital space abuzz with conversations, we decided to further study how the volumes were distributed across top media platforms. Here’s what our findings revealed:

• Although the subject of discussion was ‘New Facebook’ or ‘Facebook Changes’, it was Twitter that registered the maximum buzz at 51%.
• Facebook, interestingly, accounted for the least buzz, at just 9%.
• Blogs and discussion forums recorded 21% and 12% conversation volumes respectively.
• One of the reasons why Twitter could have registered the highest volumes could be because it is a microblogging platform, while Facebook is a networking tool. Twitter, with its retweet option, accelerates how conversations travel, thereby increasing the possibility of reaching a larger audience.

Of the +67,000 posts registered totally, we were eager to see how people reacted to this change. This is what the overall sentiment analysis showed:

• 50% of the networking community did not welcome the change (negative sentiment). While some users felt that this was an invasion of privacy, others openly expressed their dislike and asked Zuckerberg to fix the changes.



• The conversations that were neutral in tonality, at 43%, were mostly news feeds and discussions on how to use the new Facebook features.
• A small percentage (7%) said that change was good. The conversations that were positive in tonality included posts that called the new revamp ‘cool’ and said that it only took a little ‘getting used to’.

Demographics

• The changes or revamp was talked about the most in the USA, at 52%.
• This was followed by Australia and the UK at 16% and 14% respectively.
• Countries like India (2%), Singapore (2%) and New Zealand (1%), which incidentally account for the a large percentage of Facebook users, recorded negligible buzz.
• The gender breakdown shows that the male population was more concerned about the changes (at 57%), when compared to women (43%).
• As expected, the 20-35 age bracket was most active (40%) in discussions pertaining to ‘New Facebook.
• The +65 age group was relatively unconcerned about the revamp and decided to remain silent (0%).
• The <22 age bracket accounted for 22% of the buzz.

Conclusion

Contrary to what the skeptics and critics expected, the recent revamp has hardly seen a drop in Facebook’s user count. Although the announcement was not well received, with unhappy fans threatening to quit Facebook, few have actually gone ahead with it. With over +800 million users worldwide, the networking giant is showing no signs of slowing down. After all, if Facebook was a country, it would be the third largest in the world. If these figures are anything to go by, it appears that the 2011 overhaul will be a repeat of the 2009 episode, when Facebook did something similar.

According to social media gurus, Facebook’s decision to get itself a facelift, almost at the same time as Google made changes to its newbie, Google+, is no coincidence. With both Facebook and Google+ looking to oust each other, it will be interesting to watch what happens next. Moreover, the recent drop in Google+s active user base by a massive 60% is all the more reason for Google to rethink their social media strategy.

With people accustomed to doing things in a certain way, it comes as no surprise to see a spike in negative conversations. What did surprise us was when people took to Twitter to vent their displeasure about the new Facebook layout. As discussed earlier, some of countries that are highly active on Facebook, either accepted the change without resistance or were not as vocal about what they felt, unlike those in the US and Australia. Nevertheless, we are eager to see if this is simply the case of people being slow to adapt to change or if Facebook will actually lose loyal users. As the poster boy of the social media world sticks to its ‘change is good’ formula, those in the networking world wonder if this could be the a turning point in the race for supremacy between Facebook and Google?

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