Used by hundreds of businesses, Position² Brand Monitor™ expands social media listening and engagement across marketing, customer service and competitive intelligence.

Palo Alto, CA, December 14, 2011: Position², a US based provider of Digital Marketing technology and services, has announced its free version of Position² Brand Monitor™, the company’s real-time social media listening and engagement platform. Companies and agencies can sign up at http://brandmonitor.position2.com. For the first time, companies and agencies will be able to harness the same enterprise-class social media monitoring platform used by hundreds of companies for a new value proposition – free.

“Just as social media forever changed the relationship of customers and brands, Position2 Brand Monitor expands how businesses harness the explosion brand conversations across multiple media,” states Rajiv Parikh, CEO of Position2. “Customers and key influencers are talking on Facebook, Twitter, news, forums and blog sites. With Brand Monitor, there’s no need to switch across multiple media tracking and engagement systems. You can get it all in one integrated platform – starting at free and scaling to the enterprise.”

New Capabilities, Multiple Editions, Easier To Use

• Available in 4 editions including a completely free ‘Basic Edition’, Position2 Brand Monitor™ is designed for enterprises and agencies. The Standard, Professional and Enterprise editions of Brand Monitor provide additional search topics, higher data limits, Twitter firehose access, more user accounts, workflow and in-depth reports.
• The free version of Position2 Brand Monitor™ offers higher data levels than enterprise social media monitoring products that costs over $7,000 per year. The Standard and Professional versions, priced at $49 and $149 per month, compare to competitors that cost in the tens of thousands per year.
• Brand Monitor™ is now super-easy to set up and use, with wizards, hints, live chat support and community help. There’s a new product tour that teaches user how to fully leverage the system. Data sources have been strengthened with the Twitter firehose, in addition to thousands of new discussion forums, blogs and news sites. Sentiment analysis and reporting has been revamped to include media analysis, demographics and data segmentation.

Key Features of Brand Monitor™

With Brand Monitor™, companies can:

• Monitor social media conversations in real-time
• Track brands across social media, blogs, news, discussion forums, video and photo sharing sites
• Engage directly via Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. Track all engagement in a single system
• Get daily and weekly conversation summaries across media channels
• Filter actionable, high priority conversations from the noise
• Identify influencers talking about brands/products/services
• Get detailed analytics and in-depth reports on the entire process

In addition to the platform, Position2 also offers “Actionable Engagement” add-on services packaged with the Brand Monitor™ Enterprise Edition. A team of analysts filter out actionable mentions from noise and categorize them. Mentions can be forwarded for action or responded to immediately.

“As the largest single price retailer in a hyper competitive market, it is critical for us to understand our customers and competitors,” says Curtis Corl, Vice President of Dollar Tree Stores. “With Position2 Brand Monitor, we listen to customer responses to in-store and on-line events, and segment them across key regions and demographics. We utilize the integrated engagement capabilities to build our social media presence. My team is impressed with Brand Monitor’s easy ability to listen to thousands of social media conversations and Position2’s highly responsive support team.”

Applications of Brand Monitor™

Position2 customers currently use Brand Monitor™ for marketing, customer service, competition tracking, research and brand reputation management.

For Marketing: Marketers can track conversations about their brands on social media, giving them a good understanding of how the market is reacting to their latest campaigns. Leads can be discovered by identifying intent in social media conversations. Social media conversations with negative sentiment can be easily identified and responded to, dramatically helping with brand reputation management. Most of Position2 customers use Brand Monitor™ for marketing applications.

For Customer Service: Companies can easily track what issues their customers are facing and complaining about on social media, respond to those customers using the built-in engagement tools and gauge their responses to public announcements.

For Competitive Intelligence: Companies can track their competition’s latest activities online easily, measure and analyze reactions to their products and services, and even identify business opportunities that can be tapped into.

Brand Monitor™ Editions – Comparison

Features
Pricing Per Month
Search Topics	2 search topics	4 search topics	6 search topics	20 search topics
Data Limits	12,000 posts per month	36,000 posts per month	108,000 posts per month	Unlimited posts per month
Data Sources				+ (Custom Sources)
No. of Users	1	2	5	10+
Social Profiles
Reports	Basic	Advanced, Export to CSV and Excel	Comprehensive, Export to CSV and Excel	Comprehensive, Export to CSV and Excel. Custom Reports.

To learn more about the differences in Brand Monitor™ Editions, see a detailed comparison of features.

About Position²

Position2 is an Accel-backed company that delivers continuous growth for its customers through high performance search & social media marketing. Position² was founded with a vision to leverage technology to offer search and social media marketing solutions that deliver performance with consistency and predictability.

The team includes over a 100 professionals across functions that include client management, marketing, creative services, technology development, search and social media marketing. Position² also provides expertise in online marketing solutions: SEO, PPC, Media and Advertising.

Position²’s flagship product is Position² Brand Monitor™, a platform that allows users to listen, discover and engage with social media conversations in real time. Brand Monitor™ is available in 4 editions, ranging from a free edition to a customizable Enterprise edition, from
http://brandmonitor.position2.com

Contact Information

Zubin Tavaria Director – Marketing Position², Inc. Email: mediarelations@position2.com Web: http://brandmonitor.position2.com Media Downloads

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Getting Started With a Solid Framework

Creating a successful social media campaign is like constructing a skyscraper. You need a strong foundation, quality materials and a reliable crew to ensure your structure doesn’t collapse. However, for many marketer, the idea of ROI and traffic takes priority over the finer details that go into designing a winning campaign. Although returns are a measurable and important aspect of social media marketing, the end result largely depends on the basic framework. Also, people are spending more time on social networks, and that means brands are even more pressurized to capture their attention and convert them into consumers. According to the Trends in Social Advertising survey conducted by Pivot:

• 60% of the respondents anticipate that social advertising will be very valuable to them.
• 54% are satisfied or very satisfied with their social advertising.
• While 37% agree with the statement that social advertising is gaining momentum, 54% strongly agree with the same.
• 38% marketers always have a social advertising competent as part of their campaign(s).
• 85% were currently experimenting with social advertising or planned to do so within the next 12 months.

While the above statistics appear encouraging, there were some respondents (45%) who said they were not as satisfied with their social marketing efforts. There could be several reasons for this. The success of a social media campaign depends on some elements which are very apparent, such as content, videos, pictures etc. However, there are certain less obvious, but equally crucial, components that need to be included while designing online promotional material. These are sometimes overlooked, leading to dissatisfaction among both marketers and consumers. In our opinion, these make up for the building blocks of digital marketing messages.

The Crucial Building Blocks

It is every social media marketer’s dream to create the next Old Spice or Ford campaign. There are some things that the creators of these highly successful promotions did right; setting up a solid foundation before building creative content, and following it up with offline marketing and post-launch activities. Ford’s decision to reveal the redesigned 2011 Explorer via Facebook instead of an auto show was a bold move, which paid off. Although the online launch coincided with the offline unveiling across the US, what worked among other things for the Detroit Company was a) creation of the pre-launch online buzz through teasers b) allowing fans to converse with company executives about the new revamped model, giving them a feeling of being involved and c) uploading a pre-reveal video featuring celebrity spokesperson Mike Row and CEO Alan Mulally. Irrespective of whether a brand is in the same league as P&G or Ford, we believe there are certain elements that function as the building blocks for a holistic digital campaign.

• Resource Management

  One of the biggest attractions for brands incorporating social media into their marketing strategies is the low-investment, high returns benefit. While large businesses need not always worry about the ‘how much’ part, resource management is nevertheless the first rung in the social advertising ladder for enterprises as well as SMBs. Securing budgets was said to be the second most difficult task for online marketers, with 34% reporting this to be a periodic challenge. This makes it all the more necessary to judiciously manage online marketing budgets.

  • Where is the Money Going? Social advertising is a relatively inexpensive proposition, provided you know what the marketing dollars are being used for. As an online marketer, you do not always have to overspend to create a memorable social media campaign. Knowing the purpose of your promotion will help allocate a budget, besides answering the ‘where is the money going’ question. For instance, if acquiring new customers, monitoring the impact of a campaign or growing the business further etc are among the goals, then these are probably the areas where your marketing dollars are being invested. As long as the accounts tally, we say there is no reason to worry.
  • It’s an Investment, not an Expense: Brands that look at digital advertising as an expense rather than an investment are usually not as satisfied with the returns. This incorrect perception can also result in marketers trying to reduce these ‘expenses’, thereby compromising on their online marketing efforts. Changing the outlook and looking at ad spend as money wisely invested will ensure you are happy with the outcome of your social media marketing campaign.
  • Working Backwards: Going in the reverse direction is a good way of drawing up a blue print for a social campaign. This will help understand exactly how much you need to invest, what are the areas that need additional dollars, and what kind of returns you can expect. If achieving ‘X’ number of sales per month is the end result, then you should slowly work backwards, so that you know where to start.

  Speaking of smart resource management, the example that comes to mind is Coca-Cola. Having understood the importance of social advertising, the beverage giant increased focus on Facebook and YouTube promotions, despite cutting its overall ad spend by 6.6% in 2010, according to a Grocer report. Coca-Cola’s budget management can be a yardstick for other consumer brands that are now faced with increasing marketing expenses. Instead of allocating a major part of their advertising budget to traditional marketing, while keeping aside a meager share for social media, perhaps brands should try and achieve an agreeable balance.

• The Pre-Launch Phase

  Now that the budget is planned, it’s time to advance to what we call the pre-launch phase. Creating a checklist of what needs to be done before a promotion goes viral is essential for designing that perfect campaign.

  • Background research: Although most marketers use social media monitoring services to measure the impact of their marketing messages post-launch, we believe it is just as vital to use monitoring tools like Brand Monitor before unveiling a campaign. Doing your homework is essential because a) you know where your target market is hanging out (geographically as well as with respect to social media platforms) b) by listening to conversations about your competitors, you can analyze what you can and cannot include in your advertisements and c) this enables you to determine the demographics you should be focusing on.
  • It’s All About Timing: For a social media campaign to have the desired effect, it needs to make a splash at the right time. A company looking to promote school stationary, for instance, will have better chances at success if they unveiled their ads across various networking channels during the ‘back-to-school’ season. Also, research by Buddy Media shows that user engagement on Facebook is 18% higher on Thursdays and Fridays; as for Twitter, according to the company’s Chief Revenue Officer Adam Bain, users are more engaged with tweets on Fridays. In our opinion, a social advert will have the maximum impact provided brands find their sweet spot.
  • Teasers: Unveiling teasers ahead of the actual launch is a good way to create buzz. It not only piques the audiences’ interest, but also gives a fair idea if the promotional material needs to be tweaked further. Motorola’s decision to roll-out a teaser video before the actual launch not just created excitement among consumers, but also generated instant demand for the product following the unveiling of the complete ad.

• Featuring Celebrities a Good Idea?

  The answer to whether you should or shouldn’t feature celebrities in your online ads depends on what you’re selling. Unilever’s Dove brand celebrates natural beauty, therefore features ordinary women with their imperfections. On the other hand, the company’s Lux brand stands for the promise of beauty and glamour and includes famous personalities in its online as well as offline ads. However, if you do have the resources, it wouldn’t harm to rope in someone famous to endorse your brand.

  • It’s a celebrity obsessed culture: A recent study of social media campaigns by Brand Affinity Technologies analyzed 200 Facebook and Twitter endorsements, besides similar Facebook ads that did not feature celebrities. Findings show that for the same spend – endorsed messages delivered enormous performance lifts – over 50% greater on the low end.
  • Roping in the Local Talent: Not all companies have the budget to rope in the big names in sports and entertainment. A small or mid-size organization can consider local celebrities in order to provide the ‘local lift’ to their brand.
  • Lifting up Business: Marketers looking to revive their business should consider including celebrities in their social media promotions. This tried, tested and successful formula is sure to boost a brand’s reputation, besides driving sales. When Fab.com got Demi Moore to endorse them via Twitter, the designed goods company saw its business lift from an unstable start-up to a very profitable business.

  The Flip-side; the power of celebrities to prop up an online campaign is undoubtedly immense. Yet, there is a flip-side to this. A negative tweet or post by a popular figure can risk a brand’s reputation. Nevertheless, the benefits overshadow the risks, prompting both big and small companies to approach iconic personalities to promote their brands.

• Getting Consumers to Contribute

  Sometimes it’s a good idea to give the creative team a break and give consumers a stake in the marketing strategy. Unlike traditional media, where the onus to brainstorm and design a creative campaign solely rested on the marketing team, the interactive nature of social networking can ease this responsibility by considering consumers’ suggestions. Here’s why we think marketers should make use of customer inputs during the creation/designing phase:

  • Reduced Risk of PR crisis: There’s more to brand-customer relationship than just engagement and post-launch conversations. Asking customers for ideas, gauging their response, etc can go a long way in reducing the risk of a PR crisis in later stages. How? As a marketer, your engagement with users during the creation period gives you a glimpse into their mindset, thereby ensuring your promotional material appeals to them. Happy Customers=Reduced Risk of PR crisis.
  • Driving Valuable Traffic: Sometimes designing an online campaign can seem daunting. Such instances call for customer assistance. In 2009, Vitamin Water turned to social networks for soliciting ideas from users regarding the name and packaging for the new flavor. This approach not only grew the company’s Facebook fan base, but also spurred a massive increase in sales after the campaign and the product were launched. The customers couldn’t wait to try ‘Connect’, the new flavor they had helped create.
  • Increase Brand Loyalty: Giving people a sense of ownership will increase their faith in your brand. In addition to obvious benefits like increasing traffic and sales and diminishing the possibility of a social media crisis, allowing customers to participate will increase brand loyalty. Long term benefits include strengthening of brand image as well as better customer retention rates.

Conclusion

Google has predicted that, by 2015, 75% of online ads will have a social component. This, along with an expected investment of nearly $28.5 billion in online ads in 2011, means there is immense potential for social advertising. Unlike a few years back, when brands considered Facebook or Twitter campaigns as fancy add-ons, today’s marketers perceive social media advertising to be a crucial part of their marketing arsenal. Companies now have exclusive social media experts, monitoring tools and separate budgets dedicated to promoting their brands online. In our opinion, successful social advertising requires a well-though out and detailed plan. A strong foundation, which is the result of comprehensive preparation, will help brands find out how their campaigns will fare once they are launched.

When marketers draft their strategies, they place great emphasis on content; and rightly so. Though we agree that content is the backbone of a well-rounded social media campaign, there are certain other factors that are just as important. As discussed above, for an online advert to make a solid impact and get the sales charts soaring, the pre-launch phase and budget planning function as key building blocks. This, along with the right amount of customer involvement and creativity, is the recipe for a winning social media campaign.

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Social Media Fatigue: the Challenge for Brands

With so much going on in social media these days, it is natural for both marketers as well as users to feel overwhelmed by the need to keep up. Social media is dynamic; while many companies are considering Google+, others are juggling between blogs, tweets and posts. It is not just about what social media platforms to use. For most brands, the bigger challenge is keeping content fresh and coming up with new ways to keep consumers engaged. The increasing pressure to be on top of everything and to keep ahead of the competition can sometimes lead to social media fatigue. From the consumer’s point of view, reading the same content on Facebook, blogs and other channels will only give them a reason to check out your competitor’s webpage. Gartner’s recent study on social media fatigue shows that:

• One in four young people is ‘bored’ with social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter.
• 31% of the respondents between the ages of 18 and 24 said the fun of social media is wearing off.
• The study also indicates that social media exhaustion is something that was most commonly associated with the early adopters. For online marketers, this signals the need to keep branded content fresh and capture people’s attention instantly.

The proliferation of social media platforms can be exhausting for marketers. Yet, many brands believe that the more social media accounts they have, the more web-savvy they are. According to research by the Altimeter group, large corporations averaged a surprising number of social media accounts (178). So much choice and not as much content; what is the best approach? Do you focus or diversify? Do you jump onto every new social media channel that is launched? In our opinion, preventing social media overload is all about finding answers to the too much vs. too little dilemma. Here are some easy-to-follow suggestions:

• Define Precise Goals

  The key to staying fresh and avoiding a burn out is finding out exactly what you wish to achieve from your social media efforts. Defining precise social media marketing goals is the first step towards understanding what works best for your brand.

  • Creating a Social Media Footprint: For brands that are relatively new to social media, gaining visibility and establishing a solid online presence is imperative. If these are your objectives, then we recommend focusing on the big three (Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn) before considering the other options available. This will prevent your brand from getting lost in the social media blur and keep you from getting exhausted in the initial stages.

  

  • Knowing your Audience: If you have a target audience in mind, then the right approach will be to focus only on those channels where your prospective customers are most likely to be present. For instance, cosmetics brand L’Oreal launched its recent digital campaign on Facebook after research showed that women, who are the biggest consumers of their products, were highly active on the networking site. Posting the same content all over the social space, hoping it reaches your target market can be exhausting and time-consuming.
  • Improving Customer Satisfaction Rates: Our advice to brands looking to improve their customer satisfaction rates is ‘less focus on fancy campaigns and more focus on helping customers.‘ Although a well-thought out, creative campaign is sure to attract new customers, it may not exactly be what existing customers are looking for. Instead of launching one campaign after another, while simultaneously trying to keep up with the flood of queries from customers, it would be wiser to work towards being a customer-centric brand. Offer advice, demonstrate how you can be of service, and show your customers that you care. Satisfied customers mean your brand can now breathe easy, plan ahead and eventually launch those great campaigns. Dell, which lists customer-service as one of its top priorities, has an exclusive team that focuses on helping customers via the @DellCares twitter account.

  Defining precise goals will give you a great sense of direction, helping you plan ahead. The ‘let’s get on board and decide as we go along’ approach sounds tempting; however, like everything new, the novelty of social media can wear off, leaving all those fans and followers wondering about the unexpected dip in activity. Our advice? Fight social media fatigue by getting a S.M.A.R.T (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Timed) plan.

• The Balancing Act

  As an online marketer, information overload can be overwhelming not only for you, but also for your customers. There is a fine line that divides too much content from too little; this can either convert customers to brand advocates, or will drive them to completely stop following your brand. Although achieving the right balance can be challenging, it is nevertheless, vital for long term success.

  • The Importance of Give & Take: Many companies use social media as a platform to talk about or promote corporate activity. Yes, it’s true that social media is a place for this kind of a thing, but not all the time. Uploading or posting promotional material incessantly will give your audience a case of editorial fatigue, giving them the impression that you are too self-absorbed. Welcome those who respond to your marketing messages, engage with them and listen to what they have to say. Keeping the ’social’ in social media is all about having a balanced brand-customer relationship.
  • To Tweet or not to Tweet: The plethora of networking channels out there can sometimes be confusing for marketers, who do not know if they should tweet, blog or constantly update their Facebook page. The pressure to be present everywhere or be left behind has seen many brands experiment with various channels. After a while, this can be overwhelming and tiresome. Here’s what we think: a) If you tweet more than 25 times a day, then it would be best to blog b) Try Groupon or Livingsocial instead of Twitter if ‘deal-of-the-day’ is your thing c) Not much to say? Then you should just tweet. As quoted by the Global Director of Digital and Social Media for PepsiCo, Bonin Boug, “Do only as much as your resources will allow. If you don’t have the means to have a person on Twitter 24/7, then don’t do it that way….Have [something like] Follow Fridays were you spend two hours talking to the community if that’s all you have to work with. There really are no set rules.“

  

  • Integrate Social Media with Traditional Marketing: For brands that prefer social media in small doses, integrating social media marketing with traditional advertising campaigns is a good way to get the best of both worlds. Many companies believe that a well-balanced mix of social and traditional media can avoid a marketing burnout. One of the companies to have successfully experimented with this approach is P&G. While continuing to advertise on TV, the personal care brand has also managed to create several memorable social media campaigns.

• Running Out of Ideas? Listen to Your Audience

  One of the most common indicators of fatigue creeping into your social media activity is when you don’t know what to do next. Marketers who are highly active on social media are on the constant search for fresh ideas and content in order to keep people interested in their brand. In a world where users are easily turned off by information that is dated and dull, this can be quite a challenge. To stand out in a highly competitive environment, brands need to create content that takes into account the real world environment and the day-to-day events that influence people. This is where social media monitoring tools prove to be highly useful. Here’s why we think media monitoring tools like Brand Monitor should be a ‘must have’ in every digital marketer’s tool kit:

  • It Pays to Listen: Refreshing content regularly is necessary for brands looking to keep people interested in their social media pages. However, delegating this responsibility solely to the marketing or creative department may not always be the best approach. The answer? Listen to your customers for content ideas. Media monitoring will help you sift through the conversations, pick out the most important ones and help sow the seed for some great content.

  

  • Creating a Campaign? Look Out for the Trends: Measuring the impact of an online campaign is one of the most important reasons why brands use social media monitoring tools. How about using the same monitoring tools to help generate ideas for a new campaign? Using these tools will not just save time and effort, but also identify the current trends. Brands can then design marketing messages accordingly and create a unique brand or company angle. According to Harvard Business Review Analytics Services Report, 55% effective users are using social media to monitor trends or look for new product ideas. Here’s what we suggest; monitor the buzz pertaining to trend, topic, or specific keywords before creating a campaign. You are less likely to burn out while learning new things that interest your consumers.
  • Testing the Waters: The best way to check if an idea is likely to work is by asking questions. Post that blog, ask your readers what they think, seek opinions, even opposing point of views. While some audiences jump into conversations willingly, others need to be prodded and asked for ideas and suggestions. This is a smart way to test the waters. Monitoring conversations, analyzing the sentiment associated with the topic of discussion etc, will help you alter your marketing messages and content accordingly, saving time as well as effort.

  The Starbucks formula for social media success is quite simple; monitor the trends and communicate with customers for new ideas. The caffeine-giant, through its social media pages, asks fans for suggestions, encourages discussions and requests for ideas on anything related to the company. Prior to launching a campaign for a new or an existing product, Starbucks picks out the most relevant conversations (mostly by listening to what the influencers are saying) and ideas, making users feel that they have some role in the decision making process of the company. By doing this, the company not only generates new ideas and fresh content at regular intervals, but also keeps social media fatigue at bay.

• Smart Solutions

  You have done your homework, equipped yourself with the required social media tools and have a great brand-customer relationship; yet, your efforts to go ’social’ are running out of steam. What you need are a few simple, yet smart-solutions to make certain you don’t run around in social media circles.

  • Automate Some of Your Posts: For marketers with profiles on multiple networking sites, updating them all the time for routine ‘broadcast’ messages can be a tiresome task. This is true, especially, in case of smaller brands that do not have the necessary resources to refresh their social media content frequently. Automating the posting of some content is a smart way of saving time and energy, at the same time keeping content up-to-date.

  

  • Linking Accounts: Linking key social media accounts saves time for marketers who want to post a common message across profiles without having to log in and out several times. For instance, tying your Facebook and LinkedIn accounts with Twitter, means every time you update something on Twitter it will appear on all three accounts.
  • Appoint a Dedicated Social Media Team: A large number of companies have their marketing or PR staff also overseeing their social media activities. This works fine for small to mid-size companies that have limited resources. However, for brands that consider social media an integral part of their marketing strategy, it is important to have a dedicated social media team to manage posts, tweet on behalf of the company and monitor the buzz surrounding the brand. This will not only reduce fatigue, but will also ensure the core marketing team has the time to focus on their content creation and campaign management tasks.

Conclusion

Marketers have moved beyond seeing social media as a fad and have started to include it as a crucial part of their overall marketing strategy. While this certainly has its benefits, it also means the possibility of getting caught in the social media vortex is high. After the initial excitement to post, blog, tweet or +1 wears off, brands are confronted with the question of ‘what next?’ Also, the fact that social media never stops means companies are increasingly pressurized to keep up. Our research shows that online marketers with an organized approach to social media have been more successful at beating the exhaustion that eventually follows.

Instead of the ‘do-it-yourself’ approach, brands are now looking at customers for inspiration by monitoring for trends and listening to conversations. It is also important to keep in mind that social media fatigue is not something that is restricted to marketers. With so much content and so many platforms to choose from, consumers are also susceptible to a burnout. Though it is not always possible to hold their attention all the time, innovating and diversifying can ensure that people are interested in your webpage. Easy-to-understand, fresh content has proven to be effective in preventing digital fatigue for both brands as well as consumers.

That said, for brands that are plugged in 24/7, instances of fatigue can occur occasionally. Take a deep breath…you don’t need to be a social media maven to avoid an overload; preventing a burnout is all about achieving that perfect balance, knowing what works for you and applying smart solutions.

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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: Is Your Audience Truly Engaged via Social Media? After getting your audiences’ attention towards your brand via social media; what next? Here are a few tips on how you can effectively engage with your audience and overcome your current social media marketing challenges.

Infographic: The Social Media Brandsphere. Social Media Intelligence Not Utilized to the Fullest: Competitive Advantages Diminishes. User Galleries: Twitter Enhances User Profiles With Image Galleries. Stats: Facebook Falters While StumbleUpon Races By. Dell vs. HP: Michael Dell Reaches For His Social Media Megaphone. Bookmark: 15 Educational SEO Charts and Diagrams. Fake Reviews: In a Race to Out-Rave, 5-Star Web Reviews Go for $5. How-to: Tips For Spying On Your PPC Competitors. A 7-Step Guide to Mind Control: How to Quit Begging and Make People Want to Help You. Must Avoid: The Seven Deadly Sins Of PPC.

Video of the Week Greylock’s Sze Sees Opportunity in Social Media, Mobile. David Sze, a partner at Greylock Partners, talks about venture capital investment in technology. Sze also discusses Facebook Inc.’s competition including Google Inc.’s Google+. He speaks with Emily Chang on Bloomberg Television’s “Bloomberg West.”

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Your Customers Now Notice You; What Next?

When asked to define the concept of ‘online customer engagement’ what comes to mind are some very specific set of numerical measures. From a marketer’s perspective, things like site visits, page views, time spent, search keywords etc are terms that are typically associated with engagement; and why not? These terms are highly relevant and will give companies a clear picture of how their brands have been received by customers. However, the actual exercise of first, establishing a relationship with your customers, and then maintaining it, can be challenging. Once this is achieved, then page views and website traffic will automatically follow. According to an eMarketer study, the primary reason why companies use social media is for engagement. It is well known that consumers who are more engaged with a brand tend to make a purchase; which is why marketers categorize engagement as ‘high priority’. Research by our team at Position² shows that, for most brands, getting their customers’ attention is fairly simple. As a marketer, you have managed to get your audience to notice you; now what?

• Breaking Down the walls of Inaccessibility: Setting up a blog or a Facebook page is a great first step; but there is more to engagement than simply allowing visitors to post comments or ‘like’ your page. In order to actually make your brand ‘accessible’ to users, it is important to a) post fresh content frequently b) link your social media page to your brand’s landing page and c) have a social media CRM team constantly interact with and respond to customer queries, making them feel you can be easily reached.
• The Six Engagement Elements that Matter: A recent study highlights the six important needs of consumers who want to reach out to a brand; Feeling Valued, Trust, Consistency, Relevance and Control. These elements should be a starting point for any interaction a brand has with a customer, the study says.
• Respecting Customer Privacy: In a bid to connect and engage with customers, online marketers sometimes tend to overstep the privacy line. This may not go down well with customers who are frequent visitors to your social media page and could lessen the prospect of converting these ‘casual visitors’ to ‘buyers’. However, this could be a ‘catch 22′ situation for brands that need to research about customers before attempting to engage with them. In situations like these, the best possible approach would be a) to ask only for the information required b) use it responsibly to provide value and c) avoid sharing information without customers’ consent.

The search for a brand that satisfies the criteria for ‘perfect customer engagement’ almost always results in the ‘Starbucks‘ name popping up. For Starbucks, the idea of engaging with fans meant more than just having a Twitter, Facebook and YouTube presence. By participating in conversations, launching the Starbucks Card Facebook application and responding to customers on its My Starbucks Idea site, the caffeine-giant has mastered the art of customer engagement.

While the above points give a basic idea of how marketers can extend themselves to their customers, let us look at what brands can do to add value to their relationship(s) with the digital audience.

Converting First Time Visitors to Customers

The elusive first-time visitors are sometimes overlooked by online marketers who are otherwise focusing on existing customers; nothing wrong in that. However, new visitors are a vital part of any business and represent huge growth possibility. Going by their typical pattern of fluttering from page-to-page and not categorizing them under ‘customer material’ would be a missed opportunity. Here’s why we think first time visitors are important:

• Recent studies indicate that, for most e-commerce websites, new visitors account for 65% of all users.
• Every new visitor lost without a conversation is like money walking out of a proverbial door.
• First-time visitors are just ‘one good campaign’ or ‘landing page’ away from turning into loyal customers. Although that first sale is a tough nut to crack, once done, it much easier to sell the second, third, fourth and fifth time.

You have succeeded in driving them to your website and you have managed to get pique their interest. This brings us to the next step, which involves converting these first-timers into potential customers.

• Work on that home page:

  Research shows that only 23% of first-time visitors to your website scroll down the home page; which means most of them miss out on the important details that are located below the field. The solution? Put up the important product or service information on the most visible part of your website. This ensures a higher possibility of increasing revenue.

• Tracking Visitor Traffic:

  Tracking where your visitors are coming from, keeping a tab on the links they clicked etc by using media monitoring tools like Brand Monitor will help you collate that vital demographic data about your first-time visitors. If these new visitors fall under your target demographic, then pursuing them with marketing campaigns and messages is simply the next step.



• Consider adding a Welcome Pop-Up:

  Although many of us may not always like the idea of a welcome pop-up when visiting a website, this has been proven to massively increase the number of subscribers to a blog or website. For instance, Blue Sky Factory’s Chris Penn increased his blog subscribers by a whopping 733% in just two months by adding a welcome pop-up.

• Offer Promotions:

  A tried-and–tested formula for enticing new visitors. This will give the user a reason to get curious about your products and services.

• Use the Grandfather Test:

  If your grandfather is unable to navigate through your brand’s Facebook page or blog, improving usability is a good idea. It is highly possible that a first-time visitor left without exploring further because of navigation issues.

Avoid the ‘Brochures and Billboard’ Approach

With almost every company having a Facebook page or Twitter presence these days, it is easy for your brand to go unnoticed in the social media blur. What further decreases the attention span of potential customers and keeps them from engaging is a networking page or website that resembles a brochure or a billboard.

• Go Easy on the Sales Talk:

  Your content should function as a compelling story line rather than simply look like a product brochure. A lot of websites focus only on selling the product or are flooded with offers to speak to a sales rep. This could keep away potential customers, who are also interested in the company in general and not just in purchasing a product.

• Keep in Mind the Point of Social Media-To Connect:

  The ‘follow us on Twitter’ or ‘fan us on Facebook’ formula is not always the best way to engage with your customers. This is akin to a billboard advertisement and does not have the ‘personal touch’. The point of having a social media page is to engage with customers; and having a networking page that has ‘billboard’ written all over it and may not go down well with visitors.



• Consumers can be Great Brand Ambassadors:

  By recasting consumers as brand ambassadors, you can a) personalize your webpage and make it look ‘real’ b) make consumers feel like they are responsible for the brand’s reputation and c) add meaningful content to you webpage, making it sound less like an impersonal marketing message. Pepsi, for instance, has successfully raised the profile of the brand by allowing their community to become co-authors of the brand narrative.

• Creativity is the Key:

  Perhaps it was Red Bull’s interactive and cool Facebook page that won the company the title of the 5th most engaged social media brand (in 2010, according to Famecourt). The brand’s social media team understood exactly what fans wanted. They customized apps and included unique content. Take for example their welcome tab, where non-fans are creatively encouraged to ‘like’ their page with an attention-grabbing image. Red Bull’s out-of-the-box thinking not just increased their social media customer base, but also created an original and interesting experience while engaging with customers online.

When you Should Stop Talking about Yourself

Producing huge amounts of content, even great content, will not suffice anymore. There has to be some give and take. Instead of simply overloading visitors with product or service related information, sometimes you need to:

• Talk less about yourself and more about your audience:

  It is a good idea to include information on how your customers are using a particular product or service and their experience with your brand. This not only increases the credibility of your brand, but also ensures increased engagement.

• Encourage Dialogue:

  A social media channel that is devoid of dialogue removes the ’social’ aspect from it. Take an interest in the people you want to engage with. Several companies, including P&G, allow customers to participate in social conversations and engagement that would have not been possible had they just talked about themselves.

• Focus on Select Channels:

  Your online engagement strategy needs to be more than skin-deep. True engagement means complete engagement in the social media channels you decide to invest. Instead of simply posting the same information on various channels, without focusing on the engagement aspect, we recommend consistent participation in fewer, selected channels for better brand-customer interaction.

• Keep it Simple:

  While including a certain amount of company related content and information is necessary, it is crucial to keep it simple; this includes the number and nature of questions you ask. A list of 15-25 questions on your social media page is not something a prospective customer will look forward to. What you could do instead, is offer to answer their questions, reply to comments more often, and thank them for sharing your content with their communities.

• Keep Yourself from Diving in:

  It is not always the best approach to react immediately and get involved in conversations. Sometimes it is best to stay silent, listen and keep dialogue to a minimum. This will give your social media team enough time to think carefully before diving into a conversation.

Conclusion

Social media marketers who have understood the importance of online customer engagement know that it pays to engage meaningfully in the digital space; and by pays we just don’t mean increasing sales or market share. The modern marketer’s approach to engagement measures returns in terms of customer lifetime value, which involves cementing old relationships and establishing new ones. A solid customer engagement strategy plays a pivotal role in building brand awareness and generating customer good will, which ultimately translates into profits. While there is no single, concise definition of engagement, until now ‘engagement’ was looked at from the marketer’s angle; however, this is gradually changing, with brands increasingly attempting to look at this from a customer’s perspective. A refreshing change indeed!

We know that engagement always starts with the need to connect, after which it is usually goes silent or fizzles out. The challenge becomes ‘what to do next’. A summary of our earlier discussion brings us to conclude that a well-rounded customer engagement plan is built on the foundation of content, dialogue and community growth. Irrespective of what engagement style a company chooses to follow, there are some ground-rules that need to be observed. A creative, yet simple, social media page that allows fans to feel connected with the brand ensures the start of a genuine brand-customer relationship; after all, relationship building is one of the main purposes of social media.

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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 Monitoring ROI: Metrics For Measurement Monitoring your brand on Social Media is important, but what are the metrics you should measure to discover your ROI from Social Media Monitoring? Read on for more information on the qualitative and quantitative methods you can use to determine the success of your social media monitoring efforts.

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Video of the Week Is Social Media Turning Socially Dangerous? Flash mobs have become a global phenomenon. After starting out as an oddity, they quickly turned into a tool for organizing people with a cause or for inciting chaos. CBS News correspondent John Blackstone reports that some cities, like San Francisco, are cracking down.

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Why It Pays To Listen To Online Buzz

One of the hottest debates in social media over the last few years has been centered on the concept of ROI and why measuring ROI on your social media monitoring efforts is so important. While there have been several studies concerning the ROI of social media marketing, with more companies starting social media monitoring on a larger scale, brands are now concerned with the ROI realized from their social media monitoring activities. For instance, the Corporate Manager of Consumer Generated Media at Toyota, Bruce Etrmann, believes that the company’s benefits/returns from social media monitoring include strengthening customer loyalty and improving communication with the marketplace. There are several monitoring tools available today, including Position²’s Brand Monitor, that help brands listen to conversations on social media 24/7 to make sure all relevant mentions are captured. We believe that social media monitoring best yields returns when:

• You know by how much the attendance to your company’s brand page has increased because of a certain social media marketing campaign or change in marketing strategy.
• What was the dollar value of this increase?
• How does this compare to the time and money spent by your brand while designing a campaign/creating a strategy?

Brands engaging in social media monitoring have understood that ROI comes not just by ‘monitoring the conversation‘ but also from ‘joining the conversation‘, which involves identifying and proactively engaging with key influencers. This is just one of the dividends of monitoring online buzz. Here are some more:

• A report by the Aberdeen Group, the ROI on Social Media Monitoring, shows that the best-in-class companies that have made an effort to listen to online conversations are 2.6 times more likely than industry average companies and 93 times more likely than laggards to improve their ability to generate consumer insights that drive new product/service development.



• The report also shows that the best-in-class companies that engage in social media monitoring and analysis activities are 3.3 times more likely than industry average companies to improve their ability to identify and reduce risk to their brand.
• 78% of them have reportedly improved their y-o-y customer retention rates.
• According to Gleansight’s Social Media Monitoring Report, increased customer satisfaction and better marketing effectiveness are among the key benefits of social media monitoring for brands that primarily engage with customers.
• ‘Influencer engagement‘ is one of the most important value drivers of social media monitoring; this helps identify the conversations that the brand should be engaged with, thereby increasing traffic and contributing to the ROI factor.

Metrics for Measurement: The ‘How’ and ‘What’ of Social Media Monitoring

Before getting into a discussion about the metrics of measurement while tracking online conversations and brand mentions, we must first understand that there are two ways to measure social media ROI for your business:

1. Quantitative: Helps measure quantitative data such as traffic, sales or SEO ranking, click-through rates of brands’ product pages.
2. Qualitative: Measures brand or corporate reputation, conversations, brand-customer relationships, enables brands to determine if they need to engage in meaningful dialogue with customers, brands vs. competitors analysis, engaging with and building better relationships with audiences etc.

The ‘quantitative’ aspect of measurement is simple and direct; however, when it comes to the ‘qualitative’ part we know that this can be rather subjective and requires the presence of certain ‘base metrics’. The fact is that no single metric alone is going to be a solid indicator of how engaged your community or customers are; however, there are a few things you can pay attention to, for deeper analysis:

• Comments: Studying the conversation initiated by a particular post can indicate if people are listening and whether they feel compelled to respond. This conversation thread about social media monitoring, for instance, has several posts which show that people are listening and participating.
• Time with Content & Thread Size: When a brand posts something online, the length and the size of the threaded discussion that follows and the time spent pursuing the content not just specifies how interested the users are, but also if the discussions are useful and have an impact.
• Downloads and Subscriptions: Looking at downloads can be a great indicator of engagement around a topic or subject. Similarly, it is obvious when people subscribe to your blog or website, that they are interested in what you have to say.



• Demographics: Altimeter Group’s Jeremiah Owyang stated several elements of social data, one of which is demographic data. We categorize this as one of the most important metrics of social media monitoring and measurement, as this helps create context about consumers by gleaning through data such as gender, age, profile pictures and details.
• Referrals/Suggestions and Comments: Customers are talking about certain products, both explicitly through ratings and reviews and implicitly through gestures such as hitting the ‘like’ button on their social network. The sign of a well-engaged community is when they invest their time and intellect in guiding you toward business improvements. Suggestions, product improvement ideas, innovation forums etc indicate a vested interest on behalf of the consumers your brand is trying to reach.



• Sentiment of Posts: For brands tracking their social media activities, analyzing the sentiment of the incoming posts is a crucial part of their monitoring exercise. Online marketers and brands are eager to know if customers come to the product page to vent their frustrations; are the sentiments generally positive? Do they complain about the posts as being too generic, wrong or otherwise deficient? Sentiment monitoring is more of a Psychographic metric; benefits or returns include providing brands with increased opportunities to reach these self-expressing customers and market to them based on their lifestyle. This type of data also helps in message and conversation creation, besides identifying features and products to improve or fix.
• Unique vs. Repeat Visits to the Social Media Page: A ‘casual browser’ is converted to an ‘actual customer’ when he is a repeat visitor who wants to learn more about company, looks for general updates and is eager for information related to the product or service. For a brand that is using this metric to monitor its social media presence, the gains are obvious. A one-time visitor, though, shows that the company has effectively advertised its brand.
• Page Views: Attentively monitoring this aspect of the metric makes it possible to not just determine the overall effectiveness of the brand’s webpage, but also helps gauge the site’s ability to captivate the consumer’s interest on each page.
• Click-through Rate: While this is a quantitative metric, it is nevertheless, crucial for brands and marketers to know how many social media site visitors eventually become visitors to the company’s website.

Irrespective of whether your social media data is qualitative or quantitative, creating an engagement index is a good idea. According to Katie Delayhaye Paine, an Engagement Index which is unique to your company’s goals is one way of monitoring and knowing where the returns from your social media strategy are coming from.

Conclusion

As the need to generate a measurable return on investment grows, for online marketers, the concept of ROI itself is debatable and has seen both marketers and industry experts engage in endless discussions on how to justify their expenditure. Therefore, when it comes to realizing the ROI from social media monitoring, the general consensus is that this is subjective and is perceived differently by different companies. However, no matter what your goals are, one thing above all is obvious; the need to have a clear set of quantitative and qualitative metrics that will help calculate the return on investment from your monitoring strategies. Whether it is demographics, number of repeat visitors or time spent on a particular Facebook page or company blog, most marketers agree that the social media monitoring yields maximum returns when the brand successfully engages with its customers. We believe that customer engagement is the first and integral step to realizing the ROI from brand monitoring; once this is achieved, reduction in customer service costs, improvement in marketing effectiveness, driving actionable insights, generating sales leads, identifying brand advocates , understanding campaign and design impact etc will automatically follow.

Media monitoring is a great ‘health check’ of a brand’s social media activities and the ROI realized from this process will tell you if your digital marketing strategy needs a fix or if you need to listen better and invest more resources to connect with your customers. Instead of focusing on finding only a tool to deliver charts or spreadsheets of data, companies should try looking for a social media monitoring solution that combines technology and human expert analysis to help better interpret social media data and answer business questions.

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In the third and final installment of the ‘Three Major Demographics for Online Marketers’ series, the Position² research team looked at the importance of marketing to women and how brands can benefit from one of the largest audiences online. Women, who make up for the majority of users on many popular social networking channels, have established a strong presence on the social web. Snippets from a recent study by ComScore show that:

• The average time spent online by women is 24.8 hours, compared to men who spend approximately 22.9 hours.
• In April 2010, women accounted for 16.3% of the average time spent on various social networks, as against the 11.7% average time spent by men.
• Although the number of visits to retail websites were almost the same for men as they were for women, the latter reportedly spent more time actually browsing through these websites.

One of the reasons why we singled out women as one of the key demographics for digital marketers is because of the purchasing power they yield. For instance, sites like Zappos, Groupon (77% female customers), Gilt Groupe (70% women shoppers), Etsy, and Diapers have women as their biggest customers. With the digital space gradually witnessing an increase in female visitors, it was no surprise when social networking newbie, Google+, saw 33% of its traffic driven by women (as of July 14, 2011), a figure that is inching upwards. For brands investing millions of dollars in digital, especially social media marketing, data such as this is proof enough that the female audience needs to have campaigns and marketing strategies that specifically target it. Here are some very convincing statistics that will highlight why online marketers need to leverage girl power:

• 42% million women in the US routinely participate in social media.
• A new study conducted by Edison Research and Arbitron, The Social Habit 2011, shows that women account for 52% and 54% of the Facebook and Twitter users respectively.
• A demographic analysis conducted in April 2011, for the European market, indicates that females spent significantly more time (5.7 hours) on social networks than males (4.1 hours) across all age groups.
• The COO of Facebook, Sheryl Sandberg, revealed that women, on an average, have 8% more Facebook friends than men.

For online marketers looking to reach women, the possibilities are endless. However, before crowding the digital space with gender specific campaigns and marketing messages, it is important for brands to understand: how do women spend their time online and what do they want from the web?

• The Social Expressionistas, Alpha Trendsetters and Shopsessives:

A study by AOL and Bovitz Research Group broadly categorizes web-savvy women into these distinct behavioral groups.

• Social Expressionistas: These community creators are passionate about spreading the word online and are highly active on social networking sites.



• Alpha Trendsetters: Take their social lives and careers seriously and are very brand conscious. Our recommendation? The perfect target market for markers of luxury brands that aim their products at women, such as Estee Lauder.
• Shopsessives: Believe they are experts in all areas ranging from fashion to health and are shopping online across all product categories. This group highly influences the shopping decisions of their family and friends.

• The Discount Seekers:

A study by ChiefMarketer shows that 47% women look for coupons and promotions online; why is that not surprising? The female demographic, which comprises of homemakers, mothers, wives etc, is also empowered financially, with more and more women taking on the role of the breadwinner. However, the coupon searching trait is not so much about saving money, as it is about women who constantly look out for something that intrigues them through the convenience of social media sites. Here’s something interesting; a recent Groupon study found that it was attracting the young, single, educated, female crowd with cash to spend. For advertisers and online marketers, this target group is a goldmine.



• The Twitterians:

Twitter, which was largely believed to be used by men, has a growing female user base. According to bloggers Dan Zarella and Darmesh Shaw’s analyses, women follow more people, tweet more, and have more followers on an average than men.

Be it discount seekers, coupon collectors or fashion conscious women, the key to getting the most out of your social media marketing campaign is knowing where your target market is most active and what are the popular trends dictating their online activities. In order to get clarity on your market type (in this case, women) we recommend using social media monitoring tools such as Brand Monitor for complete understanding of your target demographic.

Why Marketers Should Reach Moms

With women being the most frequent users of social media, it is not surprising to learn that moms are heavily into social networking. One of the brands to understand this way before the others could catch up is Huggies. The baby products maker jumped onto the social media bandwagon back in 2009, by launching the Circle of Moms social site (also a Facebook page). The webpage, which includes an expert advice column, a mom-to-mom forum with relevant tips, age specific diaper information etc, was a huge hit with moms. That was a few years back; are mothers just as important an audience for online marketers today as they were then? Some reasons why we think marketers should reach moms online:

• According to the Moms And Media: 2011 report, a whopping 62% of mothers have a Facebook profile page, while 70% of social networking moms are posting status updates online. This makes mommy “status updaters” an increasingly important part of the continuum of marketing communications.
• Many brands perceive social-savvy moms as an important demographic because they not just share content, but also listen.
• When compared to dads, moms are 40% more likely to follow a brand on social media channels.
• Moms are still primary budgeters and spenders in the household, which makes them VIPs to marketers.

That was the ‘why’ of reaching mothers in the digital space; Let us now look at the ‘how to‘, the understanding of which comes naturally to brands that know precisely what the moms are doing and what they expect from online marketers.

• Identify the power moms: These women communicate with their families and friends through various social networking channels as well as other mom-specific social networks. They are online paying bills, planning family vacations and downloading coupons.
• Design Informative Ads: According to an About.com survey featured in eMarketer, 51% of moms said “ads that provide detailed information about how I can use a product” grab their attention. For instance, YoCrunch Yogurt’s integrated social media campaign that targets mothers also features a dedicated discussion space on the brand’s redesigned Facebook page that invites moms seeking product related information to chat with each other and with the brand.
• Tell a Story: Moms like stories, and social media provides the perfect platform for brands to disguise their marketing messages in the form of interesting stories. This approach, we believe, is much better than simply ’selling’ something online.
• Engagement is the Answer: Marketing messages without focus on engagement are like one way traffic. Mothers today expect a dialogue with the brand online; the key here is to encourage your customers for their opinions, complaints and appreciations just the way P&G is planning to do with its ‘Life Well Lived’ campaign on BlogHer.

Marketing to Women: Popular Myths

Whether it is moms or women in general, the stereotypical image about this gender can sometimes lead to the creation of myths that could result in less-than-perfect marketing messages. Here’s a compilation of some typical myths on how to supposedly market to female customers online:

• Myth#1: Women are technology shy: The fact? More women own smartphones than men and are more reliant and comfortable with technology than they were a few years ago. According to recent studies, 75% of women disagreed with the statement “men are more comfortable with tech than women”.
• Myth#2: All women are moms: Most marketers simply assume that all women are moms. Designing online or offline campaigns based on this assumption may not yield the desired results. Why? Because they are not targeting the specific demographic. As quoted by the She-conomy blog “All moms are women, but not all women are moms.“
• Myth#3: Women only buy the girly stuff: Going by this belief means missing out on a huge customer base. The female customer’s shopping list in current times comprises of more than just lipstick and high-heels. According to the newly released “What Women Want From the Web Report,” Summer 2010, by Unicast, while women do look for beauty and fashion related products online, around 48% are researching travel destinations, and 59% are browsing for gaming and entertainment products. Our take on this? Women have moved beyond the ‘I love pink and frilly’ phase.
• Myth#4: It’s all about emotions: While it is true that women are drawn to online campaigns that attempt to make an emotional connection, there’s a flipside to overusing the ‘emotion card’. When Hoover vacuums launched their ‘Clean Freaks Rejoice‘ campaign on YouTube, the company’s aim was to emotionally connect with women who were usually tasked with the ‘after party’ cleaning up. However, the brand’s display of women as ‘neurotic’ and ‘anxious’ did not go down well with the female demographic.

Conclusion

Although there is a significant amount of stereotyping that occurs around women’s interests, especially assumptions that restrict women’s interests to fashion, cooking or childcare, this appears to be gradually changing. The modern marketer understands that female customers are no longer technology shy and are among the biggest buyers of smartphones and other gadgets. Online marketers targeting tech-savvy women should consider designing more apps that cater to the lifestyles of today’s female shoppers.

While there are several myths on how to market to women online, more and more marketers are broadening their horizons and are bold enough to design social media campaigns which, although are gender specific, are unconventional in several ways. Social media campaigns these days are detailed, interactive and seek to engage the specific target audience, who in this case, are women. Women, especially mothers, are interested in having on-going relationships with brands they can trust and ones that understand their needs. It is true that moms make up for a huge demographic online; however, brands need to keep in mind the fact that simply churning out mom-specific campaigns could mean missing out on other female customers, who may not be necessarily mothers, but nevertheless have equal maturity and financial stability. We believe that the modern woman is not your typical customer and most often than not prompts brands to put their thinking caps on; but what we also know is that coupon collecting, the inclination to shop online, and brand loyalty are behavioral traits that have been typical of the female demographic and will continue to be an integral part of online marketing campaigns. Meanwhile, what we are also eager to see is if the female demographic accepts Google+ with the same enthusiasm as they have for Facebook or Twitter. If Google+’s current popularity with the fairer sex continues, this could be a viable platform for online marketers looking to target women.

With this we conclude our three part series on the most important demographics online. Although the three demographics we mentioned, i.e. youth, baby boomers and women, make up for your typical customer base online, these three big subgroups have unique and specific needs and expectations from brands. Take a look at our previous posts on Marketing to the YouTube Generation and Marketing to Baby Boomers for more information.

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The Humble Beginnings and Social Media Evolution

The Harry Potter series has come a long way since the release of the first offering, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone back in 2001. Ten years later, a lot has changed, and we’re not just talking about how each film in the series proved to be darker than the previous one. While the initial films generated significant buzz offline, it was the release of the ‘Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince’ that set various social networking sites abuzz with excitement and activity. Although the earlier movie, boasting +325,000 Facebook fans prior to its release in 2009, was termed as a social media blockbuster, the latest and the last in the series ‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2′, has been nothing short of a sensation, both online as well as offline. Here’s a glimpse at the massive promotional push and the exponential social media surge the finale witnessed just ahead of its release on 15th July 2011:

• Warner Bros’ aim was to reach out the millions of Harry Potter fans; and they did just that by launching a series of social media campaigns in addition to official site, HarryPotter.com.
• The studio, which has had a solid Facebook presence for the series, further increased engagement with fans and launched new apps for the latest movie. The official Facebook page gained approximately 100,000 new fans per day in the week before its London premiere on July 7th 2011.
• Anticipating the excitement online, especially as the film got closer to its release, Warner Bros also created local Facebook fan pages for a variety of different countries and languages.
• The social media experts managing the @HarryPotterFilm Twitter account were highly proactive, engaging with users, sharing links, media articles and posting photos.
• Photos from the New York premiere of the Deathly Hallows were live-tweeted using TwitPic.
• Leaving no stone unturned for the grand finale, the Harry Potter franchise launched an assortment of trailer uploads and fan-made spoofs; additionally, the Harry Potter YouTube channel was used as a repository for official clips, TV spots and interviews.
• The YouTube page also provided fans with access to real-time updates from Facebook and Twitter.
• One of the major factors that resulted in an increase in fan base was the sale of tickets online via social media channels.
• Foursquare, the location-based social network, teamed up with EA games for a promotion where users were offered exclusive Deathly Hallows badges on checking in to the service when they went see the movie.
• Adding to the excitement was the mushrooming of fan sites such as The Leaky Cauldron and MuggleNet that featured updated information, contests and promotions to keep fans engaged.
• The announcement of the Pottermore website by author J K Rowling increased the hype; the website will open to select audience at the end of July and to the public in October this year.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2: The Social Media Buzz

Research conducted by the Brand Monitor team at Position², for the time period between 19th June and 19th July 2011, shows that:

Conversation Volumes and Sentiment Analysis

• The conversation volumes gradually started to rise as the date launch got closer. As expected, the volumes spiked to a whopping 61,438 on 15th July 2011, when the finale hit the big screens for the first time.



• Of the total posts (780,199), Twitter registered the highest share of volume at 26%, with discussion forums and Facebook occupying the next slot (at 23% each), followed by blogs at 22%.



• Sentiment analysis leans heavily towards neutral at 77% (mostly links to the trailer).
• 18% of the conversations were positive in tonality (included posts describing the series as part of a ‘magical childhood’).
• The negative tonality, at 5%, comprised of fans expressing dismay over the Harry Potter series coming to an end. Some were upset over the death of key characters in the final battle against Lord Voldemort.

Demographics

• The eighth and final installment of the Harry Potter series was talked about the most in the USA, which accounted for 73% of the total conversations.



• This was followed by the UK at 11% (interestingly the key characters in the movie as well as the author are British) and Australia at 5%.
• While 57% of the posts and discussions were by the female population, men accounted for 43% of the conversations.



• Although not completely unexpected, the 20-35 age bracket expressed the maximum excitement and talked about the film the most.
• Contrary to general expectations, the <20 group accounted for 26% of the social media buzz. This could be because some parents felt that certain parts of the movie were too violent for kids.
• At a negligible 3%, the +65 age group was generally unconcerned about the movie.

Summary

The social media hype surrounding ‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2′ shows how the art of film promotion has evolved over the years. Going back just five years, promotional activity for movies was restricted to traditional methods; however, the growing use of social media by movie buffs has certainly changed that. Almost every movie now has a Facebook page and a Twitter account; and the Harry Potter series is no exception. From using social media to build awareness to selling tickets online, Warner Bros seem to have thought of it all. Besides sending out the usual press releases and launching special websites where fans could get the latest scoop, the studio took to social networking sites to debut the latest trailers; a strategy that has paid off handsomely.

Heavy promotional activities for the final part of the Harry Potter series not only ensured that networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter received more than their fair share of buzz, but also led to the launch of several fans sites to satisfy the Potter-fever across the web. While it is natural for the hype to taper down gradually, we are eager to see how the launch of Rowling’s website Pottermore impacts social media. Can this be seen as the author’s effort to keep fans’ interest in Harry Potter alive, even as the series comes to an end? As of now, all we can say is that what started off as a fantasy movie for children has grown into something that is enjoyed, discussed and ‘liked’ by young adults online; and we have every reason to believe that social media is a major cause for this.

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The Age of Web 3.0

The last few years have seen social media evolve in more ways than one can imagine. The rapid growth of major social media players (in size, shape, and reach) and their increasing use by marketers and businesses makes us wonder “where is this heading and what will it look like in the years ahead?”. With the close of H12011, it is time now to take a look at some of the future trends in social media and see what industry experts have predicted for the age of web 3.0:

• Customers will no longer spend precious minutes searching for information. The vast amount of data collected by marketers will ensure the information finds the right customers at the right time.
• According to Gartner, by 2016, 40% of all new Fortune 500 contacts will be sourced from social media.
• The Forrester Research Interactive Marketing Forecast (2009-2014) estimates social media marketing spend to grow up to 3.1 billion in 2014.
• Brian Solis (Altimeter Group) calls 2011-2012 as the ‘Era of Social Commerce’. According to Solis, during this phase, social networks will eclipse corporate websites and CRM systems.
• eMarketer’s studies show that, by 2014, approximately 2/3rd of all internet users (or 164.9 million people) will be regular users of social networks.
• Tablets will lose their ‘niche’ status. A study conducted by the Online Publishers Association (OPA) and Frank N. Magid Associates expects 54 million Americans to own or use tablets every day by 2012. This means more people will be accessing social media via iPad like devices.
• Mobile social networks are likely to make between $28 to $52 billion dollars in ad revenue by 2012. With more and more users preferring smartphones to PCs, this is an area that is likely to see exponential growth.
• Privacy Expectations will Change: Freddie Laker, the director of digital strategy at Sapient, foresees a cultural shift in privacy expectations, whereby people will be more open to the idea of sharing their personal details, likes, etc, online.

What Does this Mean for Marketers? Keeping up with current trends and knowing what to expect in the future will open up endless opportunities for marketers and brands. As a marketer, having an awareness of how social media will evolve will not just help tweak your marketing strategies accordingly, but will also keep you informed of your target markets’ needs and expectations.

Facebook:

With nearly 750 million active users, Facebook currently occupies the position of the most popular network in 119 out of 134 countries. Statistics such as these indicate that Facebook has a promising future ahead and is not likely to give up its title of ’social networking king’ anytime soon. Among the top predictions for Facebook is that the networking giant is likely to go public in 2012. Here are some more:

• eMarketer expects 62% of web users and almost half (47.6%) of the overall US population to be on Facebook by 2013. However, after 2013, the dramatic growth will slow down and the networking giant’s growth rate is likely to be in single-digits, says the study.
• Research by eMarketer also estimates significant increase in Facebook’s US display revenues (by another 80.9% to $2.19 billion) by the end of 2011; so much that it will oust Yahoo! to take on the position of No. 1 display ad-selling company in the country.
• Predictions for 2012 indicate that Facebook’s display ad market will rise to 19.4%.
• F-commerce is set to grow; we expect Facebook to become one of the major channels of online shopping in the future with more businesses setting up storefronts on the site itself.
• According to the Social Media Marketing Industry Report 2011, 75% of marketers are planning to increase their activities on Facebook in the future.
• The growth of the ‘Why Don’t You Facebook Me’ phenomenon shows that Facebook is likely to dominate the future web. In addition to fans and friends, millions of brands and business who are not in customers’ ‘friends’ list will nevertheless establish a strong relationship with them.
• Facebook’s recent growth spurt suggests that it is looking to position itself, not just as a website, but as an essential piece of the internet; Facebook-led social web will make online browsing more convenient.
• Following its partnership with Bing, it will not come as a surprise if Facebook becomes a much bigger part of the search market picture.

Twitter:

If 2011 has been a good year (so far) for Twitter, then 2012 will be even better, says eMarketer in a recent study. According to eMarketer’s forecasts, Twitter’s revenues will reach $250 million by 2012. Although this may not be as much as Facebook, it is still a healthy figure. We can also expect:

• To see a shift from ‘tweeting’ to ’searching’. The Twitter search tool will function as an easy way to find useful information.
• To witness the transformation of Twitter from a microblogging site to a news powerhouse. With Twitterians being the first ones to report breaking events, the concept of citizen journalism will add to Twitter’s value as a news source in the future.
• To see an increase in users: As Twitter usage gains traction, eMarketer expects to see almost 28 million Americans tweeting by 2013.
• 73% of marketers to increase their activities on Twitter in the years ahead.
• The future of Twitter to be mobile: With an upsurge in smartphone users, the future of Twitter may gradually shift from the web to mobile devices. What is that? Mobile is fast and simple, and so is Twitter (its 140 character limit makes sharing effortless).
• An increase in Twitter’s role as a customer-service channel: Companies such as JetBlue and Whole Foods are already serving their customers successfully via Twitter. We expect more brands to follow their footsteps in becoming more ‘customer-centric’.

CEO Speak: During the CES 2011, Twitter CEO – Dick Costolo, spoke about the company’s business plans for the future and said that Twitter will neither go public, nor will it be up for sale. What he hopes is that Twitter will become a successful independent company soon.

LinkedIn:

A leader in professional networking, we can expect LinkedIn to become more influential in this space. With +100 million users (as of March 2011), the future for this networking site looks promising. However, LinkedIn’s rapid ascend has prompted skeptics to ask if the company can maintain its growth rate. This is what LinkedIn’s future is likely to have in store:

• A popular site for recruitment, LinkedIn is expected to give other job portals a reason to worry. LinkedIn’s growth in the future is likely to depend on the hiring solution segment.
• The launch of the ‘Apply with LinkedIn‘ plug-in for employers’ websites is something to look forward to. We expect this to be introduced sometime in the near future. The company claims that that this app will allow job seekers to apply for various positions using their LinkedIn profiles as resumes. Experts project a 20% annual growth rate, with LinkedIn likely to become a $500 million company by 2015.
• Analysts at JP Morgan are of the opinion that LinkedIn, with its current 16% penetration of the professional network market worldwide, is just at the beginning of its growth curve; the company is projecting the site’s member base to reach more than 250 million by the end of 2015, which would suggest a 42% penetration rate off the current professional market.
• What distinguishes LinkedIn from other networking sites is that it currently owns the professional networking space; while imitators will come and go, we don’t expect LinkedIn to face major competition anytime soon.
• So far, 2011 has been a successful year for LinkedIn; however, the company does have the task of keeping shareholders happy. This means we can expect to see the introduction of new services in the future.

The CEO of LinkedIn, Jeff Weiner, is optimistic about the company’s future. Investments in hiring solutions will continue, he said. Meanwhile, the company does have acquisition plans in the pipeline, especially after ‘ringing the bell on the New York Stock Exchange’ earlier in May.

While the road ahead for the ‘big three’ (Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn) shows great potential, the smaller players in this space have lately been ‘in the news’ for various reasons. Let’s sneak a quick look into the future of the other players in social media:

• Social Media Today recently chalked out a list of social networks that are on the rise and those witnessing a decline. Tumbler, Weibo, Reddit, StumbleUpon are poised for growth, while Friendster, Ning and Hi5 may have some difficult years in store.
• The initial few months of the year saw skeptics predicting the decline of MySpace; however, recent developments including its acquisition by Specific Media and the entry of Justin Timberlake as MySpace’s de facto creative consultant has made the social media world sit up and take notice. The networking community seems to be closely watching for further developments.
• Foursquare recently become the first location-based network to surpass the 10 million user mark. In addition to this, the social location startup raised a $50 million funding round with the solid backing from its existing investors. What does this growth spurt mean? Company founders said that they will ‘try a ton of new things‘ including expanding globally and adding more features for businesses and venues that are using Foursquare.

The New Entrant: Google+

Although Google’s Buzz and Wave were not as well received, the unveiling of Google+ shows that the search giant latest attempt to go social is not only bold and ambitious, but is also set to redefine the future of social media. Despite invoking mixed reactions, Google’s latest project has definitely created considerable buzz among the big players. While there is a lot of speculation on how it will evolve, let us look at what is facing Google+:

• Following the launch of Google+, one of its main competitors, Facebook announced something ‘awesome’. Facebook, in a deal with Skype, launched a video chat service in early July. The networking community is eager to see how this move, which is expected to strengthen Facebook’s position in the social networking market, will impact Google+.
• Now that Google has made its big move, the big question is if it can convince loyalists to make the switch from existing social networks.
• Google’s efforts to become more ‘people-centric’ may finally pay-off. In addition to innovative features such as ‘Circles’, ‘Handouts’ and ‘Video Chats’, the company’s mobile application for Android devices shows its futuristic approach to social media.
• Though Google+ has a long way to go, many industry specialists are calling this the ‘next generation social network’. According to popular venture capitalist Fred Wilson, there’s space for Google+ to sit alongside its competitors as an alternative for those who don’t want a Facebook, Twitter or Tumblr style experience.

According to Google, this is not the final product, but more of a constantly-evolving entity. As Google slowly rolls out the invites (Gmail style) we can’t wait to see how the new entrant impacts the networking landscape.

Meanwhile, as more and more brands leverage social media for marketing, there will be a greater need to have a deeper understanding of human conversational behavior. We expect marketers to increasingly rely on social media monitoring tools to know what is being said about them in the digital space. Our research suggests that the social media monitoring field will witness some interesting developments ahead:

• An audio option as part of a social media monitoring dashboard suite could be a future trend.
• The use of unpaid social media monitoring tools will increase.
• In addition to sentiment and volume analysis, competitor monitoring will become one of the major requirements of companies.

Conclusion

As Facebook gets closer to the 1 billion mark, industry experts foresee the networking giant to witness huge growth in Asia. Until recently, Facebook had little to worry as far as competition was concerned; yet, with the recent introduction of Google+, the equation appears to have changed. Although, Google’s new social media tool is currently on trail, the networking community expects it to revolutionize the social media experience. On the other hand, Facebook’s launch of its video chat, even before people could fully familiarize themselves with Google+, shows that timing of Facebook’s announcement is more than a coincidence. Meanwhile, Google will have to keep an eye on Twitter. We expect the microblogging site to emerge as a relevant and updated source of information, besides evolving as a social search tool. For Google, this could mean less search users. We wonder if this will prompt Twitter to break the 140 character limit. While we wait for launch of the ‘Apply with LinkedIn’ app, it will be safe to assume that smaller players like MySpace will not be left behind as expected earlier. Foursquare, which until now, was in the same league as the smaller players, will be a tough competitor to Facebook Places and Google Latitude. It will be interesting to watch how the big names react to this.

That said, M-commerce has been termed as one of the biggest emerging trends in social media. The recent spurt in smartphones’ sales means marketers will leverage the tremendous potential of smartphones for M-commerce in the future. We expect M-Commerce to take consumer-engagement and user experience to the next level.

Social media is dynamic; although the above predictions are the outcome of extensive research and opinions of social media experts, it will not come as a surprise if the road ahead has some unexpected detours.

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