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

From the Position² Blog This Week: What To Expect From The Social Consumer In 2012 Part One: The Power of User Generated Content and Social Mobile Usage. Part Two: Social E-Commerce Influencers, Daily Deals and Special Offers.

Facebook 101: Is Your Brand Worth a Like? Infographic: Pinterest’s Role As A Referrer For Retailers Grows. Twitter CEO: Google Has All The Data They Need. Survey Report: Women’s Influence On Purchase Decisions On The Rise. Social Media Strategy: How Small Businesses Can Thrive With Google+. Position² Blog: Paid Search (PPC) In 2012: 7 Key Areas To Focus. SEO Tips: Google Begins Crackdown On Misuse Of Rich Snippets. Research: Will 2012 Become the Year of Mobile SEO? E-Mail Spam: Facebook, Google, Microsoft Team Up To Target Phishing. Find New Keywords: Simplifying Keyword Research.

Video of the Week How Social Media Keeps Leaders Honest. Mashable founder and CEO Pete Cashmore sat down with David Jones of Havas to talk about the new responsibilities of today’s leaders to respond to social media, as part of Mashable and Scribd’s Documented@Davos series.

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: Showtime’s Dexter Becomes Hot Trending Topic on Social Media The Dexter series is a very good example of how TV networks are incorporating social media as a vital part of the production process, rather than an after-thought. Position² Brand Monitor™ team tracked the recent social media buzz on Dexter, and this is what we found.

Social Media Etiquette: The Do’s And Don’ts Of Facebook, Twitter & More. Tips: 14 Signs That You Are Failing at Facebook Marketing. Social Media in Sports and Entertainment: Three Mega Trends in 2012. Mixi-Xmas: Twitter Teams Up With Mixi, Japan’s Big Social Network. INFOGRAPHIC: Can Facebook, Twitter and Linkedin Really Get You a Job? Eye Tracking Study: Google Searchers Use Autocomplete Most, Ignore Google Instant. International SEM: Important Lessons In Understanding The True Nature Of Keywords. Mobile SEO: How The Mobile Web Changes The SEO Landscape. Analytics Tips: 10 New Google Analytics Features You Need to Start Using. Google Longtail SEO Keyword Infographic: How Google Killed Long Tail Keywords.

Video of the Week Video Interview: The Hierarchy of Social Business Maturity. In this video interview with SearchContentManagement.com at KM World, Owyang discussed the Altimeter Group findings, what they say about enterprises that face social media crises and how organizations seen as successful develop plans and design strategies that carry them further down the path of accomplishment.

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

From the Position² Blog This Week: The Fashion Industry Thrives on Social Media Despite having arrived only recently onto social media scene, the fashion industry is definitely making its presence felt. Consumers are increasingly checking out a retailer’s website or social media page before deciding to make a purchase, which means fashion brands need to step up their online marketing efforts even more. Read on for our research and tips on social media for the fashion industry.

PeekAnalytics: A New Way to Measure Twitter Influence. Tech: Facebook Wins Competition of Clones as Europeans Seek Global Network. Update: 26 Promising Social Media Stats for Small Businesses. Revamp: LinkedIn Launches Dramatically Improved Version of LinkedIn Events. Advantage: Why Google Plus Pages (Will) Beat Facebook. And Twitter. Confirmed: Google Testing New “Sources” Display In Search Results. Acquisition: Google Buys Contextual Rich News Browsing Startup Apture To Beef Up Chrome. Life After Google is Now: 9 Pieces of Advice on How a New Site Can Succeed Without Search. SEO + PPC = More Visibility: Why Your PPC Campaign Needs SEO. Two Schools of Thought: The Key Difference Between Apple and Google.

Video of the Week Dunkin’ Donuts Uses Social Media to Improve Customer Relationships and Experiences. Tyler Cyr, Web Communications Manager, Dunkin’ Brands shares how social media helps continue and improve the Dunkin’ experience and also shares how the company is learning and changing as a result.

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

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

From the Position² Blog This Week: Twitter Mistakes Businesses Should Avoid What are the common twitter mistakes businesses should avoid? How can brands use twitter as a powerful marketing tool? Do Fortune 500 companies use twitter as a business development tool? Is your twitter profile complete? How can brands monitor their twitter account? Read rest of the article to get answers to these questions.

Coming Soon: Google+ Lays the Groundwork for Business Profiles. Survey Report: B2B Researchers Prefer LinkedIn Over Facebook. Social Media Principles: 6 Ways to Become Likeable With Social Media. Friend or Foe?: Social Media Attribution Zuckerberg: The Other One – Talks About Social Media Web Analytics: Challenges in Automated Traffic Reporting. Locals Only: Harnessing The Power Of Online Customer Reviews For Local Business Growth. Google Real-time: What’s Happening On Your Site Right Now? Google Zeitgeist: Larry Page on Search, Google+, Motorola & More. Search Engine War: Blekko Takes on Google – With Help From Russia.

Video of the Week Going to where your customers are [interview] Brian Solis joined Katie Lance from Inman for a discussion about social media, real estate and good old fashioned common sense marketing.

Enhance Your Digital Presence – Sign up for our Digital Marketing Services Do More. Do Better. We’re here! With end-to-end capabilities in digital marketing and a team that is committed to delivering 100% all the time – you can safely rely on the Position² team to take care of your digital marketing support requirements. Position² has processes and systems in place to efficiently deliver high quality assets. Click here to know more!

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The Challenges of Tweeting

The innumerable social media guide books out there typically advice brands on everything they need to know in order to survive and succeed in the digital space. Although they are usually very comprehensive and cover the basics, we strongly believe that every networking channel is unique and has its specific list of do’s and don’ts that need to be followed. Online marketers focusing mainly on YouTube for instance, will have a completely different set of guidelines from marketers that primarily use Twitter or Facebook. Social media is a double edged sword; while the benefits are many, online marketing has not been without its challenges. In the case of Twitter, it is a great platform for: a) customer service b) posting regular updates about a brand or a particular product c) bringing brands closer to their audience and d) companies looking to extend their reach and gain visibility. According to the “The Fortune 500 and Social Media” yearly report from the Center for Marketing Research:

• American Fortune 500 Companies dramatically increased their participation in Twitter to 60% in 2010, compared with 35% in 2009.
• Three in five companies had active Twitter accounts.
• The industries that were most strongly represented among the Fortune 500 Twitter accounts included retail; food, drug and CPG; and insurance.

The above numbers appear promising and show that companies are already using Twitter to bolster their brand. However, online marketers still hesitate to use the microblogging tool to its maximum potential or give up after the initial enthusiasm wanes out. This lack of confidence could stem from running into common Twitter-hurdles and making mistakes that can be easily avoided.

Unclear Objectives

Rushing into Twitter, without having clearly defined objectives, comes first in our list of the ‘Most Common Twitter Mistakes to Avoid’. As an online marketer, knowing what you want from Twitter not just saves time, but also functions as a safety net for your brand. Making a list of what you expect to achieve for your brand via Twitter can help avoid:

• Irrelevant Tweets: Twitter’s 140 character limit is all the more reason why companies should use this tool wisely. Tweeting about something that has nothing to do with your brand increases the risk of losing followers and invites unnecessary backlash. This is what happened in the case of Habitat, a trendy furniture store in the UK. The company’s need for visibility did get them attention, although of the wrong kind. When the @HabitatUK account started to use #hashtags such as #iPhone, #mms, #Apple, which had absolutely nothing to do with furniture, decorating, or shopping, the company was accused of posting irrelevant content. The Twitter community was disappointed with Habitat’s incorrect use of hashtags to tweet information that was completely unrelated to the company.
• Missing Out on Your Audience: Unclear goals mean you don’t know who to follow. Simply tweeting without having a specific audience in mind not only wastes time but also translates into unproductive use of the microblogging site. Brands that jump in without thinking about who to follow either end up following the wrong audience or have trouble going further.
• Getting Left Behind: One of the biggest reasons why many brands get abroad the social media bandwagon is because they want to stay ahead of the competition or avoid getting left behind. This is true especially in the case of Twitter. However, ambiguity regarding your goals or the ‘tweet first, decide later’ approach simply increases the possibility of getting left behind. How? When you don’t know what to tweet, you won’t know how to proceed!

A Half-Baked Profile Page

Why is it important to have a well-thought-out Twitter profile? One of the first things that potential followers will check out is your brand’s Twitter profile page. Half-hearted attempts at designing a profile page gives out the message that you were either in a hurry to start tweeting or simply didn’t consider it important enough to invest time on. Setting up a detailed profile on Twitter is simple, takes very little time and effort and gives people some sort of context on what your brand does. Having trouble getting started? Here are a few pointers that should help:

• Upload that Picture: The default Twitter egg for a profile picture will hardly come across as ‘egg-citing’ to your followers. Recent research from Dan Zarrella, author and Hubspot’s “social media and viral marketing scientist,” shows that Twitter accounts with profile images attract more followers. We think this is especially true in the case of brands that are new to Twitter and are in the process of building their follower count and want to gain visibility. This, however, does not mean uploading an irrelevant image or having a cartoon character representing your brand. The ‘avatar’ photo should represent your brand. Our suggestion? Going with the company logo is good choice.
• Custom Twitter Background: Having a custom Twitter background will help your brand stand out from the crowd. While some brands’ background is generic and says nothing about their business, the others try to include too much, making it appear chaotic. The @Ford account is the great example of how a company can achieve the perfect balance between too much and too little background content.
• Filling Out the Bio: In addition to uploading a relevant profile picture and having a well-laid out background, it is important to take time off to fill in the ‘bio’ field. A brief description of the company’s area of expertise, along with some contact details will give potential followers the required information about the brand. Also, don’t forget to include a link to the company’s website.

Hibernating vs. Hyperactivity

Many companies start off with great enthusiasm and run out of steam somewhere along the way. The abrupt silence could result in reducing a brand’s follower count and may lead to frustrated customers probably wondering about the sudden inactivity. The other extreme is when marketers shower followers with an overload of tweets. For an online marketer, striking the right balance between hibernation vs. being overactive on Twitter is all about:

• Timing: Space out your tweets in a digestible format for your followers. Tweeting at regular intervals gives brands larger reach and makes them look professional. Other benefits include less ‘noise’, reduced probability of losing followers and giving people enough time to read and assimilate information.
• Avoiding Spam: Sometimes attempts to expand reach and promote a product or service can go out of control and turn users off. Sending direct messages (DM) when not required, simply retweeting others in your industry, sending @ messages to someone you don’t know or trying to sell something to the wrong audience are examples of how you can spam innocent social media users. Japanese Coffee Company, UCC, tried to rush into Twitter by randomly broadcasting their messages to unsuspecting social media users during the launch phase of their “Good Coffee Smile” campaign. The company’s unwise use of an automated program that sent an @ reply to everyone who tweeted keywords like “coffee” or “contest” was not well received. Additionally, the company overloaded users with a preset advertisement tweet related to their contest, which invariably resulted in Twitter users complaining that they were being spammed by UCC. Our advice? Take your time, figure out what you wish to convey and who you wish to target in advance, and use the DM, @ and retweet commands judiciously.
• Engaging: Too much sales talk and too little engagement can cost precious followers. Marketers need to understand that, in order to connect with customers, it is important to actually engage with them first. While it is tempting to give a Twitter monologue without engaging in a dialogue, being your own brand ambassador all the time will encourage your users to label you as ‘boring’ and move on. Keep in mind, Twitter is all about give and take; you need to show your followers you are interested in them just as much as they are in you.

Are You Monitoring your Twitter Account?

Your Twitter marketing strategy has checked all the right boxes. You have the goals in place, boast a solid Twitter profile, engage with your customers, and even know your target audience and when and what you should be tweeting to them. You have it all covered right? Well almost. Twitter, being one of the most active social media channels in the networking space, needs to be monitored closely. Companies using Twitter as an integral part of their marketing plan need to invest in social media monitoring tools such as Brand Monitor because:

• Twitter is Where Most of the Conversation Takes Place: The real-time nature of Twitter makes its all the more necessary for companies to monitor the influence of their brand and measure the impact of their messages. Also, most people who want to talk about a brand or a campaign take to Twitter because it’s the ideal platform to start a trending topic (by creating #hashtags). Twitter is where most of the conversations take place; if you aren’t there watching, then you could be missing out on valuable information about your business.
• This Reduces Spam: As your brand’s presence on Twitter continues to grow, the possibility of unintentionally spamming users increases. Listening to your customers, finding out what type of content they appreciate etc will prevent you from spamming their Twitter accounts with irrelevant content.
• It Helps Decide if Twitter is Where you Should be: When it comes to deciding between the various networking channels out there, marketers are often spoilt for choice and are not sure what works best for their brand. We suggest analyzing the conversations, and finding out what networking platform has the maximum volumes pertaining to your brand. If Twitter is not where you should be, then this is possibly why your efforts at microblogging are not yielding the desired results.

Conclusion

A recent study by eMarketer shows that, on an average, 30.6% of Twitter users follow between one and five brands. With the growing number of Twitter users, we only expect this number to increase in the next few years. For social media marketers that mainly use Twitter, the future looks promising. While it is great that the microblogging site is being perceived as a serious online marketing tool, the ride on the Twitter bandwagon can sometimes get bumpy. Also, in the rush to tweet, brands sometimes tend to overlook the basics and are faced with roadblocks that could have otherwise been avoided.

Our research shows the most common Twitter mistakes can sometimes cost companies followers, besides affecting the brand image. It is natural for even the most social-media savvy brands to slip-up once in a while. Take a deep breath… Twitter can be one of the best things that happened to your brand or business. We believe that there is nothing a little careful planning and monitoring cannot overcome. This, along with optimum engagement, scheduling of tweets, and having a well-thought out Twitter profile page will ensure that your ride is smooth and you don’t press the panic button too often.

Twitter is powerful marketing tool that allows brands to connect, share, develop relationships and enhance their sphere of influence. A few hurdles along the way shouldn’t deter marketers from using Twitter to its maximum potential.

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