Social Media Marketing in the Middle East: Handbook

Social Media Marketing in the Middle East [Handbook: Compiled by the Socialize Team] Page 1 of 62 © Socialize (www.socialize.ae)

What is Social Media ? In its most basic sense, social media is a shift in how people discover, read and share news, information and content. It's a fusion of sociology and technology, transforming monologues (one to many) into dialogues (many to many) and is the democratization of information, transforming people from content readers into publishers. Simply put, Social Media is people connecting and sharing information online. It is the space where your customers and clients share experiences, connect, make buying decisions and create influence. Page 2 of 62 © Socialize (www.socialize.ae)

Web 1.0 was about Commerce. We stand at crossroads where consumer generated content is the brand. It‘s all about us. We are the online experience. We‘ve believed in: The "Great Man" theory of history is usually attributed to the Scottish philosopher Thomas Carlyle, who wrote that "the history of the world is but the biography of great men." He believed that it is the few, the powerful and the famous who shape our collective destiny as a species. That theory took a serious beating this now. Today, it‘s no longer a story about conflict or great men – its communities and collaboration. The new Web is a very different thing. It's a tool for bringing together the small contributions of millions of people and making them matter. Silicon Valley consultants call it Web 2.0, as if it were a new version of some old software. But it's really a revolution. It's about the many wresting power from the few and helping one another for nothing and how that will not only change the world, but also change the way the world changes. -- TIME Magazine, 2007 Web 2.0 is about People. Page 3 of 62 © Socialize (www.socialize.ae)

Traditional Marketing • Customers found you through the yellow pages • Word of mouth was spread by current customers • Measuring Results meant tracking sales • Marketing budgets went to radio, TV, newspapers • Your business network was limited to people you met in person New Marketing • Your customers Google you, research you, read reviews about you, research your competition…before ever initiating contact with you • Even if you are a local business, you are competing globally • Word of mouth can be spread anytime, anywhere, by anyone…both the good and the bad. • Measurable results means tracking sales, influence, page rankings, traffic, customer experiences • Customers DVR television shows to fast forward through commercials, they listen to iPods to avoid commercials, newspapers are read online • Your network is influenced by connections all over the world. You may not even know their name, just their social media handle • Your customers expect transparency and engagement Page 4 of 62 © Socialize (www.socialize.ae)

Interesting Numbers and Statistics to Consider Page 5 of 62 © Socialize (www.socialize.ae)

Internet User Penetration in Arab States From 2000-2009, Middle East has been the fastest growing region in the world (Internet penetration) with a growth of 1648%, as compared to a world average of 380%. Page 6 of 62 © Socialize (www.socialize.ae)

Internet Users in Arab States : Income Groups Page 7 of 62 © Socialize (www.socialize.ae)

Internet Users in UAE: Purchase Decision Influence Socialize along with YouGov Siraj has conducted a first of its kind survey, documenting social media consumer behaviour in the UAE. More than 750 respondents took part in the survey. Purchase Decision Influence 73 70 80 70 49 47 60 43 50 40 30 20 10 0 Source: Socialize UAE and YouGov Page 8 of 62 © Socialize (www.socialize.ae)

Internet Users in UAE: Interaction with Brands Brand Interaction 81 90 80 65 70 48 60 43 40 43 50 40 30 20 10 0 Source: Socialize UAE and YouGov Page 9 of 62 © Socialize (www.socialize.ae)

Internet Marketing in UAE IQPC, a Middle East events company asked 1,048 marketing professionals across the MENA and GCC region 8key questions about their role and their organisation‘s strategy when it comes to digital marketing and its implementation. When asked on how the global economic slowdown had affected marketing strategies, and how far along they had integrated digital and traditional marketing, 82% of the respondents were going, or were completely digital while 87% said that they integrated online and offline marketing to an intermediate – advanced level ! Also, 84% of the respondents said that social media marketing is an initiative that their company actively supports Page 10 of 62 © Socialize (www.socialize.ae)

Tools-Of-The-Trade [ What they are and How to use them ] Page 11 of 62 © Socialize (www.socialize.ae)

Top Social Media Sites/Platforms as of 2008 Ranked by Unique Worldwide users 1. Blogger (222 million) 11. Baidu Space (40 million) 2. Facebook (200 million) 12. Friendster (31 million) 3. MySpace (126 million) 13. 56.com (29 million) 4. Wordpress (114 million) 14. Webs.com (24 million) 5. Windows Live Spaces (87 million) 15. Bebo (24 million) 6. Yahoo Geocities (69 million) 16. Scribd (23 million) 7. Flickr (64 million) 17. Lycos Tripod (23 million) 8. hi5 (58 million) 18. Tagged (22 million) 9. Orkut (46 million) 19. imeem (22 million) 10. Six Apart (46 million) 20. Netlog (21 million) Page 12 of 62 © Socialize (www.socialize.ae)

Social Tools: Dividing by category Networking Bookmarking Video Sharing Photo Sharing Blogging LinkedIn Digg YouTube Flickr Blogger Facebook Delicious Blip.tv Picasa Wordpress Myspace Stumbleupon Vimeo Fotolog Twitter Friendster Reddit Metacafe SmugMug Tumblr Hi5 Newsvine.com Stickam Zooomr Posterous Google Profiles Friendfeed Photobucket Google Buzz Foursquare Webshots Google Wave Social Directories – in some ways the simplest because it is the content focus is YOU. Each individual creates a profile and the directory enables you to find and connect with people based on the information they supply about themselves in that profile. Social Bookmarking (also called Link Sharing) – these tools allow you to highlight and share individual Web pages you like by sharing a link to them. People can "vote" on each link that has been shared and the links with the most votes move to the top of the page making the site a portal to the "best" content as filtered by the community. Blogging – the content is your creativity, your voice. You post content on a regular basis whether it's text, video, photos, podcasts or all of the above. Blogs enable you to be an individual publisher, and usually enable readers to participate in the conversation by posting comments. Page 13 of 62 © Socialize (www.socialize.ae)

Social Technographics: Your Customer‘s Social Technology Behaviours Social Technographics is constructed, not as a segmentation, but as a profile (that is, the groups overlap). That's because the actual data shows that people participate in multiple behaviours, and not everyone at a higher level on the ladder actually does everything in the lower rungs. Conversationalists are interesting, as they're 56% female, more than any other group in the ladder. The data from this survey continues the trends from the last two years -- Spectators are maxing out at around 70%, Joiners are still growing rapidly, and Creators are still growing slowly. Source: Forrester Research 2009 Page 14 of 62 © Socialize (www.socialize.ae)

How Social Media Works --By iCrossing Let‘s take a look at each of the main types of social media, and how they work. These explanations are intentionally very general, because with social media every rule seems to have an exception. In fact, among the defining characteristics of social media are the blurring of definitions, rapid innovation, reinvention and mash-ups. Each explanation also has a section on how to try out that form of social media yourself, with pointers on both how to find social media that‘s relevant to you and how you might go about creating it. If you want to really understand how social media works, there‘s no better way than to take part in it. Mash-ups: the combination of two or more pieces of content (or software, or websites) is one of the phenomena in social media that make it at once so exciting, fast-moving and sometimes bewildering. Mash-ups are possible because of the openness of social media – many websites and software developers encourage people to play with their services and reinvent them. There are literally hundreds of mash-ups of the Google Earth service, where people have attached information to parts of the maps. For instance there is a UK rail service mash-up where you can track in real time where trains are on the map. Fans of the TV series 24 have mapped locations from the shows‘ plotlines on to a Google Earth map. How social networks work: Social networks on the web are like contained versions Page 15 of 62 © Socialize (www.socialize.ae)

of the sprawling blog network. People joining a social network usually create a profile and then build a network by connecting to friends and contacts in the network, or by inviting real-world contacts and friends to join the social network. In 2007, Facebook, a social network that originated in US colleges, became available for public use in the UK. Its popularity quickly rocketed. Part of Facebook‘s success is its creators‘ decision to ‗open up‘ and allow anyone to develop applications and run them on Facebook - without charging them. This has seen Facebook users able to play each other at Scrabble and Chess, compare each others‘ tastes and send ‗virtual gifts‘, among any number of new ideas vying for attention. Perhaps the most ‗grown-up‘ of the popular networks is LinkedIn, which allows users build their business and professional contacts into an online network. It has been criticised for not being open enough and for charging for too many of its services – but next to Facebook it is still the most popular online social network among people aged 25 and over. The huge success of the ‗opening up‘ of Facebook, as mentioned above, could be a challenge to LinkedIn‘s ‗closed‘ approach in the future. HOW BLOGS WORK: At its simplest, a blog is an online journal where the entries are published with the most recent first. There are a number of features that make blogs noteworthy and different to other websites: Tone: Blogs tend to be written in a personal, conversational style. They are usually the work of an identified author or group of authors. Topic: Blogs tend to define what it is they are writing about. They can be as specific as a blog about a book in progress or as wide in scope as my musings on life and stuff. Page 16 of 62 © Socialize (www.socialize.ae)

Links and trackbacks: the services people use to write blogs make it very easy for them to insert links to other websites, usually in reference to an article or blog post or to provide further information about the subject they are writing about. Comments: each blog post has a comments section, effectively a message board for that article. On blogs with large audiences the debates in these sections can run to hundreds of comments at a time. Subscription: Blogs can be subscribed to, usually via RSS technology, making it easy to keep up with new content. Blogs are easy to set up using any of a number of services. Reading blogs: The easiest way to read blogs is to subscribe to ones you find interesting using the Bloglines, Google Reader or Newsgator newsreader services. A newsreader is a website or piece of software where you can go to read a newsfeed that you are subscribed to via RSS. All blogs and most news websites have RSS feeds attached to them. You can find blogs on topics that you‘re interested in by using search engines like Technorati or Google Blog Search. If you find a blog which is particularly interesting or relevant to you, have a look for its ‗blogroll‘ (list of recommended blogs) – it‘s a great way of exploring the networks of blogs. Local UAE Blogs: http://blog.grapeshisha.com/ - http://uaecommunity.blogspot.com – http://dubaithoughts.blogspot.com – http://englishmanindubai.wordpress.com HOW WIKIS WORK: Wikis are websites that allow people to contribute or edit content on them. They are great for collaborative working, for instance creating a large document or project plan with a team in several offices. A wiki can be as private or as open as the people who create it want it to be. Page 17 of 62 © Socialize (www.socialize.ae)

Wikipedia: The most famous wiki is of course Wikipedia, an online encyclopaedia that was started in 2001. It now has over 2.5 million articles in English alone6 and over a million members. In 2005 the respected scientific journal Nature conducted a study7 into the reliability of the scientific entries in Wikipedia and Encyclopaedia Britannica. No one was surprised that Encyclopaedia Britannica was the more reliable of the two – what was remarkable was that it was only marginally more accurate. The Encyclopaedia Britannica team issued a 20-page rebuttal of the study a few months later. Others observed that while Encyclopaedia Britannica had no entries for wiki, Wikipedia has a 2,500 word article on Encyclopaedia Britannica, its history and methodology. But Wikipedia is more than a reference source. During a major breaking news story, especially one which affects large numbers of people directly, such a natural disaster or political crisis, Wikipedia acts as a collective reporting function. Popular Wikis – http://wikipedia.com – http://wikihow.com – http://wikibooks.com – http://wikinews.com – http://wiktionary.org HOW PODCASTS WORK: Podcasts are audio or video files that are published on the internet and that users can subscribe to. Sometimes ‗vodcast‘ is used to specifically describe video services. It is the subscription feature that makes a podcast so powerful as a form of social media. People have long been able to upload audio content to the web, but the subscription feature means that people can build regular audiences and communities around their shows. It effectively puts private individuals or brands on a level playing field with traditional media organisations when it comes to competing for people‘s attention with AV content online. Podcasts, like personal video recorders (PVRs), are part of a shift in media consumption patterns, which increasingly sees people watching or listening to content when and where it suits them. This Page 18 of 62 © Socialize (www.socialize.ae)

is sometimes known as time-shifting. When a new podcast is posted to the web, all the subscribers‘ podcast services (such as iTunes) are automatically notified and download the programme to their computer‘s hard drive. The podcast can then be either listened to on the computer or downloaded onto an MP3 player, such as an iPod. UAE Podcasts - ShuffleGazine – GateKeepersUAE.com - http://mideastyouth.com HOW FORUMS WORK: Internet forums are the longest established form of online social media. They most commonly exist around specific topics and interests, for example cars or music. Each discussion in a forum is known as a thread, and many different threads can be active simultaneously. This makes forums good places to find and engage in a variety of detailed discussions. They are often built into websites as an added feature, but some exist as stand-alone entities. Forums can be places for lively, vociferous debate, for seeking advice on a subject, for sharing news, for flirting, or simply for whiling away time with idle Page 19 of 62 © Socialize (www.socialize.ae)

chat. In other words, their huge variety reflects that of face-to-face conversations. The sites are moderated by an administrator, whose role it is to remove unsuitable posts or spam. However, a moderator will not lead or guide the discussion. This is a major difference between forums and blogs. Blogs have a clear owner, whereas a forum‘s threads are started by its members. Forums have a strong sense of community. Some are very enclosed, existing as ‗islands‘ of online social activity with little or no connection to other forms of social media. This may be because forums were around long before the term ‗social media‘ was coined, and in advance of any of the other types of community we associate with the term. Local Forums – http://t-break.com – http://araboo.com – http://uaeforums.org – http://bmwclubuae.com HOW CONTENT COMMUNITIES WORK: Content communities look a bit like social networks – you have to register, you get a home page and you can make connections with friends. However, they are focussed on sharing a particular type of content. YouTube is the world‘s largest video sharing service, with over 100 million videos viewed every day. Members of YouTube can upload videos or create their own ―channels‖ of favourite videos. The viral nature of YouTube videos is enhanced by a feature that makes it easy for people to cut and paste videos hosted by YouTube directly into their blogs. As well as thousands of short films from people‘s own video cameras, webcams and camera phones, there are many clips from TV shows and movies hosted on the service. Some people also use the service to record video blogs. YouTube started as a small private company, but was bought by Google for $1.65 billion in October 2006. Page 20 of 62 © Socialize (www.socialize.ae)

Digg is a news and content community. Members submit links to news stories that they think will be of interest and these are voted on by other members. Once a story has garnered about a critical number of votes (the number varies according to how busy the site is) it will be moved to the front page where it will receive wider attention from members as well as more casual visitors to the site. Digg claims to receive 20 million unique visitors every month, and certainly the volume of traffic via popular links from the service is so great that it can cause smaller companies‘ servers to crash. As with other social media platforms, rumours of acquisition deals and massive valuations for the service are flying around, but it remains independent and relatively small in terms of the number of employees (around 40). HOW MICRO-BLOGGING WORKS Micro-blogging is tool that combines elements of blogging with instant messaging and social networking. The clear leader in the micro-blogging field is Twitter. Other notable micro-blogging players include Pownce and Jaiku, which offer various different features, but for the purposes of this e- book it makes sense to focus on the Twitter format. Twitter users can send messages of up to 140 characters instantly to multiple platforms. 90% of Twitter interactions12 are not made via the Twitter website, but via mobile text message, Instant Messaging, or a desktop application such as Twitterific. Its flexibility is further enhanced by the ability to subscribe to updates via RSS. Uses of Twitter vary. It‘s popular among homeworkers and freelancers, who use it in part as a ‗virtual watercooler‘. Other people use it simply to stay in touch with a close network and share thoughts or start conversations. Its suitability as a vehicle for breaking news has encouraged the BBC and CNN to introduce Twitter feeds. Even candidates for the US Page 21 of 62 © Socialize (www.socialize.ae)

Presidency have taken to Twitter (for example, Barack Obama). An important feature to note is that Twitter can be indexed via Google. As with so much on the web, it‘s a public platform, so it‘s worth remembering that as such your use of it may become part of your ‗permanent record‘. Facebook If Facebook was a country, it would be the 4th most populated country in the world, with over 350 Million Users (who have returned within the last 30 days) 5 Reasons to use Facebook for Business 1. Network: Facebook is no longer for college kids. Your friends, customers, JV partners and, of course, your competitors are there too and Facebook users are open to connecting. 2. Build Relationships: By engaging in conversations with your prospects and customers, you can better adapt your marketing and business services to meet their needs. 3. Raise awareness about your brand: By consistently and congruently showing up, posting relevant information, and being a thought leader, you can increase visibility and credibility as the expert in your area. 4. Facebook FanPage: Create a Page for your business and share information with your fans, at no cost. Pages are indexed and help with your businesses search engine positioning. Page 22 of 62 © Socialize (www.socialize.ae)

5. Facebook Ads: With Facebook Social Ads, you can test out extremely targeted advertising for minimal cost. For your Facebook Fanpage:  It may sound trivial, but fill in the profile of the fanpage completely. Your fanpage is indexed by search engines for this content and it also provides as a source of information for users. Moreover, an incomplete fanpage is just shoddy.  Connect multiple social platforms and a hub from the brand website, to help funnel consumers throughout the network.  Offer something to consumers to join, that can help build a large community. Some examples of things to offer: Coupons, free shipping, weekly deals.  Don‘t take over unsanctioned Facebook fan pages, instead, reward the dedication of your fans and thus, inspire others. By empowering the fans to keep their fan page, your brand can ensure a passionate page owner  Consider Setup a ―Landing Page‖ which is the first thing users see when they come to your page.  Pick a few of the many applications available to build interaction points with your users. These applications enhance the quality of your fanpage, many fold. Click here for a list of essential Facebook Apps for your business.  Get a Vanity URL (Facebook.com/companyName) – it becomes easier to share and remember by your fans.  Understand what your fans are interested in and put content up around that. Not all content needs to be about your company/product/services.Click here for the Facebook for business: Super guide (All the resources you‘ll ever need!) Page 23 of 62 © Socialize (www.socialize.ae)

Twitter Total unique visitors have grown from 475,000 in February 2008 to eight million in the last months of 2009 and it‘s not just for kids, In February 2009, adults ages 35-49 had the largest representation on Twitter – almost 3 million unique visitors from this age group. 3 Ways companies can use Twitter for Businesses 1. As a direct marketing or public relations channel. Companies can tweet about corporate accomplishments, distributing links to press releases or promotional Web sites, and respond to other Twitterers' comments about the brand. Click here for examples of how some of the big brands use Twitter. 2. As an indirect channel, when the company's employees use Twitter to enhance and extend their personal reputations, thereby enhancing the company's reputation Click here for example of the people behind the brands on Twitter 3. To “listen” to the customer chatter online. Twitter streams provide a rich source of information about what customers, competitors and others are saying about a company. Have a look at these simple tools to get started: Twitter Search, TweetDeck, Twendz Page 24 of 62 © Socialize (www.socialize.ae)

Twitter Interaction Ideas and Cautions  Give : If you are trying to extend your influence on Twitter, you have to be willing to give something of value away (vouchers, coupons, advice, information, products) without expecting anything in return. If you do it right, you'll get get a following.  Transparency: Don‘t try to hide who you are, if you‘re running a corporate accounts, or at least be transparent about it when asked. Individuals power social networks, not faceless corporations.  Listen before talking: Following conversations on Twitter is like following conversations at a lively social event. Talk about the things people care about, not yourself.  Add context: Context in social networks is everything. If you come out of the gate talking about your products out of context, you'll come across as self-serving and get tuned out. Offer value first and take time to soften the ground before inserting the product. Click here for Mashable‘s all-you- need-to-know-about-Twitter guide for Businesses. Page 25 of 62 © Socialize (www.socialize.ae)

A strategic approach to using Twitter Adapted from: Ogilvy‘s 360 Degree Digital Influence group Page 26 of 62 © Socialize (www.socialize.ae)

New to Twitter? A List of nice Dubai tweeps to follow: @chiragnd @Komal_Nishka @DavidTusing @wildpeeta @malizomg @sanjive01 @itsdgc @ben_flanagan @naseemfaqihi @adamflinter @faisalkhatib @amolkadam @pkgulati @HishamWyne @zooberry @catboy_dubai @masarat @jayinthedxb @nagham @jadhindy @moneymunot @DubaiWriter @abhamalpani @jamesed_me @wajihasaid @mnystedt @reuven_p @silv3rglee @NikitaTJM @daddybird @mita56 @ shru_ @whitecrayon_ @mich1mich @DrBaher @purplenano @presch @tomgara @ghoonk @njashanmal Page 27 of 62 © Socialize (www.socialize.ae)

Twitter Etiquette Do  Fill in your complete bio with a profile picture. People like to connect to people.  Be sincere and have a personality.  It is okay to follow / @reply people you don‘t know. Twitter is a very welcoming platform.  ReTweet content you think your followers may find interesting. Spread the love.  Respond to as many people are you can, helps you build relationships.  Use hashtags and links when necessary – helps add context to your tweet. Don’t  Don‘t use slang, excessive misspelling and unnecessary abbreviation – it's considered immature.  Don‘t use profanity – don‘t say anything you wouldn‘t want your mother reading.  Don‘t tweet too often too quickly – Spread your tweets out. Quality over quantity.  Don‘t use twitter as a tool to just push out ‗press release‘ tweets – Twitter is a platform to engage and not hard-sell.  Don‘t use twitter to only post mundane details about yourself – talk to tweeps about them instead.  Don‘t go over the limit – If you can‘t find a way to say 140 characters then revaluate whether you should be posting it on Twitter. Page 28 of 62 © Socialize (www.socialize.ae)

4 types of Twitter Personalities 1. The Purely Corporate Account The purely corporate account posts corporate related content all the time. The account itself will be named after the corporate brand itself and is used to provide details like company achievements, special offers, news, customer service etc. It is seen as an extension of the firm‘s PR activities. There is no individual whose name is connected to this account, which is seen as a corporate entity. Example: @DuTweets: DuTweets offers latest updates, customer support and regularly posts online coverage of local telecom provider Du. Pros: The account is managed by a team, so you can have multiple heads working on it. Similarly the account can stay active for longer hours, as the team works on shifts. Cons: The account can be viewed as just an extension of a PR campaign held by the corporate, which could result in any updates being drowned out in Corporate White Noise. Page 29 of 62 © Socialize (www.socialize.ae)

2. The Corporate Account with a Persona Similar to the first, this kind of account also provides details like company achievements, special offers, news, customer service etc., and is also named after the brand itself. However the key difference lies in the fact that there is a clear indicator as to who is the person behind the account. This then translates to about 80% of corporate content with 20% personal content. Example: @WildPeeta: The Twitter account of the popular fusion shawarma store is handled by the proprietor, Mohammed Parham, who also uses it as his personal account. He tweets mostly Wildpeeta related issues, but occasionally comments on how his kickboxing classes were. Pros: This kind of account humanizes the corporate entity on the internet, which allows for easier trust building and confidence gathering. Cons: Because it‘s only managed by one person, you limit yourself to human elements like time and capabilities. Also, it raises the question of what happens if the person behind the account leaves the firm Page 30 of 62 © Socialize (www.socialize.ae)

3. Employee With Corporate Association Moving towards the other end of the spectrum of twitter accounts, this kind of account is a personal account where 80% of content is personal and the remaining 20% of the content is corporate related. This is the most common sort of account found on twitter. It represents both the person‘s individualism and also his corporate identity. Example: @mnystedt. Managing Editor of Dubai-based Shufflegazine – an Apple Lifestyle Magazine – and Administrator of EmiratesMac.com, Magnus tweets regularly and frequently about technology news and new gadgets. However he does have a lot of content on his work as editor of Shufflegazine and share links from the website. Seen as an authority on everything Apple in Dubai, Magnus has built a solid personal brand around himself which is strongly connected to Shufflegazine. Pros: A very organic approach to twitter, this is a great way to build a network based community that share personal and professional interests Cons: While a person may claim that, ―my views are my own and do not represent my firm,‖ observers will still translate content into a view held by the firm. Page 31 of 62 © Socialize (www.socialize.ae)

4. Pure Personal Account This account type hosts purely personal content and almost no content related to corporate or corporate brands. While the person may post something about, ‗work,‘ no specific details are given out, rendering the brand unknown. Example: @NaseemFaqihi. While she is highly opinionated on food, clothes and politics, no one knows where Naseem works. Why? She never says. (We know: She holds a managerial role in an international bank) Pros: No tie to brand, rendering all previous cons moot. Cons: Because you have no branding, you risk reducing the evangelistic opportunities for your own personal brand. Page 32 of 62 © Socialize (www.socialize.ae)

LinkedIn A business networking platform with a user base of 21 million people, who on average are 41 years old and earn about $110,000 a year. Executives from all Fortune500 companies are members. In fact, 499 of them are represented by director-level and above employees. Top 3 reasons and ideas to use LinkedIn: 1. Market Research: Do market research and gain knowledge with the Polls application and share survey results with your contacts. You can also answer questions asked by other users and show expertise without a hint of self-promotion. 2. Network: For example, find experts in your field and invite them as a guest blogger on your blog or speaker at your event or Find vendors and contractors through connections. Grow your network by joining industry and alumni groups related to your business. 3. Increase search engine results: LinkedIn allows you to make your profile/company information available for search engines to index. Combine your social media approach: when someone asks a question in Twitter, respond in detail on LinkedIn and link to it from Twitter. Must-Do’s : Make sure your profile is a 100% complete, after all LinkedIn is your resume on steroids. Recommend others, 8 out of 10 people you recommend will recommend you back. Page 33 of 62 © Socialize (www.socialize.ae)

Foursquare Geo Social Networking: Services that let users interact based on their physical location at a given time. Foursquare:  Brings up a list of venues around you based on your location (determined by your phone‘s GPS or cell tower) and lets you ‗check-in‘ to them  Lets you add a venue to the database too  Awards points based on the frequency of the check-ins.  Active users are awarded virtual ‗Badges‘ and the user who checks in to a venue more than anyone else is crowned ‗Mayor‘ of the venue The Business Case for Foursquare:  Restaurants reward customers who check-in frequently  building loyalty and incentivizing users to check-in online  helps promote the restaurant to the customer‘s followers/friends  Location specific ‗Tips‘ and ‗Recommended‘ places help increase exposure Page 34 of 62 © Socialize (www.socialize.ae)

Tips for using YouTube for Viral Marketing -- By David meerman scott Ready to try out your production skills and post some hopefully buzz-generating content on YouTube? Here are some things to keep in mind: 1. Creating a video is easy, and posting on YouTube is free.  Shoot the video using a digital video camera and copy it to your computer. You can then either upload the video to YouTube as is or edit it with software such as iMovie or Windows  Movie Maker to add titles and special effects. You might shoot from different angles with one or more cameras and then piece together the footage to create a unified final product.  But remember, less is usually more when it comes to special effects. When you‘re ready to upload the video, you just need to create a free YouTube account and follow the directions to add the video. Homemade is just fine.  You don‘t need to hire a professional. A homemade-quality video can work well and is sometimes preferable. We‘re bombarded with overproduced TV commercials all the time— so often that we usually just turn off our minds when they come on. An authentic and interesting video (rather than a slick and polished one) in which your personality shines through can make people notice. But plan ahead and shoot several takes to get it right. 3. Your video should be no longer than three minutes (preferably shorter).  Think very short. When people watch video, they have extremely short attention spans. Page 35 of 62 © Socialize (www.socialize.ae)

 There are millions of videos on YouTube, and it‘s very easy to click away from yours.  Although YouTube will accept videos shorter than 10 minutes (smaller than 100 MB), try to make yours between thirty seconds and two minutes. If you have more to say, consider creating a series of videos rather than making one too long. 4. Make your description clear and specific.  A critical component of your video will be its title—the name the world will associate with your work—so think carefully about it. Make it descriptive and unique. To best promote your video, create an accurate and interesting text blurb. Use descriptive keywords and language that people will use when they search for videos like yours. And use the correct categorizations on YouTube so people can find it. 5. Don’t attempt “stealth” fake customer insertions.  Some companies attempt sneaky stealth insertions of corporate-sponsored videos made to appear consumer-generated. A typical case might feature happy twenty-something‘s at a party having fun while using products of a certain brand. The YouTube community is remarkably skilled at ratting out inauthentic video, so this approach is likely to backfire and cause harm to a brand. Remember, if your video is worth watching, viewers won‘t care that it was submitted by a company. 6. Consider inviting your customer communities to submit video.  One of the most effective ways to use video to drive viral marketing is for companies to develop a contest in which users submit their own video, which then is made available for others to see. The best would-be directors are given prizes, and their videos are usually showcased on the company site. In some cases, the winning videos are also played on TV as Page 36 of 62 © Socialize (www.socialize.ae)

―real‖ commercials. For example, more than 100 people submitted videos for a Mentos contest seeking the best customer-created videos of geysers made by combining the popular mints with Diet Coke. 7. Try a series of similar videos to build interest.  Sometimes a series of videos, such as those from Blendtec, a small company that makes household blenders, works well. Blendtec created a huge hit with their series of YouTube videos called "Will It Blend?" 8. Tell everyone about your video!  When you upload your first few videos, you are likely to hear a deafening silence. You‘ll be waiting for comments, but none will come. You‘ll check your video statistics and be disappointed by the tiny number of viewers. Don‘t get discouraged—that‘s normal! It takes time to build an audience. When you‘re just getting started, make sure people know it‘s there and can find it.  Create links to your video from your home page, product pages, or online media room.  Mention your video in your email or off-line newsletters, and create links to your video as part of your email signature and those of other people in your organization. 9. Make sure bloggers know about the video.  Sending bloggers a link to the video or commenting on other people‘s blogs (and including a link to your video) is a good way to build an audience. If you comment on blogs in the same space as yours, you might be surprised at how quickly you will get viewers to your video. However, when commenting on someone else‘s blog real estate, make sure you‘re on topic Page 37 of 62 © Socialize (www.socialize.ae)

and genuinely contributing to the conversation in addition to linking to your video. Don‘t just spam bloggers with your link without adding value. Above all, have fun! Don‘t be afraid to go out there and experiment. Video content on the Web is still very new for marketers and communicators. But the potential to deliver information to buyers in new and surprising ways is greater when you use a new medium. And while your competition is still trying to figure out ―that blogging thing,‖ you can tap into the world of video and leave the competition behind Social Media Policy A social media policy lays out guidelines and principles for employees to follow when communicating in the online world. “Companies have existing communications policies, directives that spell out the company’s expectation when employees use the phone or email. Since the conversation has moved to the Web, it’s important for organizations large and small to acknowledge that and extend their existing communications policies to include online sites.” Scott Monty, Ford Motor Company Resources / Sample Policies http://socialmediagovernance.com/policies.php http://123socialmedia.com/2009/01/23/social-media-policy-examples/ Page 38 of 62 © Socialize (www.socialize.ae)

10 Reasons to use Social Media Marketing in the Middle East The Middle East, and the UAE in particular, has mostly been a retail intensive industry. Since manufacturing has limited opportunities here, majority of the goods sold in the region are imported FMCGs. Coupled with the fact that the services industry has seen a dramatic climb in the last 10 years, you can safely say that the end consumer has always been the focus This raises the question of how to pro actively engage your end customer. In a market where traditional forms of marketing are saturated by competitors, a platform where your reach to the end consumer would be direct and unsaturated would be ideal. With the advent of Social Media in the last few years, a vast majority of end consumers are now on popular Social Media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn. According to Arab Media Outlook, 75% of the population of Lebanon & the UAE use Social Media platforms. For firms this translates as an untapped marketing prospect. Thus, amongst the many advantages of Social Media, a few that come to mind are: Page 39 of 62 © Socialize (www.socialize.ae)

1. Establish a Firm Foothold in a Young Market In the Middle East, Social Media marketing is young. Consumers are socially active online, but firms in the Middle East are still hesitant to tap into this market. This is could be credited to general lack of information on how to optimize Social Media usage. By any measure, being the first on any platform is advantageous. Thus, establishing an early foothold in Social Media in the Middle East will have positive, long term ramifications. 2. Capitalizing Rapid Growth Rates According to the Internet World Stats, in the last few years, the Middle East has seen a growth of 1,648.2% in internet usage. The world average for internet penetration is 25.6% whereas the Middle East average is 28.3%, the highest in the world. This makes the present an interesting time for firms as the steep climb in internet usage can be capitalized, and monetized, by firms willing to explore the cavern of treasures provided by Social Media. Firms have to understand that the consumer is already there, whether they irrespective of their online presence. 3. Flexibility in Marketing Approaches Traditional marketing tools make switching between mass, concentrated and differentiated approaches cumbersome and eventually cost-ineffective. The simplicity behind Social Media platforms allows a firm to seamlessly switch between these approaches in marketing a product or service. Thus, Social Media allows a unique flexibility for marketers wishing to reach different segments individually, yet cater to your entire target audience. Page 40 of 62 © Socialize (www.socialize.ae)

4. Conversation While ads are effective in delivering a message, any seasoned businessman will tell you that nothing sells better than familiarity. When a company has a conversation with a potential client, over and above business relations, it breeds familiarity between the firm and the end consumer. Social Media allows firms to have genuine conversation with their customers and to create a loyal community around your brand. 5. Optimizing Internal & External Brand Culture A common mistake made by most firms is assuming that the brand is what the firm makes it out to be. While a marketing guru can argue that his brand is the greatest, if the end consumer disagrees, the argument is moot. Social Media tools let you communicate your brand effectively to your customers through your employees. Using Social Media platforms makes your employee feel more like a brand ambassador, as they can now visibly see the fruition of their marketing efforts. Synergizing the internal and external brand culture can only be profitable. 6. Generate Feedback and Steer Opinions Good Marketers want to be able to measure and gauge customer behavior. Social Media lets you monitor real – time opinions of your brand both good and bad. Having a negative is not necessarily a bad thing, because it provides you feedback on your product/services, which can then be used to create a positive. The ROI (Risk of Ignoring) doesn‘t lie in getting negative feedback, but it lies in not investing or learning from it. With Social Media, it becomes easier and quicker to turn a negative into a positive, allowing that ever-great first impression to be a good impression. Page 41 of 62 © Socialize (www.socialize.ae)

7. Constant Change; Genuine Interest Traditional marketers will complain about the short attention span of the end consumer and how it‘s tiring to maintain their interest. An ad campaign if too short may not pique the interest of a potential customer, but one which is longer than necessary may have negative ramifications. Today‘s evolving social media tools and technologies allow firms to keep the conversation fresh. It‘s always changing and continually seeking new outlets. Constant change allows for newer, varied campaigns on a regular basis, persistently intriguing your end consumers. 8. Customer Service Documentation & Showcase Quite simply, Social Media let‘s you unveil a new genre of customer service. Catering to today‘s, ‗Wired,‘ generation, where every other person is connected to the World Wide Web in some way or another, it just provides firms with another avenue to serve their end customers. Providing real time customer service on Social Media platforms is just another plus, in the veritable bonanza of its advantages. Traditionally, firms are not able to showcase their customer service skills to other consumers, so another advantage is that Social Media allows firms to document and exhibit their levels of customer service to their target audience. 9. Real Time Research Consumer Behaviour Insight is vital. Sometimes waiting to create, conduct, collate & compare traditional questionnaires/surveys might not be considered inefficient. In a world of instant gratification, consumers demand that they be gratified with near light-speed responses. Instead of looking up a phone book or even an online database, doing a quick search for key words on Social Page 42 of 62 © Socialize (www.socialize.ae)

Media platforms provides them with the answers they seek. Social Media can create polls, campaigns, and questionnaires almost instantly. And if you want even faster responses, you can directly ask your consumer as to what tickles their fancy. 10. Cost Effective Leaving the best, and most glaringly obvious, point for the end, Social Media is cost effective. Most platforms are entirely free of cost with only few charging amounts that would barely trouble the books. Social Media provides you the opportunity to host an online presence that caters to a majority of your consumers at just the cost of a Happy Meal. Or just the apple pie. Page 43 of 62 © Socialize (www.socialize.ae)

Personal Branding [ Leveraging Social Media to create thought leadership and build a Personal Brand ] Page 44 of 62 © Socialize (www.socialize.ae)

Personal Branding is the process by which we market ourselves to others. While many may advocate envisioning yourself as a corporate brand, one cannot take the exact approach; after all we need to include the human element. You wouldn‘t really attach a cheesy tagline to your name, now would you? We‘ve included a few tips below to get you started on Personal Branding. We hope you get a better idea as you work through them. 15 Tips for Personal Branding 1. Be consistent with your personal brand. Your name is most likely to be your unique proposition. If you‘ve decided to have a variant of it, stick with it everywhere. i. Have a similar but not same bio across all platforms. Variants become necessary to adapt it to the style and setting of the platform in question. ii. Use the same profile picture across different networks to be easily identified. 2. Listen and monitor what is being said around your Personal Brand. i. Do regular Google and Twitter search around your name. ii. Setup Google alerts to be notified of any mentions of your personal brand on the web. 3. Build a ―home-base‖ – your blog / website. If you don‘t have the resources to build a full- fledged website, get a Tumblr / Posterous / Wordpress account and use that as your home base. Also try creating a Google Profile Page, it‘s easy to setup and lets you link to your other online profiles. Build a detailed ―About‖ page on your home base, with a detailed bio about you and your business. Page 45 of 62 © Socialize (www.socialize.ae)

4. Create content around your area of expertise. If you don‘t have time to create content regularly, share interesting and relevant content on your home base. 5. Get a domain name around your personal brand. It doesn‘t have to be a .com – the domain can be directed to your home base. For .ae accounts, consider Instra.com 6. Comment frequently on blogs (both local and international) in the industry of your expertise. The more you participate in conversations, the more credibility you build around yourself. Moreover blogs/websites let you include a link with your comments, these then link back to your home-base 7. Sign up for and maintain a LinkedIn profile. LinkedIn pages are highly ranked on Google and the platform is a useful tool for developing and maintaining your professional network. 8. Get onto Twitter: i. Follow and connect with local and international tweeps. ii. Tweet - regularly and consistently – a healthy mix of professional and personal content. The professional is to build credibility and the personal is to build relationships. 9. Similarly setup an account on local social and professional networks too to increase your online presence – inTheLoop.me is an example of a local professional network. 10. Add your professional qualifications and current employment information to Facebook and link it to your professional profile. 11. Fill out your complete profile on all the platforms mentioned above. The more information you fill in, the more likely you are to be found. 12. Tie everything together. Make sure every portal links to the rest of the portals. For example your home base links to your LinkedIn profile, Twitter account, Facebook profile etc. 13. Do not engage in spam/push behaviour – Exercise caution when making connections and don‘t push your business services and products too hard. Page 46 of 62 © Socialize (www.socialize.ae)

14. Instead focus on building real relationships with people across networks. 15. Keep everything you do clean, appropriate and professional. A good rule of thumb is to not say or do anything you wouldn‘t want your mother to see. Page 47 of 62 © Socialize (www.socialize.ae)

Monitoring and Measurement The establishment of effectiveness of Social Media campaigns can be broken down into two distinct, but equally important steps – Monitoring and Measurement. The former is more qualitative allowing you to listen to the buzz around your product and/or service; while the latter helps define in quantitative terms the success of your campaign. Monitoring Social Media Monitoring is: “analysing, understanding and responding to conversations about brands, products, reputation and end-user opinion in the Social Web” -Pier 314 For Social Media campaign managers, it is extremely easy to get lost in the big maze of the World Wide Web. The speed at which the various social platforms function leaves them as dizzy as confused. Moreover the time it may take to manually filter out relevant posts/tweets make the entire endeavour far less than efficient. In such a situation, it becomes increasingly essential to employ the use of certain tools which automate the monitoring and filtering of conversations about a brand online. Google trends shows often a keyword is entered in the search engine compared to the total search volume while Google Alerts sends notification anytime a keyword appears in any new content published on the internet. Technorati focuses heavily on blogs letting you setup a keyword search across blogs for any mentions. Page 49 of 62 © Socialize (www.socialize.ae)

SocialMention provides results from multiple platforms –Twitter, blogs, video, comments etc. – showing detailed analysis like Sentiment, Top Keywords, Top sources etc. providing you with relevant and useful information at a glance. Twitter Search: Located at search.twitter.com , it allows you to know what Twitter users are saying about your brand in real time. This search becomes extremely important during ‗crisis management‘. Omgili lets you track the ―buzz‖ around your search keywords mostly around review sites and forums Alexa and Compete are comparative website traffic reports with data including reach, rank, page views etc. Click here to see an exhaustive list of Social Media monitoring tools Page 50 of 62 © Socialize (www.socialize.ae)

What To Monitor ? Given that a search is only as good as the keywords used, it becomes important that the right search phrase is used to increase the accuracy and relevancy of search results. Company Name Brand Name Company tagline Company Executives Company Media Spokesperson Competition Clients Business Partners Product/Service category The above keywords used in conjunction with adjectives like ―amazing, excellent, pathetic, sucks, rocks, hate, love‖ help paint a more clearer picture, especially on occasions that may be either celebrative or corrective. Page 54 of 62 © Socialize (www.socialize.ae)

Measurement When it comes to Social Media, the ‗what‘ you measure is just as important as the ‗how‘. Since Social Media represents a shift in the paradigm of marketing communications – one where a monologue turns into a dialogue – companies need to measure this ‗active‘ level of engagement which is the opposite of the former ‗passive‘ consumption of media. Engagement is “the level of involvement, interaction, intimacy, and influence an individual has with a brand over time” -Forrester Research Engagement encompasses the quantitative metrics as well as the qualitative returns which are characteristic of the ‗Social‘ in Social Media‘. The four elements of Engagement are Involvement, Interaction, Intimacy and Involvement. Involvement measures the first level of contact while Interaction measures the depth of the contact. Intimacy goes beyond interaction to measure opinion and sentiment about the brand in the mind of a consumer. Influence tries to determine the impact on customer loyalty towards a brand – how likely are they to recommend the brand and/or make a return purchase. Page 55 of 62 © Socialize (www.socialize.ae)

To be able to establish the success of a campaign in definite terms requires a 3 step process:  Create a metric based on the specific objectives of the campaign  Measure the metric with appropriate tools  Re-evaluate the metric and its result periodically with the progress of the campaign. Page 56 of 62 © Socialize (www.socialize.ae)

Some sample metrics:  Conversations (Replies +Mentions) / Wallposts per 100 users : This metric helps measure conversation with and among the fans/followers of a brand. These may be tweets on Twitter, posts/messages on Facebook. The metric allows for comparisons with other platforms as well as with competition.  Content distributions (ReTweets + @vias) per 100 users: This metric allows the measuring of the ‗spread‘ of the content being pushed out by the brand on a platform in a way that can be compared to other platforms as well as with competition.  Increase in number of unique, repeating visitors on Website: This metric shows the number of visitors that have now become loyal as a result of the Social Media campaign.  Number of Customer queries resolved on Platform: This metric is useful for businesses using Social Media platforms as a tool for customer service. By assigning a financial value to a single resolved query, businesses can establish the returns achieved from the campaign. Page 57 of 62 © Socialize (www.socialize.ae)

 Number of Registrations / Competition Entries : Registrations on the website, competition entries or similar metrics show actual ‗Conversion‘ from the additional traffic being brought in from a Social Media campaign. The converted traffic is one that ‗sticks‘ and can be a true measure of the success of the campaign. 49.3% 29.6% Page 58 of 62 © Socialize (www.socialize.ae)

5 Do’s and Don’ts for online sharing 1. Be authentic Social media for business is about return on engagement. Connect with people, build opportunities through dialogue which would not have otherwise occurred, then connect them with your business. 2. Think about your profile picture A major part of your social media personality is your avatar and your profile bio. The first rule for avatars and bios is to stay consistent across social platforms. If you‘re sharing information from your business account, decide whether you want your avatar to be your company logo or the face of the president. 3. Leave a legacy What you post stays around for a pretty long time and the information (good and bad) isn‘t too hard to find. Your social media posts offer vast archives of information about you. This means, what you share, post or tweet today should reinforce your brand tomorrow. 4. Stay true to your word Making a promise you can‘t keep is worse than never having engaged your audience at all. 5. Measure and monitor Always track the conversations happening around your brand to listen to what your customers have to say and to determine whether your current strategy is working. Go ahead and Experiment ! Page 59 of 62 © Socialize (www.socialize.ae)

The Future Is Integrated ! As Brian Solis puts it: below are your action items for placing your company on course for the Future of Integrating Marketing and embracing the world of social media to enhance relationships with press, bloggers, customers and all other unforeseen influencers: Experiment with social media as a person before jumping in as a company spokesperson Talk to the corporate marketing team, discuss the options, and divide and conquer Listen – find the tools that work for you (Technorati, GoogleBlogSearch, BlogPulse, etc.) Assign a community manager or multiple managers and start commenting, reading, writing, sharing, and participating Participate as a contributor and not a marketer Create company profiles and share relevant content on every important social networks – don‘t forget to manage your presence in each one Create videos, screencasts, and demos and upload to YouTube Broadcast and receive relevant updates through Twitter, Plazes, or Jaiku Webcast relevant videos Podcast and/or host a video blog Set up del.icio.us profiles for corporate bookmarks, industry trends, competition, and press/blogger coverage Create special Linked in profiles for company executives Page 60 of 62 © Socialize (www.socialize.ae)

Establish contacts in all major IMs for specific company contacts Expand the company blog to support multiple spokespersons Add a blogroll that links to other relevant sites and ensure that each post trackbacks to other resources and references to increase visibility Participate in comments Create blog profiles in Mybloglog and Bloglines to reach dedicated users Build company and campaign-specific profiles (where appropriate) on Facebook, Myspace, etc. Develop your own social networks specific to the company and current activities a la Ning and Ideastorm Create an account and Digg relevant stories – not just related to you Write more than one release – experiment with social and SEO releases and create new distribution methods to get them in front of customers – the wire services are no longer the only game in town Analyze Web statistics to measure traffic and referring sources What does the future of integrated marketing and communications look like? It‘s a mashup of new media and traditional media – all with the common goal of engaging people and influencers on their terms. The difference is that by listening, reading, and participating, corporate marketing will be smarter and more approachable than ever before. This is how we humanize brands, create loyalty, and earn customer's business. Let businesses be measured by their actions and not their intentions. In the world of social media, companies will earn the community of customers they deserve. Page 61 of 62 © Socialize (www.socialize.ae)

Let’s get social: One Lake Plaza, 15-01 Jumeirah Lake Towers Dubai 124628 Tel: +971 4 4308575 Fax: +971 4 4308574 Twitter: @SocializeUAE Facebook: facebook.com/SocializeUAE Blog: blog.socialize.ae Page 62 of 62 © Socialize (www.socialize.ae)

Social Media Marketing in the Middle East: Handbook

by Akanksha Goel

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Social Media Marketing in the Middle East: Handbook Presentation Transcript