Summer Internship Project_Techshu Digital Consultancy
1. West Bengal University of Technology
Summer Project Report
On
“Social Media Marketing For Small & Medium Scale
Businesses”
AT
TechShu Consultancy Pvt. Ltd
Kolkata
By
MONIKA SHAH
WBUT Registration No: 1213600912046 of 2012-2013
WBUT Roll No: 13600912046
Army Institute of Management
Kolkata
2. CONTENTS
Serial No. Topics
1. Acknowledgements
2. Certificate from Guides
3. Executive Summary
4. Chapter I: The Company
a) Company Profile
5. Chapter II: The Project
a) Purpose & Scope of study
b) Methodology
6. Chapter III: Collection & Analysis of data
a) Data Collection
b) Data Analysis
7. Finding and Recommendation
a) Conclusion
b) Constraints & Limitations
c) Recommendations
8. Bibliography
3. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Success never eludes those who give due credit to the ones who have led them
to the path of success.
At the onset, I would like to thank the organization TechShu Consultancy Pvt.
Ltd. for providing me the opportunity to do the project.
I am grateful to my organization guide Mr. Aji Issac Mathew, CEO TechShu
who gave me an opportunity to get exposure to the working of the organization.
I am thankful to Ms. Bhanusmita Banik, Head HR and Mr. Sanjeeb Panda
For their guidance and suggestions.
Mr. Sudipto Kar, Social Media Marketing Head-TechShu for his valuable
guidance at each stage of the project, thus paving a way for a great learning
experience.
Last but not the least, I express my appreciation and thanks to all the employees
and my fellow interns at TechShu Consultancy Pvt. Ltd. for their patience,
helpful nature and who have contributed to my learning which I will cherish
forever.
I express my profound gratitude to Prof. Malini Majumdar my internal guide
Marketing Faculty, Army Institute of Management who helped me with her
guidance during the project.
4. Certificate from Guide
This is to certify that Ms. Monika Shah, WBUT Regn No: 213600912046 of
2012-2013, WBUT Roll No: 13600912046, has undertaken the project titled
“Social Media Marketing for SME’s” under our guidance from 12th
June 2013
to 14th
Aug 2013 at TechShu Consultancy Pvt. Ltd. and has completed the said
project successfully.
Full Signature of External Guide
(With Date & Designation Seal)
(Organization Seal)
Full Signature of Internal Guide
5. Executive Summary
The project has been sincere effort to know how Social media marketing engages
online communities to generate exposure, opportunity and sales. Many marketers
see the social media frontier as the next marketing gold rush. Given the low cost
of entry, many marketing pros are doing more than just dipping their creative toes
into this gold-laden water.
The Social media marketing costing in India is very cheap as comparable to other
countries. Thus new entrepreneurs who prefer to opt for this type of marketing
choose India as its solution.
We examined the weekly hours a marketer should invest in their Social media
efforts. This analysis will be helpful for marketers who are just getting started.
This project reveals all the major advantages marketers are achieving with their
social media efforts and experience that is enhancing the achieved benefits.
The commonly used social media tools along with an examination of what the
most experienced folks are using. Social media tools people want to learn more
about and would be more useful and feasible for them.
The other analysis includes analysis of how age, gender, experience, business
type and weekly time commitments impact social media marketing strategies.
This project also shows the change in data collection if online advertisement is
run over and over again.
7. About TechShu Consultancy Pvt. Ltd.
TechShu provide complete Digital Marketing solution for companies in India and abroad.
TechShu stands for simplicity, high values, strategies and execution. A team of passionate,
talented, dedicated folks who love working together and with clients to plan, design, build, and
market web sites and products. Main focus is to create highly integrated web architecture and
digital marketing packages for the clients.
Founded in 2009 by Mr. Aji Issac Mathew & Mr. Prabhanjan Panigrahi, positioned company
as an expert in web branding for Indian brands which include clients such as: Aditya Birla
Group companies, FusionCharts , iViZ Security,Top 20 Gaming Sites, Times Group, TATA
group of companies etc.
In 2012, TechShu joined hands with Limtex Group of Industries
At present TechShu is a team of 60+ team members with a majority of MBAs and MCAs.
Mission: - Never Desire to make money from a Client, it’s about making money together!
Vision:- Do not impose on others what you yourself do not desire
About Name:
TechShu is the combination of Tech (which stands for technical) and Shu (a Confucian
terminology). The Confucian concept of Shu is regarded as the basic way or the first
principle of human moral conduct.
Tse-Kung asked 'Is there one word that can serve as a principle of conduct for life?'
Confucius replied, 'It is the word 'shu' -- reciprocity. Do not impose on others what you
yourself do not desire.'" Doctrine of the Mean 13.3
In other words Shu implies caring for others in the similar way we want them to care about
us. The Confucian concept of Shu describes the organization mission the best!
TechShu Specializes in:-
Web Marketing,
Web Consultancy,
Website Designing,
Web Development,
Social Media Marketing,
Web Marketing Education
8. TechShu Provides:-
12 Services under one roof: - From Creating website that sells to keyword
research and digital marketing-TechShu takes care of everything and help clients
to grow business online.
Most healthy Digital Marketing Mix- The unique approach based on target
market for different businesses prepared by working on SEO focused, PPC
focused and Social Media focused Marketing Mix for initial days.
7 wow Teams:- Specialized teams to work on different :-
1. For Local Businesses
2. For SMEs
3. For Marketing Agencies
4. For Large Brands
5. For Product Companies
6. For Startups
7. Tech Team
In-house innovative Mobi-Tech Team: - technical innovation that works
seamlessly with marketing teams to deliver high end products ,apps and designs.
TechShu focuses basically on ROI, Things are done in different way to achieve the goals,
sometimes structural SEO, Sometimes FB Ads, sometimes partnerships etc. The principles
remains same but with every business the strategy and plan changes.
TechShu Certifications & Recognition
Techshu holds certification from top Giants like Google, Microsoft to other top
companies who are adding value to the industry and are considered as very powerful
public organizations like TIE, Nasscom etc.
Some of them are listed as follows:-
1. Google Certified Partner
Qualified ad words expert to become Google certified partner too. First Google certified partner
in West Bengal. Check certification at Google Certified Partner
9. 2. Microsoft Bing Certified Partner
Not only certified, but amongst top 3 certified partner in Microsoft Bing .
Ads (http://advertise.bingads.microsoft.com/en-in/training-accreditation-find-a-pro-directory)
Check out profile here, Microsoft Bing ads Pro
10. 3. Google Engage Partner
Along with Google Certified Partner, TechShu is Google Engage Partner too, so they can
provide some extra benefit to clients which other companies who are not Engage partner cannot
provide.
11. 4. TIE Associate Member
Recognized associate member of TIE, The biggest non-profit global network of entrepreneurs
and professionals. With 13,000 members, including over 2,500 charter members in 57 chapters
across 14 countries they are getting bigger everyday and we are privileged to be recognized by
them.
Check the TIE profile of our CEO Aji Issac Mathew https://www.tie.org/member/profile/121977
5. Group Company part of NASSCOM
We are honored to be a group company part of NASSCOM, a non-profit organization, is a
global trade body with over 1200 members, of which over 250 are global companies from the
US, UK, EU, Japan and China.
6. Senior member of Webmasterworld.com Since 2003
We are senior members of Webmasterworld.com since 2003. Webmaster world is considered
to be world's best Digital Marketing Forum in the world.
Check out the profile
@ http://www.webmasterworld.com/profilev4.cgi?action=view&member=AjiNIMC
12. 7. Senior member of MOZ since 2006
Senior member of Moz (which requires no introduction) since 2006.
Check the profile here @ http://moz.com/community/users/20990
Thus,
TechShu can be considered as Profitable Digital Marketing Mix of SEO, PPC, Social Media,
Affiliate, Email, UGC, App & more.
14. Social Media
Beginning in the early part of the 21st century, Web applications began to change the way we
communicate. A single person—who before had been limited to a “point-to-point”
communication method such as face-to-face conversation or a telephone call—can now reach
an audience of hundreds or thousands of people with a single click. “One-to-many”
communication channels, such as television or radio advertising, had previously been
expensive and their reach limited to a general audience. Since a dramatic increase in the use of
online and other electronic tools (e.g., Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, blogs, and texting) for
sharing and creating content can be seen easily, which is collectively called social media.
Companies and government agencies are discovering how to harness the power of social
media to expand the reach of their marketing and communication messages.
For those of us in health communication, social media tools such as Facebook, Twitter, and
text messaging allow us to expand our reach, foster engagement, and increase access to
credible, science-based health messages. Social media can help organizations achieve the after
goals:
• Disseminate health and safety information in a timelier manner.
• Increase the potential impact of important messages.
• Leverage networks of people to make information sharing easier.
• Create different messages to reach diverse audiences.
• Personalize health messages and target them to a particular audience.
• Engage with the public.
• Empower people to make safer and healthier decisions.
When integrated into health communication campaigns and activities, social media can
encourage participation, conversation, and communities—all of which can help spread key
messages, influence decision making, and promote behavior change. Social media also helps
to reach people when, where, and how it’s convenient for them, which improves the
availability of content and might influence satisfaction and trust in the health messages
delivered.
Social media is also a key tool in building awareness and credibility. According to the Pew
Internet & American Life Project report in 2011, “Social Networking Sites and Our Lives,”
nearly half of adults (47%) used at least one social networking site in 2010. That number is
growing quickly, nearly doubling from 2008 (26%). Social networks are places where people
gather information from experts and peers to help them make health decisions.
15. Social Media and Communication Strategy
Over 90% of B2B buyers are already using Social Media tools, often to research and
execute purchases.
Keep in mind that social media is one tool in a larger communication strategy. Always
consider your overarching communication goals when developing social media activities.
As with all media outreach, the keys to an effective social media presence are to
• Identify your target audience.
• Determine your objective.
• Select the appropriate channel for your message.
• Decide upfront how much time and effort you can invest.
The B2B market is far smaller than the B2C market. This fact alone impels expanding
your reach to identify new leads. Social media is well-placed to do just that. Just
monitoring online conversations alone can help you glean changing trends and needs
and pick out emerging opportunities a mile way before your competitors do. This
could then fuel new offerings and new revenue channels. With the expanded reach you
also get to identify companies with which to establish-revenue generating partnerships.
The B2B arena is how people in it actively network online to share knowledge and
build their network of industry contacts. Using social media, they can now build
professional communities online to share insights and solve problems, and leverage
upon these interactions to build brand, reputation and prospects.
B2B buyers rely heavily on third-party feedback in making purchase decisions. They
would also like to be part of the product or solution development process. They are
also likely to trust the opinions of colleagues using the products far more than that of
the company selling those very products. Social media channels are great avenues for
providing objective, third-party experiences and feedback, reduces buyer-side risk for
big-ticket B2B purchases.
Social media presents a particular challenge for communicators because the users don’t focus
on a single document. A reader often sifts through an onslaught of information, skims topics,
and browses sites to determine where to focus his or her attention. If content is dense, long,
and jargon-filled, the reader probably won’t find it appealing. To ensure that the reader does
take the time to read your messages, social media writers should
• Understand the audience they are trying to reach.
• Apply health literacy principles.
• Follow plain language best practices.
• Use social marketing concepts to improve communications.
16. Know Your Target Audience(s)
One benefit of using social media is audience segmentation. You can develop messages that
are specific to the concerns, needs, and desires of a particular demographic. Understanding
what’s important to your audience will increase the effectiveness of your social media efforts.
Likewise, understanding your audience will help you select the best channels for reaching
specific audiences with your messages. People access information in different ways, at
different times of the day, and for different reasons. Using market research, metrics, and other
data to define your audience needs will be important in selecting the most effective channels.
Each social media channel is different in the way it engages communities and manages
content. Understanding how people naturally use or participate in different social media
channels will help you determine your engagement strategy. If limited literacy skills are an
issue for the audience you are trying to reach, then find out if and how they use social media.
They might be more attracted to audio-visual content than written messages
Health Literacy
Now more than ever, health literacy matters. Laws such as the Patient Protection and Affordable
Care Act of 2010 and the Plain Writing Act of 2010 require government communicators to make
their messages easy to understand, so people can more easily act upon information and make
effective decisions about their health.
Research indicates that most health information is not presented in a way that is usable by most
adults.
The Importance of Plain Language
Often, we in health communication create health literacy problems for our audiences when we
present information that makes it difficult for them to understand what they should know and do.
Some of the most common mistakes follow:
• Using jargon or words and phrases that are not commonly understood by most people.
• Writing dense and long content that overuses the passive voice and doesn’t give clear and
concise directions or “calls to action.”
• Including too many distracters (for example, visuals and text don’t match or the font is too
small).
Using plain language helps to correct these problems. Studies show that when writers use plain
language, readers discover information more quickly, understand it better, and find it more
compelling. When you think plain language, think everyday language, and you will help your
readers.
17. Some basic principles of plain language:
• Quickly engage the reader.
• Limit use of jargon, technical, or scientific language.
• Write in active voice.
• Keep messages short.
• Write in a friendly but professional tone.
• Choose words with one definition or connotation.
• Use measurements that are familiar to your audience.
• Choose familiar terms, and use them consistently.
• Use acronyms with caution.
• Use numbers when they help you make your point.
• Consider using alternatives to words expressing mathematical concepts, such as risk,
normal, and range, if those words do not have meaning to your audience.
Effective Social Media Writing
Creating Content
It’s easy to get wrapped up in the technology when talking about social media, but flashy tools
alone won’t make a campaign effective—good content does. Social media content should be
• Relevant, useful, and interesting
• Easy to understand and share
• Friendly, conversational, and engaging
• Action-oriented
Social media is most effective when the content relates to a particular interest or desire of a
specific group of people. Because your target audience can receive multiple messages from
multiple sources every day, try to make your messages relevant, useful, and interesting so your
audience will interact and be engaged.
1. Relevant
Relevant social media content makes people think “This matters to me.” Relevant information can
be based on
• Time
• Geography
• Audience
• Interests
2. Useful
When people can use social media information to see their lives in new ways, change behavior, or
learn something they didn’t know before, it’s useful. Make information useful by suggesting
practical steps or citing convincing statistics or report findings.
18. 3. Interesting
To capture a reader’s attention, create content that piques curiosity. Interesting social media
content is more likely to be shared. Of course, content should always be professional and relevant
to a health topic.
Content Writing for Facebook
Facebook is the largest and one of the most prominent social networking applications today.
Facebook claims 800 million plus active users, half of whom log into Facebook on any given day.
Profiles and Pages
Facebook is structured with two different audiences in mind.
1) Individuals have profiles where they upload status updates, pictures, videos, and links for
others to view. Individuals grow their networks by adding friends or liking pages.
2) Public-facing organizations, such as nonprofit organizations, businesses, and government
agencies have special profiles designed for the public.
These two Facebook audiences can update their pages with new posts that display in the “news
feed,” which is the main page a user sees after logging in.
Commonly used Facebook Terms
Comment: A person’s written response to a post.
Friend: A person you have invited to be a “Friend” or a person whose Friend invitation
you have accepted. A Friend will be able to see your Page or Profile.
Like: Clicking “Like” under a Facebook post indicates that you enjoyed it. Your “Like” is
noted beneath the item and posted to your Wall.
Page: An organization’s professional presence on Facebook.
Post: To write or publish content on an organization’s or individual’s Facebook page. A
Post can include images, text, and hypertext links.
Profile: An individual’s personal Facebook page, which may contain status updates,
photos, videos, a list of friends, and recent activities.
20. The Basic idea of this project is to test the validation of STP strategy that is the
fundamental concept of effective Marketing
STP stands for Segmentation, Targeting and Positioning.
Segmentation:- Identifying all segments for the product/service. The objective of
segmentation is to find attractive markets. Strategies include
Break market into components
Regroup into market segments
Select which segment to target
Positioning: - An essential component -- and skill - in good marketing. Perceptual
maps are used to determine the position of a product, firm, person, service or idea.
Positioning maps or perceptual maps can be simple, yet very effective marketing
tools, based on a theory that strategy can only be planned in the mind of the
consumer, not the marketplace.
It is important to understand the levels of competition because positioning applies at
all levels of competition. For example:
Product Level (e.g., Pepsi vs. Coke)
Category Level (e.g., Cola vs. Root beer)
Corporate Level (e.g., Pepsi Inc. vs. Coca Cola Company)
Industry Level (e.g., Beverage Industry vs. Snack food Industry)
Targeting:- The real goal/objective in market that marketer want to reach.As a simple
questions are :
What percent of the population uses the product at all?
What percent uses your brand?
How does that compare to competing brands?
What is the demographic profile of the product category?
Which media reach the users of this category?
21. While working over Social Media, it is very important to target the potential customers or
direct consumers. An already established brand has their own methods for reaching to their
own customers, but for a newly starting organization customer proper and consistence
feedback is the only way to improve. .Social media make use of this concept by
implementing STP algorithms.
Customer feedback management (CFM) online services are web applications that allow
businesses to manage user suggestions and complaints in a structured fashion. Companies
using customer feedback management services and social media monitoring have a 15%
better customer retention rate.
Here in this project “Facebook” is used as the major social media platform.
Facebook is an online social networking service. Its name stems from the colloquial name for
the book given to students at the start of the academic year by some American university
administrations to help students get to know each other. Facebook was founded in February
2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with his college roommates and fellow Harvard
University students Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin Moskovitz and Chris
Hughes. The website's membership was initially limited by the founders to Harvard students,
but was expanded to other colleges in the Boston area, the Ivy League, and Stanford
University. It gradually added support for students at various other universities before
opening to high school students, and eventually to anyone aged 13 and over.
Facebook now allows any users who declare them to be at least 13 years old to become
registered users of the site.
Facebook is the leading social networking site based on monthly unique visitors, having
overtaken main competitor MySpace in April 2008. In January 2013 India was found having
62.6 million members, As of March 2013, Facebook reported having 1.11 billion monthly
active users, globally.
In regards to Face book’s mobile usage, per an analyst report in early 2013, there are 192
million Android users, 147 million iPhone users, 48 million iPad users and 56 million
messenger users, and a total of 604 million mobile Facebook users.
23. For having a better understandability of social media marketing, we took three cases as
our base study.
CASE 1:-
1. We took a dummy Organization (NGO) named “Moments would never be enough to
rejoice” for understanding the social media scenario for new startup’s.
2. For experimenting the live audience feedback toward more realistic event under time
constrain, we marketed one of the finalist team “WinX” in College marketing fest
“Bazarre2013” & bagged Best Sales trophy.
CASE 2:-
1. We maintained social media portal’s for already established small scale companies in
order to increase sales.
2. Analysis of Live audience via social media tracking tools.
CASE 3:-
1. We ran 9 significant advertisements on social media channels for ongoing Events of
TiE Kolkata.
2. Maintained bidding of regular advertisements for TechShu in order to promote digital
marketing in domain region i.e. Kolkata
Portals available nowadays are self equipped with all types of analysis tools.
24. 10 Tips using Social Media For Your Company or Personal Brand
1. Register your Brand/Name
2. Do your research:-Find who’s out there Understand the culture & etiquette
3. Read often overwhelming but a necessity
4. Select the right tools
5. Learn the vocabulary-how to articulate it in plain English
6. Encourage staff to participate
7. Networking-Social networking
8. Think altruistically-Never do the hard sell
9. Learn how much you can put in the day job
10.Learn to use social media
25. Data Collection and Data Analysis
CASE 1:-
Part 1:-
Portal for dummyNGO
Admin Panel for operating the portal
26. Insights of the portal for admin in order to hold the strategies oriented channel
Various Posts are arranged in order with which they spread virally amongst the
users/viewers/followers
27. People who liked/saw/reached to the portal are categorized on basis of gender & age so
that the target market could be segmented easily
Average number of fans who saw posts by dayof the week is classified under different sections
so that potential customers could be easilytargeted.
28. Effective Social media marketing is reflected in the feedback section
Part 2:-
Portal for real time promotions of the winning team “WinX” for the Marketing fest
“Bazarre2013”
Creating 260+ fans following over the period of 4 days only for college fest via
using adequate social media marketing techniques.
29. Case 2:-
Maintenance of already established small scale enterprises are articulated regularly
to maintain the ROI under control.
Following are the clients who are operating with TechShu more than 3 yrs:-
1. Embroidery Stitch Nitch (ESN)
The social media management of this Norway based company is regulated from
India.
The most sales maker post of ESN by TechShu:-
30. 2. TheTeam.com
Following post by TechShu raised the visibility of central Alberta based real-estate
agency:-
By almost 55%
31. 3. Michalina's Nail Bar & Beauty
Ireland based beauty salon outsource social media strategies from India as charges there
are beyond affordability of the small scale business.
Most appreciated posts of this local-global social promotion:-
32. Case 3:-
Advertisements are meant to promote the product endless times. Some
examples of advertisements:-
The ad Campaign is for TiE event called “TiE Share”
33. Ads admin panel enables a user to watch it’s time to time updates:-
The ads. Admin Panel:-
The functioning of ad running process:-inputs & feedbacks are clearly visible
via graphs
34. Updates approving the moderation of ads:-
The rectangular area shows the daily budget limit to be spend on advertising:-
Advertising final report at the end of end campaigns:-
Billing for the Advertisement run:-
35. SWOT ANALYSIS:-
SWOT analysis is a strategic planning method used to evaluate the Strengths,
Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats involved in a project or in a business
venture. It involves specifying the objective of the business venture or project and
identifying the internal and external factors that are favorable and unfavorable to
achieve that objective. The technique is credited to Albert Humphrey, who led a
convention at Stanford University in the 1960s and 1970s using data from Fortune
500 companies.
A SWOT analysis must first start with defining a desired end state or objective. A
SWOT analysis may be incorporated into the strategic planning model.
Strategic Planning has been the subject of much research.
Strengths: characteristics of the business or team that give it an
advantage over others in the industry.
Weaknesses: are characteristics that place the firm at a disadvantage
relative to others.
Opportunities: external chances to make greater sales or profits in the
environment.
Threats: external elements in the environment
36. STRENGTHS:
1. Integration with websites and applications.
To enrich user experience and engage more users to use Facebook, the social
network has launched many features that would allow closer integration with
other websites and producers of applications that run via Facebook. Easy
integration and use of applications results in competitive advantage over other
social networking websites that struggle to provide the same level of service.
2. More than a billion active monthly users.
For a social network to grow, it must have users. The more users the Facebook
has, the more socially connecting it is. With one billion active monthly users,
Facebook is able to connect people not only locally but globally as well.
3. Excellent user experience.
Facebook has an easy to use interface, is integrated with many website, can
connect people through PC or mobile devices, is translated into more than 70
languages and has many more additional features that lack other social
networks.
4. Understanding of user’s needs and behavior.
Except Google, no other business has so many data collected on what users like,
dislike, needs and how the users behave online. With so much data, Facebook
knows what exactly to offer to its users (what additional features, what
advertisements) and how to further improve their experience with Facebook.
WEAKNESS:
1. Weak CTR of advertisements.
Facebook has a lower click-through-rate (CTR) than an average website, which
is only 0.05% and about 4% respectively. In order to earn more income from
the advertisements Facebook has to change the way it displays the ads
(advertisements on wall posts have more than 6% CTR) but without interfering
users’ experience.
37. 2. Social network lacks of some features.
Although Facebook has a wide range of features that other social networks
don’t, the website still lacks: video chats, group chats, dislike buttons, ability to
unsubscribe from alerts and many others.
3. One source of revenues – advertisements on Facebook.
More than 80% of Facebook’s revenues come from advertising on its social
network. The growth of the revenues directly depends on the growth of users.
This leaves the business very vulnerable and dependent on continuous growth
of users, which will eventually be only marginal as the social network has
already attracted so many users.
4. Attitude towards users’ privacy.
Facebook collects private users’ information and then stores it, uses it for its
own purposes or sells it. Such treatment of users’ private information draws
negative attention that decreases popularity of Facebook.
5. Lack of website customization.
Many Face book’s users spend a lot of time on social network and want the
website to reflect their personalities but are unable to customize the website to
their needs and are forced to use uniform template for all users. In comparison,
Google+ allows for much more personalization of the social network account
than Facebook does.
6. Weak protection of users’ information.
Facebook, having so many users that upload personal information to the social
network, is a target for attacks that steal passwords and other personal
information from the users. Such attacks occur every day and thousands of
passwords are stolen. Though, Facebook is not doing enough to protect users’
from identity attacks.
38. OPPORTUNITIES:
1. Increasing number of people using Facebook through mobile devices.
Currently Facebook has more than 600 million users who use Facebook through
mobile devices. Despite that this group makes 60% of all Facebook users, the
mobile advertising only accounts for only 14% income for the company.
Facebook has an opportunity to create a platform that could be used to display
ads for mobile users and increase firm’s income.
2. Expansion to China.
Easing government regulations and newly elected government may open a way
for Facebook to enter China’s social networking market. Until then, Facebook
should prepare itself for such an entry.
3. Diversify sources of revenue.
Facebook heavily relies on advertising on its social network as a source of
income, but with being the number 2 website in the world and more than 1
billion active monthly users, Facebook could exploit other opportunities to
attract the money.
4. Open Facebook marketplace.
With so many users and extensive coverage of the world, Facebook is well
positioned to open Facebook marketplace. If successful, it would bring more
revenues than the advertising, thus boosting company’s growth and future
prospects.
THREAT:
1. Increasing number of mobile internet users.
Currently Facebook has more than 600 million users who use Facebook through
mobile devices. Despite that this group makes 60% of all Facebook users, the
mobile advertising only accounts for only 14% income for the business. If the
company will be unable to monetize mobile users, it will face decreasing
advertising income as more PC users will turn to mobile users.
39. 2. Users using ad-block extensions.
Educated internet users often install extensions that block advertisements from
the websites. The growing number of such users is threatening Face book’s
model as they can’t see advertisements and click on them.
3. Slow growth rate of online advertising.
Although online advertising still grows in double digits (14% in 2012, down
from 23% in 2011) that growth is slowing down, thereby threatening growth of
Face book’s advertising income.
4. Identity thefts.
Even today, identity thefts are common on Facebook. The more identities are
stolen the more criticism Facebook will receive strongly damaging its brand for
inability to protect users’ private information.
5. Weak business model.
Face book’s aim is to attract social network users, display the ads for them and
charge the businesses for the ads displayed. Although Face book’s business
model looks sound for the moment, the company may face severe difficulties if
some conditions change that are not in firm’s control. For example, slowing
growth of online advertising, new social network, shift from advertising on
Facebook to other websites, growing number of mobile users (Facebook is yet
unable to monetize them) or failure to diversify source of income.
40. Conclusion
Facebook is like a big happy online jamboree tales, we are all drawing our pictures on
this big stage. As facebook can interact with consumers and customers, and know their
behavior, and also can get quick feedbacks and responses. As a business technology,
facebook is successful. Because facebook has its fan page and group page which is
efficient and economical.
By comparison, phone and email business is expensive and cumbersome. Secondly, it
is incredibly useful that Face book’s photo feature is embedded in a broader social
network. Also Facebook can connect to other social networks, so Facebook users can
easily access to other social network websites from Facebook, without setting up more
than one account. Now a day’s Facebook is beginning to displace as the preferred
vehicle for party invitations among my friends. This is another case where having a
pre-existing social network is a huge advantage.
But at the same time, Facebook also has been through its shortages and risks, such as
its privacy problem, unstable social information for some high-requirement level
business issues.
All in all,
Facebook as a successful business tool is getting more and more popular while
we are hoping to see its improvement for business in social media
environment.
41. Constrains and Limitations
There are various platforms over web for social media marketing and every
medium has its own pros & cons. Following is the table listed some of them:-
42. RECOMMENDATIONS
1. Assess and Reassess :-
Decide where to build your presences However, keep in mind it’s one of the
many perspectives. Some social networking sites may make more sense for
your business than others.
2. Build a Group of Followers:-
Companies should think of followers as something they’ve earned-the virtual
pat on the pack.
3. Curate Content:-
Content must be Keyword research enabled
4. Dedication For the Long Haul :-
Be patience
5. Elicit Responses :-
Let your users communicate and responds to your posts via comments. Ask
thought-provoking questions on your other social networking sites that people
will genuinely want to respond to.
6. Follow Twitter Lists :-
Twitter list can provide a great resource for finding other profiles you may
want to follow.
7. Goals Shouldn’t be hidden :-
Make your products and services easy to find so user know how to take the
next step.
8. Hometown Perspective :-
Market Your Business Locally First
9. Industry Contacts + Clients=User to Follow :-
Yield deeper CRM via Social networks
1. Join the Conversations :-
Assign a few people who can regularly represent and speak on behalf of the
company via social media
