1. Get Set! Go!
Rajesh Lalwani
Principal and Founder, Blogworks
& Principal Coordinator, IndiaSocial
Even as Blogworks India Social Media Report, Edition 2, implemented this year in
association with NM Incite (a Nielsen/ McKinsey company), draws fresh insights
from your responses, it validates many previous assessments.
Let me talk about changes I have seen, over the last year, in how social media is
being approached by organizations.
Reputation has never been more fickle. As recent examples in corporate and media
circles have shown, social media has played an important role in amplifying
important issues - sometimes using parody, sometimes through inane memes,
sometimes through serious discussions that only ‘appear’ disintegrated but are
actually bound in threads - social media is playing the new watchdog.
Controlling the medium, or the message, is clearly out of the question. The need
for preparedness and participation in advance; to listen, identify key topics,
nodes; to transparently acknowledge, participate and engage multiple
stakeholders, if, forbid, an organization was to find itself in midst of a crisis, are
being acknowledged as the new reputation management concepts.
This growing impact on reputation and marketing has brought interest and
intervention at the highest level. The number of CEOs driving the need has seen a
dramatic rise over the last 6-9 months. This does three important things,
a) it energizes the team into action;
b) it brings greater rigor - the approach becomes far more strategic; and
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2. c) the chances of departments thinking and working together improve.
On the brand side, an important change, particularly in some of the high impact
categories (typically high involvement products such as automobiles, consumer
electronics, mobile etc.) has been the depth of engagement. From mere presence
on social media channels, marketers are beginning to map, and intervene, at all
stages of the purchase cycle.
There is a much greater emphasis on trying to understand how social media is
influencing purchase, to how the customer voices feedback post purchase. An
understanding that all social media channels are not the same; that blogs and
forums have a different role than touch points like, Facebook or Twitter; or that
buzz is the mere surface, that the magic of social media may, in fact, lie in
mapping conversations, identifying evangelists and co-creating communication and
products.
As social media impact is understood, and more marketing outlay directed in its
direction, the emphasis is on scaling up, trying to gain critical mass. This has
brought an acknowledgement that the key to scaling social media marketing
interventions could be through use of technology and community generated
content.
The understanding that creating content is going to be the key to success in
engaging stakeholders; and that creating this content is not easy – enter
technology and the community.
Over the last 6 months, Lead Gen is the word I have heard most often in sales
meetings. It’s a new word in social media circles. As B2B marketers jump in, Lead
Generation has become a key objective.
Driven by marketing leaders, B2B programmes are typically, focused and result
driven, only the route in social media interventions is through thought leadership
and content – reports, white papers, articles, expert and practice communities,
Q&As are the chosen routes.
Another important shift is the realization that the future of social is mobile. I have
been reading more news on my mobile device, than on the notebook; spending
more time on my phone, accessing Twitter and Facebook, than making voice calls.
Marketers are beginning to realize this.
Clearly organizations and brands have caught up and the survey report
corroborates that.
For me the most interesting insights from this year’s report include:
1. Market in transition, moving towards strategic interventions
2. Sharp focus on the customer – 92 percent brands are using social media to
engage customers, vis-à-vis 79 percent in the previous edition
3. Only 23 percent of the social media engagement is being outsourced – could
be a sign of early usage; interestingly programmes deployed by Agencies/
Consultants show better width
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3. 4. Notice the arrival of the sales department in social media programmes
5. Mobile adoption for marketing likely to shoot up next year – 46 percent
intend to use mobile social networking in the future
6. Clear need and focus on deeper measurement and analysis
7. 3 out of 4 companies/ brands feel the need for a stated policy; and either
have one in place or are working on one
8. 11 percent marketers are already spending more than 30 percent of their
digital spends on ‘social’
9. Budgets have increased in sync with last reports assessment, likely to go up
over next 2 years
10. Sharp focus on ‘number of fans’ reflects attempt to gain critical mass
before RoI on engagement could be achieved – it is a good sign and shows
understanding of social media impact and more emphasis on it from
marketers
Next stops: E commerce and monetization.
2011 promises to be an exciting year for all of us.
Contact: rajesh.lalwani@blogworks.in
Scenario Consulting Private Limited
Business Office #24, Lower Ground, Adchini, Enter from Sarvodaya Enclave – 110017.
www.scenarioconsulting.in, www.blogworks.in
Landline: +91-11- 41829475