Be Social but not for the sake of it

A blog created by one of the companies that I previously worked had the potential to be the corporate blog; the one face that could engage diverse audience. And, the backbone of its brand messaging; reflecting many voices that unequivocally resonate how the company is creating value for its stakeholders. Alas, it wasn’t to be. My association with it for a considerable amount of time however enabled me to grasp a few things. 

Build an emotional connect: Not easy as it sounds

Nothing new. Marketers knew this since time immemorial. However, implementing this on ground isn’t as simple as it sounds. Why? It is not a skill all marketers possess. For that matter, building emotional connect is not a learnt discipline or defined process; it is an attitude of mind that all marketers (err..all of us) should have. It should be innate, instinctive, ingrained in the DNA. Anyone who tries to learn ‘emotional marketing’ will fail. You either have the innate, instinctive ability to emotionally inspire and resonate with others including business and buyer communities or you don’t. What marketers should ensure is that if the capability is not within the team, they should find people who do and let them build emotional connect. Accept the fact that you will never acquire this skill yourself. In today’s age where more than ever consumers are seeking to connect emotionally with brands that actually stand for something, and to connect with each other, building an emotional connect would be the first step.

Be Social but not for the sake of it

Consumers are looking at social media accounts using the same parameters they look for when searching for individuals. Potential customers and consumers are looking for social media accounts that are not just smart and funny but are good conversationalists and listeners. This essentially means lowering the center of gravity to understand the pulse of the social mediascape. It implies a continued effort to engage with the audience and not just post a blog and wait for results to pour in.

Who am I engaging with? A face to the voice is a must

People like associating themselves and do business with other people, not with companies. Gone are the days when companies can create veiled messages with the hope of protecting their reputation. Take the example of what happened after the explosion of BP’s Deepwater Horizon drilling platform. Leroy Stick (an alias) began publishing the tweets of a totally made-up representative of a similarly bogus BP global public relations division. While crude oil spilled into the Gulf of Mexico, devastating the regional ecology and economy, the satirical Twitterer (@BPGlobalPR) tweeted about the division’s lunch menu and other inane matters. Tens of thousands followed his updates—far more than the number who followed the real BP Twitter account. Well, the example not only indicates people trust others but someone who would speak like them. Bottom-line – cut the corporate lingo.

According to a recent research by Spiceworks, most marketers surveyed say they are trying to connect with potential customers using tactics such as social media (95% use) and case studies (87%). However, though buyers do engage with those channels, they say they are more reliant on peer recommendations (97%) and IT forums (92%). Do you have a face to the blogs? Is he willing to connect with others?

Dedicated and committed resources

One of the daunting tasks for bloggers is to curate content within the organization. For the same reason, it can’t be a part time job. It requires quality time with business heads, marketing and communication as well as the digital marketing team. Then there is the challenge of making concise and compelling stories ensuring excerpts to social metadata, titles, captions and images. Look at what @ISRO is sharing on Twitter. Their updates are a reminder that rocket science can also be simplified for mass consumption. Just that one needs to have a dedicated and committed resource who can connect with the external world appropriately.

In many cases, a blog is the starting point for social conversations. And, if that isn’t a conversation material, forget social.

 

Is Facebook’s Acquisition of WhatsApp a Threat to Telcos

A cousin of mine, aged 22, can always be seen tapping fervently on his mobile. For someone sporadically glancing at this exercise, it might seem as a new generation rhythm. For others who are forcefully but passively involved in this so called music, it is a mobile-centric social paranoia that is seizing especially the young ones. The culprit is the ever increasing mobile messaging apps.

The recent announcement by social media firm Facebook about the acquisition of WhatsApp will only trigger the obsession towards real-time content sharing. It is soon turning into an emotional activity. And, such emotional activities are what marketers are increasingly trying to tap. It is also a great handle for customer engagement. Consider this; the 22-year old spends more time on his mobile than chatting with his family members staying with him. He is just one among the 70% of WhatsApp users that use its services every day. Facebook comparatively has only 61% hooked onto it every day. 

      

It is clear that social media gorillas are transitioning to the traditional mainstream industries ousting well entrenched and seemingly unshakable giants. Consider the case of telcos. The goings on hitherto indicates that they completely missed the social media phenomenon. Grappling with continued operating challenges, telcos’ rhetoric of continued innovation to create new revenue streams from analyzing user behavior is increasingly seen as yielding no outcomes. Communication tools like WhatsApp, WeChat, Viber to name a few are in fact overtaking telcos initiatives towards meaningful customer engagement.

The recent announcement by WhatsApp CEO is further damaging to telcos already waning significance in the communication ecosystem. Beginning Q2 2014, WhatsApp will enable voice within its app. And, like how the communication tools previously chipped away the once prominent SMS from telcos, there is likelihood of a threat on telcos’ voice revenues.   

Staying Ahead with Mobile;Losing Fun in Life

When someone doesn’t pop the question – what plans for the New Year – it might seem atypical. Well, that is what happened to me. No one cared. But that is typical of folks now. The mobile devices keep everyone engaged. So engrossed are people that most have absolutely no clue of the time passing by. What do they care of others plans? I was mulling over the clutter of mobile applications – some device resident while others in the cloud – and a way to stay away from it when some marketing to-do list for the year struck me. 

1.   Stay focused – I had been repeatedly suggesting to people I meet to stay away from mobile applications that challenge not just their stress thresholds but the tolerance of others around. What is increasingly seen is a tendency to procrastinate with the belief there will tomorrow to make up for today’s indulgences. Marketers who are relentlessly pursuing ways and means to garner consumers’ mindshare are being asked to stay away from strategies weighing down their brands. No marketer would want to commoditize a brand, right? Similarly, we ought to focus on one or two applications that keep us and others around us engaged. 

2.  Be seen – One of the advices from my boss early this year was to be seen where it matters. The connected world permits one to work from anywhere. It also implies that one can find the most convenient place to expedite work. While convenience matters, collaboration between team members should be a priority and hence regular meetings an imperative. The other day, I asked a journalist friend if she would want to walk across the road to meet a common friend. She preferred to take down the number and call instead. The conversation lasted 5 minutes; ending with the note of a possible meeting at a later date. Be it friends or relatives, whatsapp, Facebook, hangout etc are challenging the social aspects of human life. ‘Walking is no more a verb’ in my vocabulary, commented a young colleague recently. ‘Texting, pinging…etc are more frequently used,’ she continued. 

3.  Spread word that matters - In our quest to gain prominence across social media, we tend to indulge in activities that diminish the significance of matters that demand attention. A nine year old missing boy in Mumbai was fortunately traced with the help of his father’s extensive social media network. Not many are lucky though. The unedifying demeanor of our elected representatives in the Parliament should remind us of obstreperous kids and neighbors who get ostracized during community activities. Their political sagacity lies only in hoodwinking people.

Did the refrigerator message you?

‘Let us go party,’ Allen commented as soon as he received Joe’s message about a promotion. They chatted for a long time about their school, friends and work. Both agreed to call up their respective families and friends and meet at Allen’s place that weekend. Allen called his wife, Tina, and conveyed the news of Joe’s promotion and his invitation for a weekend party. 

As he hurriedly left office that day, Allen’s thought retraced childhood days at a small yet bustling town on the outskirts of a tech city. He had gone to school with Joe, founded a technology company while at college and decided to part ways when Joe decided to work for a tech major in China. Joe had travelled the world and was announced the CEO on his return to the US only a month ago.

As his car emerged out of the parking lot, a message popped up on his phone. It was Google. It had a list of party organizers. Yet another message had a list of his friends – mutual friends with Joe – to be invited for the party. A subsequent message had a calendar invite with names of all family members. Wow, this is going to be real fun, thought, Allen as he drove into his garage.

Welcome to the ‘internet of things’ which will certainly and significantly transform our lives. A blog by Ian Cook on the subject states the following - the ‘internet of things’ is an idea that suggests that not just access devices can be connected to the internet, but a whole host of other ‘objects’ might be able to join in as well.  For example, the Economist describes pill jars that know when an elderly patient needs to take a dose of tablets. A call centre can then ring the patient and remind them to take their pills.

According to Tom Fishburne, ‘as everyday objects in our homes, cars, and general lives start to connect, this has the potential to bring tremendous utility to people. For marketers, it also teases mouth-watering insight into and access to individual consumers.’

Now, Google’s acquisition of smart home device maker – Nest – could potentially change marketing forever.  The once-imagined future is less distant than we may think. A digitally enabled household no longer means simply maintaining a personal Internet connection or even syncing portable devices to a home network. Now, the digital home is becoming a conscious home — one that adapts and responds according to our behavior, states Anjali Lai in her Forrester blog.  

Gone are the days of brand building or relationship building; marketers will have to scamper for data pertaining to individuals so as to be the first to address their wants.  Well, the world’s really shrinking. What say you?

AAP Lays New Rules for Governance

A lot has been written about political campaigns and digital ploys adopted by political establishments. Digital experts have been assigned the job of not only creating buzz in social media but continuously analyzing the digital sentiment. What has however not changed is the divide between expectation and satisfaction between voters and parties. This is especially true when one sees the old establishments relying on individuals to mobilize crowds and then deliver a monologue; something that every sensible voter can predict these days. What is ailing India, deriding opposition, foisting cases and the list goes on.  

 The newest member in the fray – Aam Aadmi Party - seemed to have grasped this pretty well. They have not only lowered their center of gravity (power to the people) but also created a mechanism to capture public opinions. The Hindu, reflected this very well in their Editorial today where it stated, ‘the idea of a referendum itself was refreshing as a method of seeking the people’s endorsement of the way forward in this complex situation. It is also a vital instrument of verifying public opinion that is missing from today’s democratic political practice in India. Mainstream parties seem to be increasingly out of sync with the dramatic changes on the ground that indicates the soaring aspirations of new social groups.’

The political leaders should perhaps take a cue from brand leaders. For both, it is a new world. With transaction-based interactions between brands and consumers shifting to relationship-based interactions, new skills and sensibilities are needed to effectively address consumers’ need. Less tangible factors like emotional intelligence and psychological insight are becoming crucial as traditional structures are crumbling and consumers’ voices are increasingly overshadowing organizations’ (read political parties).

Political heavyweights will take note that in the brave new world of social media, political agenda will increasingly be shaped by citizen’s opinion and demand—and is decreasingly under their control. The sudden rise of AAP is a perfect example of how citizens can become valuable allies when the party truly engages them to discuss ground realities instead of dodging issues or attempting to spin them. By opening up a space for real dialogue and actually listening to citizens, parties can learn more about what people really want, crowdsource ideas or gather insights that could help improve governance and citizens’ experience.

Time will tell if AAP can walk the talk. However, what is more apparent is the emergence of fundamental social activities like collaboration and co-creation.  Resting on the principles of generosity and openness, these activities will be the glue that binds disparate people while transforming and challenging existing governance models.

Conversation is the New Advertising

Popular social media sites Facebook and Twitter enable aggregation of related conversations. Example, favorite television shows to sporting events to the latest news. One who wishes to amass data on couch potatos can now do it effortlessly. For marketers, destinations like Facebook and Twitter are gold mines with specific details - how many people on Facebook or twitter talked about a particular subject, where exactly is the buzz, popularity among males or females, and age groups – all available in a jiffy. 

I was privy to a quick but slightly lengthy conversation about the best calling cards outside India. While several of them narrated their ordeal after using a particular brand while traveling abroad, some of them passed on suggestions of other brands adding their wonderful experience having used it. For marketers, it will help if they keep in mind that such conversations can be easily recalled these days by potential customers who increasingly rely on user reviews. An airline’s alleged fascist approach to some of its select passengers; ill-treatment of guests by a renowned hotel are conversations that are unbridled in the social media. Can marketers intervene and protect or promote their brand? Yes, of course. Having complained about a new Nokia smartphone that I had bought on social media, the company’s social media custodian quickly reached out to me to resolve the issue. The immediate response put me to ease and reinforced my trust in the brand. 

According to Nielsen’s 2012 State of the Media Report, 1 in 3 social media users now prefer to contact brands using social media rather than the phone. In this increasingly transparent world, businesses would do well if they lower their center of gravity to the digital realm. And, embrace a culture that encourages continuous engagement of customers and employees rather than a one-way communication. Forward looking businesses have a top-down approach to this. In an article that appeared in Forbes, CEO of Weber Shandwick had this to say. “To give you a sense of how valued a social CEO is, our global study found that 76 percent of executives think that it is a good idea for their CEOs to be social. Among their reasons for favoring their CEO’s social participation is how it reflects internally – 52 percent feel inspired by their CEO’s sociability. Looking externally, 69 percent say that it enhances the company’s market credibility. And in general, social CEOs are much more likely to be seen as good communicators than unsocial CEOs – 55 percent vs. 38 percent, respectively.”