Social Media Network - Marketing

Does Social Media Have Bleak Future?

2011-12-15T00:30:00.000+05:30

Social Media was a big riddle sometime back. It still remains a little riddle for many people. There are many questions that you will come across while dealing with the Social Media Plan. There will be questions when you will be executing your Social Media Plan as well.

The persons who are already in the Social Media field will be able to sharpen their skill and increase their experience. As time goes by there will be many Service Providers joining the Social Media wagon. Similarly the demand will also grow. There will be many more Organizations looking at capturing their Target Audience. Apart from the Organizations there will be many more Freelance Professionals who will be utilizing the Social Media Platform. Small Business will enter and test the waters as well.

With the increase in requirement the Social Media Professionals will require to hand hold their Clients. Training will be required. As many would not like to be in the dark on what will take place and how things would be done. The various persons at the Client side will require a quick course on what Social Media is and what it is not.

There will be many divisions involved like the Creative, Technical, Data Analytic and Content Management personnel. The team will require to work in tandem with the Marketing Plan. Your entire Social Media execution is to bring alive the Brand Personality.

With an increase in the supply and demand the Companies will be asking for ROI. Given that ROI is always crucial one will have to decide on what kind of ROI is required. The measuring is to be on realistic methods. There cannot always be same formula for all Social Media efforts. One needs to know what they are looking for and what they are seeking from the Social Media venture. It is critical to jot down the desirable call to action.

There will be many more Consumers / Customers seeking to join Pages on the Social Media Platforms. Thus the Social Media Platform will soon be more into Customer Service. On this Platform Consumers / Customers will seek information and news.

With Consumers / Customers increasingly dependent on the Social Media Page CRM [Customer Retention Management] Programmes will be able to run. The core mode of operation would ofcourse be elsewhere as CRM needs lot more technical and data support. However a part of CRM will absorb the Social Media constituent.

If handled well your Social Media venture could become an amazing source of Customer testimonials. A good word from your Consumers / Customers can always be used to showcase.

All this will bring about a much better clarity on Consumer Insights. Consumer Insights is the driver of all activities. This will come across with a better perspective.

My Business Page is on Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/pervarakapadia Do join me.

Points You Need To Know When Planning A Social Media Contest

2011-12-10T16:46:00.000+05:30

You know that you need to have relevant persons on your Social Media Page of your Brand / Business. When you have relevant persons you can hope to have results towards your Marketing Plan. You also know that the relevant persons need to be given good quality information and encourage them to participate with you in your Conversations. One of the ways in which you can create excitement, involvement and a look forward to what you Post is by conducting Contests.
You could read this:
Nurturing Your Community - Social Media

Contests are one of the many ways of creating a little rush towards your Social Media Page. However you need to remember that Contests have many rules and conditions. These rules and conditions apply from the area / jurisdiction of the place from where the contests are held, as well as they are governed by the place your registered office is and they are also governed by the Social Media Platform on which the Contest is run. This is so that the Customers are protected and they know where exactly they are to approach in case of a scam. This means that when you run a Contest on Social Media Platform you need to take care of the rules of the Social Media Platform as well.
You could read this:
What Makes Your Facebook Page Get Banned - Social Media
What Makes Your Facebook Page Get Banned - Social Media

Apart from the laws, rules and regulations you should know about the various requirements and the risks that come with the Social Media Platform. Many a times mistakes take place due non awareness towards various terminologies. For instance people think that the two words namely Sweepstakes and Contest are interchangeably. This is not true. They are separate and the rules governing them would be different to some extent. The term Sweepstakes refers to promotion in which prizes are awarded based on a chance, whereas when you run a Contest the awards and prizes are given based on skill. Add to this different states and regions have their own interpretation and hence have customized rules.

Social Media Platforms also have different rules for Contests hence you should be aware and be sure on what steps you are taking. What you may have on Facebook for instance would be a little different on Google+.

My Business Page is on Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/pervarakapadia Do join me.

Get Traffic And Retain Them On Google+ For Social Media

2011-12-05T23:16:00.000+05:30

Google+ is one more feather in your cap on the Social Media front. The question is how should you get more Traffic to your Google+ Page? Also what should you do so that they do not 'Un-friend' you.

Here are a couple of points that you might want to work towards so that your Google+ Pages have a good Traffic flow which you can retain as well:

Remember to update your Profile Page. Have an appropriate image and proper Bio-Data. Use Keywords wisely and sparingly.
Have Content that matters. Make your Content SEO based. Google+ gives a good opportunity to write in-depth Posts. This is a great opportunity to put your thoughts across.
Make it a point to have your Google+ Link across all your other outlets and Customer Touch-Points. Mention your Links on your Blog, Site, other Social Media Platforms, Offline Communication like Press Ads., Hoardings and so on. Have your Link mentioned in the retail stores that you might have.
If you have a Blog it would be great if you can write a quick Post about your Google+ Page. The way you went about creating it, what can be found on your Page and so on.
Utilize the Google Direct Connect. Linking from that page to your website and vice versa. Have the Google+ Badge on your Site and Blog. This way you are informing Google of your Page's relevancy and authenticity.
You can suggest to your existing Audience to share your Page in their Network.
Use Circles appropriately and utilize the HangOuts well.

How do you attract and retain your Google+ Traffic?

Do read: Acquisition, Retention, And Building Loyalty In Social Media
My Business Page is on Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/pervarakapadia Do join me.

For Your Social Media Should You Be On Facebook Or Google+

2011-11-30T00:30:00.000+05:30

Google+ is the most talked about Social Media Platform today. There are questions like will Facebook do anything to face the Google+ syndrome that all are going though. Currently Facebook is being compared to Google+.

Google brought out the Google+ Pages for Brands and Business Houses. The question most likely asked is if you are already on Facebook then why should you be on Google+. The answer is simple if your Target Audience is on Google+ then you need to be there as well.

All the answers will not emerge today. As we use the two platforms we will start to realize the difference. There are some definite functional differences that you will experience on the two platforms.

There is no harm in being on both the Social Media Platforms. What do you think?

My Business Page is on Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/pervarakapadia Do join me.

Prepare Your Client For Social Media

2011-11-25T07:00:00.000+05:30

Your Clients need to be prepared for the Social Media that you are proposing to do for them. Social Media is a relatively new zone and hence it is best to bring your Client up to speed with what you perhaps are thinking of doing with their Business / Brand on the Social Media Platforms.

By sharing with them your thought process you will be able to reduce their anxiety and and not make them feel that you are working in isolation. You will need to plan with them on what you will be doing. Working on Social Media could leave you a little exasperated if later on the Client may turn around and state that they too could have done similar matter. They may want to know what you have brought to the table - what value you have brought for the money they have spent. They are right when they want to know what you have done. Hence you will need to do the below so that both, you and your Clients are on the same Page. Here are some of the pointers that you and your Client need to be specific about:

Inform them what Posts are, how do they take place, why should you Post and so on. Brief them that while it may be easy the continuity and consistency is what takes time and hence you step in. Educate them and share with them the details.
You will need to clearly define the objectives of the Social Media Campaign before you start. This will need to be integrated into their complete Marketing effort. It is important that all know what is required, how this will take place and what probable results are to be expected.
Understand the Brief well. You need to take care of the Brand Personality, the Competitors, Target Audience and so on. Understand the tone of voice that you are to apply. SEO and Keywords are to be discussed in depth as well.
Clearly identify what are the measurable in terms of ROI. What may be ROI for one Brand may not be similar for the other. You will face the typical argument of the number of Likes versus the earnings of your Client via Facebook. One needs to consider points like while there may not see returns on immediate basis at times, the Community on Facebook is potential Customers.
Do make it a point to explain and mutually agree on how your Client and their Team will be of help to you. In the eagerness of taking the project do not neglect the fact that together with the Client you and your task will see success.

Put yourself on the other side and see how best you can help your Clients to understand and enhance the Social Media Campaign.

My Business Page is on Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/pervarakapadia Do join me.

Facebook Tracks Your Online Journey - Social Media

2011-11-20T21:40:00.000+05:30

Unlike Google, Facebook does not always share how they track users in the online world. However this time they have shared a little on what their modus operandi is to track various users.

Here it is:

Facebook identifies two types of users:

It uses different tracking methodology for persons who have signed in and are using their accounts.
And a different one for persons who have logged-off and are non-members.

The modus operandi:
When you arrive on any Facebook Page for the first time it delivers cookies in your browser. If you do sign-in for the Facebook account, it inserts two types of cookies. Incase you do not set up the account then it inserts only one of the two cookies.
The tracking starts off almost immediately. When you visit any Website or Blog that has the Facebook Plugin your visit is recorded since the cookies which are already installed initiate the recording. The individual details of your computer, IP address etc are recorded. The date time etc are also recorded.
The log that records your past 90 days of activity are kept. Activities older than 90 days are deleted.

If you are logged into your Facebook account, then your name, your email address, your friends and all of the other data in your Facebook profile get recorded.

Data about web searches and browsing habits could be used to figure out political affiliations, religious beliefs, or health issues about consumers.

My Business Page is on Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/pervarakapadia Do join me.

Quick SEO Tips For Google+ On Social Media

2011-11-15T17:31:00.000+05:30

With Google bringing out the Google+ Business Pages it is clearly understood by many that you will have a heads up on the Google Search aspect. While there is no such certainty what perhaps you need to do is take care of your SEO when you are working on your Google+ Brand / Business Pages.

What you need to look at and pay extra attention to is:

When you Post on Google+ make it a point to have the Public Visibility on. This option will be visible to you in your Conversation / Post section when you type your Post. When you make your Post Public you are informing the algorithms on the Google Search Engine that your Post is open to being indexed.
Your Circles in Google+ also hold a very huge cue on your Post being indexed. While you do need to have the Public Visibility it is a good idea to have your Circles also marked onto your Posts. The reason being that when your Post gets on the feed of your Circle Members there is a huge chance of their interaction as well. When they interact it increases your chances of being indexed and thereby your rank goes higher up on Google Search.
It goes without saying that your Google+ Profile needs to be complete with the right usage of Keywords.
Using direct Links from the source is always better than having URL Shortners.
Participate in conversations in Google+. This is again a criteria that increases your authenticity. Use of the right Keyword and no spam is the requirement that Google Search drives towards.

Good read:

My Business Page is on Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/pervarakapadia Do join me.

Google+ Can Remove Your Contests - Social Media

2011-11-10T17:06:00.001+05:30

Google Plus does not allow any kind of Contests to be run on their Google+ Brand / Business Pages. It states that any kind of contests, sweepstakes, offers, coupons or other such promotionscannot be run directly on your Google+ Page.

The way out? Well you are allowed to share the Links to the various types of Contests on your Google+ Brand / Business Pages. This is ofcourse while you clearly mention that Google is in no way a part or responsible about the contests, sweepstakes, offers, coupons or other such promotionsthat you may share.

Note: Google holds the right to remove your Promotion Content from Google+ Page for any reason.

Play safe: As long as you have clearly mentioned that Google and all of its group is not responsible for your contests, sweepstakes, offers, coupons or other such promotions, and that you / your company is solely responsible for the entire contests, sweepstakes, offers, coupons or other such promotions then you perhaps are a little safe.

If anyone Flags your Page then again you can stand a chance of Google taking action.
There are Five audiences that can flag you and get you banned:

Google has one of the greatest algorithms which can easily recognize your Content and can with ease know that you are going against their rules
By Community Members of your Page
By your Personal Profile Page Network
By Other Pages where you join and may spam
By Members of the other Pages where you have joined and are spamming

Simply put do not have the action of any kind with regards to your contests, sweepstakes, offers, coupons or other such promotions be taken on Google+ Brand / Business Pages.

Bottom line is that Google+ / Google should not be involved directly or indirectly in whatever you do. It is your liability. Simply put if there is winner involved, if there is give away monetary non-monetary then you need to follow the rules tightly. Promotions that are leading people to take action on your or their Google+ Page calls for Google to cut you out.

For more information follow the Post written for Facebook rules. It will enable you to understand what you should not do on any Social Media Platform. What Makes Your Facebook Page Get Banned - Social Media

I work as Freelance Social Media Network Online Professional. My Business Page is on Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/pervarakapadia Do join me.

The New GMail Look - Social Media

2011-11-05T06:30:00.000+05:30

GMail has recently rolled out the new look. This is available to everyone. You can revert back to your previous look of GMail if you wish to. This option of reverting back is temporarily. Later on your GMail will be having the new look.

There are a couple of new functions / changes that the New Look of GMail brings with it:

You can re-size your Gmail. This means that you can have a condensed or a free look of the same. This works well for people using mobile hardware. Now the new GMail fits into your window size. If you have touch screen then the New Look re-sizes to fit well for ease of read and use.
A much cleaner version has come on board.
You have the Chat and Labels adjustable. You can size them as per your usage. Labels are moved to the top as a Tab for ease of use.
You can select images. This is similar to the previous GMail. The difference is that they are high definition for impact level. They are easy on the eyes.
When you view your Emails you will notice that they have been redesigned, making it feel more like a conversation. The people included in the conversation can be found on the right, appearing just as they would in GChat with their status. This way you get the actual feel of conversation.

I work as Freelance Social Media Network Online Professional. My Business Page is on Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/pervarakapadia Do join me.

Social Media Spammer

2011-10-30T10:30:00.000+05:30

Social Media is an amazing space. Here you will find folks who promise a huge Fan Following for you. No doubt there are people who can do this however there are people who merely are scamming around and / or having bots. The result is that your Page / Blog Site has an overnight fame and then it eventually vanishes. The whole idea of Social Media is to grow slowly and chronologically and then to sustain this. The rush to achieve more people in a short span of time is understandable however keep a lookout for people who can give you false promises.

Here are some people that you may want to check in a little more detail before you give your project to them:

You could be promised that they will get you a great following. One of the most simple method for you is to check their own Social Media Page and see the following that they have. If they can get you 5000 people then why do they on their own Page have very few following? You need to get a clarity here.
It would be great if you could request references and know what people have to say. Today with LinkedIn and such other platform it is easy to request for references the question is why has your expert not got any.
Social Media requires a strategy. This is part of the whole strategy. Strategy depends on individual case. Strategy comes from understanding Mindset of Target Audience, Competitors, the Product Category and the Brand. Hence being sold on a package does not really hold good. If there are ready made packages then how do you say that there is strategy in this.
Beware of people who at the first instinct say that you need to be present on many Social Media platform. Ask them what is important to spread thinly or to go deep.
It is always a good feeling to have lots of Followers and Fans. The question here is how many are your core real target is important. The question here is quantity or quality?
If they claim that they will get you your Competitor Community Members in a month's time you need to perhaps be afraid. You could get banned.
Being active on Social Media is different from generating leads and Business.
If you are being promised of viral spread be very careful. Id it a 20 minute of fame only that you are being promised?
Social Media is an extension of your Brand Personality. If people do not take time out to understand your Brand and its environment then how will they Post / Behave as per your Brand Personality?
If you are being told that more the number of Fans and Followers - this will create more sales. You need to re-think did this person understand your Business?
If your person has not asked on who your Target Audience is and what is your Market then you need to re-think; is this the right person to handle your Social Media?
If they are starting without having a mutual agreement on how will they tackle negative comments then you need to know that you are not in safe hands.
If your person has no clue on how to monitor your Social Media then you need ask the person for a format they follow.
It is important that your Social Media personnel has had a good discussion with you on Keywords and SEO.

What are you pointers - share them here.

Good to read:

Should You Buy Facebook Fans? - Social Media
Social Media - Get Me 1500 Fans On Facebook
Planning and handling the Social Media requirements: http://goo.gl/65bCQ
What are the Social Media uses for your brand and marketing objectives?: http://goo.gl/IDvFr
Community Management on Social Media sites like Facebook is not just about having a Fan / Business Page set up: http://goo.gl/WgqSK
A note on how to measure your Social Media efforts: http://goo.gl/uRv12
Segregating Your Community Members: http://goo.gl/3y49u
Measuring Your Customer In Social Media: http://goo.gl/EjAHQ
A note on Types Of Your Audience Personalities in Social Media: http://goo.gl/vrYUd
How To Decide The Frequency Of Your Posts On Social Media: http://goo.gl/wM2fL
A note on Acquisition, Retention, And Building Loyalty In Social Media: http://goo.gl/NvTlg
You Will Receive 3000+ Followers Guaranteed, Just Buy The Package - Social Media

My Business Page is on Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/pervarakapadia Do join me.

What Makes Your Facebook Page Get Banned - Social Media

2011-10-25T00:00:00.000+05:30

Do you work a lot on Facebook to sell your Brand / Business? This is well appreciated since this is strong platform to get into Community Engagement mode. Add to this most people seem to be on Facebook. What's more is that Search Engines do like Facebook.

Facebook has its own rules and guidelines on what you are allowed to do and what will get your Brand / Business Page banned. The rules are not too difficult to understand however they end up making you ask what then can you do. Banning of your Page can be a little troublesome for you, reason being that you may find it difficult to get your Page back.

There are Five audiences that can flag you and get you banned:

Facebook algorithms recognizing your footprints on Facebook as going against their rules
By Community Members of your Page
By your Personal Profile Page Network
By Other Pages where you join
By Members of the other Pages where you have joined

Below is what you should avoid and what you could do on your Facebook Brand / Business Page:

On and From your Brand / Business and Profile Page:

As much you may be tempted do not send out unnecessary and too many newsletters. This is a space where even if Facebook does not ban you - your Community Members will flag you and unsubscribe from your Page.
Posting too many marketing Links will get you flagged by Facebook. This is done so that Brand and Business Pages do not turn out to be a nuisance to people. Your Community Members have joined you for various reasons - 99% of the time they have not joined you to be bombarded with sales messages.
Posting too often the same Link will immediate tell the algorithms at Facebook that here is spammer.
Sending out requests to join via 'Invite Friends' button leaves you very much in the hate list of your Network and Facebook as well.
Copy and pasting the same information around.
Your Page for the Brand or Business should be created from your Personal Profile Page not from a pseudo name or corporate name. This Profile Page should be real and not fictitious. In other words you should be traced in the real world if required. Naturally this does not mean you give out too much Personal information that can cause crime.
You can have multiple Pages for your different Brands and Business all of them should be from that one original real Personal Profile Page.
You cannot have multiple Profile Pages.
Do no go on making friends spree from your Personal Profile Page.
Do not Post Copy-write matter. If you do the give the credit line. Do not claim it as your own in any manner whatsoever. This means that - your not claiming and not giving it a credit line either can be misunderstood as your matter / content is also wrong.
Your Brand and Business Page name should be real and not general qualifiers like for instance Pizzas. Your campaign name and/or regional or demographic qualifiers are acceptable

Using your Page as the 'Use Facebook as Page':

This is great function that Facebook has brought in. However use this wisely.
Posting your link all over gets you not only on the hit list of Facebook but also by other Pages and Community Members of other Pages.
Giving unnecessary comment and not adding value to the other Pages that you seem to be trampling on will make your own page get flagged. You will be recognized as spammer by the other Pages and their Community Members as well.
Copy and Pasting the same information around all Pages that you have joined.

Running Promotions / Contests / Sweepstakes / Discounts / Offers etc on your Facebook Page:

Promotions that are leading people to take action on your or their Facebook Page calls for Facebook to cut you out. Examples are:

Click like and join us and get / win ....
Post a comment and get / win ....
Tag the photos and get / win ....
Get members and get / win .....
Click like on this Post and get / win ....
Upload a photo on our Wall and get / win ....
The 100th Fan will get / win ....
Mention this Page on your Wall and get / win ....
Etc

Promotions should have a open disclosure that in no way Facebook is responsible for the same - its logic, deliverables, content and so on.
You cannot use any of the Facebook functionality as a voting mechanism

For instance like and vote your voice

You cannot notify winners through Facebook, such as through Facebook Messages, Chat, or Posts on Profiles (timelines) or Pages.
If you wish to interact / collect any information then you need to have an application for this. The application developed needs to comply to Facebook rules for applications and developers. This means that judging entries, notifying winners, collecting entries, conducting a competition etc all need an application.
You can randomly select a Community Member - this means that there was no contest or competition etc.
For third party applications you can get them ready made online or create your own. Both ways the application and the developer needs to comply with the general and special rules of Facebook. Special rules are made for developers to adhere to.
A simple way to go about is have your contest, competition or discounts and offers run on your Blog or Site. You are allowed to give the Link as a Post. Announce that this is in no way is endorsed, sponsored, administered or associated with or by Facebook.

If you do collect information from users, then you need to take their consent, and make it very clear that it is you and not Facebook who is collecting their information, and post a privacy policy explaining what information you wish to collect and how you plan to use it.
Use applications wherein the developers have met with the Facebook terms and conditions meant for developers.
Any Third party advertisements on Pages are very strictly prohibited. Ads or commercial content on Pages must comply with Facebook Advertising Guideline.
And finally: Facebook has the right to amend / change the rules anytime.

The rules are simple. Are they not? Still need more information?
Bottom line is that Facebook should not be involved directly or indirectly in whatever you do. It is your liability. Simply put if there is winner involved, if there is give away monetary non-monetary then you need to follow the rules tightly.

My Business Page is on Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/pervarakapadia Do join me.

Is Social Media Still A Riddle?

2011-10-20T10:30:00.001+05:30

If you are still wondering if your Business and Brand should be on the Social Media scenario then the answer is yes if your Customers and Clients are online and on the Social Media Platform then you too should be.

Social Media gives you the flexibility of doing things on the spot and changing them if you do not receive the relevant feedback that you may desire. This flexibility is due to the internet wherein you can do changes online in the real time. Knowing this increases your responsibility even more. You cannot work in a haphazard manner and bank on changing things. Remember what you Post and what you may upload will remain for a long time. It is like footprints which cannot be erased.

The good part about Social Media is that you can actually reach out to your Target Audience. You can contact them, you can connect and have a conversation with them. You can get to understand and know what makes them have a positive feel towards your Business and Brand. You can get to know what makes them negative towards your Brand and Business. It is essential to track the conversations taking place. Only then you will be able to weave your way into their heart.

You cannot afford to not be on Social Media. Your Customer and Clients are talking, you may acknowledge this fact or not.

There are a couple of Social Media Platforms that you may want to use so that you can have a healthy Social media environment for your Business and Brand:

Facebook
Blog
Twitter
LinkedIn
Google Plus

Additionally join the industry based forums and sites where you can connect with people from the same category and similar mindset. Have healthy discussions here. Please do not go spamming around.

When you do plan the Platforms that you may want to use you need to keep in mind your Brand and Business Personality, Keywords, SEO, Consumer Mindset and so on.

What is your experience with Social Media - do share it here.

My Business Page is on Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/pervarakapadia Do join me.

Websites, Emails, Chats, Forums, Social Media, Clouds, QR Codes

2011-10-15T10:30:00.000+05:30

Twenty years back having your Business and Brand in the virtual world was not a very digestible thought. Being on Social Media was not even thought of. People had started with the dot com [.com]. Unfortunately a lot of mishaps took place and the online world was seen with a lot of suspicion. This was not a wrong perception, there were many people who went all out and scammed on the net. People had made investments. There were people who trusted with a lot of money. Unfortunately they were taken for a ride and no one was able to track the criminals and the fraudulent party.

Along with all this, emails as a communication tool had grown wide and strong. We all depend on them today as well. They are great for personal and professional communication. The world was loosing boundaries.

In this era came the chat sessions. We had the famous Yahoo and MSN Chat. A simple peer to peer encoding and decoding. This was when the world become small. Distances minimized. People were chatting in real time with their near and dear ones.

After this episode came the certification era when people would look out for VeriSign Authentication SSL Certificate and similar encrypting gateway systems. Having the VeriSign Authentication SSL told people that they could engage in communications and e-commerce online with confidence as the required safety concerns were taken care of. This initiated the era of online payment gateway system. You could do safe shopping online.

Simultaneously the Forum Platforms were getting strong. There were Forums for practically everything. You have them from how to do various things, to medicine, to aunt agony and so on.

Slowly but steadily online transactions were getting stronger. The Banks also joined this and online banking was the progress that we as a society made.

While all this was going on the mobile industry was well into a developed stage. Games were anyway an addiction on cell phones. Along with this people started to think of having mobile as a means of shopping and online banking as well.

When all teething problems were addressed in came the Network scenario. This is in today's time called Social Networking. Networking started in a small but definite way. It had started long back. Emails are part of it. Chat is also a part of it. The websites that had people logging in and having an Online Community is also a part of Social scenario. Forums are also a part of this.

Approximately six years back Facebook came. It started off as just a teenage Networking site. No one then would have imagined that this would make and break Brands and Business. No one imagined that money would be made from here. No one thought that CEO would look at it. No one imagined that an industry was about to start off and perhaps will remain for many decades to comes.

Social Media platforms like ORKUT was already in existence and many people were looking at this. Somehow Facebook got the better deal and became more promising. Since then every year many Networking Platforms come and close down. Facebook has remained and has grown bigger and stronger.

We have now reached a stage where it is simple to estimate if your Brand and Business should be on Social Media. If your Clients and Customers are online then you too need to be online. If they are active on Social Media Platforms then you too need to have Page there.

While this is going great we have Cloud Computing. A single space to put all your data so that you no longer need to have huge servers with heavy infrastructure.

We have QR codes as well now wherein a single image leads us to the site and information. You simply have to scan the image with your cell phone and you will land on the desired site. This could be a Website, Blog or a Social Media Page as well.

My Business Page is on Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/pervarakapadia Do join me.

Acquisition, Retention, And Building Loyalty In Social Media

2011-10-13T22:52:00.002+05:30

There are three important criteria while working on Social Media:

Acquisition
Retention
Building Loyalty

Acquisition:
This is the process of getting new people on-board. This is the phase where you bring in new Customers and Clients.
In order to get people on-board you will need to make a Business decision if you want to do aggressive marketing or have a subtle chronological effort. There are a couple of ways in which you could look at Acquisition:

Forums: Join the industry / category based Forums. Forums have a good format of automatic giving your links in your signature. These are really good platforms if used properly. Do not spam.
Competitors: Many a times joining competitors is good. You know what the industry is doing. Please be extremely careful here. The idea is not to steal / pinch their Community Members. The idea is to give constructive discussions and add to the value that they are trying to give. You could join their Community on their Sites, join their Blogs, Join and add to their Facebook content, be on their Twitter and LinkedIn.
Online Advertisements: The other way is to recommend to your Clients on giving out online advertisements. Facebook has an amazing concept of Sponsored Advertising and so on. Use these constructively. There is not much of money involved in the initial stages. What you need to know and do is target the advertisements in a correct manner by way of selecting the right Target Audience and their Target Market / Geography along with a message that will generate a desirable response. You can also look at online banner advertising and so on. These also can create new Customers and Clients. Online advertising can be have various formats to it. There are various sites offering various banner sizes and platforms. For instance you can have floating banners and so on.
Commenting: Commenting on various Blogs, Articles, Posts etc is a great way to encourage people into looking at you and your Links.
Offline Spread: Offline methods are also great to get you Clients and Customers. Advice your Clients to have your online Links on every document sent out. This could be envelopes, bills, invoices, advertisements, hoardings, tv, radio, visiting cards, letter heads and so on.
Software Templates: Have templates created for Emails and other software like Microsoft Word documents and so on containing the Online Links.
Reference And Endorsement: There is another method to get new Clients and Customers: This is the referral and endorsement system. If you have done satisfactory work with your ongoing Customers and Clients then there is a huge chance of them recommending you to their Network. If this takes place there is nothing better. However when you do get new Business from your existing Business sources you have a greater responsibility. People recommending others are putting their reputation to test as well. If you fail then they will be displeased as well. So be careful here.
More From Existing Clients And Customers: Additionally if your existing Clients and Customers are happy then they in turn will give you more business, your scope of work will be increased.
QR Codes: With the help of QR Codes you can make a long URL printed in the offline world easy to connect with your Social Media Page.

These are few of the ways in which you could look at Acquisition.

Retention:
This is the process of maintaining the existing Clients and Customers. After you get Clients and Customers you need to deliver to them the desired results. There is a lot that goes into delivering the right results at the right time and at the right price. There are a couple of tips that you could use so that you can retain your Social Media Community:

Privileged Feeling: You need to give your Clients and Customers a feeling of being privileged.

This could be done by giving them great discounts and sales information.
You could let them have the first peek at new launches.
Let them be the first to know what is taking place behind the scenes.
If you are managing Celebrity then let them have a chance to connect with your Celebrity.
If there is a new announcement that you will coming out with let your Community know first.

Belonging Feeling: Let your Customers and Clients get the feeling of belonging to your Inner Circle.

Encourage them to speak and to share.
Let them know that they are a part of your Family.
Let them share their experience with your product.
Appreciate a good comment. Make it a point to address a negative remark.

Share information that can help them. See when and on what do they re-act.
Monitor and check on feedback.
Listen in to what they are talking. Add if you can deliver value.

These are few of the ways in which you could look at Retention.

Building Loyalty:
If you have managed to retain your Clients and Customers well then getting them to be a little more attached and loyal to you / your Brand or Business should not be a far away dream. Building Loyalty is a life long process. It is a feeling that people have towards your Brand or Business. Loyalty is not a destination; in the sense you cannot really say that you have attained Loyal Clients and Customers so there is nothing else to be done. Anything going down on the Retention graph directly hampers your Loyalty graph.

What are your points to build on Acquisition, Retention and Loyalty.

My Business Page is on Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/pervarakapadia Do join me.

Social Media Networking Is A Win - Win Situation

2011-10-10T10:30:00.001+05:30

Networking is an integral part of Social Media. It is essential that you know what it takes to enable healthy Networking in the online world. Networking in the virtual world is almost similar to the Networking in the real world. The difference is obvious that while in the real world you are able to meet on a Face to Face basis while in the virtual world there is video conferencing and so on.

The power of your online Network can be tremendous if you are able to retain and maintain it on a day to day regular basis.

Networking can best work when you have a good win - win situation. Networking is about mutual benefit. For instance you cannot ask for favors and tell people to buy your products or sell them for you. Just asking people to do something will not work. You need to answer this: what have you given and done for your Network. Have you helped them? Without being asked many times have you got two people connected so that they could mutually benefit? Have you shared valuable information with them? How have you contributed towards the persons in your Network?

There are some good pointers when to keep in mind when you are looking at your online Social Network:

Having a good conversation is great on Social Networking. Please do not get too inquisitive about their personal lives. Also do not get inquisitive on what crises they are facing in their professional lives. Check what is their hobby and what work they do. Have tertiary conversations.
Avoid arguments. It only leads to ego clashes. Have healthy discussions. This does not mean that you become a yes man. In doing this you will loose your respect. Gently disagree if you must.
Check how best you can be of help to them. Here is the catch. Do not sound too helpful. Do not sound as if you are doing a huge favor. Helping people is the key to healthy relations. Help can be given in various ways: You could help by listening to them. You could help by getting two people professionally connected with each other from / via your Network. Help can be given by sharing a great article that you may think will be beneficial to them.
When you have done something for someone you need to check and see if it made sense to them. Did it help them? You will need to have a system of follow up. It is essential that you have a feedback. Be open to having negative replies as well. Do not shy away from negative comments. Understand what went wrong. Reply to them. If need be reply after half an hour so that you can stabilize your emotions and then reply.

Your turn - what are your Social Media Networking pointers?

My Business Page is on Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/pervarakapadia Do join me.

Why Do People 'Like' And 'UnLike' On Facebook? - Social Media

2011-10-05T10:30:00.000+05:30

When people 'Like' a particular Page on Facebook they are expressing the fact that they want to 'connect'. Connecting with your Page does not always mean that you are really liked or people are passionate about you / your Brand / your Business. For instance people could have connected to voice a grievance as they may have not as yet got a suitable reply from your customer care, or from the number of emails that they may have sent to your office.

What this Post goes on to share is that there are number of reasons why people connect with you / your Brand / your Business Page on Facebook. It is essential that you understand these reasons and behave in tandem with them.

There are a couple of reasons why people would 'Like' and 'UnLike' you / your Brand / your Business Page on Facebook:

They most certainly do not wish to be bombarded with your rantings and sales messages.
They do not want you to interfere into their Wall on Facebook especially when they are not really active on your Page. If they are active then it is good to be occasionally conversing.
People join to have exclusive information. Give them the privileged of knowing things in advance and before hand. Let them be the first to know and let them feel they belong to your Community.
They join you to have special offers and discounts that others may not be able to avail if they are not on your Facebook Business Page.
If you have a celebrity Page then people join so that they can interact with the celebrity.
They definitely would not like you prying onto their friends and Network.
Please note that there are certain set of mindsets that would like to be associated and have the expression of joining a particular Page. They are not expecting discounts and other perks.
Some join so that your Page could be seen on their information and Profile Page. This takes place if your Page holds esteem value. If your Page is what people want to be seen with then they will join.
Sometimes people join so that they can share your information in their Network. They feel that the information that you Post is good and valuable for their Network.
If people are not aware of 'why should they join' then perhaps they do not see the reason to join and the subsequent action is that they do not join.

What are your reasons to 'Like' and 'UnLike' the Pages on Facebook?

Reading that may be of interest to you:

My Business Page is on Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/pervarakapadia Do join me.

Appropriate Networking Scenario - Social Media

2011-09-30T02:00:00.000+05:30

Social Media amongst other things is about proper Networking. The world of online Networking has people broadcasting messages. The messages at one level need to be broadcasted in such a way that they enable positive and healthy relationships to be formed.

In order to have an appropriate Networking scenario there are a couple of pointers that you may want to keep in mind:

We all hear content is the key. This stands true. You need to plan and write each Post. Your text needs to be insync with the Brand Personality.
The frequency of your messages should be well planned. You will be perceived with your frequency along with the content. Together they make the complete Post. If your Post too often you will become a nuisance and if you Post rarely you will be forgotten.
Your Community Members have joined your Page with a particular reason and expectation. You need to understand this and ask them if need be on what are their expectations.
Do not be highhanded. If there are comments then make it a point to understand the reason behind them. Be active and not anti-social.

What are your quick pointers?

My Business Page is on Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/pervarakapadia Do join me.

The Description And Page Title Meta Tags - Social Media

2011-09-25T13:13:00.000+05:30

You will have heard and worked on Meta Tags as the SEO personnel and as a Social Media person. You know Meta Tags are important so that your Page / Site / Blog get found easily by Search Engines and you have a better ranking. Once you have a good rank on the Search Pages then there are higher chances of you drawing good traffic. Have you wondered which of the Meta Tags are really more important?

The Description Meta Tag works in a unique way. When your Page / Site Blog gets thrown up on Search Engine findings it is the Description Meta Tag that gets shown as snippet. If written well then it is this that brings you click through. So if your Description Meta Tag is compelling enough then be sure that your click through rate via the Search Engines is a certainty.

The other important Meta Tag is the Page Title. This directly is seen on your Search Engines in bold. It is the result of search words used by your target audience.

Both, Description and Title Meta Tags together form the text that you read on Search Pages. If written well they will induce and encourage readers / searchers to click.

Your description cannot be longer than 160 characters in case of Google.com for instance. After 160 characters your text will be truncated.

My Business Page is on Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/pervarakapadia Do join me.

Quick SEO Tips - Social Media

2011-09-20T11:45:00.000+05:30

SEO is becoming more and more complex as many people demand that their online presence have the SEO inoculation. SEO is to be done to your each and every online presence, however it need not become a night mare.

Here are quick tips to enable your SEO endeavor:

Use your KeyWords sparingly but definitely consistently. Use the right Keywords in your content, headline, sub-head, URL and links as well.
Do not over stuff with KeyWords. Search Engines recognize this and flag such Sites / Blogs / Pages. Some you may stand a chance of being banned as well. To the extent use KeyWords while saving and naming an image as well.
A very important part of SEO is page - loading. It is critical that your page loads fast. This is not a new entrant in the SEO category. This parameter has been there now since over a decade sine the time people were struggling with website designing.
Use re-directs with a little more creativity. It is a good idea to construct your 404 and such other error / re-direct pages well in advance.
Trust towards your Sites / Blogs / Pages has a direct relation with the ranking. If your site is not anonymous, if it shows real people running it and the intention of its existence then people will flow more towards you and share more of your content. This creates the Search Engines to understand your Sites / Blogs / Pages as good and genuine.

What are your tips for good SEO?

My Business Page is on Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/pervarakapadia Do join me.

Social Media For Multi Level Marketing

2011-09-15T17:45:00.001+05:30

Multi Level Marketing or Chain Marketing means that the sales persons are not only compensated for the sales that they make but also get the commission on the sales that their recruits or down-lines make. Multi Level Marketing is also popularly known as Network Marketing.

In this format one person can do sales from their end as well as recruit a team of persons under them so that this team in turn makes sales. The top person who created this team earns from the sales of their down-lines as well.

The amount that one would earn as commission and the level of people as down-line is fixed and determined by the main company whose products are being sold and who is the ultimate pay master to this entire networking programme. Many a times you can have unlimited down-lines, however some companies profess that you need to have limitations therein.

Have you considered having a Social Media Platform for Multi Level Marketing?

You can set up a Facebook Page for instance and have people join you there. Imagine a Facebook Page can be your one point contact wherein you can have your team touching base with you with their questions, asking you on what best is to be done and so on.
This same space can be used to execute your motivational strategy as well wherein you can encourage your team to move ahead and take more challenging sales route.
With Facebook as one of your marketing extensions you can safely put up information and latest news at one centralized Page on the internet which all can subscribe to.
If you have a rewards programme you can put up the winners and encourage others to gear up as well on this one Facebook Page.
If you want to send out an urgent sales offer then this too can be done on your Facebook Page.

So while you can have the rest of your marketing strategy and media playing along a Facebook Page will enable a great method to connect with your Sales Force.

Add to this you will be easily found on Search Engines as well. So go on if you are into Chain Marketing then try out a Facebook Page. Remember it takes time, energy and dedication along with consistency.

My Business Page is on Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/pervarakapadia Do join me.

Search Engines Technical Limitations - Social Media

2011-09-10T13:15:00.000+05:30

Understanding the Search Engine could be advantageous for you. Search Engine Optimization is the process of building your Blog / Site / Social Profile in a way such that the Search Engines can easily find them. This in turn will get them on higher ranks and thereby much easily and quickly available to humans.

Since Search Engines have certain limitations. It is essential and advantageous for your to know these limitations.

Search Engines programmes can read text not images, animations and forms. Hence what is behind these is left out. This means that having your Site with flash could be a little hassle or an image which does not have an appropriate name may be ignore.
A Link structure that is not developed well and is broken then the Search Engine will overlook this.
Usage of terms that normally your Target Audience does not use will be negative for your. For instance if people are used to searching for TV and you are writing television then the Search will not throw up your Blog / Site / Social Profile.
Similarly language matters. If you have French Site and your real Target Audience is Japanese then again this stands to be a problem.
The most critical factor is quality of your content. Ofcourse the Search Engines cannot understand the content and hence cannot know if the quality is good or bad. Thus they get to know this via the traffic, links and comments on your Blog / Site / Social Profile. So greater your traffic, the better your Blog / Site / Social Profile is rated.

These are few of the suggestions in understanding the limitations of Search Engines.

My Business Page is on Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/pervarakapadia Do join me.

Interacting With Search On Search Engines - Social Media

2011-09-05T01:00:00.000+05:30

It is interesting to note as to how people search on the Internet. Once you know how people search your category based information then you can easily adhere to their requirements. This is how you can use SEO to the fullest. The knowledge of what your Target Audience is keying into search engines is like a little magic wand in your hands. You then are to keep using it at practically all times.

Though people search for various reasons the act of searching is performed in similar way. People go to the Search Engines like Google.com and type in the word that directly represents what they are looking for. At times people type a phrase as well. The whole idea is that people are typing so that they reach a destination. For this they type a phrase, a word, a sentence. They hope to reach a proper Site / Blog / Social Profile that gives them or connects them with the required information.

If at all they are not satisfied with what they find then they refine their search query.

There are specific online tools to enable you in understanding on what is the rank of the words that are used in Search. In other words the tool enables you to know which words are used by many people to do a certain Search. Once you identify the words then you need to cross check if they are relevant to your content and what you / your Brand / your Business will stand for. If it makes sense to use the words then by all means do go all out and use them. These are your Keywords. When you use Keywords remember to not clutter your content and not stuff your article with unnecessary usage of Keywords.

Keywords are to be used in an intelligent way. Use them on your Site / Blog / Social Page.

Share your points in here.

My Business Page is on Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/pervarakapadia Do join me.

Blogging Is Extention Of Your Brand And Business - Social Media

2011-08-30T01:29:00.000+05:30

Blogging is a critical part of Social Media. Blogging enables you to establish and position yourself / your Brand / your Business. Your Blog represents you and your Brand. Neglecting this aspect of your Social Media could be a little dangerous.

Here are few of the parameters that you may want to keep in mind:

Keep your content new and fresh.
Keep writing. The more you write the better you get. You improve in your writing skills and you get more traffic as well.
Use of Keywords is crucial.
Do respond and encourage interactions. It is critical.
Be consistent. Do not neglect your Blogging Posts dates.
Frame out what your Blogging will represent and stand for.

These are few of Blogging parameters. What are yours - do share here.

My Business Page is on Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/pervarakapadia Do join me.

What Affects The Search Engines - Social Media

2011-08-25T01:29:00.001+05:30

In the online world, Search Engines are critical. Knowledge of Search Engines form an important part of Social Media professional's day to day activity. It is critical that you understand what a Search Engine is looking for and how best you can make use of the opportunity. While you do understand the important criteria of the Search Engine you need to keep in mind that the algorithms are updated and changed constantly. Hence what may be true today may not be so correct to use in the near future, or may not be so important in the near future. A classic example of this was Panda which was brought in by Google. Panda was claimed to be a more sophisticated and intelligent way to diagnosing what is a healthy Site / Blog / Social Profile Page / Link and what is just spam.

Search Engines are programmes, they are scripts, they are not human. Keeping this in mind here are a few pointers for you to get a brief understanding on what affects the Search Engine and how your Content could affect your ranking on the Search Engines.

Though algorithms change there is no doubt that the quality and health of your Site / Blog is crucial. When we refer to health we are talking about the Content and the Frequency of Posts.
If there are more people visiting your Site / Blog the the algorithms understand that this would be a healthy Site.
If there are more people sharing to your Posts then this is a clear indication that the Posts are good.
If there are people linking to your Site / Blog then again the Search Engine understands this as a positive sign.
You will need to fix your KeyWord selection. It is essential that you start to identify a limited number of words as KeyWords.
Search Engines also look at MetaTags. This is Off - Page SEO. Your MetaTag of Headlines, Descriptions, Labels etc are critical factors. They direct and entertain the Search Engine Crawlers.
The images that you may upload are another crucial factor for Search Engine Indexing. The names of the Images should be based upon KeyWords that you would have selected.

These are some of the pointers that could help you in understanding what does a Search Engine look for normally.

My Business Page is on Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/pervarakapadia Do join me.

What Social Media Is Not

2011-08-20T14:59:00.002+05:30

We know Social Media is all about Conversation. If Conversations are taken care of properly and given good direction then over a period of time they become great Engagement avenues for your Customers with your Brand / Business.

Here in this Post I will talk about what Social Media is not. Below is a quick list of what Social Media is not as far as Business and Branding goes:

Social Media is not a broadcast platform for sales. With great conversations and engagement you will be able to develop loyalty and Customer connect. This will eventually lead to sales. Having said this, Social Media is not about creating amazing sales messages and bombarding your Target Audience / Community Members with it. People go to Facebook to communicate and interact. This interaction can be on friendly basis amongst friends, family or peers. It can also be to gather and share information. Hence they may want to know what is taking place, what is the latest and so on. They will not mind consuming information. What they will mind is getting tedious sales messages. People understand. They are not naive. It takes very little to 'un-friend' your Brand and Business. It takes less than 4seconds.
Social Media is not really about yourself. Though people want to know what others do, they do not want inane status messages. It is ok to share a little company experience [as your Brand and Business Personality may suite]. However it is not so right to mention how tired you are.
As the Page Administrator you need not jump into each and every Conversations that take place. However you will need to have a method to listing into each and every Conversations that take place. This means that when a Conversation is active you need to weigh if you can share anything of value or anything that enhances and or builds relationships. If what you will type, does not match any of these criteria then you need to really re-consider if you should step into the Conversation.
While there is strength in numbers Social Media is definitely not a race to get more people to your Page. You need to have people who are your true Target Audiences. You need to have them join you not by pushing them but with their own free will. A chronological growth though slow will be more healthy and sturdy than a quick over-nite growth of Fans / Followers.
Social Media is not about being a robot. In an endeavor to be professional please do not sound like a robot - a copy paste of same message to various people will not hold good - 'sorry we will get back to you' for instance.
Abandoned Pages are huge fields for spammers. When you as an Administrator will not be present on your Page there will be spammers ever ready and willing to post their links. Ignoring your Page is equivalent to ignoring your Brand / Business.
Maintain good ethical and respectful relationship. Do not behave highhandedly with your Community People. If you have mentioned that you will revert then you need to revert as soon as feasible.
You do need to be consistent on your Page. If you come and say a hello once in a week it may be too weak for your Relationship. The right balance of Content and Frequency along with proper Ethics creates a lasting bond.
Treat your Social Media as a commitment and not as a one off ad-hoc job that is to be completed. If Social Media is a one off case then better you do not do this.

There are lots of other myths that you may want to burst - share them here!

My Business Page is on Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/pervarakapadia Do join me.

Tips On Keyword Selection - Social Media

2011-08-15T14:59:00.002+05:30

Understanding Keywords is an essential criteria when you work in the online territory. It is the Keywords that will eventually get your right target to you in the online world. Keyword understanding, finding and usage is one of the most important tool that you have. The knowledge of Keyword is your mighty sword / pen. Keyword finding / research is not a one-time effort. You need to be continuous in your research.

It is the Keywords research findings that tell you where your market and category is going. Keywords are what people type onto search engines when they are looking out for a particular matter online. Hence to know the pulse of your Target Audience you are to be well tuned into Keyword research. This is a simple but great way to know where your Business / Brand is as compared to your category / market. Based on your finding you will be able to work on your On-Page and Off-Page SEO.

Your Keyword finding will enable you to estimate on what is your Target Audience seeking. Every search phrase is recorded by various Search Engines and you can retrieve this information in a simple manner. Identification and the final selection of Keywords depends on the value of the Keywords:

The Keyword that ranks well when you research needs to be validated.

Ask the question if this is right for your Brand / Business: The Keywords need to be in-sync with your Brand Personality. It should be able to identify with your Brand and enhance it.
You need to check if the Keyword is relevant to the content that you have on your Site / Blog / Social Media.

What perhaps you could do is physically go on search engine and type out the Keywords.

Check on the number of paid ads that get thrown up alongside. This enables a little in indicating the strength of your Keywords.

These are couple of tips. Your turn share your tips here.

My Business Page is on Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/pervarakapadia Do join me.

Precaution While Working On Link Building - Social Media

2011-08-10T14:59:00.003+05:30

An important part of working on Social Media is to understand about Links and Link Building. Links are like little veins or tracks that guide the Search Engines crawlers [programs / scripts / algorithms] to go and check out the Site / Blog /Social Profile. Search Engines have built their algorithms in such a way that if you start to spam and paste your Link across without a relevant reason then your Site / Blog can be flagged and quarantined. Sometimes banned as well.

For this purpose it is essential to know as to what criteria should you look out for while working on Link building:

It is essential to know the health and quality of the sites where you Post your Links.

If the site where you Post your Links does not have a good traffic then it does not hold good for you.
If the site where you Post your Links is not having proper content which is useful to readers and if it is not alive [frequent posting] then again this is not going to hold good for you.
If the site where you Post your Links is not having content that is relevant to your readers then again the reader coming onto the site will not click your link as your link is not relevant to them.

Post your links onto forums. Careful when you do this. If you go all out it will end up being rated by other members of the forum as spam. Unnecessary posting will not hold good.
Post your links on Sites / Blogs and Forums which have good ranking.
Directory submission is another good way to have Links back to your Site / Blog / Social Media Page.
If at all you have Business Partners then it is a good idea that you share with them Badges which have inbuilt Link to you.
If you can create content that have the strength to get spread out in a viral way then there too is great chance for you.

Link building is a slow process. It is to be done strategically and let it grow organically. My Business Page is on Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/pervarakapadia Do join me.

Facebook Posts Ethics - Social Media

2011-08-05T14:59:00.004+05:30

Social Media is one of the great spaces where a Brand / Business can communicate with their Customer Set. If handled well you will find good and loyal people attached to your Social Media Page over a period of time.

Many a times one could get carried away when one is working on Social Media. Spaces like Facebook do hold a great reason to be carried away. While on Facebook Page Management you need to keep a couple of ethical behavior in mind:

Strange and over friendly messages do not hold good on a Business / Brand Page. While you do need to be friendly and relate to your Community Members it is essential that you maintain professionalism. It is preferred that you do not cross this line.
Usage of too much of short form and lingo will not hold good. Your Brand Personality may be catering to the youth or the teens crowd still slang will not hold good.
You need not hop into all Conversations that your Community People may hold with each other on your Page. Many a times you may see that people do tend to converse with each other if they are observing each other on your Page for a long time. Allow this conversation to take place if it is within the preview of your Page Philosophy. If it is outside your Page criteria then you can gently send out a message.
Remember to revert and post back the required information as quickly as feasible. This is very critical in Social Media. People may not expect it in real time every time however the earlier you are the better.
Have the ratio of auto Post much lesser than manual Posts. Facebook algorithms do not encourage third party auto feeds. Add to this a manually posted information is always more interacted.
Do not copy paste some other Posts and messages. This is plagiarism. You may loose credibility over a short span of time.
Show that you are human and not a robot. Empathy is important. While maintaining professionalism do not end up being robotic.

These are some of the ethics. There are couple more. Do share your points.

My Business Page is on Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/pervarakapadia Do join me.

Why Use #Hashtag In Twitter ? - Social Media

2011-07-30T13:59:00.000+05:30

This sign on Twitter is the most known and used: #. It is called Hashtag. Though it may be a little difficult to organize content on Twitter #Hashtag has made it a little simple. Hashtag has made searching on Twitter easy. It has made the conversational thread feasible. You can search with # and have other people continue to converse. Infact # enables to have an alert system as well; during crises situation people Tweet out with # attached to words / phrases.

You will have yourself used the Twitter Hashtag at some point in time while Tweeting. The Hashtag is put along with a word or phrase. There is no space between the Hashtag and the chosen word.

The uses of Hashtag # can be summarized as below:

The main purpose of #Hashtag is so that your Tweets can be organized by you.
In a way you create categories via the #Hashtag usage.
Additionally people searching for that particular #Hashtag will be able to read your Tweets as well.
A #Hashtag enables you to make the persons reading your Tweets understand for who or what purpose you have Tweeted. This way the right Target Audience will select your Profile to follow.
A #Hashtag enables others to Re-Tweet your Tweets.
Having consistency in your #Hashtag enables you to procure new followers who have similar topics to discussed.

What is your experience with #Hashtag of Twitter?

My Business Page is on Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/pervarakapadia Do join me.

What Causes Social Media Crises?

2011-07-25T13:59:00.002+05:30

Social Media has opened up new avenues of understanding for the Brands and Businesses. The days of mere push of information has taken a sharp turn. It is no more just push. Here there is pull as well. Together they make interaction feasible. While there is a debate that the Social Media space is owned by Customers I would say both, the Customer and the Brand have equal rights and ownership. Perhaps ownership can be defined by this fact: the one who uses Social Media correctly starts to own it. So if a Brand chooses to stay out of it and be lethargic then the ball is in the Customer's court.

Thus in simple words Social Media belongs to that person or Brand who stays on top of things. It is an era where you need to plan and execute with ease and consistency. You need to pre-plan on how you will tackle various types of situations. It may not be possible to plan for all events however it would be worth spending time and energy to construct a structure on what and how you will behave in a particular situation.

Many a times we may come across the view that controlling a Brand Perception now is out of question due to Social Media - however if we plan then it should not be very difficult. The perception of a Brand is developed with various factors one of them is Social Media. Usually a bad service or a defective product results in a Social Media crises. If your product does not deliver what it mentions, or your customer service fails, or your after sales service goes out of context then you are most probably going to face a Social Media crises. You may face a Social Media crises if your Social Media personnel does not behave and act in an appropriate way.

You can face a Social Media crisis whether or not you have a Social Media Page. You may think that since you are not on Social Media you can stay away from the Social Media mess and crises. Well, this is not true, an angry customer is not going to wait for you to arrive on the Social Media scenario. If you are not present then it is your loss, your loss all the more. Your angry customer will post the grievance anywhere and you will have to go chasing the messages.

Social Media will be used under various situations. Sometimes your stakeholders may be against your stock market value for instance. Reasons to have a Social Media crises could be ample and plenty. Sometimes an unhappy employee may just go ranting about how improper your systems are.

What makes a Social Media crises stand out and make a huge following? There are two factors that can make a Social Media crises go out of hand and create many people to go against you, your Brand, Product, Company and so on.

The first point is that when a grievance is not attended with care, respect and a definite rectification course.
The second part is when useless, unnecessary justification is given although there is a glaring problem.

When you attain the above two points your Social Media crisis will begin to go out of your hand.

So while the thinking is that the Customer has taken over I would say it is not so true if you play your role well. You can to a large extent control and rectify your Social Media Brand Perception.

My Business Page is on Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/pervarakapadia Do join me.

Important Points For Your Social Media Endeavor

2011-07-20T14:59:00.005+05:30

Social Media is developing into an active and a well recognized part of Marketing. Companies and Business Houses are recognizing the advantage in having a Social Media presence. In order to maintain an active and robust Social Media Page there are a couple of pointers that could be useful. Check out these parameters and do share your favorites too:

Think of the activity as Communication extension. Look at the activity as part of building the Brand and role playing / behaving as per the Brand Personality. Your Consumer has many touch points with your Brand, one of the touch point is the Social Media Platform that you may be working on. This means that a singular Brand Message and a singular Brand Personality is to be in existence all across.
Look at your Social Media Page as a space where your Customers will interact with you in two situations. Situation one: When they are angry they will seek you and Post the grievance. The second part is that since it is Social in nature they will view your Posts and Comments when they are on that particular site at their convenience. You need to respect their time and the reason why they have connected with you.
You need to be active on your social Media Page if you are looking at your Community Members interacting and engaging with you. Do not think that if you have created your Business / Brand Profile Page you have got your Social Media presence. This is a myth. The term Social itself signifies that you behave and remain consistently Social. Be consistent and update your Social Media Page regularly. Ofcourse do not cross the the line and be a nuisance either.
Many a times we see blatant sales messages being posted. This is again an incorrect approach. The idea of being on Social Media is so that you attain top-of-the-mind recall value and not so that you have a space to blast sales messages. You need to carefully develop and hand hold your Community Members. Give them lots of reasons to be on your Page.
When your Community Members start to interact do make it a point to revert as soon as possible. If you feel satisfied that people are interacting and then do not share back then it is not worth being on the Social Media scenario.
Your Community Members could write just about anything on your Page. You will need to know how best you can monitor this. You also need to decide before hand on how you should deal with various situations. You need to know how negative comments for instance is to be handled.
Make it a point to let your Community Members feel privileged. Make it a point to let them feel that they belong to your Social Page. Give them information that has not been out. Let them have a sneak peek at what is taking place with your Company / Brand / Business / Product / Outlets and so on. Let them feel that because they are on your Page they are receiving first hand genuine inside information.
Have a trend and stick to it. Have a weekly trend like question answers etc. Let your Community Members know that there will be an interaction hour on a particular day of the week at a particular time. This will make them look forward to the time. This creates an amazing feeling and it opens up a real active engaging communication.
Ask and you shall get. If you are doing all of the above then it is time to ask. Ask your Community Members to invite their Network. Ask them to recommend. Ask them to share with their Network what you may Post. Use this tool of asking very carefully. You need not get aggressive here or become a nuisance. Remember the discretion to act on your request is upto your Community Members you cannot force them. Remember that you are asking them to share what may hold them in good light with their Network. Do not ask / blast sales messages.

Your turn. What are your key pointers. Share them here.

My Business Page is on Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/pervarakapadia Do join me.

Google Plus Circles For Your Brand And Your Business - Social Media

2011-07-15T13:59:00.003+05:30

Google Plus is one of the most talked about Network Sites in today's time. You look at the Tweets and it is one of the most Tweeted content on the internet. Though in its nascent stage as yet Google Plus has shown great advantages.

In this post am going to share a couple of features that are very advantageous for Brand and Business Networking.
Google Plus has a significant feature called Circles. It could be compared to what Facebook has as Lists.

Circles from Google Plus enables you to form various groups. You can have plenty of groups. For instance friends, family, work and so on. The Circles enables you to have focused and targeted information sent out. Thus your information is not sent off to people who may not be interested in that piece of information. In the same way you can click on any of your Circles and you will be able to view the information posted by members of that particular Circle alone.

Your people will not know the name of the Circle that you put them into.

An amazing part is that when you post you can select the Circle you want to share your post with. You can select individuals from your GMail as well. And here is the amazing part: you can select to share with your entire Circle as well as the network in their Circles. This is the point of extended / spread of information you can do. One more part is that you can share your post with people whom you may have not added to your Circles but if they have added you to their Circles you can send out information to them.

You can chat with your particular Circle exclusively. This way you can have many people chatting with similar interest or concern.

You can select what part of your profile information is available to which Circle. For instance if you have your professional Circle they will be able to view your education and employment while your friends Circle can view your relationship, location and so on.

If you are posting information that you may want to share and draw attention of a particular person then you can do tagging. You can simply tag by '@'.

The features in Google Plus enable you to do a quick research and ask on what is it that your Customer would be seeking. Ofcourse still the 'questions' section has not been well developed still you can make the best use of the post section.

Google has enable your android phone to be in sync with your Google Plus Network. This means you can be online when you are on the go.

You can have Customer Care taking place on your Google Plus - and have your Brand and Business reaching out to various persons and group of people [Circles].

Your turn: Would you look at Google Plus for Brand and Business?

My Business Page is on Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/pervarakapadia Do join me.

SEO Pointers - Social Media

2011-07-10T13:59:00.001+05:30

SEO is an important criteria for your online activities. SEO [Search Engine Optimization] if done accurately and consistently then it can be a very rewarding work.

Below are a couple of myths and pointers that one should consider while working on SEO tasks:

Duplicate the content: Having a couple of blogs that are same is not the way to go. Also having same content across various Social Media Sites, Blog and Website is not a very good idea. There are two main disadvantages: One is that your Pages and Site will not be taken up higher by Search Engines and secondly your Target Audience will loose interest as wherever they go it seems they have to see the same copy paste job.
Images are to be named as Image1, Image2 and so on: Spiders [Crawlers / programmes / scripts] of Search Engines do not 'read' photos, videos and audios. What they do read is text matter. Hence here is a great chance for you. Name your images as per proper and relevant keywords. You can name your images while saving them. Alt Text is an important feature.
Link: Your best SEO is linking the various matter with each other. If you have referred to some point in another post then why not hyperlink the two. As much as external linking is important do remember to work towards internal linking as well.
Another task of SEO is Keyword. You need to research on what is the right Keyword for your task. Keywords are critical hence before you start to post you need to be clear on your set of Keywords. They need to be intelligently used across all your online work. This starts right from your URL name and so on. Your Page Title, Headline, Sub-head and so on all should be having the intelligent usage of Keywords. There are two parts to this one is On-Page and the other is Off-Page. Use your Keywords in MetaTags and so on.

SEO should not be considered later - it is the first part that is to be done planning for.

My Business Page is on Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/pervarakapadia Do join me.

Your Community's Network Is Important - Social Media

2011-07-05T13:59:00.006+05:30

Social Media is a great platform for sharing information. It is a great platform when things go well and people share either what you want them to share or they share on their own a positive note about you / your Brand / your Business. There are various people sharing various matter. People automatically start to prefer a certain platform for a particular aspect. For instance: LinkedIn to show professional side while Facebook Profile Pages for friends and family.

On Your Social Media Page you will find that particular people share a lot while some do this less frequently and others may have not as yet done the sharing.

Have you tried to track and see if those who are sharing have the network that could be useful to you? Try to monitor and see who other than your immediate Community is getting to view what you Post. It is a critical and good to know aspect of Social Media.

Track the people and check if they also would be good to have on your Social Media Page. When your core Community Member is doing too much sharing and still no one from their network seem to join you perhaps it is time to understand that the sharing may not be so much of value. You need to have a quick check on those people who share less frequently. Perhaps they may be having an actual relevant target audience in their network. It is a simple understanding that people connect with people who perhaps have some similar liking. There is huge potential in the network of your Community Members; it is your task to see as to what may make the difference.

Your Community Member would be having in their network people who have some similar choice. This section could be a huge potential for you to take your Brand / Business ahead. Check this aspect and go ahead.

My Business Page is on Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/pervarakapadia Do join me.

Get Your Community To Talk - Social Media

2011-06-30T13:59:00.004+05:30

While you work heavily on your Social Media Pages it is imperative that your efforts pay off. One of your objectives would be to have your Community Members talking about your Brand / Business. When people start to talk about your service / product is works very beneficial for you. At one level you have a viral spread taking place and at another level you have your Members acting as ambassadors for your Brand / Business.

There are various ways in which you could enable your Community Members to get talking about your Brand / Business:

Get them involved: If you could enable user generated thinking pool for your product / service then you will not only know where you stand but also get to know what is expected. Sometimes just a little add-on can make your offering get more preference from your Customers. A collaborated output has far more better acceptance and trial.
Create a 'want': Get your Community Members to apply / opt in for your trial. This will create a 'look-forward' feel. When they are eligible and get an opportunity to use / try your product / service - this will create more buzz and talk. A feeling of being the 'privileged' person gets people to feel that they 'belong' and this will in turn benefit you as well.
Happy people create more happiness: When your happy Customers spread the good word and their positive experience it enables more people 'willing' to join you rather than what your sales pitch would have created.

So go on and create the buzz. Social Media is an amazing platform.
My Business Page is on Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/pervarakapadia Do join me.

Creating A 'Like-able' Environment - Social Media

2011-06-25T13:59:00.005+05:30

Many a times you may have wondered on what would create a more favorable environment for your Social Media presence. What should you do and not do. After your audience joins your Social Media Page what are the parameters that you need to take care of. Here are a couple of parameters that perhaps may come handy:

Asking questions: Social Media Sites like Facebook for instance enables you to have a quick survey. This way you can understand what your Community Members are seeking, what they like, what puts them off and so on. You can use questions as a great space to understand the various facets of your product / service / Social Media Page and so on.
Listen: While you do ask questions you will require to read between lines as well. There could be brief conversations going on on your Social Media Page. Listen to these. Create alerts for your Brand / Business and check on what people are talking. Listen in to what is said about your competitors as well. Listening to what people write for searching can also be a great way to know what Keywords are to be used.
Behind the scenes: People like to know the trivia. There is no harm in sharing on what is taking place at your corporate office / branch office. People like to know what other people are doing. Sharing is not bad. Share by way of text, video, audio, photos and so on.
Do not sell: Please stop bombarding sales messages. Social Media is a very different work, it is not sales broadcast platform.
Surprise and delight: This is definitely one of the best method. It works on ground, it works in direct marketing and it works on most marketing platforms like Social Media as well.
Give value: While surprise and delight is a great way another amazing method is value addition. Try to see how you can go that extra mile to satisfy your Member, how can you provide matter that others cannot / do not.
Honesty and transparency: Any Business requires transparency along with honesty. This goes without saying.

You can read the below nine pointers that will enable you to understand in depth the various ways in which you would want to handle your Social Media Audience:

A good note to go through would be on how you could go about planning and handling the Social Media requirements: http://goo.gl/65bCQ
A note on handling of negative comments: http://goo.gl/tHTMP
What are the Social Media uses for your brand and marketing objectives?: http://goo.gl/IDvFr
Community Management on Social Media sites like Facebook is not just about having a Fan / Business Page set up: http://goo.gl/WgqSK
A note on how to measure your Social Media efforts: http://goo.gl/uRv12
Segregating Your Community Members: http://goo.gl/3y49u
Measuring Your Customer In Social Media: http://goo.gl/EjAHQ
A note on Types Of Your Audience Personalities in Social Media: http://goo.gl/vrYUd

How To Decide The Frequency Of Your Posts On Social Media: http://goo.gl/wM2fL

Having said this the last mile is critical: Your product / service should deliver what its promises.

Your turn - what would you look at?

My Business Page is on Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/pervarakapadia Do join me.

Community Testimonials Via Social Media

2011-06-20T13:59:00.003+05:30

Social Media enables you to have a captured audience. This is your Community. This Community is to be nurtured and retained over a period of time. You do need to dedicated a percentage of your daily time to your Social Media Community Members. You need to slice your Data and see how is the community progressing. Segregating your Community Members: http://goo.gl/3y49u and measuring your Customer In Social Media: http://goo.gl/EjAHQ is the key essence. It is essential that you know who your Members are. You do need to decipher what they are seeking and why they have joined your Social Media Page. Once you understand your Members you will be able to segregate them and understand who are your active Members. A note on how to measure your Social Media efforts: http://goo.gl/uRv12

While you do this you need to check at your back-end on which Community Members are your good Customers. These good Customers are to be nurtured so that they in turn become your Brand ambassadors. They can give a testimonial and make others aware on the positive experience about your Brand / Business. Having a testimonial from your existing Customer is a very valuable asset that you can have.

There are two ways in which you could receive the testimonials:

You could request these Customers, who are your Community Members as well, to share their experience with your Brand / Business
The second way is the unsolicited method - which is better - is that they on their own put in a good word on your Page

Either ways remember to thank them. It is entirely your Business decision to decide on which of the two routes you may prefer from the above points. After all Community Management on Social Media sites like Facebook is not just about having a Fan / Business Page set up: http://goo.gl/WgqSK. If your Customer is happy they will volunteer and share their experience. It is best if you have a collection of unsolicited testimonials.
Unsolicited testimonials are a great way of showcasing your good service and product. It is more genuine and is more believable. It enables you to enhance the positive perception towards your Brand / Business.

My Business Page is on Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/pervarakapadia Do join me.

What Is Google Wallet - Social Media

2011-06-15T13:59:00.004+05:30

Google will soon be rolling out Google Wallet. This is a payment system that will enable you to just flash your cell phone at the payment counter. Your payment system has shifted from paper notes to plastic credit card. Now as Google launches this you would start to see yourself and people around you paying via cell phones. Essentially this will be an android application. While Google Checkout is the online payment system provided by Google, the Google Wallet is the mobile / cell phone enabled payment system.

How will Google Wallet work?:

The application enables your phone to store the virtual versions of your existing plastic cards onto your cell phone
When you will tap your cell phone your payment information goes out
At some stores it will enable loyalty information as well [this is if the store has a set-up for loyalty programme of Google Offers]

In Short:

Google Wallet makes your credit cards fit into your cell phone
Makes your phone into a wallet

So, are you all set to use it?
My Business Page is on Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/pervarakapadia Do join me.

What Are Facebook Deals - Social Media

2011-06-10T13:59:00.000+05:30

Facebook recently launched Facebook Deals. The basic principles and modus operandi is the same as what Groupon is.

Facebook Deals comprises of the below factors:

Group buying

The more people buy, the more discounts will take place

Facebook Deals got introduced during the month of April 2011. The programme is still in its pilot stage. It offers online coupons to customers who can avail of discounts from their local stores. This pilot is introduced in limited cities: Atlanta, Dallas, San Diego, Austina and San Francisco. Facebook's intention is to roll across other cities and countries soon.

Has it rolled into your locale? Share your experience with Facebook Deals.

My Business Page is on Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/pervarakapadia Do join me.

Social Media is Mass Comm., DM And PR

2011-06-05T13:59:00.005+05:30

Social Media is to be seen as an extension of marketing and branding exercise. Social Media should not be a domain which works on its own in a silo and isolation. It requires the same effort, strategy and brain storming that any other channel would require. Thinking of Social Media at the end when all else is decided could be a slightly wrong approach in today's environment.

Social Media should be a part of your overall strategy. The Brand Personality that you may create for your service or product is to be extended via your Social Media endeavors as well. Many a times we will notice that Social Media is a live test of the brand personality. Ofcourse the modus operandi would be different. However our target audience would be part of the overall target audience itself. Social Media Sites are one of the touch points for your Customer set. They would be experiencing your Brand at various levels like at the sales counter, TV, hoarding, online advertising and so on.

Social Media has an amazing mix of direct marketing, mass communication and public relations. You can choose to broadcast your message, or connect with your individual target on a one-on-one basis. Or you can use the Social Media platform to manage crisis, and work around as a public relation tool. You have an option to make the best use of Social Media platform. It essentially depends on what your marketing requirement is. You need to analyze your marketing situation and then decide what role would Social Media play. Once you decide on this then you can decide on how the role will enable you to achieve your marketing objectives.

How has your corporate looked at Social Media. Is Social Media top of the mind?

Interesting read:

Benefits of Online Reputation Management - Social Media

My Business Page is on Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/pervarakapadia Do join me.

What Are Facebook Credits - Social Media

2011-05-30T13:59:00.000+05:30

Have you wondered what are Facebook Credits? Facebook Credits are virtual currency that you can use to buy applications, games and so on. The purchases are done only on Facebook via logging in to your Personal Profile.

You can own these credits by purchasing them. This purchase can be made via your PayPal or credit cards. In short your Facebook Credits can be purchased via real currency which is transferred online.

If at all you wish to know what how much Facebook Credit you have or what is the balance then go to your 'Payments' Tab via your Account Settings. You can buy your Facebook Credits from this same tab of 'Payments'.

Facebook Credits were first introduced in alpha stage during May 2009. Post this in February 2010 the beta stage was brought in which lasted till January 2011. The Facebook Credits have grown in size and popularity. In March 2011 a subsidiary was created to handle payments due to its large size. The subsidiary is called Facebook Payments Inc. Currently there are approximately 150 developers who encourage use of Facebook Credits in more that 650 Facebook games and applications. This represents approximately 70% of virtual goods purchase on Facebook.

Do you use Facebook Credits? Share your experience here.

My Business Page is on Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/pervarakapadia Do join me.

Should You Buy Facebook Fans? - Social Media

2011-05-25T13:59:00.001+05:30

We hear one or all of the below:

Buy Facebook Fans
Want Facebook Fans
Link Exchanges
I Fan You And You Fan Me

Do you think that outright purchasing Fans solves your marketing concern? Who perhaps could be looking at this?

Lets look at a different scenario: Imagine there is a retail outlet in the brick and mortar world. The retailer buys some 10000 people to just come to the retail outlet. Why does this not take place in the brick and mortar world as a main operative thought? You may think that the shop capacity vis a vis the number of persons does not make sense. So, lets bring down the number of persons and increase shop capacity [remember we are in our imaginative world of brain storming]. Will this process still hold good? People don't buy such thinking. Why are they then looking at this in the online world?
Having said this, there would be a few who will deliver to you the quantity of Fans as per what they promise while commencing with your Page. If they say they will get you an x number within a time frame they will deliver. For this they will do proper marketing like: advertising, direct marketing and public relations. They do not have a pandora box from which your Fans will tumble out.

Usually Social Media professions don't promise initially. Between 3 t 6 months you can guesstimate on what will be your Fan quantity. Don't be in a hurry. Organic growth is the best. You will be able to retain people. Remember you want real humans, who are really looking at your category and who want to really connect with your Brand / Business House.

Did you know?:

Technology enables bot system which can create Page Likes without human contact
Why not check in the first place if they have a Fan Page?
If they are making claims of getting you 10,000 Fans then check how many Fans they have on their Fan Page - why not check that?

Lastly: If someone Fans your Page, you are not under any obligation to Fan their Page.

My Business Page is on Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/pervarakapadia Do join me.

How To Decide The Frequency Of Your Posts On Social Media

2011-05-20T13:59:00.001+05:30

Have you wondered as to how many times should you Post / Share / Comment on Social Media? Too much is not good and too less is worse. Your frequency + content are factors that determine if your audience will stick with your Brand / Business Page.

There are various factors that determine the frequency of your Posts:

Category: This is the crucial factor. For instance if you are in the news category then naturally you need to be very frequent - people would like to have information as it unfolds in the world. If you are in the beverage or any other FMCG then people would like to have information about what you are associated with as well. For instance if you have a beverage that is positioned on freshness then people will like to know more about freshness and so on. Having said this your target audience does not consciously look for the attributes it is for you to develop the same.
Customer Mindset: Your frequency is directly proportional to your target audience's thirst and capacity to consume information via online Social Media Sites. For instance if you have a beverage which is for senior citizen's particular pain relief unlike what is shared in the above point you may want to slow down a little bit with your frequency.
Brand Personality: Your frequency also depends on what personality you want to portray. If you have a personality that is on snobbery then it is best to be a little less frequent.
Seasonality: If you have an offer or sales going on then your frequency will vary from what is shared above.
Out of sight is out of mind. This is very true in case of the online world. Less according to you may not really be less. The reason being is that your Post is just one of the many that your target audience's Page Feed is receiving. Your post may never be noticed.
Predictability is good; but bad without excitement. It is good if you decide that you will post just thrice a week and then stick to it. However you will need to drop in an interesting Post at times to break the monotonous method. Too much monotonous methods can lead to lack of interest.
Auto Posts: Reduce the frequency of auto posts. Auto Posts create distance.
While you may think you are posting often your target audiences Feeds do not state the same. Careful: if your target audience does not have too many Pages that they may have joined then your Posts need to reduce.
Theme: If you have promised that every day you will share a breakfast news then no matter what stick to this. In crucial situation announce before hand that they should not expect the Post.

The Frequency is very important. It creates affinity. It makes your audience 'look forward' to your posts. Set the pace right. It is critical that you analyze when your audience interacts.

Your turn. What is your frequency to Post? Share your learning here.
My Business Page is on Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/pervarakapadia Do join me.

How Does Panda Affect You? - Social Media

2011-05-16T09:11:00.000+05:30

You will have heard about Panda by now. After Google Instant we have Panda walking in. It is the latest algorithm brought by Google Inc., early this year. It essentially is a fight against the much infamous content farms, copy paste work and link exchanges. Your Blog and Website could get affected by this.

Check on your Page Rank. Have you slipped recently? This could be because of Panda. Panda is popularly known as Farmer. It farms the good sites and brings them upfront on the search.

Google is usually silent about its algorithms. They do not want people to manipulate and exploit the knowledge. This is a positive; when people do not know completely on how to bring their sites up high on the search by malpractice. Even then black hat SEO does take place.

How will Panda affect you?:

You will receive much more relevant search results which will enable you to reach to the required information much more faster.
Panda seems to be appreciative of comments and conversations hence your Social Media Sites work out to be a big positive for you.
If you use SEO strategy then Panda will start to get fond of you. Do not go in for black hat SEO. Panda will figure this out.
Avoid link farms and packages. At some point you may get tempted but resist this as bad fruit. When you avoid such tactics Panda will be nice to you.
Google emphasizes that user experience will get better with Panda.
If there is low quality content then delete it and move it out immediately. You may think it is small quantity of content. However a little can also bring your site down on search.
Avoid densely populating the content with keywords and links. However an appropriate usage of links and keywords will work to your advantage.

What is your experience with Panda? Did Social Media engagement and conversations manage to bring you up on search?

I work as Freelance Social Media Network Online Professional. My Business Page is on Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/pervarakapadia Do join me.

Your Auto Posts On Facebook May Not Be Read - Social Media

2011-05-15T11:59:00.004+05:30

Facebook has been transparent about its algorithms. They are called EdgeRank. It is this algorithm that decides on which post should appear on your Personal Profile Feeds in Facebook. Recently you may have noticed that posts coming from similar third party auto posting sites are getting clubbed together.

This will result in your Fans not clicking each time to check out what all is clubbed together.

The reasons why they sooner or later could stop clicking the clubbed auto posts all-together:

The quantity of Posts clubbed together is high sometimes as much as 51 Posts are clubbed together for example
Once the pandora box of clubbed Posts is opened the recent Feeds seem to be pushed down
When the clubbed Feeds are allowed to tumble out many a times you will notice Posts which are hours old show up throwing the recent Posts down

In short till this situation is not taken care of by Facebook you will need to post manually.

I work as Freelance Social Media Network Online Professional. My Business Page is on Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/pervarakapadia Do join me.

How To Use Facebook Page To Engage Your Customers - Social Media

2011-05-10T11:59:00.002+05:30

Facebook has become one of the major Social Networking Sites. Infact as a matter of speaking, and in comparison, it is called as one of the largest nations coming into force - or shall we say is already into force with the political revolution that it enables? Ofcourse Facebook is an electronic site which goes to say that it the people who cause the revolution.

With over 500 million persons on Facebook you are bound to find your target audience on Facebook at-least 99% of the time [leaving out countries that don't allow Social Sites or for the persons who are not into Social Networking on Facebook]. The simple logic of any Brand or Business is that - be where your target audience is. Any Brand would like to have multiple touch points with their Customers. Any Brand would like to make the best use of the various touch points. So, naturally Facebook becomes ideal online and Social space for Brand and Business houses to be in. This is the space where you can befriend your Customers and gently lead them to your objectives.

We all talk about engaging our audience. We understand that engagement will gently lead them to be loyal to us. Thus, in due course of time they would be our best ambassadors.

In this post I shall try to share on how you can engage with your audience on Facebook.

Amongst the many features that you will find on your Facebook Page the main features which can enable engagement are:

Share: There is no harm in requesting your Community on Facebook to share. Ask them upfront to share! When they get to share and talk with their network it gets better for you. Firstly your Page matter is going viral. Secondly your Community gets more engaged as they get their network appreciating the content and thereby a reinforcement takes place towards your Page; in other words towards your Brand / Business.
Links: Engage them with interesting content. Share the links of content that is relevant and meaningful to them.
Photos and videos: This is the universal truth: Pictures not only say a thousand words but they act as eye stoppers as well. On your Community Member's feed they show up as thumbnail. Thumbnails work as wonderful eye stoppers.
Create question answer: This is an amazing poll system that Facebook has put up. Here you can actually get votes to a survey, you can generally ask a question and so on. The good part is that it reflects easily in the Feed of your Community Member's Home Page
Interesting status updates to draw conversation: Your status updates need to generate a conversation. You can either post an opinion whereby your Community automatically answers, or you can ask for an opinion. You need to get a discussion going.

Make the best use of the Page that Facebook has created.

I work as Freelance Social Media Network Online Professional. My Business Page is on Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/pervarakapadia Do join me.

Types Of Your Audience Personalities - Social Media

2011-05-05T11:14:00.001+05:30

When you handle a Social Media Page for your Brand or Business you need to keep in mind the type of audience that you have. Everyone is not of the same and similar mindset even though they would be connected via a single Page with your Brand or Business. There would be difference in their mindset, in the way they consume your information, in their lifestyle and so on. There are a couple of ways to understanding as to who is your target audience and how should you be re-acting to them.

Parameter One:

Essentially the first line of identification ofcourse would be based on your own product / service category. This would determine as who would be joining your Social Page. The first line of understanding your target audience would be on the lines of knowing who would essentially join you. You would have your Brand Personality drawn out and hence you would also have sketched out on who is your target audience. For more information: Your Social Media Output Should Be An Extension Of Brand Personality

Parameter Two:

After they join your Brand / Business Page: There are ways in which you can definitely cluster your community. If you have a purchase record and if your back end data collection is robust then you will be able to know as to who are your active, passive and lapsed customer sets. More of this information you will find here: Segregating Your Community Members - Social Media Do read this so as to understand how you can segregate your database on your Social Media Brand / Busniess page.

Parameter Three:

The next step is to identify your target audience. There are universal truths about human behavior. This would be true for the online world as well.
The types of personality that you will encounter could also be clustered based on the responses that you would receive on your Brand / Business Social Page. Lets see the type or persons that you would encounter on your Social Media Page:

Joining All Recommendations or The Obligating Types: These are the obliging types. A friend may have recommended your Page and they would have promptly joined it. Not all of them would be off your target mark as the friend would have thought while recommending that your Page would be relevant to the person.
Silent Type or The Dead Group: They have joined your Page. However they will never [almost never] seem to respond, interact and join in any conversation. They leave you in the riddle to guess if they have hidden your feeds in their home page for instance on Facebook.
Cut Short: They respond with 'yes' and 'no'. There is no further story to what they say.
Obsessive Spammer: Ah these have joined your page with a single purpose. They will copy paste their link on your posts, comments and wall.
Devil's Advocate: These have amazing thought process. They will have the other point of view to practically all that you mention.They can make you irritated. Many a times they are healthy as well, as they show you the other side as well. It would be interesting to have engagement with them if they are not unnecessary posting just to draw attention towards themselves.
Aggressive: These get angry at a drop of the hat. If ego is hurt then they go aggressive. It is unintentional, however it is in the nature of the person.
Interrupter: They seem to step into a healthy discussion and seem to suddenly appear without being a part of the entire talk from the beginning. They feel that they have every reason to get into any conversation. It could be just a 'like' at times on Facebook. They feel compelled to share their information.
Active Responder or The Right Ones: This is the one to cherish a little more. They are more the relevant types for you.
The Anonymous: This person is someone who has a fictitious name, a fictitious identity and many a times no image. This person is close to the 'Obsessive Spammer' at times and sometimes is the 'Interrupter' type.

Definitely the above personalities are not always exclusive. There would be an over-lap as well which you need to sharply recognize.

A point to be kept in mind is that not all engagement lead to conversion and business. So within those who are great participants we need to further check on their purchase recency, frequency and monetary value. However the active ones are to be respected and taken seriously. They are the reason why we could be in news and come up good on search engine rankings. They are precious to us on our pages. They probably will convert as we would be in their consideration set in their mind.

And, ofcourse we have the RFM [recency, frequency, monetary] cluster / segments who necessarily are important and crucial to us.

What do you think? What is your experience?

Interesting read:

Easy Steps To Write Blog Posts For Your Brand And Business - Social Media

My Business Page is on Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/pervarakapadia Do join me.

How To Protect Your Social Media Work

2011-05-02T17:56:00.009+05:30

As a Social Media person you would be putting in long hours of research, time, energy and deep understanding on what you may post / write on Blogs and other Social Media Sites. Your work could be by way of content curation or by way of out of the box thinking. Whatever format and route you may apply, it would be original and authentic when you pen it down. While you go about doing your work on a daily basis there are people who would like to copy paste what you do and simply put it up on their Blog / Website. What happens here is that sooner or later traffic would start to go there as well. Am sure you will have heard of such cases.

What exactly is copying:
The online content theft is popularly known as plagiarism. In simple terms plagiarism is copying either directly or coming close to another author's language, thoughts, ideas or expression - and representing them as one's own. In other words an obvious theft.

In order to protect your work there are a couple of things that you could do:

License: You can upfront put up a mention that the material cannot be used in any way by anyone. You can link your site with Creativecommons which will give you a banner that mentions that the material is protected. From this site you get a license that secures your work. Creativecommons is not a law firm so they will not enforce any law. However when you have their license of ownership protection, you can question the other party.
Monitor: You can have your matter regularly checked. There are a couple of sites which enable you to check if your work is taken / picked and produced as some other person's work. The most popular one is Copyscape. The others are Plagium, Copygator and so on. You will receive an automated notification when your matter is reproduced elsewhere.

The tools that can help you to monitor and keep a check are:

Google Alerts
Plagium
Copygator
Feed Burner
Digital FigerPrint
Tineye

If you do want to be open to sharing:
There are sites like Fairshare which enable you to post your material and get paid for this if someone picks it up. Their modus operandi is: The more people that use your articles, the more views these used articles get the more you get paid.

Your turn: How do you protect your online matter?

My Business Page is on Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/pervarakapadia Do join me.

What Does 'Questions' Mean On Facebook For Social Media Professionals?

2011-05-01T00:57:00.000+05:30

You will have seen and used the 'Question' feature on Facebook. This feature is available to Pages and Personal Profiles as well.

Facebook 'Question' is a very useful tool for Page Administrators. It enables your Brand and Business to get your Community Members engaging with you.

Have you ever wondered what would be the reach of the 'Question' when used?

Lets just understand a situation:

When you post via the Facebook 'Question' your 'Question' will appear in the News Feed of your Community Members. If your Community Member interacts / answers then it will create a story on their Profile Page. once this takes place the same story will reflect onto their Network and get featured in their Network's feeds. If someone from this Network interacts with your 'Question' then again it will reflect at the third level Network.

Interaction on 'Question' means either participation in the 'poll' or selection of 'follow' the 'Question'

What this means is that 'Question' is a very lethal tool. It can go viral very easily.

Though, at this point in time search engines cannot index the 'Question'.

Use the 'Question' to your advantage!

My Business Page is on Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/pervarakapadia Do join me.

The New 'Send' Button From Facebook - Social Media

2011-04-26T13:06:00.000+05:30

Very recently Facebook has introduced a new social plugin, the 'Send' button. This button is to be installed onto your Blogs or Websites. Just when the 'Like' button completed a year of its existence we now have the 'Send' button.

In essence the 'Send' button enables you to send the information from the Blog / Website to people on your network as a message. Thus if you do not want a particular information to feature on your network's feed and if you do not want that the whole network of your friends view it then this is an incredible facility.

Many a times there are articles and posts of Blog / Website that may be of interest to very few people. It may not be general interest to all persons. In such cases when you share the entire post with everyone it may start making people turn a blind eye towards your feeds as they are not relevant material to them. With the result people may start to 'hide' your feed on their home page. The 'Send' button enable you to come clear and be out of such situation. So only those persons who will find the post relevant from the Blog / Website will receive the matter.

Unlike the 'Like' button, the 'Send' button enables private sharing.

Where can you send the matter from the 'Send' button?

You can send the information to a person in your Facebook Network as a message
You can post it onto your Facebook Group's Page
You can email it as per Facebook email id given to Personal Profile Pages

No doubt it is great for focused, private sending of information. What is your take on this button? Share your inputs.

My Business Page is on Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/pervarakapadia Do join me.

Benefits Of 'Like' On Facebook- Social Media

2011-04-23T16:04:00.000+05:30

On Facebook - The Page connector button that connects your Business / Brand Pages with your Community Members is the 'Like' button. There are many misconceptions about the 'Like' button. Do they really like when they click 'Like' is a very debatable thought. The reason being that they may have connected to know information or because they feel they can complain and vent out their grievance here.

There is another debate that makes its rounds - quantity as against quality. Ideally we all would like to have quantity and quality. However this takes time and energy. Many a times people start off with quantity as their goal. For instance people feel that more the quantity that like the Page, better will be the sales and better will be the bottom line. The principle here is that greater and broader the catch even after filtration the number of potential target will be on the higher side. Though this is debatable this is a very common myth that runs in the business houses. Taking advantage of this thinking we will come across many who make claim such as: 'get 1500 Fans on Facebook'.

While there are misconceptions and myths to 'Like' lets take a step back and understand the benefits of 'like. Assuming that you will be doing the Social Media strategy in the right way and will not be the one who is considerably convinced with the misconceptions. The benefits of 'Like' on Facebook would be:

First and fore-mostly the benefit of 'Like' is that you can send off a newsletter that goes into your Community Member's message section [under the message section is the 'other' where newsletters reside']. You can send to your Community very focused information that they can react upon.
You can segregate your target customers so that you know who are active, passive and lapsed. Once you segregate and cluster them you can then connect with them and plan on how to make them move up the ladder.
You can connect with them in actual real time and attend to their questions, concerns and so on. You as a Business / Brand have a chance here to show your empathy and enable your irate customer to understand that you are concerned and that you do care.
This is your chance to act, behave and show your Brand Personality. On the Page you can actually live up to your brand image and create a brand personality that your Community Members can relate to. Thereby you grow in relevance and familiarity.
You can draw out a performance matrix on what is working and what is not. Thereby you can associate the findings to your bottom line and ROI. You will be able to work out your KPI for the next couple of months based on these findings.
With a Business / Brand Page you can do a quick Qualitative research as well so as to understand and know what best triggers the emotional connect with your Community Members and your Business / Brand.
Here is your chance to create the privileged feel for your Community. Let them have special offers and so on which would not be available otherwise. Thus they will feel belonged and one with your Business and Brand.
What's more, if you post something of relevance / topical / what they like then there is a huge chance of your information going viral. It is very easy to share information, just with one click your Community can share with their network. The authenticity of shared information is much higher. People believe in what they receive from their known sources like their own network.
Interaction and engagement is the core of all Social Media existence. This can be achieved on your Page. What better value than having your Community captivated by your conversation and add to it they participating in it as well.

It is a good idea to have a Facebook Page for your Brand and Business. Don't miss out on an opportunity.

My Business Page is on Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/pervarakapadia Do join me.

Nurturing Your Community - Social Media

2011-04-21T02:25:00.001+05:30

Community Management cannot be taken for granted. You don't build a Community of relevant individuals over night. It takes time. It takes leadership qualities. Acquisition takes time and energy. Retention is even more intensive.

To maintain and nurture your Community is the core task. If your Community is satisfied they will be the best ambassadors that you could ever have. Cherish them cause they are precious.

There are a couple of factors that you need to keep in mind when working with your Community on Social Media.

Human: Have a voice. Relate to people as a human not as a robot. Many a times one ends up like a robot while trying to be professional. Though you need not cross the line and become overtly friendly, you do need to express yourself and relate to people. You are communicating to people in an environment that demands interactivity and social behavior.
Team: Remember it is a team. The spirit of Community lies in it having a momentum of its own. You need to get that spirit up and running. For this at times you may need to be a leader while at other times you need to mingle and be one with your people.
Authentic: Be authentic. Show your true self. Be genuine. This is your make or break road to credibility.
Respond: Please do not put up something where people comment and you as Page Admin are just not around. Naturally you cannot be 24 hours all of 365 days. However you do need to be there and be see alive. When you set up a Page you are making a promise of being there.
Consistency: The stream of posts that come on your Community Member's Facebook Personal Profile Home Pages is rightly called Feed. You need to keep the feed going. Pre-decide how many times you will post. Out of sight is out of mind. And, too much is also not good.
Fresh: While being consistent try to keep topical and fresh communication flowing. Content curation is essential in these time.
Privilege: People have joined your Page with various reasons. One reason is to belong. Give your Community something special. Make them feel special. After all they are special no doubt. This could be by way of advice, pre-launch information, consultancy and so on.
Contests: Give your Community a challenge. Have votes, chance to win and so on.
Quality: Don't bring in suddenly too many new people. Grow organically not by just quantity.

So go on talk with people online the way you would when you meet them.

My Business Page is on Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/pervarakapadia Do join me.

Keeping Track Of Competitors On Facebook - Social Media

2011-04-17T18:12:00.003+05:30

As Facebook Page Administrator you would be constantly looking for ways and methods to keep yourself updated with the various activities taking place on your Page. Thankfully Facebook has introduced the notification system wherein you can keep yourself in the know if anyone comments or posts on your Brand / Business Page.

Apart from keeping track of your Page you need to track your competitors as well. What do you do? Do you have a method? There are a couple of tools available online that can enable you to track and be on top of information.

A simple but very effective tool is hyperalerts.no. Have you tried this as yet? It enables you to receive email notifications of the posts and comments that are made on your Facebook Page. It does not stop here. You can keep track of other Facebook Pages where you are not an administrator. You have the option of receiving alerts on an immediate basis as it happens, or every hour, day, week or month. The choice is yours.

Have you tried hyperalerts? What is your experience with this site. Do share in your feedback. What similar platform do you use?

I work as Freelance Social Media Network Online Professional. My Business Page is on Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/pervarakapadia Do join me.

Measuring Your Customer In Social Media

2011-04-10T23:17:00.000+05:30

We know how Direct Marketing and CRM [Customer Relationship Management] use the RFM model.

RFM = Recency, Frequency and Monetary Value.

Recency = How recent has the customer purchased
Frequency = How often did the purchase take place
Monetary= How much was the spend / purchase made of

Here you slice and dice the data. From this model you can decipher who are your active customer sets, who are passive and not reacting and those who have been active and have for some reason gone out of action. This and more can be done with the data. For instance you can figure out who are your high paying people. You can take business decision if you want to concentrate on the customers who are more value by monetary terms but may not be as frequent as the medium monetary value customers in a given period and so on.

In a RFM model there is lot of permutation and combination that could take place. For instance you can slice / segregate the Recency factor into:

Customers who have purchased in the last 90 days
Customers who have purchased between the last 91 and 120 days
Customers who have purchased between the last 121 days and 365 days
And so on

The depth of slicing your data depends on the category that you have. For instance an impulse or FMCG or a monthly product can have more depth while if your product is consumer durable which after purchase requires atleast 5 years for the customer to make the next purchase then naturally the recency parameter will not need to be sliced in depth.

RFM can have its deviations to suite your type of category. For instance if you have too many products, variants and sub-variants then you can add a P to the RFM which makes it RFMP. Need more deviation? You can change M to D. Wherein D = Duration.

To analyze the RFM:
You can do this with high end software or you can do this manually on excel sheet. However, your back end data collection is required to be strong. You need to have a method and a system in place, wherein the data gets populated when purchase is made. Only then you can do your analysis.

The above is just a glimpse and short synopsis of what RFM is and how you can put it to use.

Let's consider the Social Media Community that we have. Let's look at Facebook Business Page as an example. We have a list of people connected to our Page. You may need to physically put them onto your excel sheet, or build a software that patches this process. The main problem that you may have to overcome is the name of the person on Facebook needs to match the name of the person who is purchasing. People may have a different identity on Social Sites. You may have to connect with each and share with them the relevance of them giving their true name so that you can match the identity on Facebook and in real life. Usually people share as there is always a possibility of receiving a reward in this, they would be given something more due their good standing in the RFM scenario. Once you have this in place [it is an ongoing process] then you can have your regular analysis as shared above.

Over a period of time the measure can be made to understand the life time value of the customer in your system as well. You can look at it as CLV, LCV and LTV. For this you need your data to be over a couple of years to have any concrete understanding.

CLV / CLTV= Customer Lifetime Value
LCV = Lifetime Customer Value
LTV = Lifetime Value
CV = Customer Value

When you work on the RFM module knowing and measuring CLV should not be a problem. You know who is contributing towards your bottom line, you know if the person arrived via Social Media sites, you can measure you customer value on Social Media.

Once you know the customer value you can estimate and put a price to that customer as to how much you want to spend on the customer. To measure the customer on lifetime value you need to have the below parameters:

Churn Rate = This is the percentage of your customers who move / end their relationship with your company in a given period
Discount Rate = Herein you are to check on the capital cost that is put into a particular customer set
Retention Costs = This is amount of monies that your company spends on a particular customer set in a given period to enable retention
Period / Duration = This is the critical measure. The period of time that you designate to the above calculations. Minimum advisable would be 3years as your data would not be robust till then for you to derive concrete idea.

Ofcourse the above is a simple glimpse. There is work and longtime dedication if you want to work towards attaining the real value of your customer sets.

ROI = The most debated, questioned and doubted attribute in Social Media. Call it by any name you are referring to the bottom line.

ROR = Rate Of Return
ROI = Return On Investment
RP = Rate Of Profit

The measure arrives from understanding what you have invested and what you have benefited with [Taxes to be understood as well]. To explain further it is the monies gained / lost by calculating the net gain and the gross gain. ROI is calculated in percentage.

In Social Media let's look at Facebook:
You know what all creative you have done, viral videos, wall papers, any technology, Social Media person's monthly cost and so on. Break this into capital and variables. Then calculate based on the re-actions that you have pre-decided. The re-action could be purchase for instance.

Need not be ROI each time:
You may want to not look at ROI each time. Value of a Community person is in their interactions on your Brand / Business Page, their sharing with their network and so on. Not every-time you may want to calculate in terms of figures. In real life how would you calculate word of mouth? Well if you have a loyalty programme then don't you ask who referred you? Just the way we have member get member programmes you can have on the Social Site as well the member get member programmes and so on. Have mutual benefits: let the person who brings in the new customer also benefit and let the new person also gain.

How do we know if the customer has come via Social Media Site?
This is answered by the age old method of tracking. When you want to know if a direct mail has worked or nor don't we give a code in the mail that customer would carry to do their purchase and redeem it to avail discounts. Similarly your Social Media can share codes which can be brought to the purchase counter. It could be a QR Code, MCoupon, On Social Site coupon and so on.

Social Media is an amazing space. You can do mass broadcast and direct connect. The space is such that it enables both. You can do CRM as well. Your choice, your business and marketing and branding decision.

Good to read:

How To Measure Your Social Media Efforts

I work as Freelance Social Media Network Online Professional. My Business Page is on Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/pervarakapadia Do join me.

Treat Your Community With Respect - Social Media

2011-04-06T02:13:00.002+05:30

Engage with your audience. We all hear it all the time. Engaging with your audience is the core in Social Media. Keeping your Community engaged on Facebook for instance is what matters the most. While it sounds easy, many a times it could be the most difficult task for some. Engagement essentially means involving, getting the audience to interact and gently leading to a conversational mode. The benefit of this is that you start to relate with people as brand / business. Your brand / business starts to become more relevant to your people.

The question is how do you talk with people. It is only feasible when you and they meet at a mutual point of understanding. What we would call a rapport in normal colloquial English. It is a connection that we sense and exhibit by way of dialogue. Dialogues need not always be in agreement, you may choose to disagree however the line of conversation continues.

There would be many deterrents while engaging. One of the prime ones could be the way you look at your Community.

Perhaps the first and foremost aspect of engaging with your Community would be to not look at them as Fans [incase of Facebook]. Here is where most problems take place. Here is where restrictions come by. Just because Facebook has chosen to call the connection / permission button as 'like' we all tend to call our Community persons as Fans. Announcements such as 'become our Fan' are quite questionable. In Direct Marketing and Loyalty Programme scenario we try our level best to call / name / brand programmes which people would like been seen in. We try to name the membership and then go on to address our Community with that membership. Do we address them as 'hi Fans'? If you do have an offline programme then why not continue the same online. And if you do not have an offline programme then why not think of it for your 'Fan Page'. Except for very few Brands perhaps the aspect of Fan is slightly far fetched. Instead of saying 'become our Fan' will the message get dissolved if we say 'converse with us on Facebook' and such other lines.

There are various reasons to click the 'Like' button. Let's not be misguided.

Reading matter that may interest you:

My Business Page is on Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/pervarakapadia Do join me.

How To Procure Community Data In Social Media

2011-04-01T19:58:00.000+05:30

Social Media lends itself to Customer Relationship Management [CRM]. Although it may be an indirect method to procure data you can still understand what are the trigger points that can work best with your Community Members. For instance if you are on Facebook and if you have a Community on your Business Page then a quick run through of your key Community persons can show you what they like and what matters to them.

Here are simple pointers that can work as starters:

'Listen' in on your own Page what they interact with, what matters to them, on which topics the Posts and Comments are coming in and so on.
Next is the timing. You will observe that there are certain days and time bands when your Community Members interact and engage with you and other members. Make sure you note these and create a reminder on when next you are going to talk with your Community.
Facebook has this wonder upgrade recently done. Wherein you can now make your Facebook Business Page as your main Home Page. When you will do this on your left hand side you will see 'recommendations'. The algorithm at Facebook is such that recommendations made to you are based on the 'likes' of your network. Hence you can assume to a large extent that your Community is onto the recommended Pages. Thereby you can look at it as what they like.
And finally the 'Question' field that is so nicely given to all of us on Facebook. How well have you used it? It is a smooth way to generate information plus enables conversation. Add to this it has an amazing viral spread to it.

Simple? Your turn. how do you 'read' data of your Community on Social Media.

Below shared posts could be interesting read for you:

My Business Page is on Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/pervarakapadia Do join me.

Social Media Professional's Skill Sets

2011-03-28T14:12:00.005+05:30

If you think that Social Media is an easy job then yes you are correct. It is easy for experienced persons. It is a task that skilled people can see through during crises. It is result oriented that passionate professionals can bring to the table.

Many a times I come across people asking why is Social Media not measurable. Or that since it is just the task of setting up of a profile, putting an image to the avatar and there you are your teenage kid can also put up Tweets and Posts. And some questions are borderline - the middle way: someone in the company who is not loaded with too much work can be authorized to put up Posts.

All these questions are genuine and legitimate. Answering the question of measuring Social Media, well it is very much measured and checked against ROI. The parameters may be different but at the end of the day we all are talking bottom line and ROI.

Answering if it is what we think about just setting up a profile page and doing conversations- well this is like saying that since your friend knows drawing they can do advertising. Yes, it is as closely mismatched as this.

Social Media requires the person to have the following skill sets:

Dedicated professional, who 'likes' the Social Media sites. This 'like' means that the person really see Social Media sites as a space to interact and to search information. The person really should be believing and trusting the sites as a resource of serious information. They should for instance be consuming news for instance. The person would be 'listening' at various discussion taking place.
We really cannot restrict any of our clients / customers from connecting with us all of 24/7 on Social Media you need the person to be aware of listening tools. Tools that make the person know what all conversations are taking place about your brand, business, category, competition and so on.
A person who understands your brand philosophy, brand personality and can translate this into action and behavior onto the Social Media Pages. A financial institute would behave very differently to a particular situation as against a beverage brand, for instance. It is critical that the person understands and translates the brand print into actual behavior.
This also requires a person who understands consumer mindset, usage and attitude not only towards your brand but also towards the category and towards the online net and Social Media Site as well.
In addition to this it requires that the same person understands mass communication and direct marketing along with the knowledge of the online medium as well. The person requires public relations as well and is adept at rising a flag when crises are about to take place.

So there you are. Who will you recruit? Who is your Brand Voice in the world of Social Media?

Below could be interesting information and reading material for you:

Community Management on Social Media sites like Facebook is not just about having a Fan / Business Page set up: http://goo.gl/WgqSK

A note on how to measure your Social Media efforts: http://goo.gl/uRv12
See how you can be misguided: You Will Receive 3000+ Followers Guaranteed, Just Buy The Package - Social Media
Ask quality not quantity: Social Media - Get Me 1500 Fans On Facebook

My Business Page is on Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/pervarakapadia Do join me.

Segregating Your Community Members - Social Media

2011-03-26T00:34:00.001+05:30

Social Media enables you to broadcast your message to your Community and it also enables you to tag individual persons and chat with them. Social Media is an amazing environment; here you can practice the entire spectrum right from mass messaging to one-on-one messaging.

If this is the case then what have we done so far with this amazing platform. Have we identified various clusters that can take place from our Fan / Business Page Communities? What we could do perhaps, is segregate our Community Members into various clusters.

The most basic format of segregation would be Active, Inactive and Lapsed.

Active:
People who are engaging with your post and comments on your Page.

Inactive:
Those that are not active.

Lapsed:
Those that have been active once and have then refrained for some reason.

Ofcourse the more we segregate the more intense and dynamic the grid could become. However on the Social Media section this could get tedious for some people who have too many Community people attached. So the least format could be Active, Inactive and Lapsed.

Once you have identified and segregated your Community Members you can then start to connect with them differently. You will have to take a business decision if you want to touch and connect with the Inactive cluster. While you need to keep in touch with your Active base and try to re-connect with your Lapsed people.

There perhaps is not an urgent need to dice and slice your data too much, a little segregation alone can take you a long way.

Your turn - how best do you segregate your Community Members?

My Business Page is on Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/pervarakapadia Do join me.

Advantages Of The New Functions Of Facebook Fan / Business Page And iFrame - Social Media

2011-03-19T16:10:00.003+05:30

Change is constant; and in the case of Facebook, change, definitely is consistent. By now you will have noticed that all Pages on Facebook will have been upgraded to the new format. This goes for even those Pages that may have not opted into the new look some time back.

The new Pages have a lot of advantages with them, especially for the Page Administrator / Community Managers. These functions definitely are useful for brands and business in touching base with their Community Members.

For instance the capacity to post on other Pages as the business / brand Page and not necessarily as Profile Page gives a huge benefit. The fact that you post as a brand / business makes people directly click onto your Page and arrive at your end. Besides, you are creating a great association and personality via your behavior for your brand.
The other much welcomed feature is notifications. Previously, you may recollect, that you had to physically scroll on your Page [the Page of which you are the Administrator] and check if there are any comments / posts which you need to address. Ofcourse there are third party applications that facilitate the notifications to come right into your inbox. However Facebook did not have one of its own. With this notification you can immediately know from your email inbox itself what is the content of the comment / post, put up by your Community Members and who has said it. This enables you to respond in almost real time and saves you the tedious task to scrolling on your Page all the time.
The third good part is that you can give a face to your Page. In the sense you can now let your Community People know who is manning the Page. This works at two levels, one is that people relate to persons more than just some static Page / brand / business talking and secondly you get your publicity as well. Ofcourse if you do not manage well then you can be the target of some hideous stressing discussions as well. No doubt there is an option to be unseen as well.
Another good part is showing other Pages associations. As shared above you can now post and comment on other Pages as your brand / business Page. Which means that you will have 'liked' them as your brand / business Page, only then you can post and comment. When you do this the Pages that you have 'liked' show up on your Page. In this way association starts to form in the Community Mindset and this could be a little step towards credibility formation for your Page.
There are other significant feature lead upgrades like: the masthead that can be used creatively so that you can extend your brand / business personality / features etc in a visual way. This is similar to one you have on your Profile Page.
The edit feature is available easily - this is on your right hand side. The good part about this is now you can change your category of the Page incase you are stuck with something not so correct.
You will have noticed by now that there are no more tabs on your Page top side, these are now moved to your left hand side. The good part is you can have them a little longer and have descriptive text.
And finally the FBML feature is totally deactivated. This does not mean that your existing FBML matter is deactivated / deleted. These will remain and not be deleted. However if you do want to make new tabs you will now need to upgrade and learn the iFrame technology. With these you can start to have more tab type features on your left hand side.

Below, I will touch a little deeper on what is iFrame and how can you best possibly use it:

If you are personally or have a connection with tech person then iFrame is what you will relish more than FBML. Unlike FBML, iFrame allows you to have an eternal web page embedded onto your Facebook tab. Which means that your external Web Page can have the technology intricacies of HTML, CSS, and JavaScript like any other Web Page does. What basically you need in this case is a small patch / script / programme that connects your Facebook Page with your external Web Page. Yes, this is what iFrame enables and lends itself to.

Which means that you need:

scripting / programing knowledge,
a server space where you can upload your files if you want to fetch data, just the way you would build a Web Page,
the patch which is Facebook Developer application: http://developers.facebook.com/blog/post/477
and creative, content management, planning etc.

Below are steps that you can take to create your iFrame starting from http://developers.facebook.com/blog/post/477 Page.

You will require like all other applications with Facebook 'allow' the request for permission dialog. This is similar when you apply any new first time application / game connection with your Facebook Pages. Click on the allow button. So if this is your first time then you will require the one time 'allow' permission given for the request.

Having done this, on top, on your right hand side you will see 'Set Up New App' button - click this. Once you do this you will be taken to a dialogues box asking you to give a name to your application - you can name it best keeping your focus on SEO and Page requirement. Give the application a name, click the agree button. Once this takes place the click the 'create app button'. You will be taken to the usual security question of answering if you are a human. Indulge in this and move on.

Now you will see that you have landed onto an 'About' registration form. Go on Fill it up!.

Under 'About' you will see 'Website' fill this form as well.

Next is the 'Facebook Integration' fill this as well.

Click 'Save'. Most crucial function.

Once you do this you will be taken to the summary Page.

Now what is left? Well you need to install your own application onto your Brand / Business Page on Facebook.

On the summary Page itself you will see the link icon namely 'Application Profile Page link' on your right hand side. Hope you have landed by now onto a huge Page that looks similar to the regular Facebook Profile Pages. Well on this Page look to your left hand side. Once you do this a pop up dialogue box will appear asking your to select the Page you want this new application of yours to be installed upon. So, go on select your page. The Pages get get seen will be the Pages that you are an Administrator of. Click 'Add to Page'.

Now go to the Pages that you have selected and check if your application is there. Your new iFrame app should now appear on your selected Fan Page / Pages. In-case you don't see it there immediately first refresh this Page. If there is still a problem then do a little tweeting with your setting. From your Fan Page, click on the 'Edit Page link'. Then click on Apps and find the application that you just added. Click on the Edit Settings link next to the app and Add link.

So? how does your new tab look? Share your experience.

I work as Freelance Social Media Network Online Professional. My Business Page is on Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/pervarakapadia Do join me.

How Social Media Weaves Its Way Into Your Life

2011-03-15T16:51:00.004+05:30

Social Media enables you as the Page Admin and Community Manager to connect with individuals on a one-to-one level. Just years ago it would be difficult for a common man to be heard and listened to by brands and business houses, Social Media has made it feasible for heads of an organization to dip into real time conversations and know where their brand and business is going, or not going.

Sometime back when calling / telephoning, writing letters and sending emails would be falling to deaf ears Social Media has made the company people stand up and react in almost real time. You could make numerous calls to the customer care and the complaint section of the company. All your pleas and anger would fall to deaf ears. You could almost be compelled to make do with a low quality product that you may have just purchased. In comes Social Media and the gravity of the situation turns on its head. A comment sent off by a grieving party creates a mass effect and hence companies have people dealing with this right away.

There are many amazing situations that you will recollect. For instance when emails came into business - procuring the email id of the top people would be a huge detective task. These email ids were one of the top well kept secrets. Today we are not really bothered with email id investigations as a simple Twitter handle connects us right to the top guys and into their mobiles as well [if they gaze at their Twitter via their cell phones].

The ripple effect of Social Media has not only been seen in the business world but it is also visible in the political issues. Elections are won with Facebook Page help. Would one have thought that an entire nation knows when to react with just one click? A revolution can take place with a single status update.

A crisis situation can avail of help with single status update. Today doctors are viewing the photos uploaded by their network and immediately sending an alarm of probable disease or operation to be done. What's more a whole operation was done with Tweets from one surgeon to another team a couple of years back.

What's more, missing people are found. You will have read how people have been found and re-united via networking connections. When there is crises and acts of terror people have kept their status flowing so that the outside world know that one is still alive.

A criminal activity is tracked and Social Media communication stands as evidence for the court. The stalker who was never seen as a suspect could be having huge evidence of illicit activities over the Social Media. The courts of the world are looking at information via Social Media as concrete and authentic evidences.

Naturally if the judiciary system can open its doors to Social Media then why would a character analysis from a recruiter be left out. Today HR personnel are also looking at Social Media to source, identify and even evaluate a candidate. What's more this is an amazing source of reference as well. Infact Social Media Sites like LinkedIn enable you to procure referral and comments about your job / work etc.

You don't have a job? You need credibility to be built up? Start with Social Media share information, solve problems online and see how you start to have a following. This in turn draws people who will want more of this experience and you could have a job in hand / your business going. A Blog does wonders here.

Citizen journalism is a growing concept in the world of journalism - this is taking place on Social Media without actually being termed as citizen journalism. You see something good or bad, what you may approve or disapprove, what may make you jubilant or angry you can quickly update on your Facebook Profile Page. You may see an oppression or a celebration and lo! you can upload this via video, audio, text photo and so on.

It is difficult for most to sleep and call it a day without a peek at the Facebook and Twitter status. And ofcourse what we login to for a quick peek ends up being minimum an hour and so on. We are logged in and very concern about someone else frame of mind. Our own state of mind is not understood by us till we broadcast a post and then we also along with the world understand what is happening to us, what we like and dislike. Social Media Triggers Us To Be Helpful!

Ofcourse we have the negative side of Social Media as well. As the saying goes too much of good thing if not controlled can lead to negative effect. Having said this the good of Social Media cannot be ignore.

Your Turn - how did Social Media help you?

My Business Page is on Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/pervarakapadia Do join me.

Who And Do - Are Important Criteria To Understanding Your Target Audience In Social Media

2011-03-10T21:49:00.000+05:30

As a Social Media Page Administrator / Community Manager how do you look at your Community? Do you take a look at your community? The humans who have joined you / your Page have a reason to do this. The reasons could be direct and obvious at the tertiary level.

For instance an offer and discount expectation could make people look forward to your Page, or some privileged preview and a sneak peek of a new launch could make people enthusiastic and so on. Reasons could be ample. They would be genuine however they would last for as long as your Page supports it. Over a period of time repeating yourself with various similar stories could drain the spirit and enthusiasm out of the Page. Unfortunately soon a blind eye turns towards your posts that throw up on your community members Feeds at their Home Page. It is not that you are to refrain from giving discounts and offer, or a sneak peak and so on. These are universal truths that make the consumer move. However if you want conversations to take place and healthy engagements to take place with regards to your Social Media Page then you need to look at triggers. What are the triggers that your community member normally reacts towards, what makes things go viral, what is it that makes the buzz take place.

Have you managed to go a little deeper. Have you checked on 'who' are your community people? What do they 'do' on your Social Media Site that you and they both co-exists? Don't be carried away only by analytic in quantitative terms. Quantitative terms are good no doubt. However qualitative understanding is also critical. To-gather quantitative and qualitative give us the whole picture.

Many a times you will notice that it is the qualitative understanding that could take the lead in determining as what is the emotional trigger and connect.

In order to know and understand your target audience in qualitative manner it does not mean that you violate privacy norms or start to stalk people in the online world. However a cursory look and a little bit of method can be used to understand who your persons are and what they do in the online Social Media world.

There are two broad and main criteria that you need to concentrate on with regards to deciphering the qualitative understanding of your community member. One is 'who' are your connections and the other is what do they 'do' online on the Social Site that you co-exists with them.

Your turn who are your connects what do they do within your Social Media Site have you figured?

What you may want to read:
How To Have Value Added Conversations In Social Media
How To Measure Your Social Media Efforts

My Business Page is on Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/pervarakapadia Do join me.

How To Have Value Added Conversations In Social Media

2011-03-07T13:14:00.001+05:30

We all hear about having conversations on Social Media platform. We hear about have 'engaging' conversations. Involving humans to converse, share, comment, post and so on. Thereby creating better value added networking environment.

Lets just step back and understand what is the meaning of conversation. The essence of conversation is broken down by the 'sending' and 'receiving' criteria. It is 'encoding' and 'decoding', when this takes place it is 'interaction', a two way process. On the minimum side it can be two persons and ofcourse you can have more than two persons involved as well.

It would be easier to define conversation by saying what it probably is not: It is not a monologue. Though a monologue can be a catalyst to initiate a conversation.

Conversations could be face to face and / or over a medium. The medium could be phone like telecon, SMS and so on, it could be over net like GTalk, Yahoo chats, emails, Social Networking Sites and so on.

Conversations can be of various types. They could be serious, they could be humorous, a mix, and so on.

What are the kind of conversations that you should have on Social Media Sites while working for your brand and business is a question that we need to answer. Before we start to answer this lets take a quick understanding of the people that you would want to have conversation with. Lets dwell a little deeper into the business side of conversations on Social Media Sites.

People join Online Social Sites because they would like to see what is taking place there, this could be to know about their friends and relatives and so on. The reasons are plenty. It could be to socialize, to keep in touch, to stalk, to check out details and so on. Perhaps to pass time and therefore engage into games like Mafia Wars and so on. When you wish to have a conversation with your customer set it is imperative that you know and understand on why they have connected with your Page. Based on this knowledge will you be able to leverage your conversations that are relevant and meaningful to the audience. Conversation need to be relevant or else the person is sure to leave your Page sooner or later.

You need to know what does your target customer set think of the Social Media Site. Do they use it frequently. Do they use it to learn and consume news and information. Do they use it to share, post and so on. When you can define this you will know and understand how deep will your conversations become eventually.

Do they trust online discussions? Do they share information that enables their network to say for instance buy something at a discounted rate and so on. When you will be able to pin point on the type of talks that they do it is then that you will be able to cater to their requirement and involve them.

Emotions play a very important role. If you can trigger the emotional connect then your audience will be connected with you in a deeper manner. There are a couple of important parts to your conversations:

How does your target audience feel and behave while on Social Media Sites: This is imperative. As shared above you need to understand the usage and attitude towards the particular Social Media Site that you are considering.
Why do they join your Page: As marketeers you may indulge in giving out certain offers if people join your Page. However keep in mind the bigger picture. People do not only want to see a complete Page full of discounts and so on. The excitement will go out. Have a Page philosophy.
Page philosophy: While you have your Brand Philosophy in tact you also need to decide on what is your Page Differentiation and Philosophy. It is essential that you pre-decide on the reason as to 'why should people join your Page'. Is it that they will receive exclusive offers, or a launch preview etc.
What you mention: It is critical you have a list of things that you would like to mention. This ofcourse needs to be in tandem with what your brand stands for and what your customer set is looking for.
How you say it: This is all about tone of voice. What you say needs to be accompanied by the manner and tone of voice. This forms the essence of the brand behavior.

Along with this ofcourse you need to have your brand personality drawn out and well developed so you know how to behave on the Sites. Social Media Networking is part of the overall marketing scenario. It is not a separate silo that one works within. Our Social Media efforts are an extension of the brand's overall marketing efforts. Just like any other aspect of marketing like advertising [print, tv, radio, outdoors etc], Social Media is also one of these. Ofcourse the modus operandi would be different. However our target audience would be part of the overall target audience itself.

More to read: Parameters To Plan Your Social Media Strategy

My Business Page is on Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/pervarakapadia Do join me.

Emails Are Part Of The Social Media Environment

2011-03-04T18:41:00.000+05:30

Social Networking and Sites / Media is not confined to just the Social Sites like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and so on. Ofcourse it is this and much more. For instance it is email as well. What would your take be for emails? Would you say that email is part of the Social Media environment?

Well lets for a moment step back and take a bird's eye view of what perhaps is Social Media.
Social Media comprises of us humans interacting on a common usually open platform / sites like for instance Facebook. Via this we share, post, comment and have interactions on an ongoing basis. So, we share text, visual and audio information. Some of these generate responses and others terminate into silent silos. Some create a slight interaction while others get us into deep engaging conversations. Add to this we use it for personal reasons and for business as well.

On the other hand what are we doing with emails?
Well very much similar. The trail mail enables us to understand the conversations at various time intervals due to its time stamp. We share via forwards. And yes we do personal and business communication as well. While email will still be considered for confidential document transfer, it also enables us to have a quick chat. It involves us and definitely in-depth conversations are taken care of.

Just the way Social Media Sites form the daily online activity for many, emails too are seen on daily basis by plenty of people. A safe bet is that people on Social Media would definitely have an email id while people with email ids may not have a Social Media Profile. Email Marketing could be on principles of Social Media

What is your take. Would you look at emails being part of the Social Media environment? Emails Are A Part Of Our Lives - Social Media

My Business Page is on Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/pervarakapadia Do join me.

What Makes Your Facebook Page Post Feature On Feeds? - Social Media

2011-02-25T00:41:00.001+05:30

While Google's search algorithms are well kept secrets Facebook is transparent about the algorithms that it uses for Posts of Pages to appear on the Feeds of the Fans / Community Members.

The Facebook algorithm is called EdgeRank. EdgeRank consists of three main variables. They are:

Affinity
Weight
Recency

Affinity: This is the number of times the person and the Page interact.

Weight: Is the number of times comments, likes and such interactions take place.

Recency: This is the time since content was posted.

So basically what does this tell us in short: The more immediate, the more times people interact with Page, and the more they comment is better for the Page posts to come up and be seen on the Feeds of Fans and Community Members.

Did you know: Almost more than 90% of filtration takes place - which means you have 10% chance to show up on your Fan's Community Member's Feed!

My Business Page is on Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/pervarakapadia Do join me.

Should You Spread Thinly Or Densely On Social Media Sites?

2011-02-22T21:30:00.000+05:30

While working on Social Media, what I have noticed is that as a Brand / Business head you would like to spread out on many Social Media Sites. Yes, this no doubt is a tempting option. The reason is simple and obvious - that you would not like to miss out on any opportunity of connecting with your target audience like your Customers and Clients. You naturally are trying to be on search engines as well and so spreading in this regard could be an option.

Spreading out on too many sites makes it a little difficult to manage. One way to look at it is that you start to post similar messages all across, this method is not a good solution. The reason being is that the 'privileged' and 'exclusive' content that you should be offering on your Social Media Site to your Community Members starts to get lost and diluted. Add to this if you have a very big community then catering to individual person's comments / posts / queries could be problematic and could be complicated.

Instead if you are on a couple of sites only then you can concentrate well. You can cater to your Community Members well and be more focused and precise. Add to this you can attend to your Community while you are on the move via your cell phone for instance.

What is your take? Share your views here. Should You Spread Thinly Or Densely On Social Media?

My Business Page is on Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/pervarakapadia Do join me.

Parameters To Plan Your Social Media Strategy

2011-02-15T22:38:00.002+05:30

What are the parameters that one is to consider while working on Social Media? What is it that can make it tick and the lack of it can make it a resounding failure. We all commence the Social Media project with a bang. All concerned persons are very enthusiastic and very keen as well. Many would start to enroll and read up on any help Page found online. No one doubts the enthusiasm and the passion with which it all is started.

However somewhere you will notice that the steam is going out. Suddenly not many who showed interest initially are no more interested. Add to this the intensity of the passion and enthusiasm diminishes. This is inevitable given that other priorities take over and somehow interest and involvement levels decreases.

What perhaps requires to be done is that you may need to have a check list that enables you to keep your understanding and your team's processes in place.

A quick check on parameters would be as follows. I have given hyperlink to various aspects that need a little more explanation so that you can read each criteria in its complete perspective.

On-Page SEO: It may not be essential to know technology in order to do SEO. Yes, there are specialists who can do off - page SEO which is done via programming and in the edit HTML formats. However with limited knowledge of programming you need to be aware of where all you can work to ensure that the various search engines throw up your page when your target audience do their search.
Key-Word:This is critical. Before you post your first comment / information you need to decide and be sure of what are your Key-Words. This would emit from doing Key-Word research of your category, competitors and what your Brand is to personify and identify with. Add to this be realistic and think in terms of your target audience. What would they type in search engines is essential that you know.
Brand Personality: It is important that your written words and any behavior stays inline with the Brand Personality. Same goes for any audio and video that you may upload.
Page Philosophy: While you have your Brand Philosophy in tact you also need to decide on what is your Page Differentiation and Philosophy. It is essential that you pre-decide on the reason as to 'why should people join your Page'. Is it that they will receive exclusive offers, or a launch preview etc.
Escalation Matrix: When you receive a query from your customer who is connected on your Page / Blog / Site what will you do if that query was not thought of previously. You need to have a person in the Company at your Client's side who can answer you almost 24/7.
Consumer Mind-Set: This is crucial. You need to understand what your customer thinks about your category, brand, competitors, online as a medium and the particular Social Media Site that you plan to establish your brand / business in. For instance there are customers in certain part of the world who will not use Social Media to talk with certain categories where they feel it is best to meet the relationship officer. So you need to understand your customer's usage and attitude towards the Social Media Sites.
Tackling Negative Comments: This is inevitable. At sometime or the other someone will post a very critical remark and so on. Your tackling of negative comments should be in line with your brand personality.
Competitor Study: Both, Direct Competitor and Notional as well. Who is your competitor, what is their offline and online activity is all important to be well understood. And yes what are they doing on Social Media Sites is crucial for you to keep updated with constantly.
Understand The Social Media Site's Functionality and Its Perception As well: It is best to really know the functions of the Social Media Sites that you take up. To use them optimally is the best way to get results.
Have A Diary Of Content Posts - Keep To Consistency And Freshness: Post information that is relevant to your customers. Post information that is topical. Inform and befriend your customer. Befriending does not mean that you cross the limits though.
Monitoring / Listening and Measuring Tools: There are lots of free and paid tools that you will get online. Use these regularly. Listening and then taking part in conversations is the key. Ofcourse this does not mean that you step into a conversation and become an irritant.
Adaptability To Change As Per Feed-Back From The Measuring And Monitoring Tools: Rules and plans should be pre-decided, however they are not to be rigid. You need to change your plan of action if required.
Pre-decide On Key Performance Indicators: This is important. It is sometimes the main cause of Social Media endeavors being left half way, people loosing interest, the steam goes out and the top management puts these efforts in the side line. Have your performance indicators well laid out. Let them be realistic and let them be such that they contribute towards the marketing and business goals. For instance having lots of followers and fans should not be a blind criteria, how much are they engaging and involving is important.
Add To This It Is Crucial That The Person Working On The Social Media Sites Has Relevant Knowledge Of Direct Marketing Along With Social Media Knowledge
A Delegated Leader Who Will Be Responsible And Accountable And Has Authority
Acquisition: It is necessary that you plan how and from where your target audience should flow into your Page.
Retention: How will you nurture and limit the attrition is also vital.

Social Media is like an investment. What you do today leaves footprints on the internet that enables you to draw positive fruits later on. Ofcourse if you do not use it wisely then you could suffer as well. Social Media requires focus, planning, adherence to plan, continuity, consistency and freshness.

When we do all of the above we can then be ready to start our venture into Social Media. Any other parameters that come to your mind share them here.

My Business Page is on Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/pervarakapadia

QR Code In Social Media

2011-02-08T20:42:00.000+05:30

Hello, by now you will have heard the new terminology doing its rounds - called QR Code. To put it simply QR Code enables your customers and clients to 'read' / 'link' to your online Page / Site.

Allow me to explain: For instance if you have a blog / site you can have a QR Code. This code which is an image as a matter of speaking can be printed, can be embedded onto another site and so on. When your customer / client scans this from their smartphone they can be provided information and are swiftly linked to your Page / Site / blog and any other online address that has its own url. Basically your url is the clue here. This is 'read' and automatically the site gets connected. So in other words a long url need not be typed out, instead the QR Code gets scanned and the online site gets linked and can be surfed.

You may ask why should we go through the whole process - the answer is simple. For instance one of the reasons being: in the online world you would use url shortener like the Google url shortener called goo.gl you would not go about placing a very long url everywhere. Similarly when you need to share your url in the real world and when you want people to [almost] automatically connect with your site and blog / page and other online destinations the easy way is to give them the QR Code and lo! people are connected.

What do you think of this? Interesting?

So what is the full form of QR Code:

It stands for Quick Response Code.

Where can the QR Codes be used:

Since it is similar to bar code you can use it to give off discounts, tickets, etc. Just the way we have MCoupons this can substitute the same
Customer service is another way in which this can be used
and so on

What is required to implement the QR Code:

You need to determine which Page / Blog /Site you want people to get directed towards
Next is you need to create the QR Code - this is done online there are free sites that enable this
Share the link / code to your print medium / online medium from where you want people to come
Your target audience requires smartphone with the application - this can be freely downloaded, one time download is only required
and you can roll!

Your turn - is this easy? Will you go in for this marketing channel.

We have an active Social Media community at my Facebook Business Page. You can experience / see demonstration of Social Media and Community Management at http://www.facebook.com/pervarakapadia . To discover, share, interact, network, have question answer sessions and converse on Social Media do join me at facebook.com/pervarakapadia http://www.facebook.com/pervarakapadia
Share this Page with people who require Social Media help for their brand and business.

Identifying Different Social Media Audiences

2011-02-04T21:00:00.001+05:30

Close your eyes and think back on the various presentations that you will have made or have witnessed. Try to remember the various audiences. What do you see:

There are some that are nodding
There are some that stare without an expression
There are those that may choose to close their eyes and sit through
There are some who interact
There are some that put forth extra ordinary questions that could take discussion on a different tangent
There are some who do ask relevant questions
There are those who disagree and disapprove
And yes there are fierce devil's advocates as well

Like them or hate them, you may feel they should exist or disappear but they are real and very much present.

Similarly when you are working in the Social Media realm you will come across various sets of people who re-act in similar way as shared above in the bullet point - except perhaps closing their eyes and yet being present.

Just as in the presentation scenario you will have to deal with the various individual personalities, in the Social Media world also you need to deal with various personalities. In the presentation you can see body language, eye contact and decipher from the vocal tone of voice in the Social Media sites you end up deciphering from the text matter and any icons [smiley etc] typed uploaded etc.

Just because it is the online world you cannot each time escape and ignore without closing the conversation. Exceptions will remain.

For this you do need have your brand personality drawn out before you key in your first post / comment. The brand personality will enable you in understanding how best you should reply / re-act / behave when you face a certain type of comments.

Your turn - share your views.

We have an active Social Media community at my Facebook Business Page. You can experience / see demonstration of Social Media and Community Management at http://www.facebook.com/pervarakapadia . To discover, share, interact, network, have question answer sessions and converse on Social Media do join me at facebook.com/pervarakapadia http://www.facebook.com/pervarakapadia

Social Media As Customer Service

2011-02-01T21:54:00.002+05:30

Do you think that your Social Media Page could work well in attending to customer complains and requests? Perhaps now is the time to start to look at Social Media in many ways.

Your customer could have connected with your Page for many reasons. For instance they could have connected so that they get privileges in terms of discounts, or to be the first to know on new arrivals or new launches. They could join your Page to perhaps know and connect with similar minded people in case of professional interest or causes and social issues. And so on.

What about this situation: They may also join because they could be fed-up with the current customer care that they have called a numerous times and have not received any answer.

When your customer connects with your Social Media site it is all part of customer care. You need to gear up and empower your Social Media team with the relevant knowledge. Be careful your Social Media Page should not be a page full of apologies and asking people to send an email with complete scenario of problem or asking them to call on the customer care number. There are times when you may go on Twitter for instance and view certain business houses - you could come across an entire stream of 'we are sorry to hear this, please send your email to ....'. This kind of approach only in dire situation is justified. However if your entire Page is seen in this manner then the customer or target audience will loose interest. Your Social Media personnel should have the power to address issues.

For this it is important that you have an action plan sorted and well laid out. Naturally if there is a product defect then your Social Media personnel cannot rectify this over the internet. Hence you need to have an escalation matrix back at your drawing board. Thus all departments should be informed and infact trained on the Social Media plan. They need to be explicitly informed that they are to act when the Social Media person forwards to them a request / advice / concern / complain. This is serious information and they need to take steps towards it. Secondly they need to revert back with proper details post the steps taken. The reason being the Social Media personnel needs to inform openly [ofcourse dependent on situation] on the same platform as the complain was received the steps that are taken.

Is your organization ready to take up this challenge? Share your views here.
We have an active Social Media community at my Facebook Business Page. You can experience / see demonstration of Social Media and Community Management at http://www.facebook.com/pervarakapadia . To discover, share, interact, network, have question answer sessions and converse on Social Media do join me at facebook.com/pervarakapadia http://www.facebook.com/pervarakapadia
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Innovative Testimonials Format By Facebook - Social Media

2011-01-27T13:45:00.000+05:30

Recently, infact a couple of days back, Facebook has launched a new advertising option. It is actually bringing Social Networking into ads. This option indeed has its merit. It is innovative in its own way. What Facebook has done is that now brands and business can push ads into their target profiles by showing who from your own network has commented / posted about their brand and business.

This is amazing way of bringing word of mouth [in the online scenario], a kind of testimonial format, into ads. It is called 'Sponsored Stories'.

The only negative part that I see is that incase a person does not want to feature onto this ad then there is no opt-out facility. The counter side of this could be that when you comment on Social Media it is anyway available via search engines and so there is no reason why you would require the opt-out facility. Having said this am sure Facebook would have thought of this and there must be some coverage in its policy.

On the whole it is an amazing and innovative method of bring testimonials really alive and what's more you will trust it since you will see your own friend / network person saying / mentioning about the brand / business.

What is your take on this format?

We have an active Social Media community at my Facebook Business Page. You can experience / see demonstration of Social Media and Community Management at http://www.facebook.com/pervarakapadia . To discover, share, interact, network, have question answer sessions and converse on Social Media do join me at facebook.com/pervarakapadia http://www.facebook.com/pervarakapadia
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You Will Receive 3000+ Followers Guaranteed, Just Buy The Package - Social Media

2011-01-22T22:53:00.001+05:30

Social Media can be measured in numbers which is the quantitative method. It can be measured in qualitative terms as well. What we need to keep in mind is both qualitative and quantitative methods can be measured - over a period of time. To see results you will need to wait for an average of six months in many cases. There are a couple of parameters to measure your Social Media endeavor that I have shared previously.

It is not an over-night magic. It is not what we read that 'you will receive 3000+ followers guaranteed, just buy the package'.

If there are ready made people to connect with your business Page we need to re-look at such claims. From these how many will really lead to sensible and positive brand growth? It is not the number of followers that matter it is quality that matters. What is the sense of having over thousand followers when none really buy into your conversation? When no one really shares what you post? or no one really is interested in reading your comments? or no one engages onto your Page regularly and actively.

For instance: On Facebook it is good to know how many people have 'Liked' your Facebook Fan / Business Page. But it is far too crucial to know how many engaged onto the various conversations, how many 'liked' the individual posts. You need to check on who is regular on your Page.

How many times while working as a Social Media personnel have you received a call asking you why have the number of followers / community members fallen [even if it means one person leaving]. Or to that matter how many times as an individual would you have looked at your follower list and wondered whatever you did or rather did not do created the follower to leave you. Probably this thinking itself caused our fellow member to go away. The thinking as in: Where are my followers. What I am trying to put across is that thinking of our community member as 'one of the members' or as 'a follower' would be the reason why we may have not really connected with them on a one to one humane basis. You need to look and respond to our Community Members on a one to one level - on a human level.

Yes Social Media is time consuming not tedious though.

If any of these criteria are missing then you may lose out with your target audience. Many a times you may get the feeling that no one is responding to you, but do not give up here. You need to understand that as time passes the search engines will start to index your page and then you can hope for traffic towards your page. To enable this you need to be consistent with fresh matter.

Search engines take time - around 3 mths to start to show your pages on search sites. Thus the earlier you start the better. Social Media enables you to achieve personal and professional objectives. The on-page SEO will enables you to reap benefits.

So are you all set and ready to manage your Social Media? Share your views here.

We have an active Social Media community at my Facebook Business Page. You can experience / see demonstration of Social Media and Community Management at http://www.facebook.com/pervarakapadia . To discover, share, interact, network, have question answer sessions and converse on Social Media do join me at facebook.com/pervarakapadia http://www.facebook.com/pervarakapadia

Social Media Fallacies

2011-01-16T12:58:00.003+05:30

These days business have either got into Social Media or are thinking of doing so, gone are the days of neglecting this marketing channel. While many do get into Social Media, most do not use the media in an appropriate way. There are common myths and wrong doing on the sites that I have come across. Am sharing a couple of them below:

Build it and they will come: Plenty of business houses seem to have registered on Social Media sites. When you go through their Page you will find that they have not posted in a long time - over couple of months. Similarly there are lots of NGOs non-profit organizations and lots of causes that have their Page but do not do anything beyond the initial posts. What happens here? Well at first persons who may have connected / subscribed to the pages forget that they are members of the community. Hence they do not participate actively. Add to the misery spammers seem to have a free field day on the Pages. They seem to post all kinds of links. What happens here is as and when the right target audience do visit the Page they are lost in trying to understand as to what your Page is all about. The fact of Social Media is that you need to be consistently posting. This consistency is coupled with fresh and interesting content. The interest is to be judged from your customer's point of view.

Response: It is amazing that after a question is put forth by the Page Admin, when people do start to answer on the same, there is no response from the Page Admin. There is a huge responsibility when you want and do mange to generate response from your community people. Please respect the people, their comments and reply / converse back. Incase if there is any negativity taking place try to gently move that particular conversation back on the right track.

Personality: Before you write and post your first comment remember to have the brand print and brand personality drawn out clearly. If your brand image is to go in a particular direction remember to live by it and behave in that way throughout your interaction.

Human: Social Media is all about human interaction. It is got to do with sharing, opinions, conversations, engagement, networking and so on. Please do not reply as a robot. The reason behind being a robot is justified as being professional. But tell me how many of your customers are logging onto Social Sites to receive professional tone. Yes they log-on to get expert advice but this can be done at an human level not as if a person is reading out of text book!.

There are many fallacies that we do as Social Media persons. Remember there are more than the above pointers as well.

We have an active Social Media community at my Facebook Business Page. You can experience / see demonstration of Social Media and Community Management at http://www.facebook.com/pervarakapadia . To discover, share, interact, network, have question answer sessions and converse on Social Media do join me at facebook.com/pervarakapadia http://www.facebook.com/pervarakapadia
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How The Steam Goes Out Of Social Media Efforts!

2011-01-10T15:46:00.000+05:30

Social Media is soon becoming an extension of marketing for many business houses, and some have already adopted it as one of the main channels to connect with the customers. Many a times we commence the Social Media planning and strategy with a bang! We start with enthusiasm and a lot of hope that we will achieve our objectives within the marketing preview. Ofcouse, some start with a lot of apprehension as well. So, there is a person appointed to carry out the various tasks. And, the execution starts. The person could be from within the organization, or could be the head of business or maybe an external agency.

With a good take off, everyone has started to join into Twitter and Facebook [dependent on what is wanted, this is just example]. And soon the excitement builds up as we start to count on how many people have joined us. In elevators and corridors a quick response is shared on questions like 'how many today?'. This excitement continues till suddenly someone wants to know the ROI. And then suddenly everyone is figuring out on parameters - the matrix to measure Social Media. This could be the first part of loosing out on steam of enthusiasm.

Next part when the steam starts to get out is during engagement period. While initially we may engage but the problem starts when someone complains and we do not respond as a company / brand properly. While apologizing is one part if there is no real concrete step taken then things could go out of hand. It is essential to have developed a matrix / escalation levels while creating the plan and strategy itself. It is essential that all departments know and understand that if the Social Media person flags an issue the concerned department should take the responsibility and solve the issue. This is critical. This the Social Media person should establish at the very beginning itself.

Many a times there are pre-conceived notions about how should a business unit attract customers on the net.

Social Media is a consistent and constant efforts. Let us 'never' think that once the basics are set up it will all generate talks on its own. People always need a little push and a little nudging. Social Media no doubt catches momentum, but one has to keep the momentum going. We cannot say that without an 'active driver' the Social Media will continue to create and achieve our objectives.

Social Media could start to loose the steam. How do you keep it going? What do you think? Join in ...

We have an active Social Media community at my Facebook Business Page. You can experience / see demonstration of Social Media and Community Management at http://www.facebook.com/pervarakapadia . To discover, share, interact, network, have question answer sessions and converse on Social Media do join me at facebook.com/pervarakapadia http://www.facebook.com/pervarakapadia
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What Are The Social Media Uses For Your Brand And Marketing Objectives?

2011-01-07T23:26:00.000+05:30

What are the Social Media uses. Social Media needs time and dedication. It is not feasible to have the results within a short period of time. But, yes you can start to achieve results over a period of time.

Your brand / business may have several reason to be on the Social Media Sites. It depends how you nurture it and enable it to grow. Based on your efforts you could start to achieve various results.

The various purposes that Social Media could serve are:

Customer Service
Public Relation
Page Ranking
Acquisition
Retention
Customer Value Enhancement
Referral [Friend Get Friend] Programme, Member Get Member Programme, Viral Marketing
Encourage Non Active Members To Participate
Brand Awareness
Brand Personality Re-Enforcement, Build Brand Identity And Thereby Brand Recognition
Bring In Positive Brand Perceptions
Progress Towards Brand Associations, Familiarity, Attitudes, Identity, Personality, Image And Brand Preference
Increase The Brand - Consumer Bond, Loyalty Towards Your Brand, Service, Product, Company Etc
Over A Period Of Time Customer Intelligence Can Be Built - Who They Are, What Interests Them, And So On Based On What Is Feasible From The Connection Online
Create Brand Difference
Consumer Insights
What Does Your Customer Like And Not Like About Your Brand, Product, Service Etc.
Enhance Brand Proposition And Positioning
Try Preventing Attrition
Nurturing Brand - Customer Relationship Over Time Thereby Deepening Relationships
Identify Active Participants To Give Them More Benefits And Thereby Get Them To Feel More Belonging Towards Your Brand, Product, Service Etc
Facilitating Cross Sell And Up Sell

Your turn. What are the various purposes that you would get your brand / business onto the Social Media Site?

We have an active Social Media community at my Facebook Business Page. You can experience / see demonstration of Social Media and Community Management at http://www.facebook.com/pervarakapadia . To discover, share, interact, network, have question answer sessions and converse on Social Media do join me at facebook.com/pervarakapadia http://www.facebook.com/pervarakapadia
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Social Media Calls For Pro-Active And Re-Active Actions

2011-01-06T21:34:00.000+05:30

When on Social Media you need to have a plan of action. A plan that has directional steps for two paths: one which guides you on the road ahead and the other which helps out when you meet with hurdles on that road. What this goes to say is that you need a plan that is pro-active along with a plan that is re-active.

Allow me to explain this: Just creating a Facebook Business / Fan Pages is not enough. You need a plan - which indicates on what is to be done. Developing a community is time consuming job. The community is to be nurtured and fed with information. As Facebook rightly calls posts as feeds! Truly so, you do need to keep at it and be consistent and fresh as well. It is best to have a diary wherein you will have written about the topics that you want to converse about.

While you plan on this you also need to think in terms of crises. For instance suppose you are administrating the Facebook Fan / Business Page of consumer goods. Who will you approach if one day your community member on Facebook mentions that the goods bought are defective. What would be your steps; at one level how will you address this complain on the Facebook and at another level what will you do at company level. Hence, the plan should also comprise of steps for meeting sudden crises based situations.

When facing crises you need to adhere to the brand philosophy as well.

Conclusion: You need to have a plan that sets you towards your direction clearly. You also need the plan that enables you to tackle crises situations.

We have an active Social Media community at my Facebook Business Page. You can experience / see demonstration of Social Media and Community Management at http://www.facebook.com/pervarakapadia . To discover, share, interact, network, have question answer sessions and converse on Social Media do join me at facebook.com/pervarakapadia http://www.facebook.com/pervarakapadia
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Know About Social Bookmarking Sites - Social Media

2011-01-02T00:43:00.001+05:30

In the online world of Social Media we have the well known sites such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and so on. In this same world we have sites that enable you to share the various pages and blogs that may be of interest to you. These sites enable you to share links of pages / sites / blogs that you would like to recommend.
Social Bookmarking sites are handy at two levels. One is, they are handy to share and spread the message / articles etc. At another level they enable better SEO [Search Engine Optimization]. There are various sites that enable Social Bookmarking. The popular ones are Delicious, Digg, Stumbleupon and so on.

What happens at Social Bookmarking sites:
At initial level you start off by registering like you would at any other Social site. Post your registering you can then onwards start to post links of pages, blogs etc that you would like to share. This works effectively for the SEO purpose as well. As more traffic gets driven towards your link. These sites also work on more or less same basic sharing and posting descriptions of what you suggest etc.

How do you do Social Bookmarking:
There are a couple of ways in which you can do bookmarking. One is go on the site and copy paste the link of the page you want to share. The other is your browser would have the facility to do Social Bookmarking. And, thirdly usually the sites, blogs would have the same facility as well. As technology advances you have the fourth past which is - applications for your iPhone, Android phone, or iPad as well.

You too can search for sites and pages, blogs that others would have bookmarked. Usually these sites have categories so you can search with ease.

This is another way to start getting traffic towards your site. So which Social Bookmarking sites are your favorite?

We have an active Social Media community at my Facebook Business Page. You can experience / see demonstration of Social Media and Community Management at http://www.facebook.com/pervarakapadia . To discover, share, interact, network, have question answer sessions and converse on Social Media do join me at facebook.com/pervarakapadia http://www.facebook.com/pervarakapadia
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Basic SEO Tactics - Social Media

2010-12-25T13:58:00.004+05:30

Many a times am asked what are the basic SEO tactics to know and keep in mind. Well if one starts to explain this then the list can be a little overwhelming. However to keep matters a little simple I would suggest the below so as to be a little more effective:

Key Word Research And Optimization:
Before going into any detail you would first require to do a proper keyword research. Key words are the search words that your target audience would be keying into search sites say for instance Google. The key word research would be done in two parts. At first level you need to check on what does your target audience search. The second part you need to check out on is what keywords do your competitors optimist. Usually the two would be more or less similar however it is good to check out. Post your findings you then need to decide on which key words you will emphasis on and optimize. These would be in tandem with the brand personality and image that you may already have or you may want to create. You will need to be clear on what is the brand philosophy because without this you will not be able to be in-sync with the rest of the brand - customer perception.
On-Page Content Keyword Optimization:
Once you have frozen on your key words you need to then make it a conscious effort to utilize the same words. This is known as key word density. However it does not mean that you use the words so often that the reader has no other words to look at. Too much of density makes search spiders also suspicious and they may choose to not follow your page. The algorithms in the search engines are very much tuned to such spams. They can detect such things and can almost ban your page as a matter of speaking. Hence you do use the words but in a creative manner.
File Name:
While working at server level you will have many files to upload and save. This could be either for dynamic data or static information. The search engine scans through these as well. Do not name files as file1, file2 and so on. Instead use this space as your key holder. Have the correct File name that the pages within suggest.
META Keyword And META Description Tag:
When you edit HTML you will notice that you have spaces for Meta words. Use these appropriately. These are important for search engines. They understand the programme language and you can use these to the fullest.
Page Title And H1 Headline:
I would encourage you to be creative. However do not be so creative that the keywords are missing from your titles, headlines and sub heads.
Image Alt Tag:
Many a times I have noticed that while saving the images we do not mention the proper names instead we call them image1, image2 and so on. A very important fact is that you are missing out on great amount of search spider attraction material.
Link Building:
This is another important aspect of SEO [Search Engine Optimization]. While working it is imperative to have a Link Strategy in mind as well. Links direct and guide the search engine crawlers towards your main page / blog / site. Links work as arrow indicators on highway for the speeding spiders and crawlers. This does not mean that you start to have link packages and get into some aggressive link farming trap. The moment we get into this zone the algorithms at search engine start to flag this as they recognize spamming actions. Additionally you need to be careful on the part from where the links come to your page / site / blog. It is good if they come from a high traffic page. At the same time that page should not have too many links or else again the danger of neutralizing the effect comes in. Allow me to explain: Let's consider two options. Let's call two pages as 'Page A' and 'Page B' respectively. Page A has high value traffic and too many links. While Page has good traffic not as high as Page A but is healthy traffic and has less than 20 links. When you will submit you link to both Page A and Page B you will notice that the search engine considers the trust value as equal. The reason being that too many links cause the search engine to start looking at spam information. Hence Link farms etc get into negative count. Add to this your link should be supported by proper copy matter and keywords that point towards your link. There are many more factors to consider before jumping into the back-link strategy.

While I have shared this there is lots more to search engine optimization from back end or tech part as well. When you practice the above pointers remember that they work for your website, blogs and Social Media like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and so on. Yes, these days when search engines are getting inroads into Social Media sites as well then why should you miss out on a great opportunity?

Interesting? Share your part.

We have an active Social Media community at my Facebook Business Page. You can experience / see demonstration of Social Media and Community Management at http://www.facebook.com/pervarakapadia . To discover, share, interact, network, have question answer sessions and converse on Social Media do join me at facebook.com/pervarakapadia http://www.facebook.com/pervarakapadia

The Changing Customer Service - Social Media

2010-12-21T16:45:00.002+05:30

Due to Social Media the way customers are now serviced has taken a change. This change is for the good.

Previously like all other things, we have experienced the good and the bad customer service and care that was implemented. There were some corporates who managed well, while the others managed to frustrate the customers even more. And it goes without saying, that though we have good possibility via the Social Media there will be some who will perform well and others who may not.

It is not that the previous formats of touchpoints have been removed. They still exists. There are call centers, on-desk person to person counters, relationship managers and so on. All these had processes and all would say very much similar things - either they will get back, and / or they are very sorry and / or they will have to ask and then replace goods. Somehow they never knew what was taking place at the company level. They were to form positive contact yet there was no via medium to do so. There were intensive training provided but still there was a gap / still is a gap for some. If atall a customer did get a good and privileged deal this would be notified via some other channel and touch point like maybe an emailer. If there is birthday greeting to be sent out then perhaps an SMS would go out. So the continuity in forming relationship never could take place. And hence they would be relegated to listening to complains, saying sorry profusely and generally trying to pack off the customer. While if we look at the customer side: They would be given a complaint number and would be addressed later. In some cases the customer had to do lots of follow - up before any action is taken.

Many corporates would put up their customer care number, email id as a necessary evil. Atleast on websites it was slightly easier to detect. In print it would be finding it somewhere amongst much text.

Coming to the Social Media scenario it is changing the way people interact. Lets take for example a Facebook Fan / Business Page. The same Page is used to address customer grievances, answer questions, give more information, to the extent that the Page can start a movement as well. Unfortunately I do come across copy paste statements still 'we are sorry please send us your email id and we will contact you soon' - the whole page is flooded with this message specially on Twitter. However this is thankfully not the tone across the board. What the corporates do now is that the same Page enables customers to engage and know more about how to handle their product, maintain it, a free download is shared and so on. And what's more customer's give feedback. They share it amongst their network and so the good word spreads.

What is the change? Previously it was re-active now it is pro-active?

Infact what was previously called customer care is now truly to a large extent 'care'. Care is nurturing just not attending to crises. And, shall we say this is shaping up now with Social Media?

What is your take?
We have an active Social Media community at my Facebook Business Page. You can experience / see demonstration of Social Media and Community Management at http://www.facebook.com/pervarakapadia . To discover, share, interact, network, have question answer sessions and converse on Social Media do join me at facebook.com/pervarakapadia http://www.facebook.com/pervarakapadia
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Facebook Has Just Launched New Fan / Business Page Design - Social Media

2010-12-17T03:17:00.000+05:30

Facebook has just launched new Fan / Business Page design. If you are the Page Admin on Facebook then refresh your Page to see the new layout. Ofcourse it is rolling out so no saying if this is going to remain. These are the early glimpses of the changes so lets see what they finalize.

One of the best things they have done is giving out notification of comments, likes and so on. This was much needed. If this is the case then Three Cheers to Facebook.
The tabs that were on top have now shifted to the right side of the Page which means to your left side.
There is an amazing question and answer section introduced by Facebook.
The landing tab seems to be set by Facebook and for the moment we admins cannot make the change; this means we cannot select which landing tab we want. It is a default setting.

Things are a little slow since they are rolling out across the various Pages.

We have an active Social Media community at my Facebook Business Page. You can experience / see demonstration of Social Media and Community Management at http://www.facebook.com/pervarakapadia . To discover, share, interact, network, have question answer sessions and converse on Social Media do join me at facebook.com/pervarakapadia http://www.facebook.com/pervarakapadia
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Best Way To Experience Facebook Group Is Now! - Social Media

2010-12-16T02:36:00.001+05:30

With the festive season on and the celebration of New Year is about to begin there are lots of things you need to plan out. It could be an office party, it could be a company throwing a party inviting clients, or it could be family and friends based outing.

Planning time is on. Why not use the Facebook Group here. It is the best way to see the usage and experience this if you have not as yet attempted doing so.

What do you think?

We have an active Social Media community at my Facebook Business Page. You can experience / see demonstration of Social Media and Community Management at http://www.facebook.com/pervarakapadia . To discover, share, interact, network, have question answer sessions and converse on Social Media do join me at facebook.com/pervarakapadia http://www.facebook.com/pervarakapadia
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Social Media At Alltop

2010-12-15T16:56:00.004+05:30

While working on Social Media many a times you may need information to know what is taking place on the Social Media world map. At other instances you may want ideas to boost your thinking when you are about to write a blog post. There are couple of spaces on the net which can enable you to have good matter for your content. One such space is alltop.com .

Here you can search for a range of topics and get to know the answers to your questions. What's more alltop has information on other fields as well. So go on check out alltop and share you views on what you think of this space.

I work as Freelance Social Media Network Online Professional. We have an active Social Media community at my Facebook Business Page. You can experience / see demonstration of Social Media and Community Management at http://www.facebook.com/pervarakapadia . To discover, share, interact, network, have question answer sessions and converse on Social Media do join me at facebook.com/pervarakapadia http://www.facebook.com/pervarakapadia

The Difference Between A Casual Usage And The Professional Usage On Social Media

2010-12-12T03:37:00.004+05:30

Community Management on Social Media sites like Facebook is not just about having a Fan / Business Page set up. A Social Media professional cannot use their Facebook Page the way a casual user consumes Facebook.

There is a definite difference in the way [reason] a casual user consumes Facebook as against the Social Media professional. The obvious difference is that a casual user logs into Facebook to know what his / her network is doing 'what's up!?'. The casual user is more into 'checking out' on latest happenings with their connections. Will be passing on /sharing of photos, videos. They will be commenting on posts and liking other people's comments and posts, photos and videos and so on.

What is the different thing that the Social Media professional would be doing? On the face of it we would say the same things. Well both seem to be doing similar things, reason being that the site provides certain functionality and both use it to the optimal benefit.

The difference is in the motive, the difference is in the objective the difference is in the reason to be there.

The professional utilizes the site's functions a little more optimally than the casual user. The casual user is not too much into RnD on the site. While the professional will check for developments and try to find out new things so that they can connect better with their community members. For instance take a look at the tabs - our casual friend will not be so concerned while our professional will be checking on ways to enhance their Page.

The conversations are flowed towards the Page's thoughts and philosophy by our Professional while the casual user will start and intersect on any conversation. Even sharing of photos and videos are planned by the Professional.

Social Media professional has a marketing objective. Understands customer relationships and manages them. Listens into the talks and makes them into engaging conversations. They portray the brand personality and try to live up-to the brand print / philosophy. They understand the principles of direct marketing and at the same time they know that they do not need to do hard sales and shout their sales messages as a one way communication.

Just because there is an active user on Social Media sites does not make him / her a Professional.

We have an active Social Media community at my Facebook Business Page. You can experience / see demonstration of Social Media and Community Management at http://www.facebook.com/pervarakapadia . To discover, share, interact, network, have question answer sessions and converse on Social Media do join me at facebook.com/pervarakapadia http://www.facebook.com/pervarakapadia
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