Over the course of the past few weeks, we’ve been monitoring several blogs, Indian as well as from across the globe,  to understand the commenting trends and almost everywhere we have come across this phenomenon. It seems that now, with the advent of so many social media platforms, there are a hundred different avenues through which blogs are commented on and discussed, including the blog. A simple tweet on twitter like ‘Read interesting post about wordpress 3.0 by *** and totally disagree’ can trigger a conversation on twitter rather than on the blog. If the blogger would like to be part of this conversation, it becomes her job to track where her story is being shared and discussed and get there as fast as possible with her reasons and opinions to continue the conversation. For instance, this blogpost may be retweeted by 10 different people on twitter, each marking the tweet with his/her thought [which takes the place of the comment] along with the url. In this scenario, it might simply be a better solution to add to the comments box a continuously updating list of mentions on the social web thus allowing you to connect with those who have thoughts about your ideas on their platform rather than bringing them to your blog and expecting them to drop a comment. So if the lack of comments is really getting you down, hang in there! Someone, somewhere is tweeting about you. You just need to find them and engage!

Follow us on @iridiuminter or catch us up on facebook and we’ll keep you posted about more such news.

“It is our nature to be social”

Last week as I spoke at the NASSCOM Emerge Friday 2.0 and while sharing my experience on the Causeaneffect.org NGO initiative, it dawned onto me that social media has always been around, only its importance has accentuated in the last few years. Attending conferences all over the world and presenting the case of social media and the experiences of iridium Interactive, it was pretty apparent that social media has no barriers across countries, it is a unified digital revolution that has been transforming our lives, only under different names since more than a decade. How has it changed our lives has not been introspected yet.

Here are the some of the reasons how social media has changed our lives and why we should make the most of it.

1.       It has made us more social, we know a lot more people than we would a few years back.

2.       Larger networks- college friends, school friends, people we meet at social occasions, relatives, and friends met though friends, this used to be our typical networks, social media has exponentially increased our networks.

3.       More vocal about your thoughts- Forums, blogs, tweets, status updates are allowing us to speak our mind, wondered why? Because we know we will be heard by some or many.

4.       Enhances PR skills- you do not have to take PR lessons to talk to people on social media.

5.       Converse with like minded people on these social networks.

6.       Get in touch with thought leaders, influencers and even people who inspire you.

7.       Reconnects with old connections- People you have lost in touch with since a decade can be traced from any corner of the world (provided they are on these networks themselves) on the wide world of social media.

8.       Your virtual network is always ready to help. All it takes is to put forward a question and there you will have experts recommending the best to you.

9.       Ease of companies to get in touch with their consumers and vis a vis.

10.   Looking for a job or looking to hire someone, your professional network helps you find the best fit.

Social media brings out the extrovert you. All that matters in social media is your network, communities, connections and finally your discussions with them. Social media has reduced distances both for individuals and companies.

Have you seen a change in your social profile by social media, do post what you have gained from social media.

Follow us on @iridiuminter or my personal twitter @sbharatam.

Image Source-Rosaura Ochoa from Flickr

Here are few ways you can start your social media activities:

Facebook Fan Page/ Profile: With hits more than Google, Facebook is emerging as a social media giant. They also provide a good platform for advertising and getting in touch with your customers and create your community in the long run.With their recent new editions to enter pretty everywhere on the web, facebook is expected to become the platform for consumer behaviors and brand advocacy.

Twitter: This is one platform that allows you to market your company within 180 characters. Easy as it seems it provides immense marketing capabilities.

Company Blog: This is one way small businesses can add great value to their firm. This can be a great way to share knowledge, the company culture with the world. Smart companies are again and again proving to be the ‘employer’ of choice not through their flashy websites anymore, but by the blogs. One key reason, company blogs bring the real story, videos of people fresh and alive. Interaction is the hot button.

Linkedin: I have already spoken on reaching out to your professional network through Linkedin. Make contacts, get in touch with like minded people, find potential employees and even get recognized in your field of  work. Linkedin with its virtual networking opportunities is something much beyond your face-to-face networking.

And finally measuring your return on influence from social media, to analyse your progress in the social media space is one thing you should do even before you venture engaging with people online.

There are so many other means to start off with social media, these are the most popular ways of taking off and therefore my sweep-take. My next blog will talk about how small businesses can start off with facebook and its various applications.

There is one most important thing that has to be mentioned time and again, no matter how many social networks you are present in, what matters most is your presence, make yourself felt and do it the right way. Quality always wins over quantity as humans relate with people who respond and connect..slowly winning the social trust.

Follow us on @iridiuminter or my personal twitter @sbharatam.

Image Source: Jon_Marshall’s Photostream on Flickr

Twitter’s new homepage design was mentioned as a test and “work in progress” on their official blog (blog.twitter.com), where it also mentions about a Twitter banner featuring the website’s top trending topics. Scrolling over those highlighted topics provides information on why a particular word/phrase was popular at that time.

Below that is a feed that looks similar to a Twitter user’s live feed, featuring a constantly changing list of 140-character (or less) messages.

Among the rotating list of featured tweeters on Tuesday afternoon were teen pop star Justin Bieber, evangelical minister Rick Warren, zombie-movie director George Romero and actress Marlee Matlin.

“With the new design, we’re intentionally featuring more dynamic content on the front page, revealing a sample of who’s here, what folks are tweeting about, and the big topics that they’re discussing”, Twitter said in its blog post.

The blog said the top tweets are “algorithmically-selected” but offered no further details.

Twitter’s new main page also features a block of ‘suggested users’ of the micro-blogging site, allowing someone viewing the page to scroll over that user’s photo to see his or her most recent tweet.

“All of our recent changes embrace the notion that Twitter is not just for status updates anymore,” the Twitter blog mentioned. “It’s a network where information is exchanged and consumed at a rapid clip every second of the day.

“With so much being shared, we know that there’s something of value for everyone.”

In January, the site began unveiling changes with the goal of making Twitter experience more personal for users.

It added the Tweet Location option under the options ‘settings’ which allows the users to tweet with their location.

As the world is shrinking thanks to the web and now the social networking sites, social media marketing has arrived as a critical need. I have made some key words that marketers should keep in mind while venturing in to social media marketing that will be a great deal of help for you. No longer will the blow horn, over the top marketing strategies work anymore as consumers just do not want products, they want much more than that, a consistent commitment and a degree of transparency from their companies. Best brands use social media as a medium to freely exchange opinions and thoughts.

Here are some of the important “Social Media Marketing clicks” that give you the main essence.

·        Shed all your social media fears

·        Listen and never stop listening

·        Be a silent observer of the chatter first. Answers to engage will simply come

·        Determine your audience you want to reach out too

·        Speak-out before you think, just let go and communicate transparently

·        Have an earnest and honest appeal to your conversations with your consumers

·        Subtly market your product through consumer experience driven approach. Aggressive selling repels customers.

·        Be consistent while using social media- it not a one time apply tool

·        Create relationship with your stakeholders. Things will sell automatically once you connect.

·        Listen and answer to their queries. It is not a one sided communication tool.

·        Unanswered customer queries can lead to negative reputation. Be proactive.

·        There is no age limit to social media

Keep these clicks with you and explore your digital marketing efforts with a fresh perspective. Change is happening dynamically, you create the shift for you…

I will write more on this in my next blog….The Essential C’s for Social Media. Keep listening…

Follow us on @iridiuminter or my personal twitter @sbharatam

Social Media Marketing is nothing but using Social Media as a platform for your marketing endeavours. It is the new way of marketing that has this unique ability to let consumers market for you, beautifully aligning your offline and online marketing. The industry gurus call it WOM (Word of Mouth) marketing. Social media in its real essence is interactive in nature, so when a company starts interacting directly with their customers, customers / stakeholders fundamentally tend to relate more with the brand and indirectly become brand ambassadors for such companies.

These customers then spread their marketing messages organically. Most successful social media compaigns include consumer engagement, corporate transparency and community building.

So many companies now have blogs, newsletters, accounts in various social networking sites like facebook, twitter, myspace, linkedin etc. this is solely for the purpose of giving their consumers a real time view of what is actually happening within the company. Building trust by engaging in conversations and creating transparent avatar is what these companies are successfully doing in their social media marketing activities.

Companies who restrain from using social media marketing are missing out on the huge coverage social media has to offer which no other traditional marketing tools have to offer. And guess what….it is extremely cost-effective low cost marketing platform with a reach you cannot comprehend, if you have something fresh to voice …it gets heard ! that will help you derive huge consumer following and build your brand credibility that traditional media alone can no-more promise.

Follow us on @iridiuminter or my personal twitter @sbharatam

People by their very nature are social. Companies, businesses thrive on people and their opinions. No surprises then, that Social media has it own reasons to evolve with more and more social networking sites mushrooming every single day. Whether you like it or not, accept it or not, there is so much being said about you- with or without you. If you choose not engage, you are simply giving up the ability to manage and influence what’s being said…

It has become an imperative need to listen to what your stakeholders are saying about you in this social space before planning any marketing strategy. In a recent global CMO survey, over 90% of companies confirm that they are allocating over 25% of their marketing mix budgets to social media / digital marketing initiatives. They are understanding this critical need to participate in continuous consumer interactions that engages users with opportunities to share their opinions.

There are so many online social networking sites from facebook, twitter, orkut, flickr, digg, technorati, myspace, linkedin, picasa and so many more. When you search for Social Media on Google you get 210,000,000 results. Whaoo!! This can be rather intimidating for someone who is just looking at implementing this very popular phenomena people just cant stop talking about in the business context.

@iridiuminter, having the depth and breath of social media for over a decade, @iridiuminter digital strategy team enjoys placing the social footprints for our clients everyday with a robust relevancy and reach that delivers tangible online growth engines for them.So, it is time to question your marketing plans and explore the new dimensions of online growth opportunities right now.

In my bid to share the knowledge and experience on Social Media Marketing and Monitoring, I will take you through these stories in my upcoming series and help you set your fortress of Social media.

Follow us on @iridiuminter or my personal twitter @sbharatam.

Ans: When you signup for a new Twitter account, you are entitled to provide a real name and a username. The username you enter is what appears in your Twitter profile URL (Ex: http://www.twitter.com/iridiuminter) and at the top left of your Twitter profile page next to your photo. Your username is also displayed in @(username) when someone replies back. This will be the name that the entire community will associate you with.  It’s therefore advisable to choose your username smartly as it will become a part of your brand on the Twitter Platform.

You may however change your Twitter usename by visiting your Twitter Account Settings page and entering your new username in the Username Box.  Please note that the username can not exceed 15 characters. Hence, you can not get a username such as: iridium Interactive as it exceeds the max number of characters. Twitter don’t allow spaces in usernames.

Q2) How do I block a Twitter Follower?

Unfortunately, there are a lot of spammers on Twitter whom you might want to block.

If someone follows you and you want to block that particular user,  simply log onto Twitter and go to that person’s profile page. Then select the “Block” option from the right hand sidebar (under the “Actions” heading). Remember, you can still view them in your public Twitter stream if you have blocked them, but they won’t appear on your Followers list and you won’t appear on their list as well.

Q3) How do I edit a tweet which has been already published?

Sorry, there isn’t any edit option introduced by Twitter so far. You may however delete your tweet any time and republish it the way you wish to.

Q4) What is retweet?

If you like someone’s tweet, you can always Retweet (abbreviated as RT) and share it on your own Twitter profile. To do so, simply add RT and the original poster’s Twitter username within your tweet (for example, “RT @iridiuminter” would indicate you’re retweeting, or republishing, something that iridium interactive has published). You will find loads of twitter applications which provides you with an option to retweet or retweet with comment option in your profile.

Q5) What is hashtag?

A hashtag in Twitter is a keyword preceded by the “#” symbol used while tweeting. Hashtags generally help Twitter users to quickly find content related to a particular subject. For example, if I want to search for updates related to Iridium Interactive, I would go to http://search.twitter.com/ (Internal Search of Twitter) and search for “iridium Interactive”. The search result will fetch all the tweets which contains the word Iridium Interactive in it or #iridium interactive or #iridium.

Q6) What is @reply?

While using Twitter for micro-blogging you’ve undoubtedly seen the @reply tag and heard the term ‘at reply’. An @reply is a reply to a particular tweet from one person directly to another that is published in the tweeter’s public Twitter stream and in the @reply recipient’s @username link (where ‘username’ is replaced with the person’s actual Twitter username) in the sidebar of that person’s Twitter profile page.

If you want to send a reply to someone on Twitter or send a private message (where you don’t want the message to appear in your Twitter stream or the other person’s @username link list), then you should use the Direct Message function in Twitter to send him/her a private message.

Please note that a @username reference in a tweet only counts in the form of @reply if it is at the beginning of the tweet. If the @reply reference is made in the middle a tweet, Twitter considers it to be a ‘mention’  and not a ‘reply’. However, both mentions and replies are included in the @username link in the sidebar of a user’s Twitter profile.

Q7) What is a URL Shortener?

Twitter allows only 140 characters per tweet. Sometimes URLs are so long they often use up all characters leaving no space for you to insert a message. URL Shortener helps shortening any particular URL you provide for Ex- http://bit.ly/a53aj5 . This is a great way to share a link with a message.

Follow iridium Interactive on twitter and facebook and stay current with the latest on social media and campaigns.

Twitter is a complicated puzzle to many small business owners and particularly fatal if you mess it up. It has a steep learning curve but the returns are exponential when you are passionate to stay the course. Twitter is one tool that can be used to drive traffic to your blog. Here are some simple yet critical ways you can capitalize to make more people read your blogs.

1. Business Logo

Once you have created a twitter account for your small business, first thing you should do is change your default picture to your business logo. Branding is very important as people will relate to your company logo and this is the first step to help you build trust worthy relationships.

2. Start conversations – Be Sincere

One thumb rule for twitter is never directly market here. You have to build communities with your earnesty. Customers tend to look through a company if they start marketing right from the moment they start twittering. Start tweeting and connect with influential people and customers that are impacting the business landscape for you. You will be surprised to know “sincerity is what attracts people”. So step in your transparent shoes, be truthful to your stakeholders. Your competitors are already doing so.

3. Complete Bio Profile

I have seen many companies who do not bother to complete their Bio Profile after creating their accounts. Bio Profile is nothing but a brief write up on what your company does within 160 characters. This is vital if you are looking at creating communities and meeting people and companies relevant to you. Also remember bio lines have to give some useful information about your company, it can just be keywords of the services your company provides. It does not have to be in complete sentences but should carry the right keywords.

4. Customize your Twitter Background

Just like any billboard on the roads used to market brands, Twitter background is a very good place to brand your small business. This can be used to draw attention to your brand. There are many twitter background applications that can be used to customize the background like Twitrbackgrounds, Twitrounds , Twibacks.

5. Social Proof

Twitter may be a challenge to many people but unfortunately this may add more to your challenges. Potential people and consumers look at your social proof i.e. how many people are following you, who and how many people are you following and the number of tweets you post. As I have already mentioned in my earlier tweets, the ideal following versus followers ratio should be 1:10. In the beginning people will slowly trickle in to follow you but as you consistently and patiently continue conversing with your potential community it will not be late when you have an out-pour of people who want to follow you and be a part of your community.

After a trial and error of implementation at our company i.e iridium Interactive, our team is fully aware of the power of engaging communities via twitter.Its all about being patient, consistent and transparent. If you have all these three ingredients topped with the passion to experiment you will have a successful stint in twitter and a huge community of people.

Keep reading on, as I will answer Twitter FAQs in my next Wisdom Series.

Follow us on @iridiuminter or my personal twitter @sbharatam

But what is twitter? For all those who are not following @sbharatam‘s iiwisdomseries on Twitter, it is a micro-blogging tool which acts like your personal radio station where you can broadcast live by sending short messages or (tweets) whenever you like on whatever you want. It is like instant messaging with more widespread visibility.

I have seen many a times twittizens do not realise when they give their account details for better services to potential hackers. Can you ever imagine that your favorite twitter account being hacked? You will not have access to your profile, nor will you be able to find out whats your friends are currently tweeting. Isnt that frustrating!!

Do you offer a helping hand to the hackers trying to get an easy access to your twitter account?

It may sound a bit strange, but the answer is “Yes”.  Lets take an instance. I want a software for twitter that can provide me the best way of using Twitter. I searched for the same at a popular search engine and found out Tweetdeck which is a free twitter application which can be installed in various OS Platforms Windows, Linux and Mac. At any point during downloading the application it can ask you for your twitter credentials, without thinking much I give my password and username details. This is where we are at a potential risk of having our accounts hacked.

There are countless third party applications available on the web promising you better user experiences on your twitter account. These applications are free to use and tends to have an access of your account through Twitter connections, whenever you accept and give them the permission to post on your behalf of your twitter account, you are allowing a potential hacker to hack your account.

How do you protect your Twitter Account?

In order to protect your twitter account from getting hacked, its always advisable to use the least number of third party applications while using your Twitter. Incase, you happen to use some third party application, do ensure that you verify the nature of the third party twitter application and ensure that its not a plot to hack your account. At the same time, do keep a note of the applications, which you granted the access to your account. You may find them in details at http://twitter.com/settings/connections

PS: The instances used in the above post have been used to explain you how serious this issue is. By no means, we did want to explain that Twitterdeck or its related tools are hacking instruments.