Online Marketing Insights

Who killed Osama? How did he die? Is he actually dead? If someone paid a penny for how many times these questions have been asked, they would be billionaires.. We don’t believe in any of the conspiracy theories going around, we actually believe Osama was found and killed while he was doing social shopping, getting discounts on some missiles and weapons.

We believe that for sure Osama Bin Laden would have been using Facebook or some other social networking website which helped US in locating him and helping him to rest in peace. Got it, maybe not in peace, but resting.

The moral of the story is if you want to stay out of sight, for whatever weird reason, don’t make yourself available anywhere. Especially on social networking websites. You are being watched, and will be caught (as Osama painfully realizes).

Therefore, we say “To stay hidden, STOP using Facebook, for everything else, contact OMLogic”.

Yatra Cricket Manager

Addas for talking cricket now go digital thanks to social media experts like OMLogic.

When cricket comes calling in India, even Bollywood hibernates to non-action for half a quarter. No big ticket releases are expected to come up for the duration of the Cricket World Cup 2011 which is being held in the subcontinent this time.

That Indians are vocally passionate about cricket is a truism and an understatement at the same time. We know that cricket has always been a “social” game. Paanwallahs see their business rise when any match that is to do with the “C” word is on; not to mention especially when the teams of the world descend on the subcontinent! If like everything else, most of our activities are moving digital, then it is a natural progression for even these addas to move online.

As they indeed have! Addas have come online, on Facebook now!

That cricket will need and be a successful conversation builder on Facebook and other social media platforms was something that OMLogic expected early on and thus took the lead in building the communities “Cricket World Cup 2011” and “Commonwealth Games 2010” way back in 2009 on Facebook.

The success of this community (it has close to 1.2 Lac members) can be attributed to not just the early lead but also because of the constant flow of conversation kept on building in it which kept the members hooked coming back for more.

The thumb rule to measure any conversation online, wise guys so say, has been to see when it degenerates into a slurring match between Nazis and Jews internationally and India and Pakistan in the subcontinent no matter what the piece is about. And this community passes that test very easily

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Twitter Outwitter

Well, it looks like the virtual space for micro blogging is literally getting cluttered, as many new players jump into the fray, for a show of one-upmanship in ‘blogosphere’. Many Twitter clones, wannabes as well as genuine competitors(so they say) like Plurk, Blauk, Qaiku and a lot others have surfaced, reminding Twitter that it may be the leader, but it surely is not the sole player in the game.

For the moment, Twitter is definitely miles ahead in the race. It has no real immediate dangers lurking nearby; it can still nibble on the lucrative micro-blogging pie, without as much looking behind their backs.

However, if it doesn’t improvise and come up with other attractive add-ons and ground-breaking features in the very near future, Twitter can as well forget its honeymoon with micro-blogging.

The faster, the better it will be for Twitter.

Outwitters?

So who are these new gladiators, jumping into the ring, ready to challenge the high and mighty Twitter?

Well, they are quite a handful, counting the has-beens.

There were Jaiku, Pownce and some more… and now there are many more… the prominent ones being Blauk, Plurk and Qaiku.

How are they different from Twitter? What do they have that can wean users away from Twitter?

Blauk, based out of India and the newest kid on the block has a special focus, with a tagline that says, “I saw you there…and I thought…” Simply said, it’s all about other people, strangers to be specific. Sample this, ‘saw yu sipping a coke outside PVR Saket 2day aftn…black jeans, white T…yu r hot’. Launched in January 2010, it has managed to cobble up some 200,000 users.  So, overtaking Twitter might be just a pipe dream for the moment…but one never knows.

Then there’s Plurk, another Twitter clone, where you put “your life, on the line”. Similar to Twitter in its basic functionalities, only it is put on a timeline, making it more conversational. It has colors for moods and the concept of karma, wherein, the more you use Plurk, the more karma, you get. Like pounce, you can embed Flickr images and Youtube videos too. Here, unlike Twitter, the updates are shown horizontally.

All in all, it is more fun and easy on the eyes than Twitter by a long haul. Presently based in Canada, it’s planning to shift their operation to Taiwan as it has lots of users in Asian countries like Hongkong, Singapore and Taiwan.  So far, it has 5 million subscribers since its launch in 2008.

And then, there is Qaiku, a micro-blogging and lifestreaming service. Stated in 2009, it allows you to “Ask, find, share, discuss. Anywhere”. A Jaiku clone, similar in theme and layout, it too has friends (mutual following) and fans (one way following).

Jaiku, started in Finland in 2007, was cleaner and friendlier than Twitter that Google bought it to make its foray into the micro blogging space. However, forget innovative game-changing features (Google is good at it, right?); it never took off, as it failed to garner any substantial users. And with a whimper Jaiku went off the scene.

Amen to that.

Twitter, It Is.

So what is the moral of the story?

Most of the micro blogging/social networks that came to the scene after Twitter were/are better than Twitter in more ways than one. But, none succeeded.

Call it “the first mover’s advantage”, the head-start Twitter had by launching it in 2006, has made it the unchallenged Numero-Uno.

The simple truth is that Twitter is the most popular micro blogging network not because it is better than the others. It’s popular because it’s popular…call it the ‘herd culture or peer pressure’, you tweet because everyone tweets.  And busy as we are… facebooking and twittering away every little time we can spare online, we just don’t have the time to check these new players out.

But, as they say, anything can happen… anything can happen, and well…a few months, or years down the line, a blauck, a plurk or a qaiku could be the Next Big Thing.

Well, till then, a tweet it is.

The online travel site aims to target a larger section of the netizens through strategic social media activities.

Online travel company Yatra.com has partnered with OMLogic, an online and social media marketing company, to roll out strategic social media activities in order to reach out to a larger audience.

With this new initiative, Yatra.com aims to engage its target group through social networking websites such as Facebook, Twitter, Orkut and YouTube. It aims to optimally use the social media platform to listen to, engage, encourage and support customers through new innovative initiatives.

  This is not the first time that Yatra.com will engage   audiences online. Over the years, the travel website has   carried out social media activities such as launching a Facebook page and integrating Facebook Connect with its Holidays section. It also launched ‘Twitter-only’ discount codes, a blog that’s been running for more than two years, a YouTube video channel and a weekly specialist question on Yahoo! Answers. Yatra also went live with its own forum a few months ago.

  Bharat Malik, head, online marketing, Yatra.com, tells   afaqs!, “While we have undertaken some social media   activities, it has all been in-house. Even the limited activities   we have tried have shown results. Thus, we feel the need to scale up our activities and follow a more integrated strategy. We’d like to do this with specialist inputs.”

Social media provides a great opportunity to engage in a dialogue and two-way communication with a brand’s customers. The number of people interacting with social media in one form or another has grown immensely, be it Orkut, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Flickr, Scribd, Slideshare or blogs. These channels allow customers to share their opinions and feedbacks about a brand’s products and services in real time.

Regarding research related to traffic coming in from these sites, Malik says, “Internally, our team has carried out the research to establish the targets that we hope to achieve. Like all online marketing activities, we will use our analytic tools to measure the impact.”

Discussing the alliance, Kapil Gupta chief executive officer, OMLogic, says, “Yatra’s emphasis on social media underlines its customer focus and service oriented vision. It wants to truly ensure that its customers are heard and have the best service experience.”
Malik of Yatra.com adds, “Through our partnership, we aim to listen to what customers are saying about Yatra.com – not just to us but also to each other. This will enable us to improvise our services as per customers’ feedback. We look forward to a great response from our customers for this initiative.”

Launched in August 2006, Yatra is one of the top providers of direct travel services in India. Within a short span of time, it has shown an impressive growth by posting average revenue of $30 million a month, with a volume of 10,000 tickets and 350 rooms a day. The company achieved a gross turnover of $250 million for FY 2010.

Social Bookmarking is still doubted by many marketers for its ability in supporting their Online Marketing campaigns. Marketers always tried escaping from the use and importance of Social Bookmarking and often considered it as a time taking unnecessary activity. They would rather find investing their time on Facebook and Twitter, neglecting usefulness of Social Bookmarking sites. Guys, I am very serious about Social Bookmarking as an essential online marketing and link building tool

There are always some questions in the mind regarding Social Bookmarking, like…

• How a Social Bookmarking can promote my site?
• What are the correct ways of Bookmarking posts?
• What are the best Social Bookmarking sites?
• Is it possible to Bookmark all of my posts?

These questions are not new, I am often hit by these questions numerous times speaking to my clients, colleagues and friends. Whenever I talk about Online Marketing and Social Media Marketing contributing major portion of it, I don’t forget to explain them the importance of Social Bookmarking. Well, this article may help you find answers to these questions.

Social bookmarking is a method for Internet users to share, organize, search, and manage bookmarks of web resources and contents. In social bookmarking websites, users create and store bookmarks of their choice. These bookmarks can be viewed by others and that let them know about new services and latest concepts which are making news in the online world. For example del.icio.us, Digg, Furl, Reddit and Stumble Upon are some of the most popular social bookmarking websites.

Descriptions may be added to these bookmarks in the form of metadata helping other readers understand the content of the resource without first needing to download it for themselves.

Social bookmarking is a great way to direct visitors to your blog or site. First, you have to build a site that is worth reading. Build on your blog content, and make sure that these are up to date as well. Of course, everything in print must be interesting if you aimed at making online readers your regular visitors. Millions of people use these Social Bookmarking websites daily to search for information on various topics. Naturally, when it comes to promoting your site or the content, the idea of bookmarking is to post links back to your own website pages on these traffic heavy websites.

Social bookmarking is a not only a powerful tool but you must be careful and not to become a social bookmarking spammer. Social bookmarking spammer will find himself in trouble getting his account banned and in result negative reputation over the web.

A one way link is created to your site, everytime a website is bookmarked. Most social bookmarking websites have high page rank scores and are considered to be authority websites in the eyes of the search engines. Resulting in your bookmarks being indexed very quickly and the relevant back link will be added to your overall link count.

The best thing about Social Bookmarking is that you can always re-bookmark your website or an article with different titles and description. By doing so, you will figure out the best title that can gain the most attention and visitor to your website, which may ultimately convert all the traffic to sales.

Social bookmarking sites are becoming increasingly popular to use as an alternative to search engines. By submitting your content to these sites, internet users are able to find your information without having to visit to search engines. The concept of searching in a social bookmarking site is very similar searching in search engines. Tags are used as keywords for search engines, so that when a user is searching for information related to your content, your information will appear in the search results.

Since there hundreds of social bookmarking web sites, you probably want to be a little selective regarding your content to be submitted to. There are many sites offering news and resources in specific categories for e.g Health Ranker is best considered in resources related to health, fitness, and medicines. However, there are many sites offering content from large category to choose from.

Click here for the list of Social Bookmarking websites.

Content, as they say, is still king. Copy plays a stellar role in any social media marketing campaign. You may have the best social media strategy and incorporate them in your blogs, tweets, scraps and pretty much anything that is social; however, without the proper social copywriting or content writing strategy and technique, all will be lost. Your entire effort will go into vain.

You need to woo your targeted customer with a well crafted user-centric approach that would lead to an effective two-way communication.

Well, there are few questions that need answers before any SMM campaign. And you need to get them right, if you want your campaign to be a roaring success

It is decision time now.

So, what do you want?

The first question you need to answer.

Is it just traffic? Creating a buzz? Aiming for a higher rank in the search engines? Selling a product? Promoting something? Looking for long-term brand loyalty? Enhancing your reputation? And the list goes…

You need to be crystal clear about what you really want with your social media campaign. Once you have a definitive answer to what you want, you can pass on to the next question.

Who do you want (to target)?

This is as crucial as the first question.   You need to know the specific and precise segment of demography, the right people to target your campaign.  So, what are the different sets of customers that you want to address? Do you want to confine your social media marketing campaign to just your old customer segment? Are you looking to expand your reach from the target you already have?

Think over it and get the answers right. Don’t rue over things at hindsight; it is no use crying over spilt milk. Go ahead only when you are bang on target. You can’t afford hits that miss. Period.

And then it finally comes to the “How to” question.

Once you get the ‘What’ and the “Who” right, you enter the most critical phase that can make or mar your campaign.  You have a plethora of choices and you have to get it right.

Tweets? Blogs? Articles? Whitepapers? Newsletters? Case Studies? Research& Reports? Press Releases? Content Placement? Link Bait? Buzz Content?

So, how will it be???

The answers can make all the difference (to your Social Media Campaign). Please tweet me @Robin_Goel, if you find anything more useful to make this post more interesting.

OMLogic Consulting has recently launched an interactive & dynamic website, designed and developed with cutting edge technologies. It is a CMS (content management system) based website with rich interactive features that would enhance the company to reach out to its users, clients and community easily.

The newly refurbished website is easy to use and more informative, with significant value additions to the old site. It provides information on our online marketing services and solutions – what we do (SMM, SEO, and PPC) and how we do (our unique approach to every project), in a clear and lucid manner.  We also allow you to have a detailed view about the background and history of the company – who we are (the founders and the leadership team) too.   The website addresses the company’s market segments and its reputation as one of the most promising and dynamic online marketing companies in the block.

A landmark addition to the website is Logic Junction, a dynamic and comprehensive knowledge hub that features blogs, white papers, news, PPTs, how-to articles, seminars, videos, and lots others, covering specific topics on online marketing. Our newly revamped Best Practice Case Studies section has examples of successfully implemented projects that could guide you in getting the most out of a dedicated online marketing campaign with OMLogic.

We have incorporated features that provide you updated and expanded tidbits and information, which would be of immense help to entrepreneurs, businesses, academics, students and other online marketing aficionados. It is a user-friendly website, both in the presentation as well as in the content. Even a layman or an internet marketing novice can easily browse through it and get the required information.

We are committed to add new features to the website, on a regular basis. The brand new website will update you on interesting and important online marketing specific knowledge & information.

The site is still held on the same old domain, www.omlogic.com.

This is not my first write up on LinkedIn and its capabilities and utilities in a highly connected and networked world that we live in. However, in all my previous discourses, I emphasized and stressed on taking a holistic approach to effective marketing with LinkedIn.Unlike other social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter etc, LinkedIn not only allows you to share images, videos, links and status updates, it provides you an added opportunity to market yourself. LinkedIn is a tool for “Personal Branding” (as is often understood in the industry circles); but I’d rather call it “Self Networking”. LinkedIn is one of the few professional networking sites that have stood the test of time, reputation intact, giving users a strong networking experience with its usability and capability. The rate at which people are signing up for the LinkedIn on a daily basis cannot be overlooked. The heavy rush to join the LinkedIn bandwagon is reason enough for you to join the networking site. In fact, you can find everyone, from Industry leaders, CEOs and CXOs to colleagues, and past employees on LinkedIn. Well, if you aren’t on LinkedIn now, you don’t have to wait for long; I guarantee you a request coming your way in a very short time.

LinkedIn is a powerful networking tool that gives you options to add new connections, share information, recruit people, gain knowledge, seek opinions etc. You can recommend your colleagues and past employees for jobs and seek their support in your professional life too. As a matter of fact, LinkedIn is an apt platform that provides you opportunities to showcase your professional background, skills and knowledge, with solid references and accreditations of your work (by employers, peers and colleagues). LinkedIn not only brings you closer to the industry and market, it enhances and adds value to your profile, and plays a big role in carving a niche for yourself in the domain.
In today’s competitive business scenario, companies are always on the lookout for highly skilled and talented professionals. You never know the number of people who are interested in you, keeping a close eye on the latest developments in your professional front. There is no better platform than LinkedIn to checkout and search people for hire/contract. Activities on LinkedIn like networking, offering tips & suggestions, feedbacks, answering queries and knowledge sharing are highly regarded and given due importance. In fact, people join LinkedIn with the idea of connecting, and striking up professional relationships, with people from diverse groups, backgrounds and networks.

Of course, networking is not the sole purpose and reason to join LinkedIn; it has many other beneficial features too. LinkedIn provides you with multiple utilities from marketing your brand, customer handling and corporate communication to lead generation and most importantly ‘Online Reputation Management’. However, the unique feature of LinkedIn lies in discovering the hidden connections between the network and the real world.

Social Media Marketing aids in Relationship selling

Your company’s success depends on a good sales cycle format. The pattern of sales cycle differs from business to business. So then, what’s the key to expand a business? Nowadays the online platform has a large number of people connected with each other. With the arrival of social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, Myspace, LinkedIn; the distance factor has almost vanished and people can stay connected quite easily. A traditional sales cycle looks something like this:

Social Media

Lead Generation is a crucial part of a business. There are many ways to generate leads. Social media marketing can provide a lot of support in generating these leads. Every networking platform has its own uniqueness; it depends on how you use that platform to engage with your audiences.

To retain a client is always a challenge and there are number of ways that you acquire to maintain a good relationship. When you use social networking platform, it becomes quite easy to keep in touch every now & then without any hassle.

Things not to forget

1. Say no to SPAM!

Sending links of your company can result in you being labeled a SPAMMER. It does a lot of damage to your reputation; your account may even get banned.

1. Selling forcefully – not the right way.
2. Engage a dialogue with the audience to the maximum extend.
3. Be careful while sending out your marketing messages; revise it twice/thrice to avoid any negative feedbacks.

How can SMM agencies act as an agent?

In order to execute & regulate Social Media Marketing campaigns, one needs an expert in the segment. Experts who can analyze the current state of the company’s branding / reputation in the online world, assess their online reputation and, choose the right techniques to build the company’s branding and reputation.

Key aspects of SMM:

» Customer’s Business Model and Business Objectives
» Competitive Landscape
» Customer Segmentation
» Marketing Communication and Messaging
» Current Online Presence and SEO Compliance
» PPC Audit (if running)
» Conversion Analysis
» Measurability
» Website User Experience

In today’s time, every business house, irrespective of size, is definitely looking at social networking channels to market itself. Initially, when social media sites came into being, the idea was to network, gossip, connect and share. They were nothing less than a revolution in communication and brought people closer.

Marketers have discovered great potential in these social media sites and online tools in terms of generating leads, creating a strong brand presence and reaching a large segment of the market. Recently, I got a call from a friend who lives in small village in India. He asked me to create a Facebook Page and a Twitter account for his shop where he sells mobile phones. Well, I am not promoting his shop on this blog, but his request took me by surprise, considering there is hardly any internet connectivity in the village. Heck, this guy didn’t even have a mail id, so why would he ask me for such a favour? His plan was that whenever his village is blessed with broadband connectivity, people will find his shop if they google the village name or if they join relevant friends on social networks.

Earlier, when marketers promoted their website, seeing themselves on the first page of search was their only goal. Then, in addition to that, came content ads and search ads for lead generation. I am sure by now, you are clear about what Social Media can offer to marketers, it’s potential in generating huge relevant traffic, branding, customer feedback, larger market share and, of course, leads and business opportunities. I have seen many marketers focused on creating brand presence even before launching their website. Although very channel and idea has its own useful period, in the current scenario, the usefulness of social media marketing cannot be decoupled from the overall marketing objective.