1. It’s not just a basic information portal but acts like a mini community of its own, which is not only scalable but dynamic too.
2. Users can upload, share and vote on stuff. That’s almost the whole plethora of social interactions that are possible included here. User generated content can be pushed around in the community via a seamless commenting system.
3. Activity streams for featuring new and featured content.
   
4. Taking care of the database via Login / Register functionality, and of course has a Facebook Connect option too.

But there are still some areas where new stuff can be added to make sure user stickiness and brand influence increases. The website gives a chance for users to upload their content, yet does not give any functionalities for telling their stories. And human beings are suckers for telling stories, aren’t we? Check out Gauravonomics article on the importance of story-telling in Social Media Marketing and also Graham Brown’s research on why youth and new media is about giving the audience a chance to tell their story to the brand and other users. Some tips to scale up the engagement and passion at the Cornetto community:

1. After I upload my content, I need a place to tell the story behind it? Maybe a status update or a detailed description.
2. I want to connect to other users who share the same passion as me like acting, singing and movie-making. Why not give me a simple forum or discussions thread based activity stream?
3. The campaign has a Twitter and Facebook presence (obviously), but frankly I don’t think it’s needed here. The Facebook fan page is flooded with content that should have been on this community. Or is either duplicate content.
4. The app on the Facebook page, just redirects me to the site itself (WTF?)
5. The Twitter handle again looks as if it’s being done for the sake of impressing the client and offering ’social media solutions’ .. plus the tonality doesn’t even sync in with the brand characteristics.

Update:

I went back to the handle after two days, and surprisingly all the conversations are gone! I guess someone became wiser, or the client didn’t like such a tactic. Sadly, they have just self promoting updates with links back to the site now.

[blackbirdpie url="http://twitter.com/luvhojaanede/status/11752838791"]

• Questions Generate Comments. As questions are an “easy call to action”.
• With questions you engage peoples ego’s.
• Everyone loves to share opinions.
• People who are passionate about certain companies/ brands/ celebs will definitely feel great about sharing their opinions.
• You invoke viral distribution of your content.

How to do this?

• Use Polls, quizzes and discussions.
• Use Rhetoric Questions:  Which? Where? What? How?  When?
• Keep the topics of discussion simple, yet debatable.

2. Test Their Knowledge:

• Stuff like “How well do you know—————-?” The name could be your marketing merchandise, product, brand and even celeb.
• Fun Relevant questions make your fanpage more engaging and interactive.
• Fans are not only pleased and entertained, but this also lengthens the time a user spends engaged on the brand.
• More time spent = High Engagement + Builds Brand Loyalty over time

How to do this?

• Use Polls, quizzes and discussions.
• “Did you Know?” Updates.

3. Pair promotions with Content:

• Promotional activities can go viral if fans can share links/quizzes/posts with friends.
• This increases Sign-ups and of course Virality.

How to do this?

Use apps and quizzes that allow sharing scores/results of quizzes with friends.

4. Thank Your Fans:

• Some sort of Gratification is essential to make fans feel important.
• Give fans something of value.
• Give fans something they can cherish and treasure for long.

How to do this?

• Recognize and appreciate their engagement via updates and posts.
• Gift them something as simple as a Fan Badge.

The above ways can aid only if these ideas are put into action and used with a sensible discretion. While these ways definitely assure engagement, they have to combined with other strategies and ideas for a more effective result. So tread with care!

And he talks about it from a perspective that most of us didn’t see – from a brand’s point of view. And he makes some solid arguments to prove his proposals right.

However, what surprised me was the context of argument, almost everyone argued from the perspective of individual users (read “customers” if you are marketer). Now, this took me aback!!!

I feel, when someone says “I like this”, it doesn’t make bring a kick in me, because I feel ya you might me 1 of other billion odd people who might be liking this. On the contrary, when you say me “I am a fan of Facebook”, this ushers the adrenaline in me and makes my stupid brain think, why the hell this person is fan of some strange animal called “facebook”, what’s so special about it?, and this curiosity leads to search for information about “facebook” (which means receiving new unique visitors), getting acclimatized with it (increasing chances of conversion), and maybe becoming a fan of it too (yeahh that’s my target at the end of the day). Does it sound good (if not great)???? Hit me back if any marketer disagrees to it.

I personally think it was a good move for businesses everywhere, maybe not from a marketing point of view because Facebook definitely wants to expand the radius of its social graph, unless it suffers the fate of Friendster and MySpace. To do that, Facebook needs to become the ubiquitous social identity. The de facto. The omnipresent. Now to do that Facebook needs to enter websites and every online operations. And by killing the more passionate word called ‘fan’ Facebook enters a more neutral ground of ‘liking’ which everyone can live with. And doesn’t mind indulging in.

I can just be interested in something and I can like it. Thus putting it into my social stream and exposing the ‘liked’ content to my friends thus making it go viral. More likes >> More content into social streams >> More hits back to website >> Facebook = happy and Content owner = Happy!

And I have seen this again and again. Brand managers get so fascinated by the phrase ‘My brand has x000 fans on Facebook’ that they start forgetting the real value of the word ‘fan’ .. A fan is a wildly passionate evangelist of your brand who loves it. Revels in it. And tells others proudly about his fandom.

How many fans of a page are actually at that stage? Doesn’t it conclude that most of them just liked your brand anyways and were NOT fans.

Considering he is probably too ashamed of being Socially Naked. I started off regardless.

I thought that the topic assigned to me was very interesting, owing to the fact that Social Media is an ever evolving industry. Small businesses however, are not yet aware of its benefits. They need to know how some of the other businesses are using Social Media not just to engage with their customers, but also to reap fiscal benefits, given that it is much cheaper than conventional advertising.

So I kicked off with a statement to the effect that it’s always about relationships and not about pitches.

A case in point which stands true to this statement is Reid Travis who is the social media manager for a Mexican chain of restaurants called Panchero’s. Travis claimed that they do not focus on marketing to their followers, fans or readers. Their primary goal was to connect with them.

In addition to this, engagement and transparent communication are important assets. This grabbed Mayur’s attention immediately. He quipped “How would a local restaurant like ‘Borivili Biryani Center’ gain from Social Media?”

This question triggered a healthy discussion. Aditya pointed out that obviously they won’t have a huge fan following and that their target radius would be about 5 KM about the eatery itself.

The conclusion to this discussion was that rather than acquiring a huge fan base, Social Media will earn them loyalty with their regular customers. It can eventually further grow their fan base through word of mouth.

The next aspect of my talk was about Jim Glaub’s Arts Meet Conference. Glaub handles social media for Broadway and off-Broadway shows with
the constraint of a limited budget.

In this case study, it was seen that people who liked the show would tweet about it to their friends. Celebrities who attended the show would tweet about it as well, resulting in a good deal of exposure for the show.

Similarly, Julee Mertz of Dance studio in Chicago Big City Swing uses Facebook to attract students and also uses Facebook Events for interested clients to RSVP. Each and every friend in their friends list receives a notification about the event. They project and plan their schedule based on the number of people who have responded positively to the event notification. Both Ankita and I found this very fascinating.

Conclusively, I would like to say, that small businesses should always be open to critics and respond appropriately. Aditya concluded the session by saying that Social Media is slow progress for small businesses but eventually fruitful. We couldn’t agree more!

“Social media fits within a larger digital strategy.
At Starbucks, social media is not a separate and distinct entity. Various departments collaborate online and offline to develop and implement plans designed to fully engage the community.

One such effort was Starbucks’ Love Project. Starbucks teamed up with several groups–including Playing for Change, Dave Matthews Band, John Legend and U2–to create the “All You Need Is Love CD.” With every $15 purchase at participating Starbucks locations, customers received a free CD and an invitation to participate in a mass sing-along by uploading their own video to StarbucksLoveProject.com, which thousands of people did. One dollar from the sale of every CD was donated to the Global Fund to Help Fight AIDS in Africa. Starbucks customers could also create a Love Drawing online and Starbucks would contribute an additional five cents per drawing to the fund for the first 1 million drawings submitted.

Starbucks could have simply offered the CD for sale, but it gave the project more dimension via the website, mass sing-along, Love Drawings, and special Love Drawing cups for sale in the store.”

It is not about building a website and marketing it. It is also not about making a Facebook application/game or a viral and getting XX number of clicks on it.  It should be an intercourse of the Social Media strategy and the entire marketing and business ideology of the brand.

PS – Any resemble to any Digital Agency living or dead is purely coincidental :)

Out of a series to follow, here is the first functional application that can be added to your page to boost the community building efforts on Facebook. To build a communication platform you require a host of other supporting applications which work in conjunction, so that you can drive potential customers to your Facebook page.

Adding interactive applications on your business page will allow targeted groups of people, to not only become your fan but also continually visit and interact with you.

One Application that every common user or business can have on their fan page is ‘Extended Info.’ This application is very simple and does not require any sort of programming.

• Here is step-by-step detail of adding Extended Info into your Facebook fan page.
• Visit Extended info Application on Facebook Click add to my page link (make sure you select link not the button)
• Select the page on which you want to install Extended Info.

As soon as you do this,

• Go to your Facebook Page.
• Click the Edit Page link… you will find this option below your Profile Picture.
• Under Extended Info, click- Application Settings, you can add it as a tab, a box, or to your Page’s Info.
• Click “Edit” to go to Extended Info to fill in the fields.

Here are two example of Extended Info on a Facebook Fan Page:

The biggest drawback of the ‘Extended Info’ application is that users cannot rename the Tab. It is an easy to use application which allows you to add extra fields to your business page, such as videos, images, music and HTML.

With Twitter, marketers can monitor their target audience across geographies, connect with them on a personal and real-time basis, says Aditya Rao, Co-founder of Superchooha, a Social business communications firm.

Rao also points out an international example – Mountain Dew uses social media along with Twitter to engage its consumers in the new Dew flavour development process.

One other very wise quote which I enjoyed myself was:

Ashok Lalla, president, digital Euro RSCG has a piece of advice for marketers: “Marketers should go beyond their brand on Twitter and should include the user’s needs and world in their conversations. For instance a car brand on Twitter can participate in chatter about traffic snarls in the city, share traffic updates and highlights new restaurants along a certain route.”

You can download the PDF from the link above or grab a copy from the stands. It would be worth it :)

Foursquare has already answered my question. Cafes are now offering “Mayor Specials” – a free coffee or  appetizer or maybe a special discount to the mayors of their venues and I am hoping to get one from Superchooha too.

Just a couple of days later I got a notification saying Le Royal Meridien wants to be my friend on Foursquare.One of the early adopters, their check ins are in their inhouse restaurants and cafe. They also add their tips “Ask for Chef Qureshi’s Kebab Platter” or to do list “try out the new flavours of ice cream by Chef Vivek there have unique flavours like kafir lime, beetle leaf or paan, blueberry cheesecake etc”.

• It helps me locate them
• I get to know about their restaurants and specialities
• If I am in and around the area they tempt me to come and try their Kafir Lime icecream flavor :)
• They are not throwing an ad on my face, I can see their updates and check ins ONLY after I accept their friend request.

Kafir Lime Icecream, Here I come!

You get points for every check-in, you can unlock badges and also become mayor of your favorite places! What now prickles my mind is that how can marketers use this as another medium to sell, advertise or push their services. Mobile web and platforms are the future and it’s important to tap into location based services.

• A lot of coffee places are serving free stuff for the mayor of the place!
• Brands can run nation wide treasure hunts using this and get users together
• I can so imagine the user generated tips section for every location being ported by Lonely Planet to add on to their database of books. It’s the logical next step
• Harvard already has a deal with Foursquare in which all the students inside the campus are unlocking new places and tips

I am the Mayor of Superchooha office! What do I get? :)

Disclaimer

I’m not a social media guru / evangelist / stalwart in any way; but hell yeah! I know when things are going the wrong way. And yeah, this is not a rant – I am seriously surprised at the situation.

The industry is in a disorganised mess

• For most of the agencies out there, social media is about Facebook and Twitter (and maybe Foursquare 2 years down the line) And this holds true for firms who have been around for more than 2 years now. Shame.
• Weekly deliverables are in terms of of X updates on Twitter and Facebook! Billing is generated in terms of number of conversations achieved (relevant or irrelevant)
• Huge amount of mailers are sent to randomest of email databases to increase the number of fans on Facebook

Well, if you have fallen prey to this system of doing social media then:

Is this really social media strategy / consulting / execution? This looks more like social media outsourcing to me!

People are stuck on social media marketing

• I deeply, truly believe that the SMM hype bubble is about to burst soon. And it’s gonna take the whole industry down with it unless radical changes are made. Brands will soon realise that Social Media is no more the cool thing to impress your boss. We need to start giving actual value to the organisation – externally and internally
• Though measurables like hits / time spent on the landing pages are good ways to judge success; they fall short of the actual business results that strategic social media can provide.

Conclusions

• Expand your viewpoint. Move away from the SMM bull**** and harness the true power of communities within and outside your organisation to deliver results.
• Move social media away from being platform-centric to results-centric.
• It’s not about the technology, it’s about driving a cultural change from within the organisation.