BW Communities

Developing A ‘Social’ Strategy

BW Online Bureau Nov 08, 2014

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><root available-locales="en_US," default-locale="en_US"><static-content language-id="en_US"><![CDATA[When the internet came to India on 15 August 1995, nobody could have imagined the progress and reach it would garner in more than fifteen years of its existence. Seventeen years and 121 million users later, the internet has become the harbinger of information, communication and technological revolution in the country.   The medium which has engaged people from varied walks of life has now become an intrinsic source of revenue generation within the economic setup and accounts for a considerable chunk of traffic across the financial spectrum of the country.  Indians are now more confident in using the online domain for doing business, banking and shopping and are increasingly employing social connections to reach out to their near and dear ones.   Herein lies the pull of the social media revolution that has hit the country and has taken over the virtual world with approximately 45+ million regular users of social media services available in the country. It is a well known fact while Indians have embraced social media wholeheartedly, they have also started using this platform as an extension of their personal lives. According to the annual Global Customer Service Barometer study released by American Express, Indians are far ahead of their global counterparts when it comes to using social media for customer service. Of those surveyed in India, 54 per cent said that they had used social media at least once in the past year to get a customer service response. This is more than twice the average 20 per cent of consumers in other markets revealed in the findings of the study, which was conducted in India and 10 other countries. It is in this regard that the significance of social media can be fully understood through a small example that elucidates the relevance of this medium. A decade ago, while Pyra labs  was building the first blog engine, a lot of internet users did not have an idea of what the medium was or what it could possibly become in the near future. Ignored for most part of its existence, blogs have now become a veritable resource house of information which, in comparison to other resource material, carry more matter than traditional website content. Another example that illustrates the significance of the social media revolution in the country is the curious case of ‘Kolaveri Di'; a song that became an instant rage in the country within hours of it being uploaded on a famous video sharing site. With millions of views adding in every minute, it went onto become the most heard song of the 2011 while also becoming a slang term across the country, thereby turning its singer Dhanush into an instant celebrity. The success of the song demonstrates the power of social media and the clout it commands across its followers. Not just in India, but the world over, social media has become a tool for bringing about social(often systemic) changes, as has been well documented during the Egypt Uprising last year, where protestors and rebels kept up with latest developments across the country over a popular social networking and a social micro-blogging site, so much so, that fearing the medium's potential, other regimes cracked down on the social media before cracking down on the protestors themselves. These incidents while showcasing the influence of the nuovo media also attests to the reach and impact of this medium which is emboldened by the fact that eighty-six per cent of the young generation views social media as ‘a potent force for change', in the new millennium. An interesting fact that emanates from the aforementioned study is social media's relevance to the economy of today. Info-stats that claim ‘Social media in India reaches out to 60 per cent of the online Indian audience', ‘Facebook and Orkut, together cater to about 90 per cent of the users in the social media space' and ‘The highest number of active users are from the 15-24 age group', point to the vast potential for prospective businesses in the social media sphere. They also indicate that India is a fast growing market and its relevance in the global social market is humongous to say the least.    According to a slew of recent studies, social media is becoming an essential element of the global media utilisation. Coupled with the interest of the young generation of today this can work wonders for the businesses. With positive attributes such as affirmative customer engagement, positive brand building and lost cost-high return model, social media can in work as an upbeat PR medium for the business.   It is said that in times to come, digital or social media will become an integral part of the marketing initiatives of every business wherein a major chunk of the revenue creation will be channelised towards social media initiatives. All this can be achieved keeping in mind the fact that in today's time indirect propagation works more potently than direct advertising. Thus, the magnitude of digital media activation will become very specific to the businesses.    It is here that one needs to bring in the marketing aspect in the social media ecosphere of today as well. We all know that social media marketing is absolutely necessary in today's times. While for larger business setups, social media marketing helps with bringing in eyeballs into the setup which is forever dogged by different verticals, it is also favourable for a small business setup as it helps in taking word out to the masses and thus adds to visibility. Bringing in other positives, the social media marketing module works in tandem with customer activation and thus creates a win-win situation for both the business and the consumer. Positives like greater audience penetration, wherein presence across social networking sites guarantee greater eyeball count, creation of an awareness module where simple internet activation ensures greater reach which coupled with low tech savvies acts as a pertinent add-ons to the medium.    In my view, a great beneficiary in this context would be the start-up businesses of today who will greatly gain from the low-cost and low-barrier-to-entry advantage that social media offers to the start-ups. While they have flexible policies, the advent of social media will help them in easily accepting social media activations and will help them easily reach out to potential clientele and thus build on a hugely flourishing brand legacy.   In India the total penetration of the Internet domain is only about 10.2 per cent, which leaves a seemingly empty ground for internet to grow and consecutively social media to spread its wings as well. While expecting the digital medium to grow in times to come it is now safe to say that with shifting power echelons in the digital ecosphere in today's times, it is now imperative that the future of social dynamics in India will be largely fuelled by digital tools, which will thus transform the Indian economic ecosphere in the times to come. The author is the COO of Percept Profile & Buzzinga (A Division of Percept Limited)