Social media whitepaper

How businesses can leverage
SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING
By Shashi Bellamkonda
Spry Social Media Management Pvt. Ltd.


TABLE OF

CONTENTS
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 3

INTRODUCTION TO SOCIAL MEDIA 3

BENEFITS OF SOCIAL MEDIA 4

WHAT IS AVAILABLE 5
FACEBOOK 5
BLOGS 5
TWITTER 5
YOUTUBE 6
LINKEDIN 6
WIKI 6
GOOGLE+ 6
OTHER SITES 6

MOBILE MANIA 7

A GLOBAL VIEW 8

THE ROLE OF SOCIAL MEDIA IN DIFFERENT INDUSTRIES 8
SOCIAL MEDIA FOR THE HEALTHCARE INDUSTRY 8
POLITICAL CONNECT 9
WHY EDUCATION NEEDS TO GO SOCIAL AND MOBILE 9
HOW STARTUPS CAN GAIN WITH SOCIAL MEDIA 10
FACILITATING RETAIL BRANDS 10
DIRECTING DONORS TOWARDS NGO'S/CHARITABLE ORGANIZATION 11
BRIDGING THE GAP BETWEEN CELEBRITIES AND FANS 12

SOCIAL MEDIA MOVEMENTS 12

SOCIAL MEDIA OUTSOURCING 13

WHY SPRY? 13

ABOUT THE AUTHOR 14

SOURCES 14
02

www.sprysocial.com


Executive Summary
Social Media has moved on from to achieve desirable results. This Mobile usage: Mobile usage is at an
being just a virtual hangout to a section outlines some of the all time high and activities that are
revolutionary business platform. websites that can be used for SMM taking place on mobile phones is
This report outlines the trends purposes. helping companies cater to users
around the world that will help accordingly. This information will
businesses to take the plunge into A Global view: A brief break up of help companies to make decisions
the world of social media. The the statistics (country wise) is on the magnitude of mobile
following pages outline content on provided to understand the presence that it should have.
the following: characteristics of users in various
countries. Going through the numbers and
Introduction to social media: This statistics will quantify the hype that
section talks about how social media Social Media in different you have been hearing about social
is growing and the reasons for industries: Every industry utilizes media all this while. This report will
marketers to utilize the medium and SMM for various purposes. While enable you to make a decision
gain leverage for their businesses. some companies have got it right about why you should be on social
and set examples of best practices media.
What is Available: Though for the industry, there are industries
Facebook and Twitter seem to be that have responded rather late to The next step would be to identify
the most obvious choices by the SMM concept. The report lists your goals and returns from a social
individuals and businesses for data about some of these industries media campaign and develop an
promotions, there are numerous and why they should use social appropriate strategy.
other websites that need to be networking websites to their
incorporated into a Social Media advantage
Marketing (SMM) strategy in order

Introduction to Social Media
If you think Google is the most The alarming pace at which the opportunity for companies to
visited website on the internet, you internet and usage statistics are directly interact with customers. This
are wrong! Facebook has passed changing has left companies with opportunity has led to businesses of
Google as the most visited website. no choice but to have a significant all sizes exploring mediums in their
More people are spending more presence on multiple social media own ways.
time than ever on social media websites. A couple years ago
platforms, which is now enabling businesses were uncertain about Having an account on all the
businesses to connect with an social media as a marketing tool. websites alone will not help a
enormous population on an Now it has proven to be an business in achieving goals.
improved level. extremely useful medium and Engineering a suitable strategy is key
companies are responding rapidly to to achieving intended results. The
Once, Twitter was a place where you be a part of the race. type of business (B2B, B2C etc.)
could read about someone else's plays a key role in identifying the
daily habits. Now, it's the first place Traditional e-mail and middlemen strategy for SMM. Moreover
you go to when there's breaking have been transcended and are different businesses have different
news. Twitter's 140 character limit is seeing lesser importance when it expectations from their SMM
a host to some of the most powerful comes to customer interaction. campaigns.
views, news and updates on the Social media has gone mainstream
internet. and is providing an unprecedented

03

www.sprysocial.com


Notable SMM campaign: product ideas from their * Fifty-nine percent of marketers
consumers through social media. say they will be increasing their
• Dell generated $6.5 million in social media budgets this year
sales from their Twitter presence
According to a report conducted
by the end of 2009. Their sales * 51 percent refer to social analytics
from over 170 surveys aimed at
through social media presence is as a top initiative.
marketers, social media marketing is
growing rapidly ever since.
taking on a greater focus than any
* Social media marketing is one of
other form of marketing for the next
• Frank Eliason (customer service the top five strategies for B2B
couple of years. Here are some of
manager) used Twitter to provide and B2C businesses (No.1 for
the findings from this survey2:
customer service to Comcast B2C and No. 2 for B2B)
users. Comcast has since helped
* Social media marketing was one
over 150,000 customers through * 23 percent of B2C brands and 17
the top performer for 28% of the
social media. percent of B2B brands ranked
companies.
user-generated content as key to
• Starbucks received over 50,000 marketing performance.

Percentage of Companies Using Specific Social Media Channels and/or Blogs Who Acquired a
Customer From that Channel

68%
70%
57%
60% 51%
45% 43%
50% 38%
40% 33%
B2B
26%
30%
B2C
20%
10%
0%
Twitter Facebook LinkedIn Company Blog

Benefits of Social Media 3

• Increased awareness of the • Better understanding of • Ability to measure the frequency
organisation customers perceptions of the of the discussion about the brand
brand
• Boosted organic Google listings • Strengthens networked
• Improved insights about the connections
• Greater favorable perceptions of
target markets
the brand • Collaborative knowledge sharing
• Identification of positive and
• Able to monitor conversations • Timely Competitive Analysis
negative comments
about the organisation
• Early warning of potential
• Increase in new business
• Able to develop targeted product or service issues
marketing activities • Identification of new product or
service opportunities

04

www.sprysocial.com


What is available
Facebook or building a fan page. These can be • More than 250 million people
used to bring together a group of access Facebook through their
users who can access news, stories, mobile devices
Facebook is the leading social media
offers etc. posted by the company.
site. It has the highest number of • More than 2.5 million websites
users signed up in comparison to have integrated with Facebook
the rest of the social media sites. Relevant Statistics:3
Companies are realizing the • 30 billion pieces of content is
• One in every nine people on
potential of Facebook as a shared on Facebook each month
Earth is on Facebook
marketing tool primarily because of
the reach that it has and the • 300,000 users helped translate
• People spend 700 billion minutes
opportunity to drive users to Facebook into 70 languages
per month on Facebook
corresponding websites.
• People on Facebook install 20
• Each Facebook user spends on
million "Apps" every day
Facebook offers two distinct ways to average 15 hours and 33 minutes
market a business: creating a group a month on the site

Blogs valuable information to a wide pool • One in four of those has an
of internet users from various annual household income of
communities and interest groups. $100K
A blog is a type of website where
content in the form of • 56% say that their blog has
articles/stories is added on a Relevant Statistics:4
helped their company establish a
frequent basis. Blogs have positioning as a thought leader
• There have been more than
interactive abilities where readers within the industry.
133,000,000 blogs indexed by
can leave comments, ask questions
Technorati since 2002
and share content on other social • 58% say that they are better-
networking sites. Building a smart • The United States has the largest known in their industry because
blog enables effective interaction share of bloggers with 29.22% of their blog
with multiple websites, features like of all bloggers coming from the
this has helped businesses expose U.S

Twitter Relevant Statistics:3 • Twitter is handling 1.6 billion
queries per day
• Twitter currently has 100 million
Twitter is a micro blogging site monthly active users and is now • Twitter is adding nearly 500,000
which allows users to post a averaging at 200 million tweets users a day
message with a 140 character limit. per day
The basic question that it poses to • 53 percent of people on Twitter
users is "What are you doing?" • Twitter has over 100 million recommend companies or their
global active users, half of those products in their tweets.
Smart businesses have utilized logging in every day
• Projected growth by the end of
Twitter to gain tremendous leverage
• 55 million users log in to Twitter the year is an additional 26
in providing solutions, online sales,
from their phone or tablet each million users
customer interaction etc. One big
month
advantage of Twitter is its ease of
mobile usage, tweets can be sent • 40% of Twitter users don't tweet
while the user is on the go using every month but watch others
various mobile apps. tweet
05

www.sprysocial.com


YouTube Insights. Insights is YouTube's • YouTube generates 92 billion
reporting system that gives data on page views per month
YouTube is a video sharing website each view a video is receiving,
which allows users to upload, share • Users on YouTube spend a total
including viewer demographics,
and view content. With recent of 2.9 billion hours per month
overall popularity, and communities
additions of social features YouTube that viewers belong to. • More video is uploaded to
is quickly positioning itself as a YouTube in 60 days than the
respected social site for businesses Relevant Statistics:3
three major US networks created
to be a part of. • YouTube has 490 million unique in 60 years.
YouTube provides a tool called users who visit every month

LinkedIn Relevant Statistics:5 business oriented look and feel of
LinkedIn compared to other social
LinkedIn is a powerful social • LinkedIn has 135 + million users.
networking sites
network for entrepreneurs and That's 15 times the population of
business professionals. It's a great New York City • The majority (66%) are decision
place to identify potential makers or have influence in the
• Most users connect to people
candidates and network with purchase decisions at their
they know, including those
professionals belonging to a specific companies (decision makers also
they've met only over the phone
area of interest. tend to be more active on
• Users like the professional and LinkedIn)

Wiki Wikis permit comprehensive data to enhances a company's wiki account.
be posted about a specific subject.
A wiki is a website where users have Relevant Statistics:13
Wikis house information about
the autonomy to add, delete or companies and individuals, if a • Wikipedia has had more than 1
modify data. Wikis can be set up to person is interested in getting billion edits, across 17.6 million
provide various levels of access for information there is a good chance articles, from 27 million users
different classes of users to ascertain that he/she will look into Wikipedia • Wikipedia obtains approximately
data efficiency. Some of the popular to obtain this information. Putting 684 million viewers every year
wiki websites are Wikipedia, up relevant information and
wikiHow etc. updating it on a need basis

Google+ developments are being introduced 50+ million users
for companies to build social media
Google+ is a social networking site • Google+ was the fastest social
profiles.
developed and launched by Google. network to reach 10 million users
It is very similar to facebook in its Relevant Statistics:3 at 16 days (Twitter took 780 days
profile features however new and Facebook 852 days)
• Google+ is rapidly growing with

Other Sites forums, social bookmarking, growing fast. Frequently cited as
geolocation sites as these can help Digg's main competitors, Reddit and
The above discussed tools are the propel site views and internet StumbleUpon are also growing to
primary areas of focus to reach out presence by an enormous extent. the extent of driving large number
to people as of now. However of viewers to business websites.
companies should not ignore For e.g. Digg is at around 35+
additional networking sites like million unique monthly visitors and

06

www.sprysocial.com


Mobile Mania
The rate at which mobile phone clicked on an ad while visiting a • On average Americans spend 2.7
usage is growing only shows that in social networking site.10 hours per day socializing on their
the next few years, information mobile device. That's over twice
sharing and transactions is more Relevant Statistics:11 the amount of time they spend
likely to happen on a mobile phone eating, and over 1/3 of the time
than on any other platform. There • Of the worlds 4 billion mobile they spend sleeping each day.
are over 5 billion mobile subscribers phones in use 1.08 billion are
in the world, and 9 out of 10 people smart phones and 3 billion are • 60% smart phone users admit
in the US have a mobile phone. In SMS enabled using their phone while going to
the UK children are now more likely the bathroom.
to own a mobile phone than a • In 2014, mobile internet usage
book, with 85% of kids owning a will overtake desktop internet What is the state of social and
phone compared to 73% having usage. In 2011, more than 50% mobile marketing?
books!(Source: national literacy of all "local" searches are done
trust) from a mobile device. • Over 1/3 of Facebooks 700+
million user base uses Facebook
• 200+ million (1/3 of all users) mobile
The below mentioned statistics access Facebook from a mobile
show that it is increasingly important device and 91% of all mobile • Twitter has over 225 million users
for businesses to be available to internet use is "social" related while more than 50% of them
customers on mobile phones. compared to 71% on desktop. use Twitter mobile
52.9% of the mobile phone users
read posts from • 86% of mobile internet users are • 200 million+ Youtube views
organizations/brands/events. One of using their phones while occur on mobile devices per day
three mobile social networkers used watching TV
a coupon/offer/deal, and 27%

Mobile Social Networking Activities
3 Month Avg. Ending Aug. 2011
Total U.S Mobile Subscribers Ages 13+ (Smartphone and Non-Smartphone)
Source: comScore Mobilens
Total Social % of Social
Networking/Blog Networking/Blog
Audience (000) Audience

Total Audience Accessing Social Networking Sites or 72,252 100.0%
Blogs: 13 + yrs old

Read posts from people known personally 58,021 80.3%

Posted status update 50,216 69.5%

Followed posted link to website 38,431 53.2%

Read posts from organizations/brands/events 38,209 52.9%

Read posts from public figures/celebrities 32,350 44.8%

Posted link to website 25,172 34.8%

Received coupon/offer/deal 24.071 33.3%

Clicked on advertisement 19.997 27.7%

07

www.sprysocial.com


A global view
Social networks and forums across Average time spent on Facebook Other interesting facts:6
countries:6 in August 2011 per session:6
• India had the fastest growth in
1. Brazil -- 18.9% 1. Singapore -- 38 mins 46 sec Facebook use since last year,
2. Singapore -- 16.4% 2. New Zealand -- 30 mins 31 sec increasing usage by 88%.

3. U.S. -- 15.4% 3. Australia -- 26 mins 27 sec • Facebook gained usage by 5% in
4. India -- 14.0% 4. U.K. -- 25 mins 33 sec the U.S. since last year.

5. New Zealand -- 13.9% 5. U.S. -- 20 mins 46 sec
6. France -- 15.1% 6. France -- 21 mins 53 sec
7. Australia -- 13.1% 7. India -- 20 mins 21 sec
8. U.K. -- 12.2% 8. Brazil -- 18 mins 19 sec

The role of social media in
different industries
Social media for the healthcare industry
Marketing in the healthcare sector The boundaries for healthcare • The Center for Connected Health
has been a challenge due to the organizations to use social media are community website is designed
data scrutiny and multitude of unlimited. Individual hospitals like for healthcare providers and
privacy regulations that it faces. This the Henry Ford Hospital used Twitter policymakers. Community
is an industry that has not exactly to connect with 1,900 people and members can discuss
been on top of things when it answer questions during an actual controversial topics, and share
comes to SMM, however hospitals brain surgery and The Sarasota best practices, new ideas,
and healthcare organizations are Memorial Hospital uses Twitter to upcoming events and research.
slowly innovating techniques and answer patient questions and
practices on the social web. provide immediate customers • As much as 89% of US physicians
service.7 rely on the Internet as an
essential part of their professional
Healthcare is a constant subject in
practice
daily news and has also been an Relevant Statistics:7,8
integral part of election campaigns. • Approximately 64% of physicians
Social media can prove to be an • There are 367 US hospitals in the
now use smartphones
effective platform for hospitals and US using social media.
healthcare organizations to stay • 41% of physicians' research takes
• They are responsible for 10,000
involved in healthcare legislation place online. The bottom line is
Tweets from 267 Twitter
discussion. physicians and other healthcare
accounts.
personnel are already spending
The CEO of Boston's Beth Israel • Patients Like Me is an online time online.
Deaconess Medical Center is using community site created in 2004
his blog to discuss and comment on by MIT engineers to allow
potential health insurance patients to share information and
legislation. their personal experiences.

08

www.sprysocial.com


Political Connect
The political arena like other happenings more closely. 28% of wired Americans say the
industries has embraced social internet makes them feel more
media to post, spread and receive Nearly half of all Americans (46%) personally connected to the
information between have used the internet, email, or campaign and 22% say that they
politicians/party and the citizens. cell-phone text messaging to get would not be as involved in the
The peak usage of social forums news about the presidential campaign if not for the internet.
occurs during election campaigns, campaign, share their views, or
when citizens are looking follow mobilize others.9

The Internet and the 2008 Election: Summary of Findings at a Glance
Fully 46% of all Americans have used the internet, email, or phone texting to get news about the campaigns, share
their views, and mobilize others.

More Americans have gone online to get political news and campaign information so far than during all of 2004.

Two new internet activities have stormed the political stage: 35% of Americans have watched online videos related to
the campaign, and 10% have used social networking sites to engage in political activity.

Nearly one in ten internet users has donated money to a candidate online at this point in the race.

Young voters tilt towards Obama specifically and toward democrats generally, and that gives the Democrats some
online advantages.

39% of online Americans have used the internet to gain access to primary political documents and observe campaign
events.

Despite the increased salience of online sources in the political arena, wired Americans have mixed views about the
overall impact of the internet on politics.

Source: Smith, Aaron, and Lee Rainie. The internet and the 2008 election. Washington, DC: Pew Internet & American
Life Project, June 15, 2008.

Politicians can adopt social media to Social media is an ideal platform to Social media can be used as a tool
connect with people at a more know what people are talking by politicians to reach out to millions
elaborate level. Irrespective of the about, understand concerns and of people who are active on social
number of speeches that a politician reply to them with views and ideals, media websites and discussing
gives or the number of billboards contradictory to discussing topics politics using social media platforms.
that are displayed, nothing shows and trying to address issues that
that you care, more than 'listening'. people are not concerned about.

Why Education needs to go social and mobile
While education institutes have not they need to be on social media to a wide audience. E.g.
known to be the best incorporators sites but setting up accounts by CampusBug a social learning
of technology into their systems, itself will not suffice. Identifying a network can be utilized to provide
there is no better time than now to strategy to engage students and tools and social networking to
introduce technology that will achieve goals is something that students all over the world. It is
improve the Learning Management institutions should spend time on. focused on the sharing of
System and also to be in constant information, getting help with
touch with students and parents. Promotion of blogs has proven to be homework, sharing test secrets and
a fun method of encouraging meeting new people.
Colleges and Universities know that students to write and publish works
09

www.sprysocial.com


Students are increasingly using social the world can communicate in real academic updates. However social
networking sites and are aware of time, enabling a more enriched media can organize data effectively
services and applications available learning experience .The promise of and provide timely updates when
for a variety of activities. As people significant cost savings is an necessary.
are already expecting to perform important driver in the search for
tasks whenever or wherever they solutions. Learning using social With the number of educational
want to, it will not be long until media technologies has a lot of institutions growing, social media
educational institutions begin advantage especially where there is presence plays a huge role in
utilizing social networking sites to lack of availability for physical space marketing, recruiting and
mobilize learning and and limitations to the quality of face admissions. Institutions can
corresponding. to face time of students and faculty. proactively engage parents and
students looking to enroll in a
Social media enables timely inquiries Parents and students have to school/college and provide
to be posted ensuring efficient navigate through a maze of emails, information and virtual tours.
learning in addition to just teaching. websites, phone calls etc. to obtain
Individuals and teams from across information regarding courses and

How startups can gain with social media
Traditionally startups had to wait till accessing social media websites, it as this will indicate the kind of
they are successful to start marketing has become easy for startups to content that will interest people.
their service/products as acquiring a connect to people who share the Distribution is vital in the social
reach means heavy costs incurred same interests. Social media enables media world, to attain good
from marketing. Word of mouth and a group of people and a brand to distribution, engage your followers
advertising were the only options come together on a single platform. during different stages of your
available for startups until recently, It is an effective way to constantly product lifecycle.
however a new scenario has engage with people using the
emerged where startups have a cost variety of features available on Although social media allows easy
effective solution to connect with different social media sites. communication, over branding will
communities which are interested in lead to failure to achieve goals. A
a certain product/service. Nowadays Startups could get a good amount social media strategy has to be
it is not necessary to say that startups of followers and blog mentions but carefully crafted to ensure there is
need to utilize social media into their unless there is consistency in appropriate exchange of ideas
business to gain leverage for business creating great content, the chances between individuals and the brand
promotions. Most startups are on of a viral following becomes bleak. itself. The voice of the brand should
social media sites but not all are Great content can be created by reflect well on social media
doing it right. understanding the pulse of the platforms, while keeping
industry. Listening to what people conversation interesting and
With millions of savvy individuals care about is a good starting point promoting valuable engagement.

Facilitating retail brands
Strategy and success in the retail happenings around a brand. Having shifting online as well, right from
industry depends on the brand the right information on social marketing and sales to customer
image to a large extent. Like most media accounts can influence service. It is thus necessary to
other industries social media is a buying and sharing of views about identify a good social media strategy
mandatory platform for brands to the buying experience. to promote your brand and drive
have a presence in. The medium can sales.
be used to frequently educate and As people are doing more things
excite customers regarding online, the retail experience is
10

www.sprysocial.com


No matter you like it or not, people Retailers are using Facebook and media friends, compared to 45%
are already talking about brands. Twitter to connect with customers, who are influenced by
This could be positive or negative while some are innovating on the newspapers and magazines and
remarks, however you as a brand platforms e.g. 1-800-Flowers has a 17% by celebrity endorsements
need to watch keenly and fully functioning store on
acknowledge comments or resolve Facebook17. • Even if search and email
issues as and when necessary. Unlike newsletters are better at getting
traditional media where brands sent Here are some stats18 that show the you to visit a retailer, social
out a message to customers, social influence of social media on the media makes you more likely to
media enables two way retail industry: buy. Ten times more likely in
communication allowing brands and fact. Research by Sage Pay
customers to interact with each shows that while 7% of all
• Research from Exact Target
other. visitors to an online store make a
shows that 37% of Twitter
followers compared to 27% of purchase, 71% who came via
Listen to what customers have to email subscribers (and yes 17% social media will end up in the
say about your brand, competitors of Facebook fans) are more likely transaction section.
and industry. This will give you a to buy from a brand.
perspective about how you can • According to Skywrite, 75% of
engage customers. In a 2010 survey women and 50% of men are
• Newspaper and magazine
by Booz & Company, 27 percent of likely to follow up a
articles are half as influential as
consumers said they would purchase recommendation from a social
online reviews (53% vs 26%)
goods through social networking media source.
among US parents buying
sites, and 10 percent said such
electronic goods.
transactions would likely be
incremental to their regular
shopping. • 50% of US under 35s follow the
recommendations of social

Directing donors towards NGO's/Charitable Organization
Most Non Profit organizations have raise funds, e.g. the Facebook hours to help build a classroom in
historically faced challenges with Causes Birthday application Tanzania16.
marketing due to budget constraints encourages an individual who is a
and reaching out to the target member of a cause to use their Social media has proven to be an
community due to lack of refined birthday as an excuse to raise money effective tool for mainstream
channels. Social media is the answer for a non-profit organization. businesses, however a lot of the
to the mentioned issues and a lot same benefits can be achieved by
more for charitable organizations According to a study conducted by nonprofit organizations as well.
that are looking to create awareness the University of Massachusetts Building relationships is vital for
and raise funds. The availability of Dartmouth Center for Marketing charitable trusts to obtain funds and
cost effective online services and Research - by 2009 a remarkable services, the internet is a great
applications will help charitable 97% of charitable organizations platform which enables a
organizations in areas like were using some form of social comfortable connect between
fundraising and advocacy. media. organizations and stakeholders.
NGOs can thus use social media as a
People are willing to be a part of In 2007, total online giving in the US viable medium to leverage
and facilitate concerns that they can reached over $10 billion (52% engagement with donors and
relate to, social media creates an increase over 2006) and 51% of stakeholders.
integrated environment where a wealthy donors preferred to give
community of related stakeholders online 15. One e.g. of a success
and a concern/issue can come story is "Epic Change" which used
together. The world of applications Twitter to raise $11,000 within 48
also provides facilities and ideas to
11

www.sprysocial.com


Bridging the gap between celebrities and fans
Lady Gaga is the celebrity queen of topic there is an increased level of such magnitude could only be
social media. With over 17 million interest among people. attributed to the social media.
Twitter followers and 46 million
facebook likes she is the most Social media has the capability of Celebrities are using social media for
engaged celeb on the medium. making things go viral as it is a web more than connecting with fans and
Celebrities use social media like of millions of users, there is a lot of marketing their work. Michael J. Fox
anybody else but the reach and communication/sharing of videos, who was diagnosed with
impact they have could be huge. tweets, blogs etc. A Twitpic of Parkinsons, created The Michael J.
Social media is a form of PR which Ladygaga which shows the dinner Fox Foundation to support research
allows fans to connect with that she made for her friend had over for the development of better
celebrities at a more intimate level. 24,000 views in just a few hours. Parkinson's treatments. The
The most popular song of 2011 foundation got over12,00 YouTube
Social media is used by celebrities to could have been by Pitbull or Justin channel views and over 38,000
communicate with family, friends Beiber but who would have imagined Facebook Fans while Fox's own fan
and fans. Incidents can be posted "Kolaveri Di" a song recorded for a page has nearly 95,000 fans.
online and a wave of wishes South Indian movie to be named as
/condolences begin flowing from the most popular song by CNN. The Social media when used effectively
fans and friends. When other song got over 25 million views within can be a real boost to building
celebrities also become a part of the a month of its release, a reach of relationships, engaging with people
and promotional activities.

Social Media Movements
The power of social media has been Social networking sites provided facilitate discussions. Facebook
recently noticed in movements such protestors with an ideal platform to pages related to the original Occupy
as "Arab Revolution", "Occupy quickly disseminate information Wall Street protest in New York
Wall Street" and "Anna Hazare" about the conditions of the streets have accumulated more than
etc. The demographics of users where the protests were taking 390,000 "likes," while almost twice
coupled with the multiplicative place and ideas to counteract that number, have been expressed
effect of social media has proven security forces etc. The digital world views on 324 pages related to local
that the medium is bigger and more provided civilians with options that occupations in the rest of the
impactful than a lot of people have was an alternative to traditional country.14
imagined it to be. channels like Television, radio, print
etc. which is usually state controlled. Not many would have expected the
One of the first large scale movement against corruption in
movements that were driven by Occupy Wall Street is a mass protest India, led by Anna Hazare would
social media was the Arab Spring against social and economic sweep across the nation with such a
which started in Tunisia and spread inequality. It was started by a group strong impact. Moments before
to other North African and Middle of activists in New York, however Anna went on a hunger strike,
Eastern countries. A series of the spur began when a internet numerous support messages were
protests and demonstrations took group asked its users to join the posted on social networking sites.
place in countries where the internet protests which snowballed into Supporters requested acquaintances
reach was comparatively lower than other groups and individuals joining to join the protest on Facebook and
developed or emerging economies. the movement. Within a month's Twitter. Celebrities did not want to
However social media was the time Facebook had hundreds of be left behind in the midst of all the
catalyst that drove tens of thousands pages related to OWS and action, several renowned
of protestors to the streets. considerable ratio of tweets were personalities tweeted about their
Facebook and Twitter have been hashtagged with the movement's support for Anna, influencing their
attributed as the main websites for "#OWS". fans to do so as well. Anna Hazare's
posting statuses, videos and unofficial Facebook page has over
photographs of the protests. While the primary goal is to 300,000 likes with discussions and
Applications like Google earth were organize and mobilize protestors support messages being actively
used to capture satellite images of offline, social media is the key posted on a frequent basis.
the streets which in turn were medium to communicate location
circulated around the world. details, gather supporters and
12

www.sprysocial.com


Social Media Outsourcing
We all know that social media has The social media agency should be gamut of customer reach through
existed for a few years now and an extension of your marketing social media. Right from analyzing
ironically there are not enough department that you can trust to your website, creating a social media
experts out there. Along with the treat your values and goals as their strategy and maintaining ongoing
lack of right knowledge and skills, own. The agency should give a voice developments.
companies are unable to assign the to your company that will enhance
kind of time and personnel it takes business image among stakeholders. Companies are realizing the
to develop and maintain a potential and effectiveness of
comprehensive social media It cannot be stressed enough that outsourcing social media activity.
campaign. This is where consultants creating accounts on websites alone The number of those outsourcing
come into play, choosing a team of will not help in achieving goals has doubled since 2010. Design and
experts that communicate with key expected from a social media development, content creation and
stakeholders of your business to campaign. It will make things easy analytics are the top three areas that
identify goals and engineer a for your business to work with social media marketers are
roadmap for your social media someone who covers the entire outsourcing14
campaign is vital.

Why Spry?
Businesses have to take immediate The goal identification will reveal the designing a comprehensive strategy.
action to build its presence in the social networks that you immediately Developing a strategy is just the
social media arena as there is a good need to be on. Now, a lot of beginning; we will undertake the
chance that your competitors and companies have accounts on a implementation of the strategy,
customers are already on it. number of social media sites but the which includes regular updating of
Establishing an effective social media issue is committing to actively data and linking multiple social sites
presence requires you to engineer a maintain and update the accounts. to gain online synergy.
system that enables your business to E.g More often than not, businesses
build an image and communicate have to maintain a strategic blog and An effective online presence is
effectively through the right promote the blog using other social initiated by building an effective
channels. With the number of people media sites . Businesses that have an website, we will assist you in building
on social media and the frequency of informative blog are perceived to be a robust website which is in
activity happening online, companies thought leaders in the industry and alignment with the social media
have a tremendous opportunity to this is something that will go a long strategy that we develop e.g your
market their products/services and way for businesses to enhance their website should have options to
connect with a large audience. image, connect with customers and access blogs/videos etc. and be
recruit talent. compatible with mobile devices.
The rules of competition are
changing and to keep up with Our team at Spry Social Media Spending time and money on a social
change you have to ensure that you consists of industry pioneers who are media is not completed until you get
are always one step ahead of you equipped with the skills and to see the impact on numbers due to
competition. Marketers are shifting knowledge necessary to chart out an social media presence. Periodic
budgets towards social media effective social media roadmap for dashboards in meaningful forms will
marketing, which means marketers your business. We are an ecosystem be provided to you to track the
understand the importance of social which caters to the full cycle statistics and developments on your
media. Different social media sites development of your social media social media activity.
possess different attributes and needs. Our approach begins with
different community groups. analysis of the client’s business and Get in touch with us to know more
Understanding your goals from social identifying goals of the social media about how we can help you go
media presence is the primary step. presence, this is then followed by social, mobile and local.
13

www.sprysocial.com


About the Author
Recognized as one of the Top 100 His is constantly involved in
Tech Titans from 2009 to 2011 in participating and networking at
the Washingtonian, Shashi prominent marketing congregates.
Bellamkonda is the Social Media He speaks at national and regional
Swami (otherwise known as: small business, communications and
Director, Social Media) of Network marketing conferences. Few
Solutions, a company which helps examples are SXSW, PRSA Digital
small businesses establish an online Impact 2010, Optimization Summit,
presence and conduct online Affiliate Summit, Affcon, All Services
marketing. Social Media Council, New Comm
Forum (SNCR.org) 2009, American
Shashi has demonstrated an Independent Writers, NVTC,Tech
unparalleled passion for helping Council of Maryland, Greater
businesses build their brand through Baltimore Technology Council , DC
social media tools. He drives his Chamber of Commerce, and IABC.
passion towards developing cutting
edge SMM strategies for business. Shashi shares his knowledge in the
These strategies have proven to be a field by serving as a member of the
key indicator of improved sales, Marketing Advisory Board of SCORE
brand awareness, and market and as an Adjunct Professor at Follow Shashi on Twitter at
penetration in the social media Georgetown University. https://twitter.com/shashib
arena.

Notable Social Media Statistics 1 Sources
1 http://www.socialnomics.net
2 Focus Research Study - Marketer's Benchmarks 2011
1. Social Media has overtaken porn as the #1 activity on 3 http://www.jeffbullas.com
the Web 4 http://thewestprogram.com
5 www.videoinfographs.com
6 http://www.experianplc.com
2. What happens in Vegas stays on YouTube, Flickr, 7 http://blog.ogilvypr.com/2009/09/how-hospitals-are-quietly-leading-the-way-with-
Twitter, Facebook… social-media/
8 http://www.toprankblog.com/2009/10/social-media-in-healthcare-marketing-5-tips-
for-approval/
3. A 2009 US Department of Education study revealed 9 http://www.pewtrusts.org

that on average, online students out performed those 10 http://www.comscore.com
11 http://www.digitalbuzzblog.com/2011-mobile-statistics-stats-facts-marketing-
receiving face-to-face instruction infographic/
12 Michael.A.Stelzner - SocialMediaExaminer.com
13 wired.co.uk
4. If Facebook were a country it would be the world's
14 http://college.unc.edu/news-and-media/news-archive/october-2011/carenoccupy
3rd largest and twice the size of the U.S. population 15 Convio The Wired Wealthy
16 Tweetsgiving.org
17 http://www.booz.com/global/home/what_we_think/featured_content
5. 80% of companies use social media for recruitment; /perspectives_12/retail_2012
% of these using LinkedIn 95% 18 http://liesdamnedliesstatistics.com/2011/04/social-media-has-no-effect-on-retail-and-
commerce-here-are-some-stats-that-show-they-do.html

14

www.sprysocial.com

Spry Social Media Management Pvt.Ltd.
675/A, II Floor, 6th Cross, 3rd Block, Koramangala, Bangalore - 560 034. INDIA
Tel: +91 80 4130 8982, vivek@sprysocial.com
www.sprysocial.com

Social media whitepaper

Recomendados

Recomendados

Más contenido relacionado

La actualidad más candente

La actualidad más candente (16)

Similar a Social media whitepaper

Similar a Social media whitepaper (20)

Último

Último (20)

Social media whitepaper