Below is the job description of a Social Media Marketing Evangelist required by some Indian SMM company. What excited me is the last couple of lines on the experience column i.e. "Deep Passion for Social Media is MUST". I believe that "Passion" is one thing without which a Social Media Evangelist can't pull the rabbit out of the hat since the very crux of Social Media is formed to democratize the participation of customers. So passionate marketers can always create loyal evangelist customers since the birth of social media was due to the long list of unattended customers who were never heard or given any due attention in the old marketing communication process.
Showing posts with label online marketing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label online marketing. Show all posts
Thursday, October 09, 2008
Perfect Social Media Marketing Job Description
Recently I was going through one of India's online digital news content sites where I stumbleupon this. Below is the job content of a "Social Media Marketing Evangelist". Why this interested me if you ask, then my answer is clear one- I never thought that India has yet grown into a Social Media Marketing bedrock where EVANGELISTS are required. But it seemed like I was wrong to some extent. Even though we have not reached the critical mass of using SMM in our communication strategy but surely it has gained some amount of traction.
Below is the job description of a Social Media Marketing Evangelist required by some Indian SMM company. What excited me is the last couple of lines on the experience column i.e. "Deep Passion for Social Media is MUST". I believe that "Passion" is one thing without which a Social Media Evangelist can't pull the rabbit out of the hat since the very crux of Social Media is formed to democratize the participation of customers. So passionate marketers can always create loyal evangelist customers since the birth of social media was due to the long list of unattended customers who were never heard or given any due attention in the old marketing communication process.
Below is the job description of a Social Media Marketing Evangelist required by some Indian SMM company. What excited me is the last couple of lines on the experience column i.e. "Deep Passion for Social Media is MUST". I believe that "Passion" is one thing without which a Social Media Evangelist can't pull the rabbit out of the hat since the very crux of Social Media is formed to democratize the participation of customers. So passionate marketers can always create loyal evangelist customers since the birth of social media was due to the long list of unattended customers who were never heard or given any due attention in the old marketing communication process.
Tuesday, October 07, 2008
Get More Juice on Google's SMS Channels
Google India has just introduced a new product called Google SMS Channels that lets you subscribe to news alerts, blog updates and other kinds of information like horoscopes, jokes, stocks or even cricket scores via SMS text messages. (Courtesy: Blogoscoped)
So, if you're based in India, and don't have the time to visit my blog on the net, or to read the posts on the email newsletter, then you can now subscribe to it via SMS, using Google's SMS channels in India and get some Interactive Marketing Blog's juice in your mobile handset.
CLICK HERE to subscribe.
So, if you're based in India, and don't have the time to visit my blog on the net, or to read the posts on the email newsletter, then you can now subscribe to it via SMS, using Google's SMS channels in India and get some Interactive Marketing Blog's juice in your mobile handset.
CLICK HERE to subscribe.
More Info: Google SMS Channels, which seems to have lot in common with SMS Gupshup, is free both for content publishers as well as mobile phone users who subscribe to text updates via SMS.
Families or friends can create private SMS groups on Google SMS channels and stay in touch via SMS without paying any fees to their mobile carrier. (Courtesy: Digital Inspiration)
Sunday, October 05, 2008
What's your Tweet Worth?
This is a perfect "lazy sunday" post. This post will provide some juice on Twitter and the state of things. For almost a year now, Twitter has been the poster child for everyone who has been chasing Bright & Shiny Objects in the Web.
Now a new service called Twittad is launched which wants to monetize the Twitter background real estate. The company is allowing Twitter users to make their page backgrounds available to the highest 
bidder. Each listing includes the number of followers, the duration, and the price. Advertisers can then purchase the spots, with Twitter ad collecting a 5% commission on the transaction. So far there aren’t enough transactions completed to estimate the average value of a Twitter follower over a given time period, but this example of a recently sold ad spot for an account with 250 followers went for $5 for one month.
Now the company is sponsoring WhatsYourTweetWorth, a vanity site where you enter your Twitter name, and it tells you how much your Tweets are worth based on how many followers you have.
But there are inherent problems with this new business model:
1. Page backgrounds are not clickable (See here) and there is no easy way for a third-party service to track any meaningful metrics other than impressions.
2. With so much activity taking place on your friend timeline in the Web Interface or in a third-party apps, profile pages are not necessarily valuable estate.
3. Lastly, one most imminent problem is that I rarely go to my friend's Twitter profile since their tweets are visible on my twitter profile or third-party apps. So its like pushing ads to myself only at the end of it all.
Few possible solutions:
1. Try working out these ads in a blended format with the tweet stream (though it may prove out to be annoying).
2. Forget about trying to sell ads on Twitter pages, and put ads on WhatsYourTweetWorth instead.
3. These ads can at the best work out as pure brand advertisements for clients who just want to push in their messages in the twitter profiles.
Despite the inherent problems in Twittad’s model, there are a number of other companies attempting to monetize web page backgrounds, including AdCamo, who is providing a platform to both publishers and ad networks.
Courtesy: TechCrunch & Mashable
bidder. Each listing includes the number of followers, the duration, and the price. Advertisers can then purchase the spots, with Twitter ad collecting a 5% commission on the transaction. So far there aren’t enough transactions completed to estimate the average value of a Twitter follower over a given time period, but this example of a recently sold ad spot for an account with 250 followers went for $5 for one month.Now the company is sponsoring WhatsYourTweetWorth, a vanity site where you enter your Twitter name, and it tells you how much your Tweets are worth based on how many followers you have.
But there are inherent problems with this new business model:
1. Page backgrounds are not clickable (See here) and there is no easy way for a third-party service to track any meaningful metrics other than impressions.
2. With so much activity taking place on your friend timeline in the Web Interface or in a third-party apps, profile pages are not necessarily valuable estate.
3. Lastly, one most imminent problem is that I rarely go to my friend's Twitter profile since their tweets are visible on my twitter profile or third-party apps. So its like pushing ads to myself only at the end of it all.
Few possible solutions:
1. Try working out these ads in a blended format with the tweet stream (though it may prove out to be annoying).
2. Forget about trying to sell ads on Twitter pages, and put ads on WhatsYourTweetWorth instead.
3. These ads can at the best work out as pure brand advertisements for clients who just want to push in their messages in the twitter profiles.
Despite the inherent problems in Twittad’s model, there are a number of other companies attempting to monetize web page backgrounds, including AdCamo, who is providing a platform to both publishers and ad networks.
Courtesy: TechCrunch & Mashable
Friday, October 03, 2008
Top 10 Predictions on Social Networking
In my last post on Indian Social Networking Trends, I drew analogy between one of Dina's post and beta launch of Yahoo's SpotM. So this time around, I took the liberty to go much beyond trending and give much more concrete and holistic view of how Social Networking space will shape up for the future.
Though I wrote about it here, here & here, so this time around I will try to provide some more juice on social networks. Here are some of my top 10 social networking prediction are:
1. Mobile Networking will catch up mainstream: Interaction in social networks happens most often through messages which is the most common feature. Some call it wall posts, other as scraps etc. It is most frequent among younger generation who wants to be connected 24*7. Mobile devices will become a savior since its the only device which is ubiquitous and its reach is wide. But certain hindrances are still to be overcome like the browser based networks don’t leverage the power of the mobile device, and client based applications are blocked by service providers and handset limitations. So once someone utilizes this potential to create an application that has enough traction to catch the attention and remove the tech limitations of browser apps compatibility with mobile devices and stuff like service providers blockades, then connectivity isn't a issue.
2. "Content is King" will be the buzzword: Yes, the content is the buzzword. Some may find it difficult to fathom it but it's true. The content of the network, we all will be in is going to be the single most factor which could win over the Social Networks battle.
3. The "longish" long tail will prevail: Over the past year, its unimaginable to find that there are scores of social networks on the fringes - social networks for babies, mothers, Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transgender/Questioning and many more unique yet prevalent social networks. So power of the longish long tail will prevail in Social Networking.
4. Interactive Apps will augment social networks: Sandeep has an interesting take on this one - The new interactive mechanisms for many social sites may be backed by artificial intelligence. This will bring spice to the entire model. For instance, your social network or online group will show itself to be angry, happy, sad, etc., all on its own, as a result of its members' input. These small and unique interactive developments will engage the users to a great extent.
5. Content Creation & Consumption will happen at the source: Social networks won't just be a platform to feed & share your personal life with friends & family. It will become our megaphone to voice about anything & everything around us. Though first round initiatives have been taken - Thanks to Google.
6. Changes in "Content Delivery" of Social Networks: Content delivery via social networks will change over time. Social networks will act also as an entertainment cum information window for users in world wide web viz. ChillX.
7. Monetization of actionable content in Social Networks: Monetization has been a problem for social networks (read here, here & here too). But once social networks are able to position themselves as branded content providers like MySpace have done then monetization won't be pain. But for this enough critical mass is needed for which social networks have to duly rely on other distributive mediums like progressive mobile networks etc to spread their content.
8. Medium will become the message in Social Networks: Since we are talking about social networks which provides vast information pool at free cost for end users, so medium itself is easy to spread and theme based social networks will definitely plug in more users who will in turn out to be evangelists to spread the message. One of the networks which I know is working towards it is ChillX which wants to attract Indian Gen X & Y to form a community of users who share & spread.
9. The power of community will prevail: Social networks are typically measured in terms of registered users, unique users and engagement (in terms of time spent, page views per unique user etc. This will be on the rise once social networks are able to draw users into community. This will be on the rise in the near future.
10. Geographically & Culturally focused Social Networks: The popularity of social networks varies by region. In the U.S., Myspace and Facebook are most popular; in India and Brazil, Orkut rules; China has QQ; Europe has Hi5. So we will see more & more of geographically & culturally focused social networks like Viacom's Flux which will stress on “Personal community”. (Read more on this here).
So these are Top 10 Social Networking predictions that will prevail in the near future. I'll do a series of such posts in the future too as on when it happens.
Though I wrote about it here, here & here, so this time around I will try to provide some more juice on social networks. Here are some of my top 10 social networking prediction are:
1. Mobile Networking will catch up mainstream: Interaction in social networks happens most often through messages which is the most common feature. Some call it wall posts, other as scraps etc. It is most frequent among younger generation who wants to be connected 24*7. Mobile devices will become a savior since its the only device which is ubiquitous and its reach is wide. But certain hindrances are still to be overcome like the browser based networks don’t leverage the power of the mobile device, and client based applications are blocked by service providers and handset limitations. So once someone utilizes this potential to create an application that has enough traction to catch the attention and remove the tech limitations of browser apps compatibility with mobile devices and stuff like service providers blockades, then connectivity isn't a issue.
2. "Content is King" will be the buzzword: Yes, the content is the buzzword. Some may find it difficult to fathom it but it's true. The content of the network, we all will be in is going to be the single most factor which could win over the Social Networks battle.
3. The "longish" long tail will prevail: Over the past year, its unimaginable to find that there are scores of social networks on the fringes - social networks for babies, mothers, Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transgender/Questioning and many more unique yet prevalent social networks. So power of the longish long tail will prevail in Social Networking.
4. Interactive Apps will augment social networks: Sandeep has an interesting take on this one - The new interactive mechanisms for many social sites may be backed by artificial intelligence. This will bring spice to the entire model. For instance, your social network or online group will show itself to be angry, happy, sad, etc., all on its own, as a result of its members' input. These small and unique interactive developments will engage the users to a great extent.
5. Content Creation & Consumption will happen at the source: Social networks won't just be a platform to feed & share your personal life with friends & family. It will become our megaphone to voice about anything & everything around us. Though first round initiatives have been taken - Thanks to Google.
6. Changes in "Content Delivery" of Social Networks: Content delivery via social networks will change over time. Social networks will act also as an entertainment cum information window for users in world wide web viz. ChillX.
7. Monetization of actionable content in Social Networks: Monetization has been a problem for social networks (read here, here & here too). But once social networks are able to position themselves as branded content providers like MySpace have done then monetization won't be pain. But for this enough critical mass is needed for which social networks have to duly rely on other distributive mediums like progressive mobile networks etc to spread their content.
8. Medium will become the message in Social Networks: Since we are talking about social networks which provides vast information pool at free cost for end users, so medium itself is easy to spread and theme based social networks will definitely plug in more users who will in turn out to be evangelists to spread the message. One of the networks which I know is working towards it is ChillX which wants to attract Indian Gen X & Y to form a community of users who share & spread.
9. The power of community will prevail: Social networks are typically measured in terms of registered users, unique users and engagement (in terms of time spent, page views per unique user etc. This will be on the rise once social networks are able to draw users into community. This will be on the rise in the near future.
10. Geographically & Culturally focused Social Networks: The popularity of social networks varies by region. In the U.S., Myspace and Facebook are most popular; in India and Brazil, Orkut rules; China has QQ; Europe has Hi5. So we will see more & more of geographically & culturally focused social networks like Viacom's Flux which will stress on “Personal community”. (Read more on this here).
So these are Top 10 Social Networking predictions that will prevail in the near future. I'll do a series of such posts in the future too as on when it happens.
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Indian Social Networking Trends
I've to say upfront that I'm a keen observer of Social Media, which by now must be quite evident if you're a regular to this blog. If not then I may have something interesting for you. So keeping with the blog post, I keep a track about what's hot & what's not in Social Media and much so in Social Networking especially in India.
The genesis of this blog post is Dina Mehta's blog post on "Future of Social Networking" and more so a recent development from Yahoo! Indian Arm which came up with a new Social Networking site dubbed as SpotM for the age bracket 16-24 to capture the growing Indian market (Read my post here).
So on this recent Yahoo! development, I also commented my opinions as to what would fancy Indian users so as the capture their imagination & in turn take advantage of growing Indian market. Below are my comments from my previous post:
On the hindsight, I recently came across another site called ChillX which has tried to position itself as a site
where Indian youth can hang out dubbed as "Hamara Desh". Now a quick usability check gave me a very good impression about its various features its blogs, videos, news and my favorite- the chat applet. Though this may be nothing new to most of us, but surely this site has unique Indian community feeling which I saw lacking in most western counter parts as of now. Also if I'm not wrong then this site's positioning is more "Community Based" i.e. it wants to build a community of Indian Youths.
So taking cues from Dina's statement on Social Networking's future
it seems evidential that without these key ingredients i.e. layered network effects across location, access, presence & most importantly context which enhances real world interactions with different users will define the future of Indian Social Networking Space.
So what do you think will click in Indian Social Networking Space?
The genesis of this blog post is Dina Mehta's blog post on "Future of Social Networking" and more so a recent development from Yahoo! Indian Arm which came up with a new Social Networking site dubbed as SpotM for the age bracket 16-24 to capture the growing Indian market (Read my post here).
So on this recent Yahoo! development, I also commented my opinions as to what would fancy Indian users so as the capture their imagination & in turn take advantage of growing Indian market. Below are my comments from my previous post:
....within a span of 2-3 years there have been plethora of Social Networking Sites (SNS) developed by Indians and International giants like Google, Facebook, MySpace etc. So for SpotM, it better be good, different, fast, high on usability and wide reaching otherwise another failed investment.....
On the hindsight, I recently came across another site called ChillX which has tried to position itself as a site
where Indian youth can hang out dubbed as "Hamara Desh". Now a quick usability check gave me a very good impression about its various features its blogs, videos, news and my favorite- the chat applet. Though this may be nothing new to most of us, but surely this site has unique Indian community feeling which I saw lacking in most western counter parts as of now. Also if I'm not wrong then this site's positioning is more "Community Based" i.e. it wants to build a community of Indian Youths.So taking cues from Dina's statement on Social Networking's future
“Networks based on & layered around location, access, presence & context. Those that enhance real-world interactions. Enabling choice, privacy and control”
it seems evidential that without these key ingredients i.e. layered network effects across location, access, presence & most importantly context which enhances real world interactions with different users will define the future of Indian Social Networking Space.
So what do you think will click in Indian Social Networking Space?
Monday, September 22, 2008
Top 10 Social Media Blogs in India
The genesis of this post started long time back when I started the Social Media Marketing space in India for a while now. After hovering around in the Web, I've found very few comprehensive lists on Social Media Blogs in India. So this effort is primarily to put all those insightful & interesting blogs under "Top Social Media Blogs in India's" list and rank them accordingly.
The "Top 10 Social Media Marketing blogs" list ranks blogs according to Google PageRank, Alexa Rank, Number of Feed Subscribers, Technorati Authority and My Ranking (as Sampad's Rank).
The list down below are the rest of the blog which are trailing behind as per the ranking to get into the top 10 list.
Each of the five factors range from 0 to 10, where 10 is the maximum score. The maximum total score for each blog, therefore, is 50. There will be monthly updates on the ranking. Below you will find the details about the algorithm:
Blogs Considered: The list considers only blogs that have high percentage of Social Media related content. Topics might range from Social Media news, information, tips, building communities, conversations etc.
Google PageRank (0 to 10): Google PageRank is a link-analysis algorithm that interprets web links and assigns a numerical weighting (0 to 10) to each site. The actual PageRank was used in the algorithm.
Alexa Rank (0 to 10):Alexa ranks sites with an algorithm that incorporates page views and reach (the percentage of all web users who have visited that particular site). This ranges were determined based on the Alexa Rank (i.e., 150k and up, 150k-100k, 100k-75k, 75k-50k) and each range was asssigned a number (1 to 10).
Feed Subscriber (0 to 10): Subscriber ranges were determined (i.e., 1-50, 50-100, 100-150, 150-200 and more) and each range was assigned a number (1 to 10).
Technorati Authority (0 to 10): Much like the InLinks count, Technorati's Authority count is the number of blog (as opposed to individual links) that link to a particular blog. Ranges were determined based on Technorati's Authority rank (i.e., 1-100, 100-200, 200-400, 400-600 & more) and each range was assigned a number (1 to 10).
Sampad's Rank (0 to 10): This is the only subjective measure in the algorithm to be assigned to the blogs which will be ranked. The actual rank depends on the content of the blog posts, quality of the blog posts, frequency, creativity & relevancy.
P.S. These are the best blogs on Social Media in India. If you also want to feature in the "Best Social Media Blogs in India" list, please link back to this post or else mail me at sampad.s [at]gmail.com your Blog Address and RSS feed for review. As soon as your blog gets listed, will mail you back.
The "Top 10 Social Media Marketing blogs" list ranks blogs according to Google PageRank, Alexa Rank, Number of Feed Subscribers, Technorati Authority and My Ranking (as Sampad's Rank).
| #1 | 8 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 25 | |
| #2 | 8 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 23 | |
| #3 | 7 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 21 | |
| #4 | 7 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 20 | |
| #5 | 7 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 19 | |
| #6 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 19 | |
| #7 | 8 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 18 | |
| #8 | 7 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 17 | |
| #9 | 7 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 16 | |
| #10 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 15 |
The list down below are the rest of the blog which are trailing behind as per the ranking to get into the top 10 list.
| #11 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 15 | |
| #12 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 14 | |
| #13 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 14 | |
| #14 | 6 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 14 | |
| #15 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 14 | |
| #16 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 12 | |
| #17 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 11 | |
| #18 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 9 |
Blogs Considered: The list considers only blogs that have high percentage of Social Media related content. Topics might range from Social Media news, information, tips, building communities, conversations etc.
Google PageRank (0 to 10): Google PageRank is a link-analysis algorithm that interprets web links and assigns a numerical weighting (0 to 10) to each site. The actual PageRank was used in the algorithm.
Alexa Rank (0 to 10):Alexa ranks sites with an algorithm that incorporates page views and reach (the percentage of all web users who have visited that particular site). This ranges were determined based on the Alexa Rank (i.e., 150k and up, 150k-100k, 100k-75k, 75k-50k) and each range was asssigned a number (1 to 10).
Feed Subscriber (0 to 10): Subscriber ranges were determined (i.e., 1-50, 50-100, 100-150, 150-200 and more) and each range was assigned a number (1 to 10).
Technorati Authority (0 to 10): Much like the InLinks count, Technorati's Authority count is the number of blog (as opposed to individual links) that link to a particular blog. Ranges were determined based on Technorati's Authority rank (i.e., 1-100, 100-200, 200-400, 400-600 & more) and each range was assigned a number (1 to 10).
Sampad's Rank (0 to 10): This is the only subjective measure in the algorithm to be assigned to the blogs which will be ranked. The actual rank depends on the content of the blog posts, quality of the blog posts, frequency, creativity & relevancy.
P.S. These are the best blogs on Social Media in India. If you also want to feature in the "Best Social Media Blogs in India" list, please link back to this post or else mail me at sampad.s [at]gmail.com your Blog Address and RSS feed for review. As soon as your blog gets listed, will mail you back.
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Showing posts with label online marketing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label online marketing. Show all posts
Thursday, October 09, 2008
Perfect Social Media Marketing Job Description
Recently I was going through one of India's online digital news content sites where I stumbleupon this. Below is the job content of a "Social Media Marketing Evangelist". Why this interested me if you ask, then my answer is clear one- I never thought that India has yet grown into a Social Media Marketing bedrock where EVANGELISTS are required. But it seemed like I was wrong to some extent. Even though we have not reached the critical mass of using SMM in our communication strategy but surely it has gained some amount of traction.
Below is the job description of a Social Media Marketing Evangelist required by some Indian SMM company. What excited me is the last couple of lines on the experience column i.e. "Deep Passion for Social Media is MUST". I believe that "Passion" is one thing without which a Social Media Evangelist can't pull the rabbit out of the hat since the very crux of Social Media is formed to democratize the participation of customers. So passionate marketers can always create loyal evangelist customers since the birth of social media was due to the long list of unattended customers who were never heard or given any due attention in the old marketing communication process.
Below is the job description of a Social Media Marketing Evangelist required by some Indian SMM company. What excited me is the last couple of lines on the experience column i.e. "Deep Passion for Social Media is MUST". I believe that "Passion" is one thing without which a Social Media Evangelist can't pull the rabbit out of the hat since the very crux of Social Media is formed to democratize the participation of customers. So passionate marketers can always create loyal evangelist customers since the birth of social media was due to the long list of unattended customers who were never heard or given any due attention in the old marketing communication process.
Tuesday, October 07, 2008
Get More Juice on Google's SMS Channels
Google India has just introduced a new product called Google SMS Channels that lets you subscribe to news alerts, blog updates and other kinds of information like horoscopes, jokes, stocks or even cricket scores via SMS text messages. (Courtesy: Blogoscoped)
So, if you're based in India, and don't have the time to visit my blog on the net, or to read the posts on the email newsletter, then you can now subscribe to it via SMS, using Google's SMS channels in India and get some Interactive Marketing Blog's juice in your mobile handset.
CLICK HERE to subscribe.
So, if you're based in India, and don't have the time to visit my blog on the net, or to read the posts on the email newsletter, then you can now subscribe to it via SMS, using Google's SMS channels in India and get some Interactive Marketing Blog's juice in your mobile handset.
CLICK HERE to subscribe.
More Info: Google SMS Channels, which seems to have lot in common with SMS Gupshup, is free both for content publishers as well as mobile phone users who subscribe to text updates via SMS.
Families or friends can create private SMS groups on Google SMS channels and stay in touch via SMS without paying any fees to their mobile carrier. (Courtesy: Digital Inspiration)
Sunday, October 05, 2008
What's your Tweet Worth?
This is a perfect "lazy sunday" post. This post will provide some juice on Twitter and the state of things. For almost a year now, Twitter has been the poster child for everyone who has been chasing Bright & Shiny Objects in the Web.
Now a new service called Twittad is launched which wants to monetize the Twitter background real estate. The company is allowing Twitter users to make their page backgrounds available to the highest bidder. Each listing includes the number of followers, the duration, and the price. Advertisers can then purchase the spots, with Twitter ad collecting a 5% commission on the transaction. So far there aren’t enough transactions completed to estimate the average value of a Twitter follower over a given time period, but this example of a recently sold ad spot for an account with 250 followers went for $5 for one month.
Now the company is sponsoring WhatsYourTweetWorth, a vanity site where you enter your Twitter name, and it tells you how much your Tweets are worth based on how many followers you have.
But there are inherent problems with this new business model:
1. Page backgrounds are not clickable (See here) and there is no easy way for a third-party service to track any meaningful metrics other than impressions.
2. With so much activity taking place on your friend timeline in the Web Interface or in a third-party apps, profile pages are not necessarily valuable estate.
3. Lastly, one most imminent problem is that I rarely go to my friend's Twitter profile since their tweets are visible on my twitter profile or third-party apps. So its like pushing ads to myself only at the end of it all.
Few possible solutions:
1. Try working out these ads in a blended format with the tweet stream (though it may prove out to be annoying).
2. Forget about trying to sell ads on Twitter pages, and put ads on WhatsYourTweetWorth instead.
3. These ads can at the best work out as pure brand advertisements for clients who just want to push in their messages in the twitter profiles.
Despite the inherent problems in Twittad’s model, there are a number of other companies attempting to monetize web page backgrounds, including AdCamo, who is providing a platform to both publishers and ad networks.
Courtesy: TechCrunch & Mashable
bidder. Each listing includes the number of followers, the duration, and the price. Advertisers can then purchase the spots, with Twitter ad collecting a 5% commission on the transaction. So far there aren’t enough transactions completed to estimate the average value of a Twitter follower over a given time period, but this example of a recently sold ad spot for an account with 250 followers went for $5 for one month.Now the company is sponsoring WhatsYourTweetWorth, a vanity site where you enter your Twitter name, and it tells you how much your Tweets are worth based on how many followers you have.
But there are inherent problems with this new business model:
1. Page backgrounds are not clickable (See here) and there is no easy way for a third-party service to track any meaningful metrics other than impressions.
2. With so much activity taking place on your friend timeline in the Web Interface or in a third-party apps, profile pages are not necessarily valuable estate.
3. Lastly, one most imminent problem is that I rarely go to my friend's Twitter profile since their tweets are visible on my twitter profile or third-party apps. So its like pushing ads to myself only at the end of it all.
Few possible solutions:
1. Try working out these ads in a blended format with the tweet stream (though it may prove out to be annoying).
2. Forget about trying to sell ads on Twitter pages, and put ads on WhatsYourTweetWorth instead.
3. These ads can at the best work out as pure brand advertisements for clients who just want to push in their messages in the twitter profiles.
Despite the inherent problems in Twittad’s model, there are a number of other companies attempting to monetize web page backgrounds, including AdCamo, who is providing a platform to both publishers and ad networks.
Courtesy: TechCrunch & Mashable
Friday, October 03, 2008
Top 10 Predictions on Social Networking
In my last post on Indian Social Networking Trends, I drew analogy between one of Dina's post and beta launch of Yahoo's SpotM. So this time around, I took the liberty to go much beyond trending and give much more concrete and holistic view of how Social Networking space will shape up for the future.
Though I wrote about it here, here & here, so this time around I will try to provide some more juice on social networks. Here are some of my top 10 social networking prediction are:
1. Mobile Networking will catch up mainstream: Interaction in social networks happens most often through messages which is the most common feature. Some call it wall posts, other as scraps etc. It is most frequent among younger generation who wants to be connected 24*7. Mobile devices will become a savior since its the only device which is ubiquitous and its reach is wide. But certain hindrances are still to be overcome like the browser based networks don’t leverage the power of the mobile device, and client based applications are blocked by service providers and handset limitations. So once someone utilizes this potential to create an application that has enough traction to catch the attention and remove the tech limitations of browser apps compatibility with mobile devices and stuff like service providers blockades, then connectivity isn't a issue.
2. "Content is King" will be the buzzword: Yes, the content is the buzzword. Some may find it difficult to fathom it but it's true. The content of the network, we all will be in is going to be the single most factor which could win over the Social Networks battle.
3. The "longish" long tail will prevail: Over the past year, its unimaginable to find that there are scores of social networks on the fringes - social networks for babies, mothers, Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transgender/Questioning and many more unique yet prevalent social networks. So power of the longish long tail will prevail in Social Networking.
4. Interactive Apps will augment social networks: Sandeep has an interesting take on this one - The new interactive mechanisms for many social sites may be backed by artificial intelligence. This will bring spice to the entire model. For instance, your social network or online group will show itself to be angry, happy, sad, etc., all on its own, as a result of its members' input. These small and unique interactive developments will engage the users to a great extent.
5. Content Creation & Consumption will happen at the source: Social networks won't just be a platform to feed & share your personal life with friends & family. It will become our megaphone to voice about anything & everything around us. Though first round initiatives have been taken - Thanks to Google.
6. Changes in "Content Delivery" of Social Networks: Content delivery via social networks will change over time. Social networks will act also as an entertainment cum information window for users in world wide web viz. ChillX.
7. Monetization of actionable content in Social Networks: Monetization has been a problem for social networks (read here, here & here too). But once social networks are able to position themselves as branded content providers like MySpace have done then monetization won't be pain. But for this enough critical mass is needed for which social networks have to duly rely on other distributive mediums like progressive mobile networks etc to spread their content.
8. Medium will become the message in Social Networks: Since we are talking about social networks which provides vast information pool at free cost for end users, so medium itself is easy to spread and theme based social networks will definitely plug in more users who will in turn out to be evangelists to spread the message. One of the networks which I know is working towards it is ChillX which wants to attract Indian Gen X & Y to form a community of users who share & spread.
9. The power of community will prevail: Social networks are typically measured in terms of registered users, unique users and engagement (in terms of time spent, page views per unique user etc. This will be on the rise once social networks are able to draw users into community. This will be on the rise in the near future.
10. Geographically & Culturally focused Social Networks: The popularity of social networks varies by region. In the U.S., Myspace and Facebook are most popular; in India and Brazil, Orkut rules; China has QQ; Europe has Hi5. So we will see more & more of geographically & culturally focused social networks like Viacom's Flux which will stress on “Personal community”. (Read more on this here).
So these are Top 10 Social Networking predictions that will prevail in the near future. I'll do a series of such posts in the future too as on when it happens.
Though I wrote about it here, here & here, so this time around I will try to provide some more juice on social networks. Here are some of my top 10 social networking prediction are:
1. Mobile Networking will catch up mainstream: Interaction in social networks happens most often through messages which is the most common feature. Some call it wall posts, other as scraps etc. It is most frequent among younger generation who wants to be connected 24*7. Mobile devices will become a savior since its the only device which is ubiquitous and its reach is wide. But certain hindrances are still to be overcome like the browser based networks don’t leverage the power of the mobile device, and client based applications are blocked by service providers and handset limitations. So once someone utilizes this potential to create an application that has enough traction to catch the attention and remove the tech limitations of browser apps compatibility with mobile devices and stuff like service providers blockades, then connectivity isn't a issue.
2. "Content is King" will be the buzzword: Yes, the content is the buzzword. Some may find it difficult to fathom it but it's true. The content of the network, we all will be in is going to be the single most factor which could win over the Social Networks battle.
3. The "longish" long tail will prevail: Over the past year, its unimaginable to find that there are scores of social networks on the fringes - social networks for babies, mothers, Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transgender/Questioning and many more unique yet prevalent social networks. So power of the longish long tail will prevail in Social Networking.
4. Interactive Apps will augment social networks: Sandeep has an interesting take on this one - The new interactive mechanisms for many social sites may be backed by artificial intelligence. This will bring spice to the entire model. For instance, your social network or online group will show itself to be angry, happy, sad, etc., all on its own, as a result of its members' input. These small and unique interactive developments will engage the users to a great extent.
5. Content Creation & Consumption will happen at the source: Social networks won't just be a platform to feed & share your personal life with friends & family. It will become our megaphone to voice about anything & everything around us. Though first round initiatives have been taken - Thanks to Google.
6. Changes in "Content Delivery" of Social Networks: Content delivery via social networks will change over time. Social networks will act also as an entertainment cum information window for users in world wide web viz. ChillX.
7. Monetization of actionable content in Social Networks: Monetization has been a problem for social networks (read here, here & here too). But once social networks are able to position themselves as branded content providers like MySpace have done then monetization won't be pain. But for this enough critical mass is needed for which social networks have to duly rely on other distributive mediums like progressive mobile networks etc to spread their content.
8. Medium will become the message in Social Networks: Since we are talking about social networks which provides vast information pool at free cost for end users, so medium itself is easy to spread and theme based social networks will definitely plug in more users who will in turn out to be evangelists to spread the message. One of the networks which I know is working towards it is ChillX which wants to attract Indian Gen X & Y to form a community of users who share & spread.
9. The power of community will prevail: Social networks are typically measured in terms of registered users, unique users and engagement (in terms of time spent, page views per unique user etc. This will be on the rise once social networks are able to draw users into community. This will be on the rise in the near future.
10. Geographically & Culturally focused Social Networks: The popularity of social networks varies by region. In the U.S., Myspace and Facebook are most popular; in India and Brazil, Orkut rules; China has QQ; Europe has Hi5. So we will see more & more of geographically & culturally focused social networks like Viacom's Flux which will stress on “Personal community”. (Read more on this here).
So these are Top 10 Social Networking predictions that will prevail in the near future. I'll do a series of such posts in the future too as on when it happens.
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Indian Social Networking Trends
I've to say upfront that I'm a keen observer of Social Media, which by now must be quite evident if you're a regular to this blog. If not then I may have something interesting for you. So keeping with the blog post, I keep a track about what's hot & what's not in Social Media and much so in Social Networking especially in India.
The genesis of this blog post is Dina Mehta's blog post on "Future of Social Networking" and more so a recent development from Yahoo! Indian Arm which came up with a new Social Networking site dubbed as SpotM for the age bracket 16-24 to capture the growing Indian market (Read my post here).
So on this recent Yahoo! development, I also commented my opinions as to what would fancy Indian users so as the capture their imagination & in turn take advantage of growing Indian market. Below are my comments from my previous post:
On the hindsight, I recently came across another site called ChillX which has tried to position itself as a sitewhere Indian youth can hang out dubbed as "Hamara Desh". Now a quick usability check gave me a very good impression about its various features its blogs, videos, news and my favorite- the chat applet. Though this may be nothing new to most of us, but surely this site has unique Indian community feeling which I saw lacking in most western counter parts as of now. Also if I'm not wrong then this site's positioning is more "Community Based" i.e. it wants to build a community of Indian Youths.
So taking cues from Dina's statement on Social Networking's future
it seems evidential that without these key ingredients i.e. layered network effects across location, access, presence & most importantly context which enhances real world interactions with different users will define the future of Indian Social Networking Space.
So what do you think will click in Indian Social Networking Space?
The genesis of this blog post is Dina Mehta's blog post on "Future of Social Networking" and more so a recent development from Yahoo! Indian Arm which came up with a new Social Networking site dubbed as SpotM for the age bracket 16-24 to capture the growing Indian market (Read my post here).
So on this recent Yahoo! development, I also commented my opinions as to what would fancy Indian users so as the capture their imagination & in turn take advantage of growing Indian market. Below are my comments from my previous post:
....within a span of 2-3 years there have been plethora of Social Networking Sites (SNS) developed by Indians and International giants like Google, Facebook, MySpace etc. So for SpotM, it better be good, different, fast, high on usability and wide reaching otherwise another failed investment.....
On the hindsight, I recently came across another site called ChillX which has tried to position itself as a site
where Indian youth can hang out dubbed as "Hamara Desh". Now a quick usability check gave me a very good impression about its various features its blogs, videos, news and my favorite- the chat applet. Though this may be nothing new to most of us, but surely this site has unique Indian community feeling which I saw lacking in most western counter parts as of now. Also if I'm not wrong then this site's positioning is more "Community Based" i.e. it wants to build a community of Indian Youths.So taking cues from Dina's statement on Social Networking's future
“Networks based on & layered around location, access, presence & context. Those that enhance real-world interactions. Enabling choice, privacy and control”
it seems evidential that without these key ingredients i.e. layered network effects across location, access, presence & most importantly context which enhances real world interactions with different users will define the future of Indian Social Networking Space.
So what do you think will click in Indian Social Networking Space?
Monday, September 22, 2008
Top 10 Social Media Blogs in India
The genesis of this post started long time back when I started the Social Media Marketing space in India for a while now. After hovering around in the Web, I've found very few comprehensive lists on Social Media Blogs in India. So this effort is primarily to put all those insightful & interesting blogs under "Top Social Media Blogs in India's" list and rank them accordingly.
The "Top 10 Social Media Marketing blogs" list ranks blogs according to Google PageRank, Alexa Rank, Number of Feed Subscribers, Technorati Authority and My Ranking (as Sampad's Rank).
The list down below are the rest of the blog which are trailing behind as per the ranking to get into the top 10 list.
Each of the five factors range from 0 to 10, where 10 is the maximum score. The maximum total score for each blog, therefore, is 50. There will be monthly updates on the ranking. Below you will find the details about the algorithm:
Blogs Considered: The list considers only blogs that have high percentage of Social Media related content. Topics might range from Social Media news, information, tips, building communities, conversations etc.
Google PageRank (0 to 10): Google PageRank is a link-analysis algorithm that interprets web links and assigns a numerical weighting (0 to 10) to each site. The actual PageRank was used in the algorithm.
Alexa Rank (0 to 10):Alexa ranks sites with an algorithm that incorporates page views and reach (the percentage of all web users who have visited that particular site). This ranges were determined based on the Alexa Rank (i.e., 150k and up, 150k-100k, 100k-75k, 75k-50k) and each range was asssigned a number (1 to 10).
Feed Subscriber (0 to 10): Subscriber ranges were determined (i.e., 1-50, 50-100, 100-150, 150-200 and more) and each range was assigned a number (1 to 10).
Technorati Authority (0 to 10): Much like the InLinks count, Technorati's Authority count is the number of blog (as opposed to individual links) that link to a particular blog. Ranges were determined based on Technorati's Authority rank (i.e., 1-100, 100-200, 200-400, 400-600 & more) and each range was assigned a number (1 to 10).
Sampad's Rank (0 to 10): This is the only subjective measure in the algorithm to be assigned to the blogs which will be ranked. The actual rank depends on the content of the blog posts, quality of the blog posts, frequency, creativity & relevancy.
P.S. These are the best blogs on Social Media in India. If you also want to feature in the "Best Social Media Blogs in India" list, please link back to this post or else mail me at sampad.s [at]gmail.com your Blog Address and RSS feed for review. As soon as your blog gets listed, will mail you back.
The "Top 10 Social Media Marketing blogs" list ranks blogs according to Google PageRank, Alexa Rank, Number of Feed Subscribers, Technorati Authority and My Ranking (as Sampad's Rank).
| #1 | 8 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 25 | |
| #2 | 8 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 23 | |
| #3 | 7 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 21 | |
| #4 | 7 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 20 | |
| #5 | 7 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 19 | |
| #6 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 19 | |
| #7 | 8 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 18 | |
| #8 | 7 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 17 | |
| #9 | 7 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 16 | |
| #10 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 15 |
The list down below are the rest of the blog which are trailing behind as per the ranking to get into the top 10 list.
| #11 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 15 | |
| #12 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 14 | |
| #13 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 14 | |
| #14 | 6 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 14 | |
| #15 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 14 | |
| #16 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 12 | |
| #17 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 11 | |
| #18 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 9 |
Blogs Considered: The list considers only blogs that have high percentage of Social Media related content. Topics might range from Social Media news, information, tips, building communities, conversations etc.
Google PageRank (0 to 10): Google PageRank is a link-analysis algorithm that interprets web links and assigns a numerical weighting (0 to 10) to each site. The actual PageRank was used in the algorithm.
Alexa Rank (0 to 10):Alexa ranks sites with an algorithm that incorporates page views and reach (the percentage of all web users who have visited that particular site). This ranges were determined based on the Alexa Rank (i.e., 150k and up, 150k-100k, 100k-75k, 75k-50k) and each range was asssigned a number (1 to 10).
Feed Subscriber (0 to 10): Subscriber ranges were determined (i.e., 1-50, 50-100, 100-150, 150-200 and more) and each range was assigned a number (1 to 10).
Technorati Authority (0 to 10): Much like the InLinks count, Technorati's Authority count is the number of blog (as opposed to individual links) that link to a particular blog. Ranges were determined based on Technorati's Authority rank (i.e., 1-100, 100-200, 200-400, 400-600 & more) and each range was assigned a number (1 to 10).
Sampad's Rank (0 to 10): This is the only subjective measure in the algorithm to be assigned to the blogs which will be ranked. The actual rank depends on the content of the blog posts, quality of the blog posts, frequency, creativity & relevancy.
P.S. These are the best blogs on Social Media in India. If you also want to feature in the "Best Social Media Blogs in India" list, please link back to this post or else mail me at sampad.s [at]gmail.com your Blog Address and RSS feed for review. As soon as your blog gets listed, will mail you back.
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Showing posts with label online marketing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label online marketing. Show all posts
Thursday, October 09, 2008
Perfect Social Media Marketing Job Description
Recently I was going through one of India's online digital news content sites where I stumbleupon this. Below is the job content of a "Social Media Marketing Evangelist". Why this interested me if you ask, then my answer is clear one- I never thought that India has yet grown into a Social Media Marketing bedrock where EVANGELISTS are required. But it seemed like I was wrong to some extent. Even though we have not reached the critical mass of using SMM in our communication strategy but surely it has gained some amount of traction.
Below is the job description of a Social Media Marketing Evangelist required by some Indian SMM company. What excited me is the last couple of lines on the experience column i.e. "Deep Passion for Social Media is MUST". I believe that "Passion" is one thing without which a Social Media Evangelist can't pull the rabbit out of the hat since the very crux of Social Media is formed to democratize the participation of customers. So passionate marketers can always create loyal evangelist customers since the birth of social media was due to the long list of unattended customers who were never heard or given any due attention in the old marketing communication process.
Below is the job description of a Social Media Marketing Evangelist required by some Indian SMM company. What excited me is the last couple of lines on the experience column i.e. "Deep Passion for Social Media is MUST". I believe that "Passion" is one thing without which a Social Media Evangelist can't pull the rabbit out of the hat since the very crux of Social Media is formed to democratize the participation of customers. So passionate marketers can always create loyal evangelist customers since the birth of social media was due to the long list of unattended customers who were never heard or given any due attention in the old marketing communication process.
Tuesday, October 07, 2008
Get More Juice on Google's SMS Channels
Google India has just introduced a new product called Google SMS Channels that lets you subscribe to news alerts, blog updates and other kinds of information like horoscopes, jokes, stocks or even cricket scores via SMS text messages. (Courtesy: Blogoscoped)
So, if you're based in India, and don't have the time to visit my blog on the net, or to read the posts on the email newsletter, then you can now subscribe to it via SMS, using Google's SMS channels in India and get some Interactive Marketing Blog's juice in your mobile handset.
CLICK HERE to subscribe.
So, if you're based in India, and don't have the time to visit my blog on the net, or to read the posts on the email newsletter, then you can now subscribe to it via SMS, using Google's SMS channels in India and get some Interactive Marketing Blog's juice in your mobile handset.
CLICK HERE to subscribe.
More Info: Google SMS Channels, which seems to have lot in common with SMS Gupshup, is free both for content publishers as well as mobile phone users who subscribe to text updates via SMS.
Families or friends can create private SMS groups on Google SMS channels and stay in touch via SMS without paying any fees to their mobile carrier. (Courtesy: Digital Inspiration)
Sunday, October 05, 2008
What's your Tweet Worth?
This is a perfect "lazy sunday" post. This post will provide some juice on Twitter and the state of things. For almost a year now, Twitter has been the poster child for everyone who has been chasing Bright & Shiny Objects in the Web.
Now a new service called Twittad is launched which wants to monetize the Twitter background real estate. The company is allowing Twitter users to make their page backgrounds available to the highest bidder. Each listing includes the number of followers, the duration, and the price. Advertisers can then purchase the spots, with Twitter ad collecting a 5% commission on the transaction. So far there aren’t enough transactions completed to estimate the average value of a Twitter follower over a given time period, but this example of a recently sold ad spot for an account with 250 followers went for $5 for one month.
Now the company is sponsoring WhatsYourTweetWorth, a vanity site where you enter your Twitter name, and it tells you how much your Tweets are worth based on how many followers you have.
But there are inherent problems with this new business model:
1. Page backgrounds are not clickable (See here) and there is no easy way for a third-party service to track any meaningful metrics other than impressions.
2. With so much activity taking place on your friend timeline in the Web Interface or in a third-party apps, profile pages are not necessarily valuable estate.
3. Lastly, one most imminent problem is that I rarely go to my friend's Twitter profile since their tweets are visible on my twitter profile or third-party apps. So its like pushing ads to myself only at the end of it all.
Few possible solutions:
1. Try working out these ads in a blended format with the tweet stream (though it may prove out to be annoying).
2. Forget about trying to sell ads on Twitter pages, and put ads on WhatsYourTweetWorth instead.
3. These ads can at the best work out as pure brand advertisements for clients who just want to push in their messages in the twitter profiles.
Despite the inherent problems in Twittad’s model, there are a number of other companies attempting to monetize web page backgrounds, including AdCamo, who is providing a platform to both publishers and ad networks.
Courtesy: TechCrunch & Mashable
bidder. Each listing includes the number of followers, the duration, and the price. Advertisers can then purchase the spots, with Twitter ad collecting a 5% commission on the transaction. So far there aren’t enough transactions completed to estimate the average value of a Twitter follower over a given time period, but this example of a recently sold ad spot for an account with 250 followers went for $5 for one month.Now the company is sponsoring WhatsYourTweetWorth, a vanity site where you enter your Twitter name, and it tells you how much your Tweets are worth based on how many followers you have.
But there are inherent problems with this new business model:
1. Page backgrounds are not clickable (See here) and there is no easy way for a third-party service to track any meaningful metrics other than impressions.
2. With so much activity taking place on your friend timeline in the Web Interface or in a third-party apps, profile pages are not necessarily valuable estate.
3. Lastly, one most imminent problem is that I rarely go to my friend's Twitter profile since their tweets are visible on my twitter profile or third-party apps. So its like pushing ads to myself only at the end of it all.
Few possible solutions:
1. Try working out these ads in a blended format with the tweet stream (though it may prove out to be annoying).
2. Forget about trying to sell ads on Twitter pages, and put ads on WhatsYourTweetWorth instead.
3. These ads can at the best work out as pure brand advertisements for clients who just want to push in their messages in the twitter profiles.
Despite the inherent problems in Twittad’s model, there are a number of other companies attempting to monetize web page backgrounds, including AdCamo, who is providing a platform to both publishers and ad networks.
Courtesy: TechCrunch & Mashable
Friday, October 03, 2008
Top 10 Predictions on Social Networking
In my last post on Indian Social Networking Trends, I drew analogy between one of Dina's post and beta launch of Yahoo's SpotM. So this time around, I took the liberty to go much beyond trending and give much more concrete and holistic view of how Social Networking space will shape up for the future.
Though I wrote about it here, here & here, so this time around I will try to provide some more juice on social networks. Here are some of my top 10 social networking prediction are:
1. Mobile Networking will catch up mainstream: Interaction in social networks happens most often through messages which is the most common feature. Some call it wall posts, other as scraps etc. It is most frequent among younger generation who wants to be connected 24*7. Mobile devices will become a savior since its the only device which is ubiquitous and its reach is wide. But certain hindrances are still to be overcome like the browser based networks don’t leverage the power of the mobile device, and client based applications are blocked by service providers and handset limitations. So once someone utilizes this potential to create an application that has enough traction to catch the attention and remove the tech limitations of browser apps compatibility with mobile devices and stuff like service providers blockades, then connectivity isn't a issue.
2. "Content is King" will be the buzzword: Yes, the content is the buzzword. Some may find it difficult to fathom it but it's true. The content of the network, we all will be in is going to be the single most factor which could win over the Social Networks battle.
3. The "longish" long tail will prevail: Over the past year, its unimaginable to find that there are scores of social networks on the fringes - social networks for babies, mothers, Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transgender/Questioning and many more unique yet prevalent social networks. So power of the longish long tail will prevail in Social Networking.
4. Interactive Apps will augment social networks: Sandeep has an interesting take on this one - The new interactive mechanisms for many social sites may be backed by artificial intelligence. This will bring spice to the entire model. For instance, your social network or online group will show itself to be angry, happy, sad, etc., all on its own, as a result of its members' input. These small and unique interactive developments will engage the users to a great extent.
5. Content Creation & Consumption will happen at the source: Social networks won't just be a platform to feed & share your personal life with friends & family. It will become our megaphone to voice about anything & everything around us. Though first round initiatives have been taken - Thanks to Google.
6. Changes in "Content Delivery" of Social Networks: Content delivery via social networks will change over time. Social networks will act also as an entertainment cum information window for users in world wide web viz. ChillX.
7. Monetization of actionable content in Social Networks: Monetization has been a problem for social networks (read here, here & here too). But once social networks are able to position themselves as branded content providers like MySpace have done then monetization won't be pain. But for this enough critical mass is needed for which social networks have to duly rely on other distributive mediums like progressive mobile networks etc to spread their content.
8. Medium will become the message in Social Networks: Since we are talking about social networks which provides vast information pool at free cost for end users, so medium itself is easy to spread and theme based social networks will definitely plug in more users who will in turn out to be evangelists to spread the message. One of the networks which I know is working towards it is ChillX which wants to attract Indian Gen X & Y to form a community of users who share & spread.
9. The power of community will prevail: Social networks are typically measured in terms of registered users, unique users and engagement (in terms of time spent, page views per unique user etc. This will be on the rise once social networks are able to draw users into community. This will be on the rise in the near future.
10. Geographically & Culturally focused Social Networks: The popularity of social networks varies by region. In the U.S., Myspace and Facebook are most popular; in India and Brazil, Orkut rules; China has QQ; Europe has Hi5. So we will see more & more of geographically & culturally focused social networks like Viacom's Flux which will stress on “Personal community”. (Read more on this here).
So these are Top 10 Social Networking predictions that will prevail in the near future. I'll do a series of such posts in the future too as on when it happens.
Though I wrote about it here, here & here, so this time around I will try to provide some more juice on social networks. Here are some of my top 10 social networking prediction are:
1. Mobile Networking will catch up mainstream: Interaction in social networks happens most often through messages which is the most common feature. Some call it wall posts, other as scraps etc. It is most frequent among younger generation who wants to be connected 24*7. Mobile devices will become a savior since its the only device which is ubiquitous and its reach is wide. But certain hindrances are still to be overcome like the browser based networks don’t leverage the power of the mobile device, and client based applications are blocked by service providers and handset limitations. So once someone utilizes this potential to create an application that has enough traction to catch the attention and remove the tech limitations of browser apps compatibility with mobile devices and stuff like service providers blockades, then connectivity isn't a issue.
2. "Content is King" will be the buzzword: Yes, the content is the buzzword. Some may find it difficult to fathom it but it's true. The content of the network, we all will be in is going to be the single most factor which could win over the Social Networks battle.
3. The "longish" long tail will prevail: Over the past year, its unimaginable to find that there are scores of social networks on the fringes - social networks for babies, mothers, Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transgender/Questioning and many more unique yet prevalent social networks. So power of the longish long tail will prevail in Social Networking.
4. Interactive Apps will augment social networks: Sandeep has an interesting take on this one - The new interactive mechanisms for many social sites may be backed by artificial intelligence. This will bring spice to the entire model. For instance, your social network or online group will show itself to be angry, happy, sad, etc., all on its own, as a result of its members' input. These small and unique interactive developments will engage the users to a great extent.
5. Content Creation & Consumption will happen at the source: Social networks won't just be a platform to feed & share your personal life with friends & family. It will become our megaphone to voice about anything & everything around us. Though first round initiatives have been taken - Thanks to Google.
6. Changes in "Content Delivery" of Social Networks: Content delivery via social networks will change over time. Social networks will act also as an entertainment cum information window for users in world wide web viz. ChillX.
7. Monetization of actionable content in Social Networks: Monetization has been a problem for social networks (read here, here & here too). But once social networks are able to position themselves as branded content providers like MySpace have done then monetization won't be pain. But for this enough critical mass is needed for which social networks have to duly rely on other distributive mediums like progressive mobile networks etc to spread their content.
8. Medium will become the message in Social Networks: Since we are talking about social networks which provides vast information pool at free cost for end users, so medium itself is easy to spread and theme based social networks will definitely plug in more users who will in turn out to be evangelists to spread the message. One of the networks which I know is working towards it is ChillX which wants to attract Indian Gen X & Y to form a community of users who share & spread.
9. The power of community will prevail: Social networks are typically measured in terms of registered users, unique users and engagement (in terms of time spent, page views per unique user etc. This will be on the rise once social networks are able to draw users into community. This will be on the rise in the near future.
10. Geographically & Culturally focused Social Networks: The popularity of social networks varies by region. In the U.S., Myspace and Facebook are most popular; in India and Brazil, Orkut rules; China has QQ; Europe has Hi5. So we will see more & more of geographically & culturally focused social networks like Viacom's Flux which will stress on “Personal community”. (Read more on this here).
So these are Top 10 Social Networking predictions that will prevail in the near future. I'll do a series of such posts in the future too as on when it happens.
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Indian Social Networking Trends
I've to say upfront that I'm a keen observer of Social Media, which by now must be quite evident if you're a regular to this blog. If not then I may have something interesting for you. So keeping with the blog post, I keep a track about what's hot & what's not in Social Media and much so in Social Networking especially in India.
The genesis of this blog post is Dina Mehta's blog post on "Future of Social Networking" and more so a recent development from Yahoo! Indian Arm which came up with a new Social Networking site dubbed as SpotM for the age bracket 16-24 to capture the growing Indian market (Read my post here).
So on this recent Yahoo! development, I also commented my opinions as to what would fancy Indian users so as the capture their imagination & in turn take advantage of growing Indian market. Below are my comments from my previous post:
On the hindsight, I recently came across another site called ChillX which has tried to position itself as a sitewhere Indian youth can hang out dubbed as "Hamara Desh". Now a quick usability check gave me a very good impression about its various features its blogs, videos, news and my favorite- the chat applet. Though this may be nothing new to most of us, but surely this site has unique Indian community feeling which I saw lacking in most western counter parts as of now. Also if I'm not wrong then this site's positioning is more "Community Based" i.e. it wants to build a community of Indian Youths.
So taking cues from Dina's statement on Social Networking's future
it seems evidential that without these key ingredients i.e. layered network effects across location, access, presence & most importantly context which enhances real world interactions with different users will define the future of Indian Social Networking Space.
So what do you think will click in Indian Social Networking Space?
The genesis of this blog post is Dina Mehta's blog post on "Future of Social Networking" and more so a recent development from Yahoo! Indian Arm which came up with a new Social Networking site dubbed as SpotM for the age bracket 16-24 to capture the growing Indian market (Read my post here).
So on this recent Yahoo! development, I also commented my opinions as to what would fancy Indian users so as the capture their imagination & in turn take advantage of growing Indian market. Below are my comments from my previous post:
....within a span of 2-3 years there have been plethora of Social Networking Sites (SNS) developed by Indians and International giants like Google, Facebook, MySpace etc. So for SpotM, it better be good, different, fast, high on usability and wide reaching otherwise another failed investment.....
On the hindsight, I recently came across another site called ChillX which has tried to position itself as a site
where Indian youth can hang out dubbed as "Hamara Desh". Now a quick usability check gave me a very good impression about its various features its blogs, videos, news and my favorite- the chat applet. Though this may be nothing new to most of us, but surely this site has unique Indian community feeling which I saw lacking in most western counter parts as of now. Also if I'm not wrong then this site's positioning is more "Community Based" i.e. it wants to build a community of Indian Youths.So taking cues from Dina's statement on Social Networking's future
“Networks based on & layered around location, access, presence & context. Those that enhance real-world interactions. Enabling choice, privacy and control”
it seems evidential that without these key ingredients i.e. layered network effects across location, access, presence & most importantly context which enhances real world interactions with different users will define the future of Indian Social Networking Space.
So what do you think will click in Indian Social Networking Space?
Monday, September 22, 2008
Top 10 Social Media Blogs in India
The genesis of this post started long time back when I started the Social Media Marketing space in India for a while now. After hovering around in the Web, I've found very few comprehensive lists on Social Media Blogs in India. So this effort is primarily to put all those insightful & interesting blogs under "Top Social Media Blogs in India's" list and rank them accordingly.
The "Top 10 Social Media Marketing blogs" list ranks blogs according to Google PageRank, Alexa Rank, Number of Feed Subscribers, Technorati Authority and My Ranking (as Sampad's Rank).
The list down below are the rest of the blog which are trailing behind as per the ranking to get into the top 10 list.
Each of the five factors range from 0 to 10, where 10 is the maximum score. The maximum total score for each blog, therefore, is 50. There will be monthly updates on the ranking. Below you will find the details about the algorithm:
Blogs Considered: The list considers only blogs that have high percentage of Social Media related content. Topics might range from Social Media news, information, tips, building communities, conversations etc.
Google PageRank (0 to 10): Google PageRank is a link-analysis algorithm that interprets web links and assigns a numerical weighting (0 to 10) to each site. The actual PageRank was used in the algorithm.
Alexa Rank (0 to 10):Alexa ranks sites with an algorithm that incorporates page views and reach (the percentage of all web users who have visited that particular site). This ranges were determined based on the Alexa Rank (i.e., 150k and up, 150k-100k, 100k-75k, 75k-50k) and each range was asssigned a number (1 to 10).
Feed Subscriber (0 to 10): Subscriber ranges were determined (i.e., 1-50, 50-100, 100-150, 150-200 and more) and each range was assigned a number (1 to 10).
Technorati Authority (0 to 10): Much like the InLinks count, Technorati's Authority count is the number of blog (as opposed to individual links) that link to a particular blog. Ranges were determined based on Technorati's Authority rank (i.e., 1-100, 100-200, 200-400, 400-600 & more) and each range was assigned a number (1 to 10).
Sampad's Rank (0 to 10): This is the only subjective measure in the algorithm to be assigned to the blogs which will be ranked. The actual rank depends on the content of the blog posts, quality of the blog posts, frequency, creativity & relevancy.
P.S. These are the best blogs on Social Media in India. If you also want to feature in the "Best Social Media Blogs in India" list, please link back to this post or else mail me at sampad.s [at]gmail.com your Blog Address and RSS feed for review. As soon as your blog gets listed, will mail you back.
The "Top 10 Social Media Marketing blogs" list ranks blogs according to Google PageRank, Alexa Rank, Number of Feed Subscribers, Technorati Authority and My Ranking (as Sampad's Rank).
| #1 | 8 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 25 | |
| #2 | 8 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 23 | |
| #3 | 7 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 21 | |
| #4 | 7 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 20 | |
| #5 | 7 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 19 | |
| #6 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 19 | |
| #7 | 8 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 18 | |
| #8 | 7 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 17 | |
| #9 | 7 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 16 | |
| #10 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 15 |
The list down below are the rest of the blog which are trailing behind as per the ranking to get into the top 10 list.
| #11 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 15 | |
| #12 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 14 | |
| #13 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 14 | |
| #14 | 6 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 14 | |
| #15 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 14 | |
| #16 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 12 | |
| #17 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 11 | |
| #18 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 9 |
Blogs Considered: The list considers only blogs that have high percentage of Social Media related content. Topics might range from Social Media news, information, tips, building communities, conversations etc.
Google PageRank (0 to 10): Google PageRank is a link-analysis algorithm that interprets web links and assigns a numerical weighting (0 to 10) to each site. The actual PageRank was used in the algorithm.
Alexa Rank (0 to 10):Alexa ranks sites with an algorithm that incorporates page views and reach (the percentage of all web users who have visited that particular site). This ranges were determined based on the Alexa Rank (i.e., 150k and up, 150k-100k, 100k-75k, 75k-50k) and each range was asssigned a number (1 to 10).
Feed Subscriber (0 to 10): Subscriber ranges were determined (i.e., 1-50, 50-100, 100-150, 150-200 and more) and each range was assigned a number (1 to 10).
Technorati Authority (0 to 10): Much like the InLinks count, Technorati's Authority count is the number of blog (as opposed to individual links) that link to a particular blog. Ranges were determined based on Technorati's Authority rank (i.e., 1-100, 100-200, 200-400, 400-600 & more) and each range was assigned a number (1 to 10).
Sampad's Rank (0 to 10): This is the only subjective measure in the algorithm to be assigned to the blogs which will be ranked. The actual rank depends on the content of the blog posts, quality of the blog posts, frequency, creativity & relevancy.
P.S. These are the best blogs on Social Media in India. If you also want to feature in the "Best Social Media Blogs in India" list, please link back to this post or else mail me at sampad.s [at]gmail.com your Blog Address and RSS feed for review. As soon as your blog gets listed, will mail you back.
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