The Pied Piper of Digital Marketing: On the Pathway of Chief Minister to Prime Minister

Recently on his show, Koffee With Karan, Karan Johar asked three celebrity youngsters who’s the President of India. Responses varied from Manmohan Singh to Prithviraj Chauhan to pass over. Perhaps, Johar would have received a correct response to the question, “Who is the Chief Minister of Gujarat?”

He’s neither a marketing guru nor has he formally studied the Keller's Brand Equity Model; however Narendra Modi has successfully advanced on the brand pyramid starting from creating brand awareness to defining brand purpose to gathering brand response and to building brand advocates. He’s the undisputed Pied Piper (Politician) of the Indian Social Media but the question still remains - will he be able to win the 2014 elections and if he does, how much credit can be given to Social Media? Here’s a review on his journey from - being the Chief Minister of Gujarat to a universally accepted National Leader.

In 2007, YouTube was the first social platform that Modi befriended. His journey on Twitter and Facebook commenced in the month of Januray 2009 and May 2009 respectively. On 14th April 2009, on the occasion of the 118th birth anniversary of Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar, Narendra Modi started blogging and he also had a personal website by then. In 2010, Modi’s Twitter follower base increased to one lakh and by December 2011, he had over four lakh followers which finally crossed the one million milestone in October 2012. He’s named to be the first Indian politician to use Google Hangout and have an App on his name, ‘iModi’. As per FollowerWonk, as on Dec 30, 2013 Modi has about 3,040,192 followers on Twitter and his social authority is 81 (on the scale of 1 – 100; where 1 is lowest and 100 is highest). On Facebook, Modi has 7,549,972 likes and 960,914 people talking about him.

Modi’s content strategy changed as per his objectives. In the early days of creating a brand identity, he established his presence on various social platforms. His Facebook posts were simultaneously sent to Twiter; the content revolved around inspirational quotes (his favourite leader is Swami Vivekanand), quotes from scriptures and his daily activities. In this stage, Modi certainly measured the number of posts and also the content; perhaps he was testing the water then!

In the second stage of building the brand meaning, Modi focused on "performance" and in turn built his "imagery." He started taking about his achievements and the developments in Gujarat; his fans and followers had started engaging by liking, sharing and commenting. While he garnered support, he also invited criticism by opposition, media and a few citizens.

In the thirst stage of building brand response, Modi’s focus shifted on helping his audience build "judgments" and "feelings." This was the stage where Modi built his credibility, increased his consideration and amplified his superiority. He took to an unusual move by mass following people on Twitter. As on January 01, 2012, he was following 174 people and as on Dec 30. 2013 he is following 885 people. Apart from following his colleagues in the BJP, international leaders, eminent celebrities, Modi also followed a few of his fans and well-wishers. A top public figure’s 'following back’ spree indicated that he is as much a people’s person; this created an army of advocates. Now here I can say that Narendra Modi is the Pied Piper of Twitter (Politician) and his magical pipes (loyal advocates) are:

@MrsGandhi, @sunandavashisht, @tajinderbagga, @anilkohli54, @alok_bhatt, @ratigirl, @KiranKS, @ThinkersPad, @nanditathhakur, @VarshaRitu_, @shilpitewari, @sureshnakhua and more…

By that time Modi has tweeted 724 tweets and since then the frequency of his tweets and posts increased. Also, there was a notable change in the content strategy; in addition to sharing his credentials, he turned more vocal about the opposition and created strong statements to express his opinions. He managed to draw attention of many, reinforced confidence in his existing followers and built conviction of those who were neutral about him. Beginning 2012 up to date, Modi has remained the most talked about politicians on the social media creating a Twitter trend every now and then. Those who were pro-Modi helped in elevating his image and those who were anti-Modi coined the term “Feku” for him. Several questions were raised on genuineness of his fans and followers; controversial stories around he manipulating online poll results to elevate his image were all over. Also, question was raised on how fan following on social media would translate in to a vote for the BJP.

Sentiments on the Social Media clearly signalled appeal for the brand “Modi”. In September 2013, Modi was declared the BJPs prime ministerial candidate for 2014. Now begins Modi’s final stage of buildingbrand resonance with active campaigning for election. Jiten Gajaria of the BJP’s social media cell said, “We are bringing about convergence of social media with ground-level mobilisation. Although many claim that social media had little penetration among the “masses”, who actually come out and cast their ballot, even a minor swing in votes could change fortunes.” The party has now set up 12 tables from where volunteers, who are not party members, can tweet minute-by-minute updates on election rallies. Since November 2013, the party has been extensively using SMSes, emails, Twitter and Facebook to garner support for various rallies. All his events are available LIVE on the YouTube.

A survey earlier this year had claimed that social media could influence the outcome in 160 of the 543 Lok Sabha constituencies, of which the maximum — 21 were from Maharashtra. A coincidental fact to support the claim, that social media could influence the outcome of election, is four of five state elections have been won by the BJP. We’ll watch and see the outcome in 2014, but certainly Social Media has contributed in the making of the brand “Modi”.

Reference : intelliassist.in

7 Ways To Increase Your Klout Score

1.       If you have a Twitter account, you most likely have a Klout score. If, however, you have a protected Twitter account, your score will not move much beyond 10 even if you are the most active tweeter on Twitter. This is because Klout can only access public data. Twitter engagement is a huge factor in your helping to raise your Klout score so I would advise making your Twitter account public.

2.       Connect all your social media platforms to Klout.com. Klout.com currently has 13 social media platforms built into their measurement sticks; Twitter, Facebook (personal profile or fan page), LinkedIn, YouTube, Google+, Instagram, Flickr, Last.fm, Foursquare, Tumblr Blogger and WordPress. They are going to be adding Quora, Yelp, Posterous, Livefyre, Disqus, Bit.ly and Brandout in the near future.

3.       Twitter engagement will play a huge roll in increasing your Klout score so make sure that you reply to people when they tweet you. Thank people when they retweet your tweets and work on building relationships so that people will be more apt to share your content when you tweet it.

4.       Content is KING so make sure that you are sharing your content and even other people’s content that is relevant to your niche and that you believe your audience would find beneficial. Make it easy for people to share your content directly from your website by having social sharing plugins installed. Trending topics or curated content is a great way to find value based content to share on your social media networks. I use Google Reader to curate great content from my favorite blog sites.

5.       Engage influencers in your niche. Klout rewards you for engaging with people who have higher klout scores than you do so it is beneficial to reach out to influencers in a positive and authentic way. Respond to what they are tweeting or make a comment on their content. Be unique and stand out in some way so that you will grab their attention. 

6.       Ask questions because people LOVE to give their opinions about things. Random questions definitely work but you can actually turn every day topics into questions. Perhaps you are in the market for a new phone. Asking people their opinion on whether you should buy an iPhone or an Android will get you tons of responses! 

7.       If you want to be retweeted, start by tweeting others. This will start you on the path to building relationships that you did not have previously as everyone loves to be retweeted.

Remember, more engagement will help you to increase your Klout score.

Some Mind-Blowing facts about Social Media

18-24-year-olds on Facebook have 510 friends on average. (Marketing Charts)

87 percent of bullied teens were targeted on Facebook. (DailyMail)

59 percent of parents have talked to their children because they were concerned about something posted to social media. (Pew Internet Project)

43 percent of parents check their children’s Facebook profile daily. (Education Database Online)

Facebook collects over 500 terabytes of data every day. (GigaOm)

One out of every seven minutes spent online is on Facebook. (Mediabistro)

35 percent of employers have found information on social media that’s caused them to not hire a job candidate. (Mindflash.com)

85 percent of women are annoyed by their friends on Facebook. (Web Pro News)

Links about sex are shared 90 percent more than any other link on Facebook. (Go Globe)

61 percent of Facebook users have voluntarily taken a break from it. (Pew Internet Project)

Facebook has been linked to 66 percent of divorces in the U.S., with 81 percent of the nation’s top divorce lawyers claiming clients have cited using social networks as damning evidence against their spouses in the past five years. (Third Age)

One-third of Facebook’s 18-34 aged female demographic check Facebook when they first wake up, even before going to the bathroom. (Qbee Media)

Some Must-Know Facts about BRANDS

Joseph W. Luter, IV, evp of sales and marketing at Smithfield Foods, is the highest paid brand marketing executive, having earned $4.5 million in 2012. (Forbes)

The average retail brand site takes 2.5 times longer to load on tablets than it does on desktops. (L2 Think Tank)

86 percent of people skip TV commercials, yet brands still spent $19.8 billion last year on TV spots. (Outside the Beltway and PR Daily)

Up to 50 percent of digital marketing activities are outsourced by brands. (Gartner)

243 retail brands have gone out of business in the last five years. (Retail Research)

Spending on social, including influencer outreach, makes up only 10 percent of brands’ digital marketing spend. (Technorati)

Annual digital marketing operating budgets represented 2.5 percent of a company’s revenue in 2012. (Gartner)

The average large brand has 178 social media accounts. (Altimeter Group)

The average brand CMO tenure is 43 months. (Forbes)

Facebook brand pages achieve an average engagement rate of 1 percent. (MediaBrix)

About 20 percent of digital marketers are looking for a new job, and more than 66 percent will be doing so in the near future. (Digiday)

86 percent of consumer feedback online is being missed by brands. (Social Media Explorer)

70 percent of marketers do not collect social media data about competing brands. (Loyalty 360)

70 percent of consumers prefer getting to know a company via content marketing such as sponsored articles rather than ads, but brands spend more on advertising than on this type of content. (Content Plus)

The average post from a Facebook brand page only reaches 16 percent of fans. (The Next Web).

Reference: digiday.com

Why Invest in Social Media Marketing ?

Social Media in Human Resource

70% of recruiters now actively use and support the use of social media, and trust has grown significantly over the past two years, according to a research study from Penna Plc, a global HR Services Group.

An initial survey carried out in 2010 found that recruiters were largely suspicious of the benefits of social media, with 51% seeing it as ‘dangerous’ and feeling ‘uncomfortable’ using it. Two years later, this number has dropped to just 5%, and there are now an emerging group of ‘early adopters’ who are actively encouraging the use of social media to their peers. 45% of recruiters even classify themselves as ‘experts’, up from 23% in 2010.

Graeme Wright, Head of Strategy at Penna said, “It’s no surprise to hear that social media usage has increased among recruiters and HR professionals, but what’s interesting is the shift in attitudes towards it, from a general reticence or fear, to embracing and recommending. It’s clear that having a social media strategy is now considered ‘the norm’ within the industry.”

LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter are the three most used social media channels among HR professionals and recruiters, with occasional use of blogs and videos. The research shows that whilst engagement with social media is increasing, recruitment and HR professionals have no plans to experiment with other forms of social media, which Graeme says “Suggests they would rather realise the full potential of the channels they are already using.” Conversely, 26% of employers are still trying to restrict Facebook access at work. This presents obvious practical challenges as Graeme explains, “ Employers are risking a disconnect with Generation Z, who do not see the need to separate work and social life - which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, provided any policy is clear enough for the entire team to understand.”

The same applies to using social channels to access candidates. The report highlights an ongoing debate, with only 23% having a policy in place, which leads to confusion and a reluctance to use Facebook to research a candidate background for example, in case it constitutes gross misconduct. As a result over 60% say it is a “a concern that candidate information available online could get in the way of a fair recruitment process if used injudiciously”.

When it comes to making direct hires via social media, LinkedIn is highly regarded (12% say they have used it as a direct replacement for a consultant) and finding great talent. However there is still some confusion as to just how much this, along with other channels, can enhance recruitment practices and provide access to hard-to-reach groups. Graeme said, “Many respondents said they didn’t feel it helped them to reach anyone other than graduates, and the research showed it’s not used widely as an internal communication, or knowledge sharing, tool either. However, what is clearly understood is the link between social media presence and profile.”

In addition to using social media as a means of communicating directly to candidates and building profile, employers are also showing they place real importance on monitoring, as a means of understanding the landscape, competitor activity and what people are saying about their brand online. The research showed that monitoring employer reputation in social media is done most effectively by those in HR roles but that those using an external agency report very good results (91% said they monitor well). However, Graeme says monitoring rarely works well in isolation and that managing by actively getting involved in conversations and shaping discussions is the only way to build a solid reputation. “96% of respondents said that managing their reputation online is important, and 85% believe it would have a direct impact on the perception of them as an employer of choice. What presents a challenge is having the time to do both well, which is why external agencies are perceived positively by those we surveyed,” he said.

Overall, the research has shown that whilst social media usage is most certainly increasing, there are still areas of untapped potential, particularly when it comes to advertising, gathering insight, and knowledge sharing. Graeme adds, “Whilst the research shows recruiters are confident in their use of social media, their feedback shows they value external insight and support too. Sometimes, it can be a challenge finding the time to develop and implement a social media strategy, but companies like Penna can help. Social media, used wisely can actively improve your organisation and we’re committed to making this happen for our clients.”

Reference: digitalmarketingshow.co.uk

A recent case study : Pros and Cons of Social Media in General

Boston Blasts Show Two Sides of Social Media

On 16-April-13, when there was two explosions in Boston.Twitter users reacted fast to the explosions that ripped through the Boston Marathon Monday, but the incident also revealed how social media can only be so reliable in such situations.

Twitter spread news of the blasts quickly and was a useful communications tool for public authorities such as the Boston police and the marathon organizers. But information on social media sites can also be questionable or just plain inaccurate, noted Greg Sterling, senior analyst with Opus Research.

"It cuts both ways," Sterling said. "It allows you to get the information out more quickly, but it can also fan hysteria."

Two bombs exploded within 100 yards of each other near the marathon finish line on Monday afternoon. Police say two people were killed and dozens more injured. They have no suspects yet, and President Barack Obama has said it's not known yet if terrorists were involved.

The Boston Police Department's Twitter log showed a positive side of social media. It was updated minute by minute in the aftermath of the bombings, often with instructions about which areas to avoid, or information about where the most police officers might be stationed.

There was also misinformation, however. A report was circulated quickly on Twitter that police had shut down cellphone service in Boston to prevent detonation of further blasts, though it ultimately turned out to be inaccurate, according to network operators.

Others had nefarious intentions. At one point, a Twitter account with the handle @_BostonMarathon was promising to donate US$1 to victims of the blast for every one of its tweets that was retweeted. Users soon called it out as a fake, noting the real Twitter account for the Boston Marathon was @BostonMarathon.

That type of self-correction could be one of social media's strongest assets, said Karsten Weide, an analyst with IDC. There can be a lot of false or misleading content, but the nature of the service means that anyone, regardless of their credentials, can do some fact-checking.

Still, while Twitter is great at disseminating news fast, some see its value diminishing as time passes after an event. "Twitter does its best work in the first five minutes after a disaster, and its worst in the twelve hours after that," said one Twitter user, in a comment that was widely retweeted.

Twitter carried some graphic images of victims after the explosions, including blood-soaked sidewalks and people in the streets with severe injuries. One person urged users to focus on how to help rather than posting photos of victims.

Determining what's useful information and what crosses lines of decency or taste may come down to individual judgment, however. "There aren't really clear etiquette standards for using social media," said Sterling.

"As long as the event happens in a public space, there's no way to stop over-the-top or inappropriate information from getting out there," Weide said.

For sure, Twitter, Facebook and other social media sites were a useful source of information for many tracking the events. Google set up a Person Finder, as it did after the Japan earthquake two years ago, to help people connect with friends and loved ones after the incident.

Not surprisingly, the hashtag #bostonmarathon spiked sharply almost immediately after the attacks, said Hashtags.org, and mentions of "Boston" soared on Facebook, reported analytics company Topsy.

Author of the Post: Zach Miners , Zach Miners covers social networking, search and general technology news for IDG News Service. 

Reference: computerworld.in 

The Impact of Social Media over Politics

A recent study said that social media will affect 160 Lok Sabha seats in the upcoming general elections. While some have strongly agreed with this figure, others have rubbished it saying that it is overhyped.

Both are missing the main point. While they talk of a high number of Twitter and Facebook users in these constituencies, it’s not just about direct, but more importantly indirect influence.

A few million people get together on social media every day and end up setting the agenda for the country. More often than not, this gets reflected on the TV channels. Anyone following news in India for the last few years will realize that at first social media trends were not taken that seriously, but now they are ending up deciding the lead stories of TV channels along with becoming the discussion points of endless panels.

The same is the case with newspapers. They are not immune to the influence of Twitter and Facebook. It is the TV channels and newspapers together which end up influencing almost all the constituencies.

Every journalist in India is affected by social media. Either he or she is on it, fighting an intense battle to maintain credibility and make a mark, or watching from the sidelines. Either way, they are influenced. While some are swayed by online trends, others attack it with such intensity that it often backfires.

You can love it or hate it, but nobody can ignore social media.

Take Section 66A. Most people in the rural areas probably haven’t even heard of it and even if they have, they couldn’t care less. They hardly use the Internet. But all the arrests that have taken place under it have been high profile.

Almost everyone knows that there is some law under which people are arrested for voicing their views on the Internet. This smacks of Emergency and has contributed to be big factor in the arrogant and dictatorial perception of the ruling government.

A lot of news websites have also come up in the last few years which seem refreshingly different from the MSM and in some part reflect the opinion of blogs and social media trends.

Another important factor is that now it is impossible for the mainstream media to boycott certain news items as they used to in the past. Take the case of the hate speech of MIM leader Akbaruddin Owaisi. There were absolutely no ripples on mainstream media for days after he made the speech.

It was viewed extensively on YouTube and then Twitter picked it up and refused to let go of it. In the end, the MSM was forced to give it good coverage and subsequently a case was filed. This is not an isolated case, but a general trend where social media is dictating media coverage.

Another case in point is Rahul Gandhi. He came, he spoke and the MSM journalists gushed as if he was the greatest speaker of the century. If this was something that happened 15 years back, then Rahul would have been declared India’s greatest orator.

But Pappu was totally ripped apart in cyberspace and even was crowned Feku, a title that Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi held for some mere hours.

The same is the case with Modi. There was Godhra in 2002 along with his first victory in the Assembly elections. Modi saw another high in 2007 and a low in 2009, when the Congress managed to snatch 11 LS seats from the BJP bastion.

But why has Modi reached iconic status on the Internet in the last couple of years?

The truth is that we have the Anna Hazare movement in 2011 and the subsequent anti-rape agitations. While such movements have ebbed up and down offline, online, there has been a continuous battle against the Congress.

For the last two years as the scams have been coming and every Congress leader has been showing his arrogance one by one; status messages, pages, hashtags, funny pictures, cartoons, blogs and spoofs have been attacking the Congress non-stop.

It has been one long Cyberspace versus Congress battle that has been raging for some time now. The BJP have taken advantage of this and have definitely not engineered it, an aspect that is lost on many journalists and Congress sympathizers.

Again, if there is so much angst against the Congress, then there has to be some beneficiary and the biggest one just happens to be Modi. It’s been a matter of chance actually.

So the social media has won big time. Now even the MSM, which at one stage kept asking him to step down as CM, is the biggest discussion board for his PM ambitions.

There are constituencies that have a high number of Facebook and Twitter users that will result in a direct impact in voting. But much much larger is the indirect influence the social media will have in all the Lok Sabha constituencies of India.

Author : Bangalore based Journalist Sunil Rajguru
Reference: http://www.sify.com/news

The 10 Best Facebook Campaigns

1. Kohl

The Department store Kohl’s gave away $10 million to various schools decided by the votes of their fans on Facebook. It was an excellent promotional campaign as the 20 schools with the most votes were each given $500 thousand. Kohl’s Facebook page sky rocketed to well over a million fans, and the winning schools each tallied well over 100,000 votes. Kohl’s hit it out of the park so to speak with this campaign centered around the social network, and they did an excellent job utilizing social media tactics to help in its social responsibility efforts.

2. Target

In February of this year, popular department store Target left the choice of where to donate $1 million into the hands of their fans on the social network. The company used an application titled “Super Love Sender” and kept fans updated in real time which charity was in the lead. St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital ended up being the winning charity. Overall though, the excellent campaign was a complete success as it created quite a boom on the store’s Facebook page.

3. Ford Explorer

2010 saw a shift in Ford’s promotion techniques as they began gearing their campaigns towards social media outlets, and they really pushed the boundaries with innovative ideas. This past summer they released tidbits of info leading up to a Facebook event unveiling the 2011 Ford Explorer. The campaign was the first time a car company has ever used a website to reveal their new model as opposed to an auto show. Ford also went as far to randomly select one of their fans to giveaway a free Explorer upon their fan total surpassing a certain number.

4. Jack In The Box

Popular fast food chain Jack In The Box, and their slightly creepy mascot Jack, added a nickel in an imaginary jar for every new fan they accrued on Facebook in their October Rich Fan Sweepstakes. They started at just over $2,000, and when they gave away the money about a month later to a randomly selected fan, the jar was up to over $11,500. Needless to say, giving away free money is one of the best and easiest ways to acquire new fans on the social network. It was certainly a creative campaign though that helped the fast food chain see an explosive increase in fan numbers.

5. Bing and Farmville

A little before the beginning of Spring, Microsoft’s Facebook page for Bing launched a campaign that helped them accrue almost a half million new fans on the social network. The search engine did this by giving away FarmVille currency to all new fans that hit the “Like” button. Bing drew in great traffic and their page grew rapidly, but engagement of the content on the page was drawn into question. The Microsoft page responded by making itself a hotspot with the latest news about the popular Zynga developed game to keep their new fans around.

6. Papa Johns Pizza

The first pizza chain’s Facebook campaign to appear on our Year End list is Papa Johns. They promoted their Papa’s Speciality Pizza Contest using Facebook, and it created quite a buzz and a growth in fans as a result. The contest put the fans taste buds and creativity to the test as it was up to them to come up with a new pizza for the company. The winner also saw a piece of the profits, so it was not too much of a surprise that this creative campaign helped the popular chain’s fan-base on Facebook continue to expand.

7. Southwest Airlines

To go a whole list without mentioning at least one company that has utilized Facebook’s new popular feature, Places, just would not be acceptable. Southwest partnered up with the Make A Wish Foundation for an excellent charitable promotion that had the airline donating a dollar to the organization every time a passenger checks into a Southwest served airport. The promotion has had great success, as it is for a great cause, and it has it helped Southwest gain over 1 million fans on the social network. Be sure to check in on your next flight and join an excellent campaign.

8. Kellogs

Popular cereal company Kellogg’s teamed up with Feeding America, and the Facebook page Kellogg Cares comes as a result. The page has been a quick increase in fans, and the content posted makes it such an interactive success on the social network. The page’s aim is to educate younger generations on proper nutrition through posts and video updates. Kellogg’s used Facebook in an extremely humane fashion to raise awareness for a particular issue.

9. Domino’s Pizza

Domino’s Pizza has completely revamped its brand image this year through advertising campaigns, and a heavy focus on interactive social networks. As they were coming to the realization that their pizza previously tasted similar to cardboard, they started a tab on their Facebook page where fans could voice all of their complaints with the popular chain. Regardless of any opinion on whether their new pizza has actually improved, their use of Facebook to listen fans opinions was a great way to begin to improve a deteriorating image that was initially attached to their brand. Domino’s continues to be extremely interactive on the page offering responses and updates for fans.

10.  Corona

Corona Light cross-media campaign this past year included a goal to become “The Most Liked Light Beer In America.” A most notable part of this was to use Facebook, and by fanning the page you could see your picture up in the bright lights of New York City’s Time Square. The campaign was a great social media success in the sense that it had fans interacting on the pages as well as spreading the story of the billboard by word of mouth. The billboard ran for a month until the beginning of December, and many fans were able to snag pictures and be a part of this Facebook-based advertisement.

5 Biggest Twitter Marketing Blunders of 2012

Social media marketing can be hard to master. When done right, it can strengthen your brand value and ideally even your bottom line. When done wrong, it can alienate consumers and thrash your reputation.

Here's a look at five of the worst corporate mistakes over Twitter this year, and what other business owners can learn from them: 

January 18: McDonald's hashtag gone wrong. McDonald's (@McDonald's) created the #McDstories hashtag on Twitter to inspire customers to share personal stories about their favorite McDonald's moments. What McDonald's didn't bargain for was that customers would share both good and bad stories. And share they did -- everything from allegedly crunching on fingernail clippings in Big Macs to getting food poisoning. The fast food mammoth yanked the #McDstories campaign only two hours after launching it, but a quick search on Twitter shows that the hijacked hashtag still goes on strong.

Lesson: You can't control what consumers will say using your hashtag, and they can be hijacked by negative comments that can never be taken back.

January 27: Snickers gets caught paying for celebrity tweets. Marketers from Snickers' U.K. branch (@SnickersUK) were hungry for retweets when they hired British model and reality TV start Jordon (aka Katie Price) to tweet about topics she likely would never normally tweet about, including Eurozone debt and China's gross domestic product. Jordan followed up her rash of out-of-character tweets with a message about feeling like herself again thanks to Snickers. The stunt left many of Jordan's followers reeling for thinking her Twitter account had been hacked.

Lesson: Pranking consumers in clever ways can draw attention to your brand, but usually not the right kind.

February 5: Toyota Camry drives away potential drivers. The Japanese car giant created nine Twitter accounts to get the word out about the new Camry during the Super Bowl. Toyota (@Toyota) then tweeted -- in this case, spammed -- unsolicited messages about a Camry giveaway contest to anyone using a Super Bowl-related hashtag. The ensuing consumer backlash prompted Toyota to close all its "The Camry Effect" promotional Twitter accounts and issue an apology.

Lesson: Impersonal mass marketing tweets can alienate customers. Stick to unique, personalized messages that engage consumers one-on-one.

October 3: KitchenAid cooks up a half-baked political tweet. On this day, KitchenAid's Twitter feed (@KitchenAidUSA) wasn't about cooking with the company's famous kitchen appliances. It was about politics. After Barack Obama mentioned his late grandmother during a presidential debate earlier that evening, the person running KitchenAid's Twitter feed tweeted an insensitive comment about her and his campaign. The individual responsible for the inappropriate tweet was relieved of his duties and the company was forced to clean up the mess.

Lesson: Your social media manager should adopt a tone that reflects your company's image and keep his or her personal (and political) opinions out of your social media marketing.

October 29: Retailers' Hurricane Sandy sale slip-ups. During the storm, Urban Outfitters (@UrbanOutfitters) tweeted: "This storm blows (but free shipping doesn't)! Today only...bit.ly/S8fADV #frankenstorm #ALLSOGGY" An email promoting the sale included an image of Frankenstein with the word "Frankenstorm" on it. American Apparel, The Gap and Sears got in on the Sandy storm sale action on Facebook and Twitter, too. Angry reactions to these inappropriate sales still continue on Twitter.

Lesson: Attempting to make money on and exploit others' suffering in times of crisis can cause serious backlash. Just don't do it.

Reference : http://www.entrepreneur.com

12 Most Wrong Things To Do On LinkedIn

What is LinkedIn? It is a social media platform used for professional networking. It is also currently the largest professional networking community in existence, with more than 100 million users in more than 200 countries worldwide.

I wish people had a better understanding of the term “professional networking.” LinkedIn is not MySpace, Orkut, Facebook or Twitter, and it never will be. It is simply a place where you establish professional connections. I know most of you will laugh out loud reading these twelve “most important things not to do” on LinkedIn, as I do whenever I encounter them. Humor aside, though, I think it is time to clearly shout out loud to those who are doing these things on a regular basis. Here are some of the things that I have witnessed during my five years of professional networking on LinkedIn.

1. Don’t lie in your profile

I think this should be self-explanatory, as we live in the 21st century, and things (and data) are easy to check. Be truthful about your name, title, employment and achievements. I clearly recall a young professional who was trying so hard to get a job that every time he applied for it, he changed his title. Over a period of one year, he was a buyer, a buying director, a merchandising director and finally managing director, at which point I lost track of the many “achievements” he had accomplished at the age of 21. I personally know this individual, and I can tell you that he is still working as a shop assistant.

2. Don’t ask or endorse people you don’t know

I am amazed every time I get an endorsement request from a person that I have never talked to or worked with. As well, there are plenty of groups on LinkedIn that are similar to Twitter Follow for Follow (on LinkedIn, this is called Recommendation for Recommendation). I have to wonder who would jeopardize their own credibility by recommending a person they have never met or worked with. Don’t get me wrong — I do recommend people. But before I recommend someone, I definitely make sure I can stand behind my words. This can be achieved simply by engaging in groups, Twitter chats, meetups or other forms of professional networking.

3. Don’t buy or sell your contacts

In the last few weeks I have gotten a few emails from my first connections on LinkedIn offering me the chance to buy “quality” contacts to expand my network. Prices offered were anywhere from $50 to $70 for 1,000 contacts. Here is my input on selling or buying a contacts list: Don’t! You can get all the contacts you want free in open net-worker groups on LinkedIn if you really want the title “most connected.” As well, you might get an “IDK” (“I Don’t Know” this person) response from a person that you try connect to if that person is not an open net-worker  and if you get too many IDK replies, your account can be suspended by LinkedIn. Remember, the quality of your connections is more important than the quantity, just like you want to have quality followers on Twitter rather than a large number of followers who aren't meaningful to you. If you are a seller of contact lists, I strongly recommend that you put this in your profile headline, as I am positive any future employer would be more than happy to know that you like to sell data, and would guess you would be happy to sell their customers data info as well.

4. Don’t ask your connection to set up a job interview for you

It is close to impossible to get this done, especially for people who have had zero interaction with their connection. I might be willing to connect you with the hiring manager in the company that you are interested in, but I can’t set up an interview for you. If this was easy to achieve, believe me, I would have a new job every month. As I am not a recruiter, don’t ask me or your other connections whether we think you are a good fit for a job. This gives the impression that you aren't willing to take the time to check out the job requirements yourself. The proper way to initiate a request to one of your connections is to explain in the request why you chose to ask that particular person for a connection.

5. Don’t ask questions that might legally implicate you

The Q&A section on LinkedIn is not a place to ask questions that could legally implicate you. Here is an example of this that gave me a really good laugh:
Q: “I am divorcing my wife, and I own a C-class corporation. Would you tell me how to hide the corporation so that I don’t have to give that bi%&*h half of it?”
First, if your wife is a direct connection of yours, she will see your question. Second, LinkedIn pages are indexed by Google, which means that whatever you ask will stay on Google forever, exposing your plan to commit fraud.

6. Don’t ask to “date” someone; LinkedIn is not a Match.com

LinkedIn is a professional networking community. While I am flattered when I receive an e-mail that starts with “hey sexy” or “hey gorgeous, would you grab a drink with me,” I would only respond to a request like this on shaadi.com or matchfinder.com. I don’t build my career under the sheets, and neither should you — at least not on LinkedIn!

7. Don’t criticize your employer in groups

LinkedIn is not a place to criticize or publish bad reviews about your current employer. I know how angry you can be, as we have all had bad days in the office, but problems such as this should be sorted out offline, not online where everything stays forever. Stating in the first line that you need to stay anonymous will not help you, since your profile is tagged next to the comment and includes your full name and picture.

8. Don’t publish profile pictures of your “wealth” when looking for a job

Choice of your profile picture should reflect your professionalism. Pictures of you in a new Bentley, Mercedes or on a yacht will not help you when you scream out in your profile headline that you desperately need a new job. This kind of picture might give hiring managers the wrong impression. A clear head shot will work perfectly. And as much as we all would like our picture to be perfect and appealing, I need to say that we should all button up our shirts when taking a profile picture for LinkedIn. Chest hair or cleavage doesn't belong on a professional networking site.

9. Don’t create a group if you have no intention of moderating it

Creating a group and then not replying to members’ questions and requests will leave a negative impression, especially if your job title is social media strategist or community manager. If you are not able or don’t have time to interact with a group, don’t open one, and save yourself from getting a bad reputation on LinkedIn.

10. Don’t send the “419 scam” emails

This is an old scam that has gone on for many years. While we all understand how difficult it would be to lose your wallet in the back seat of a taxi, wouldn't it be a better idea to first contact your family before seeking financial help from your network? This scam has now started on LinkedIn, and I hope LinkedIn will do something about it.

11. Don’t ask for contact information of others in my network

If professionals want their email addresses or phone numbers to be public knowledge, they will put these in their profiles, and many do so. You can check individuals’ profiles. You also may use the so-called “Introduction Request,” and many net-workers would be glad to pass your request on to the person you are interested in. That person can then decide if they want to follow up on your request. But it is not my right to give contact information of others out, as I would not be happy if someone gave mine out without asking me first.

12. Don’t copy your resume from other profiles

Or, if you really need to, be sure you change all the achievements, job titles and company names. You might encounter someone who knows the person that you copied the resume from. I don’t mind you looking at my resume and getting some inspiration from it, but make sure that, at a minimum, you correct at least the name of the company that you work for. And before copying anything, familiarize yourself with copyright law.

How to plan your Social Media?

Few professionals were sitting at their desks in 2004, eyeing the empty slots in their calendars and wishing that somebody would just invent a new way of communicating to fill those long and lonely minutes. People's calendars were already full.

Social media demanded attention. It had to be put into the rotation, but that doesn't mean we took something else off our calendars to accommodate it. Instead we just added it to the marketing teams' tasks, challenging them to figure it out until they could make a business case for hiring full-time social media staffers.

Flash forward a decade, and any organization with serious social media ambitions has those full-time staffers. They've expanded teams and reassigned resources by eliminating now-deprecated communications channels. (Paper newsletter, anyone?)

For individuals however, it's harder to expand and reassign resources. What are the rest of us taking off our plates to make room for the time we spend on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook? Not much.

If social media is worth doing, than it's worth making time for. Anyone who's spending more than an hour a week on Twitter, LinkedIn or Facebook has presumably made at least a subconscious calculation of the benefits of participating (or better still, an explicit set of goals for what they expect to accomplish with the time invested in social media usage).

But all too many of us decide that social media is worth doing without deciding what is worth giving up for it. And unless you're one of the miraculous few who does have plenty of empty space on your dance card, you must give something up in order to make time for social networking.

How do you decide what to eliminate? You can prioritize what to keep and what to retire by answering these questions:

What am I learning from social media? If you use social media as a news gathering, training or learning resource, ask which of your prior news tracking or learning activities can be retired. If you're now reading 10 blog posts a week on professional best practices, maybe you don't need to attend that annual training workshop anymore.

Who am I meeting through social media? One of the great rewards of Twitter, LinkedIn and other professionally rich networks is the discovery of new colleagues or the deepening of professional conversations and ties. If you're consistently expanding your professional network through the time you spend online, consider scaling back the number of face-to-face networking events you attend in order to build out your rolodex (and why don't you retire the rolodex while you're at it).

Who am I reaching through social media? Blogs, Slideshare, YouTube videos: social media provides an extensive array of opportunities for sharing your ideas and building your reputation. That may allow you to reduce the other kinds of reputation-builders that formerly filled your schedule. You may still get value from presenting to an audience of a thousand, but are you better off speaking pro bono to a room of 25 people, or writing a blog post that will be read by 250?

How am I replenished by social media? If you've made time for social media, it's probably because you actually enjoy it. So tune into the emotional impact of the time you spend on Facebook or Twitter, as compared to the other kinds of activities or interactions that formerly filled up your leisure hours. What's more relaxing: watching TV or catching up on Facebook news? What's more fun: going to a bar, or kibitzing on Twitter? What's more restorative: reading a blog post or reading a novel? Depending on your personal preferences, you may decide to shelve some of your less-satisfying hobbies in favor of some of your new social media activities.

One virtue of this kind of evaluation is that it not only allows you to evaluate which pre-Facebook activities are less valuable than social media, but also to notice where social media has crowded out professional or personal activities that offer more rewards than you get from spending that same hour on Twitter or LinkedIn. The key is to make these trade-offs conscious and explicit, rather than letting social media take over more rewarding activities, or letting it crowd out the remaining space in your life.

Because you are giving something up to make time for social media, even if what you're giving up is sleep or (rarer still) empty space. Indeed, that empty space may be what's most precious, because it's the margin that ensures that when the next must-do activity appears on the horizon, you don't go ten years without noticing you need to take something else off your plate.

Reference: hbr.org

Use of Poll for engagement of Visitors

The purpose of these posts was to help beginners learn how to create interactive and engaging websites. Adding Polls and surveys is another way to engage your audience. Polls also give you great deal of insight into your users. In this article, we will show you how to add polls on your blogger:

To get started, simply type in a poll question and up to 30 possible answers. You can then customize your poll with your own colors, font, and settings. When you're finished we'll provide you an HTML code to paste into your website, or you can share your poll with your friends on Facebook, on Twitter, via e-mail, and more.

We have embedded one poll only RIGHT HAND SIDE of this page. Would request you to take out sometime for us and participate in it.