The Social Networking Phenomena

Twitter, Facebook, Orkut-these are names that most urban youth are very
familiar with. In fact their social lives often depend on it. Chancing this as
the best medium to get in touch with their customers, most companies went
headlong into social networking, creating websites, profiles, pages-everything
they could think of-to be able to get closer to their buyers. Some of them even
recruited social media gurus to plan these ventures, which were then launched
with great fanfare.

Social networking has been around for a while. As the Internet started
evolving, consumers are becoming more web and marketing savvy, e-mail marketing
campaigns and bland websites are becoming less effective. It's important for
businesses to embrace and leverage new technologies in order to continue
reaching their target audiences.

This is relatively a new way to create, publish, and distribute content,
photos, audio files, and other relevant information online. This collaborative
platform enables users to communicate openly and collaborate on the Internet.

Social networking media can provide the possibility of finding not only
customers but also the best deals with suppliers. Facebook was started with
teenagers connecting with their friends. Today, it is being used by the working
class, business people not only to connect, but also to develop business
opportunities.

Another networking site, LinkedIn Groups, has become an efficient medium for
connecting with the corporate world, where starting from hiring people every
activity of a company is updated.

	“In the past six months, I got three projects where the software was sold by some other partner but the customer came to me for implementation, based on the buzz around my company's expertise in online media” Suresh Ramani, CEO, Techgyan
	“I have generated more than Rs 1 lakh from social networking contacts, which might not be a huge amount. But having tasted this initial fruit of success, I plan to start commercial activities in a structured manner.” Sampath Iyengar, Director, Sam7 India

Even Bollywood actors and politicians could not stay away from this new-found
tool and tried to use to it to promote themselves. It's a well known fact that
Barack Obama owed a great degree of his success to presidency to his apt usage
of the Web 2.0 platform.

Ingenious channel partners in India too decided to dabble with this medium
and though their numbers are small, quite a few of them have even been able to
use it to generate business for their companies. Thus social networking has now
opened up another stream for lead generation for them, a welcome sign at a time
when the traditional ways of doing business were rewritten.

Partners Who Caught On Quick

One solution provider who prides on his ability to having used social
networking is Mumbai-based TechGyan's Suresh Ramani. With his presence on most
Web 2.0 platforms, he has already been able to use it to build his brand recall
and widen its reach by regular updates on various sites.

“In the past six months, I have got three projects where the software was
sold by some other partner but the customer came to me for implementation based
on the buzz around my company's expertise in SMB space. A good part of this buzz
came from my active information feeds on various social networking media,” says
Ramani.

	Social networking sites have seen massive acceptance among the corporate world as well as personal users. A business entity should formulate strategies to keep their pages live and updated for users to use them often Chetan Shah, MD, Xpress Computers
	“LinkedIn has proved effective for my business of importing third party software and plugins. Though not frequently, I do get leads for business from across the country” Gaurang Bhatt, CEO, Ignition Infotech

Ramani uses LinkedIn Groups extensively to facilitate communi-cation between
International Association of Microsoft Certified Partners (IAMCP) India members.
This way he can touch base with people in an effective and non-intrusive way. In
fact, these initiatives got him in touch with people which helped him explore
offshore business opportunities, especially in drafting services to
architectural companies in the US.

Mumbai-based Xpress Compu­ters is also present on various social networking
sites. The company considers this media as a premier channel for communicating
with customers and the outside world-to announce new products, changes,
opinions, reviews, etc.

Chetan Shah, MD, Xpress Computers, opines, “I believe that social networking
sites has seen massive acceptance among the corporate world as well as the
personal users in the last one year. A business entity should formulate
strategies to keep their pages live and updated for the users to keep using them
often. Ensuring two-way communication is very important.”

Another systems integrator company, Sam7 India, offers consultancy services
to small and medium business, is on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn and its
founder, Sampath Iyengar believes that social networking sites are for
connecting emotionally as friends first and the business will follow. He has
generated more than Rs 1 lakh from social networking contacts, which might not
be a huge amount. But having tasted this initial fruit of success, he has plans
to start commercial activities in a structured manner.

According to Iyengar, social networking was a linear progression, but now the
usage has become exponential.  “I have friends on my Facebook profile who refer
me to their friends for various IT services. Incidentally I have crossed 1,000
friends count on Facebook, and quite a few of them are business associates,”
says Iyengar.

Putting Your Best Digital Footprint Forward Ameen Khwaja Director Premium Web Services Online Advertising Group Online Advertising Group has acquired 32% of its clients through social networking. Ameen Khwaja, Director of Premium Web Services, and MD of the company, gives tips on how solution providers can use this medium to their advantage a. Many social networking sites offer facilities for creating business pages where you can display news about your company. But make it a point to keep it live with regular updating. Optimize the page with apt keywords so that it shows up faster on a search engine. b. Create special interest forums and groups. Keep answering questions as promptly as possible. Encourage discussions on new topics, not just on business but on other popular and fascinating topics. Make everything interesting enough that will make people re-visiting it. c. Persist in posting blogs and let it surface on profile page with RSS feeds. Also give links to your blogs on these feeds, affix notes and upload videos and key presentations. d.Keep posting information about recent deals and maintain straight communication with probable clients who are part of your network. e. Look up and invite acclaimed experts and veteran specialists. Send a good introduction about yourself and explain your interest in meeting them. Such contacts can give you crucial and valuable clues and advice on significant circumstances and decisions. This can definitely contribute to your success.

Not In It For Money

Strangely very few of the early business adopters of social networ­king did
this with a clear plan to monetize their efforts. Most of them look at it as a
way to create brand equity for themselves and their companies or to reach out to
more business partners.

Chetan Shah said, “I am not looking into monetizing my efforts with my
presence on social media. Rather my focus is on stronger bonding, faster
interaction and using it as an effective medium to communicate.”

Voicing the same view Iyengar said, “Social media should be used for creating
circle of influence and increasing brand awareness and the business will
follow.”

Ramani feels that this medium is a sure-fire way to get recommen-dations for
good manpower unobtrusively and then hire people. This is why he advocates that
users should be discreet when using these sites.

Yet others use these sites just to keep track of the latest happenings in the
industry. Gaurang Bhatt, CEO of Ignition Infotech, follows DQ Channels updates
on Twitter, as the best way to be updated about news in his domain of interest
as other various technology posts on Facebook and participates in discussions
and constantly invites his friends and customers to post their views.

“LinkedIn has proved effective for my business of importing third party
software and plugins. Though not frequently, I do get leads for business from
across the country. Facebook and Twitter helps more when you are posting info
about emerging technology and your existing friends and customers contact you
for more information,” said Bhatt.

No More Limits

Earlier most users of social networking included only friends to their
network. But now this circle has extended itself to include family, colleagues,
customers and vendors.

Ascertaining that this medium has no limitations, Bhatt said, “I may tarnish
my image by posting frivolous status and comments or strengthen it by posting
good informative, humorous and intelligent comments.” Bhatt believes that once
the customers know what really you are in life outside business, they start
considering you as a friend; they open up and give more honest feedback on your
offerings, which will help in fine tuning your business offerings.

This is also why it is very imperative that users are cautious in the content
they post, especially on those sites where they have invited people who would
have some kind of bearing on their business. “When used selectively, social
networking media can be a very powerful tool for identifying new business
partners, prospective customers, or simply building your personal or business
presence,” said Sanjay Mehta of Maia Intelligence. He started his own company
and has since been using social networking extensively to increase technical
awareness amongst his customers and channel partners. And unlike other vendors,
he does this on his own, without having roped in any expert and is now a
self-taught guru on the subject.

If you propose to emulate his example, it would be the best if you first
decide on the network which is ideally suited for your business or industry
category so that you are in touch with people who have the affinity for the same
topic. By doing this, you'll cut through the clutter and clearly establish your
niche, keeping the interaction focused on the specific subject matter.

“Once you've selected the networks you want to belong to, begin by filling
out your profile page with pertinent information about yourself, your company,
and your contacts,” Mehta suggested.

And if you want to learn more from like-minded people then join groups to
make new contacts and participate in forum discussions. These discussions give
you yet another avenue for displaying your expertise.

“Finally, take advantage of the widgets that networking sites offer. There
are widgets that allow you to add virtual fliers and brochures to your page,
plug in company news and events, and post videos, for instance,” added Mehta.

But whatever you do, remember that you are joining communities of people and
rules of etiquette still apply. Promote your company by

all means, but don't be overly aggressive or invasive about your marketing.
Market your business well and you'll get more respect

and probably a lot more serious leads. Social media sites put a humane face on
your business and allow people to get an impression of what a relationship with
you would be like. And like in any relationship this means you will have to put
your best foot forward and be at your best behavior.

Vasudevan N

vasudevann@cybermedia.co.in