toto`s

The digital ecosystem is HUGE. We keep hearing or reading terms right from social media, email marketing, mobile marketing, display ads, videos, content marketing, search, online reputation management, seo, ppc and online brand building to name a few. Everyone wants to be in digital, but a lot of newbies don't know or understand what do they want to do. So here is a quick summary of what getting into digital means. There are a lot of images, charts and notes on digital marketing ecosystem. The simplest one being POE - Paid, Owned and Earned. Paid covers advertising, Owned covers assets built by the brand / person to showcase skills, services, achievements, information, etc.  Earned covers what people, critics, customers or any other entity writes or discusses about the brand or person. Now, to ensure these three work, there are a million tools, technologies, agencies, apps, ad networks, publishing houses, thought leaders and people who work tirelessly trying to put ...

The Internet audience is growing. The sophistication of technology used to reach the audience precisely is getting better too! The users are spending more time browsing, consuming content, researching, connecting, engaging, comparing prices, shopping or contributing information. Knowledge is also shared to a great extent. On the other hand, there are brands and companies that target the audience for Engagement, Leads, Conversions, Registrations, etc. Every one tries to beat their competitors by being innovative and bringing in Never Done Before things to delight the customer. Here comes the trap (for the innocent customer, its a trap, for the brand or agency, it is a part of their marketing strategy) Acquire New Customers - get new users to register for my service. Re-target Existing base - make sure every single individual is reached out again because he/she has been to my website before. try to remind them about my existence and make them interact / buy or register. Re-mark...

Brands are built by efforts of many stakeholders. Stakeholders are primarily the Company owners, Product teams – R&D; Marketing units - brand team, media agencies, creative team, vendors; Service – customer care, feedback, test marketers; Supply chain - wholesalers, distributors, retailers and most importantly the decision makers across the chain. Brands develop their personalities over years of service, delivering exceptional products / services and assuring the same level of quality across time, geographies and even generations. In the entire mix, the Media Agency has a special importance, significance and role. They not only bring their experience on the table, their analysis & expertise helps reach out to the right audience, at the right time, at the right place, by increasing the efficiency of every dollar spent. In a market that has its dominant spenders, we also see some niche products and services making their mark without spending. They rely on public r...

Social Media  is proving to be the most powerful substitute to  Market Research ! Brands, Individuals, Analysts, Researchers, and Products are taking the Social Media Route for insights. B2B companies, who may not benefit a lot with their Social Media Presense, are also venturing on the Web, creating properties that support their existence. Take for example the  PAL  property created by Suzlon in India. Its about Pure Air Lovers Society, where Suzlon will plant 1 tree for every member who joins this cause! Globally, there any hundreds of MNCs that have started such campaigns that works toward social good. There are a few initiatives started by students, youth, and organizations to spread awareness of a Safer, Sustainable Planet! Companies can benefit in many ways: Their goodwill increases, they start understanding the audience sentiments, they can spread awareness of a few causes, and in turn, get an idea of what the people want. In short, its a nice way to ...

Social Media: Videos on YouTube, Updates on Twitter, Sharing on Facebook, Networking on LinkedIn, Trying out Google+, Publishing on Blogger/Wordpress, Checking in through Foursquare, Chatting on Skype, Building Fan Pages, Spreading Brand Messages, and Interacting every bit of our time through the Digital Media.  Where is the real Life, our tangible world, family members, the neighbours, our friends, the sweetheart staying next to the locality, the food across the street, the parties by colleagues, birthday celebration of little niece, and funeral of an Old man. Are we too busy exploring this medium that we don't really have a Real Social Life? Most of our needs are fulfilled by social media. Chatting with friends, keeping in touch with family, friends, relatives, classmates, old acquaintances, and the rest of the world. Then why bother about the Real Social Life? We see products in a store, we can hold them, feel them, smell them, and taste them. But when we shop online, we can buy...

Social Media is broad, wide, deep, and mostly free. You don't need friends to be a part of social media, you can make them here in this virtual world. You don't need ID Proof, SSN, Credit Card, or any other means of verification to be a part of Social Media, Networks. All you need is TIME, Login Username, Password, and a Valid E-Mail ID. Being a teenager, I started browsing the Net with Yahoo! The only way to go online was through the Internet Explorer. The only place to log in or use the Net was the Internet Cafe (Cyber Cafe). A Mobile Phone would just send SMS, make calls, and charge me for Incoming calls too. The best thing I could do with a Mobile Phone was Play Snake! An e-mail ID like Gmail was available only through an Invite. Today, I can have 5 e-mail IDs.  Yahoo !,  Gmai l,  Rediff ,  MSN , and more. Each has a different purpose. One would be for making Personal Profiles, one for professional use, one is for fake profiles, one is for subscribing to various ...

Social Media Landscape is broad. Sharing, Discussions, Networking, Media, Blogging, Microbligging, Livestream, Livecast, Virtual World, Gaming, Multiplayer games, Music, Video, Podcast, Review, Social Bookmarking, and Wiki. This is just a list of the beginning of social media. What started as e-mails, groups, and messenger, has now widened its scope, reach, depth, richness, interactivity, and quality.  The most challenging aspect of Social Media today is the way participation needs to be moderated, and a promotion of better quality content. On Websites like  Twitter  the trends keep changing in a very unexpected way, and there is no sense, pattern, or predictability behind them. E.g Osama Bin Laden was killed, and we witnessed about 12.4Million Tweets an hour! Lady Gaga, Eminem have such an amazing fan following on Social Media, that other celebrities are clueless about the reasons behind such madness. The participation of users never portrays a pattern on Social media, ...

Return on Investment! Returns.. Returns.. More returns..!! In our social life (offline) we have always interacted with people, spent time with like minded individuals, and maintained selfless relations. But, online world is a different ball game. We interact, mingle, network, and follow people with two motives: Returns, and Referrals!  A follower, friend, acquaintance, or a like-minded profile needs to be cared about, tolerated, conversed with, flattered, and greeted by automated responses until he/she adds value to this concept of RoI. On the other hand, we have people and profiles who would take the same actions, but, for a greater cause, i.e. Relationship building. A simple Hi, Hello, or Nice talking to you makes no harm. An automated response does. It is painful to follow or invite a well-known/knowledgeable person and get an inhuman/ impersonated reply. We still follow the profile, but I am unsure of the value created in such a relation, and the Return He/She would get in suc...