Social Media is Hyped and Widely Misunderstood but it is here to Stay: Sandeep Amar, Head of Marketing, Indiatimes

by sweta on August 4th, 2011

This week we have Sandeep Amar, Head of Marketing and Audience, Indiatimes providing his views on the new trends in digital marketing and ofcourse Social Media. Sandeep has more than thirteen years of rich experience in the field of Marketing and Media.

As the head of marketing of the biggest Indian online publisher, how would you define the shift in online marketing over the years?

The focus of the online marketing has not changed much but mediums and techniques have and will change all the time. In last three years SMM has been a key component of online marketing strategy in terms of community building and getting referrals. Another shift is advent of ad networks and affiliates which have allowed options in terms of performance buys in India. Viral strategy has been there for a long time, but it does not have a science. Widget and apps strategy is very important and we have been working on the same. Mobile advertising is becoming an important component, this year we will invest in this field in a big way.

What role does social media play in the digital marketing space according to you?

Social media plays a critical role and I mean social networking, micro-blogging, video publishing, forums/community tools and so on. Facebook, Twitter and Youtube are important platforms in India with solid user base. The biggest reward of social over search(engine marketing) is long term advantage of referral traffic, this has been our biggest shift over last 1.5 years for us. For some brands we have completely stopped SEM and have started investing only on social.

A lot of people think social media is hyped and is not here to stay. What are your thoughts on the same?

Social Media is hyped and widely misunderstood. But it is here to stay. I can tell you some basics which brands need to consider:

Presence in social media should be like a member of the community rather than being on the pedestal and speaking from there. Be human, accept mistakes, give suggestions, have spontaneity and so on.
Engage one-on-one with customers (respond to conversations), in more ways than just your product or service message. Talk to consumers about their daily life and share your life as well.
Relationship matters, your desire to provide solution matters – that intent needs to come out.
The social media strategy should be in direction to have organic growth of community from a point onwards. Work on user objectives first rather than your objective – help them fulfil their objective of why they are on that medium and your objective should be carefully hidden in it.

Some people believe that social media marketing is only limited to a kind of business/ industry. Do you believe in the same?

I do not believe the same, we need to be where users are spending time – today it is social media and all brands need to be there. Obviously some very specific B2B marketing may not happen on social, but all B2C brands must have a social strategy today.

Even though India is a huge market for social networks, none of the local social networking sites have been able to make a mark. Your thoughts?

It is the same for email and other horizontal services, the top four networks in India are top four networks in the world. We are choosing global services and there is nothing wrong about it. I did write an analysis for local social media in the world: http://www.internetevolution.com/author.asp?section_id=687&doc_id=172083. In India I feel there is not enough innovation and customization in social networks. The firms have had fixated ideas copied from existing models from US.

What according to you are three most important rules of social media marketing?

I think I gave them out in answering question number 3.

Which social networks do you think marketers should pay extra focus to, if any?

It is obviously Facebook and it is good enough today. I think marketers needs to think out their widget and fans strategy well. The engagement needs to be long term and should have capability to build organically.

Any tips you’d like to share with our readers on effective use of social media for promoting their business.

I think I have already mentioned some tips. Critical point is to understand this is not television advertising – one way communication of your message in the middle of his user’s favourite programme. If you are intrusive here, you will be avoided or even punished. So behave like a human being, be part of the community – drop your ego and you shall achieve peace (and social media success).

You might also like: