Online Video Marketing Strategy- The Key To Successful Content Marketing in 2015

Based on what we've seen in 2014, what can we expect in the digital marketing world in the coming year? How should digital marketers prepare themselves? Now it’s the right time that we look ahead to what will be the major trends in digital marketing in 2015. In the coming year, content marketing will continue to strengthen its hold on the industry. In content marketing, videos have always been preferred by digital marketers to promot

e their content because Videos can convey a message ten times more powerfully than text content. Content marketing via Videos is already popular but it will get more so in 2015 and when we talk about videos then YouTube is the platform which immediately comes to our mind. YouTube isn’t just the third most popular site in the world. It has also quietly become one of the world’s biggest search engines. Google has shifted it algorithms to favor videos, often putting YouTube videos near the top of its organic results.

By 2017, video will account for 69% of all consumer internet traffic, according to Cisco. With online video quickly becoming a key means for people to satisfy their information and entertainment needs, Video is the key to successful content marketing. Nielsen claims 64% of marketers expect video to dominate their strategies in the near future. If a picture paints 1,000 words then one minute of video is worth 1.8 million, so say Forrester's researchers. Videos are also increasingly being watched on mobile devices.

Keeping all these into consideration, it is very important to know YouTube as a social media marketing platform. More importantly, promoting videos via online integrated marketing approach is something which seems to be the need of the hour in order to become an answer for your viewer’s questions and giving unique and one class above experience.

So by now we understand that having video marketing strategy in place should be one of the top priorities for digital marketers across globe in 2015 so it is important for digital marketers to have YouTube video creation and promotion know how.

I based on my experience have tried my level best to create list of checklists for video creation and video promotion which are critical to business success.

Not ramping up your visual content strategy? Here's why you should make it a priority this year. https://t.co/K4YDUW6HkR

— Stephanie Clegg (@StephanieFrasco) January 13, 2015

Create YouTube Channel
1) Define your YouTube channel theme first i.e. prank, social cause, humorous, tutorial etc.
2) Name your channel accordingly - short and memorable.

Focus on Building Qualitative Videos
3) Video Content should be original and unique
4) Video length should be as per viewer’s interest.
5) Video content should match the theme of the channel
6) Video’s firsts 3-5 sec should be of brand/channel introduction using brand logo.
7) Video should be tagged with one unique logo to give exclusivity to video.
8) Video’s first 30 sec should be attractive and engaging enough.
9) Video content should be supported by good background music as per theme of video content
10) Use high quality branded camera while shooting for video
11) Edit your video using free software i.e. Movie Maker, iMovie, and VirtualDub
12) Video annotations and captions should be readable but should not distract viewers too.
13) Video should have standard YouTube licenses and should not match with 3rd party content

YouTube Video On Page Promotion Technique
14) Research your keywords which are relevant to your video content.
15) Video’s tags are most important. Use google keyword planner to find out relevant competitive keywords. Use these keywords to improve ranking on google search and YouTube search page.
16) Use adequate keywords carefully in title and description of the video to ensure relevancy
17) Video’s Title should be catchy and lengthy enough to include 2-3 top unique keywords so that it can be searched easily on YouTube platform and also on other google search platform.
18) Video’s Description should cover relevant keywords besides video introduction.
19) Description should have inbound links of video, channel, Facebook, Twitter, website, LinkedIn.
20) Video’s description should be in between 200-400 words.
21) Pick the right thumbnail of engaging image to give reason viewers to click on videos.
22) Make playlists to help viewers to get more out of your channel.
23) Playlists have an additional benefit: since they show up separately in YouTube searches, every new playlist is another opportunity to show up on the front page of search results.
24) Annotations can be used to create a menu screen at the end of your video. The viewer is presented with a selection of other videos and the viewer gets to pick whichever one they would like to watch
25) There has to be relevancy factor among video content, video title, video description and video tags to ensure page 1 ranking on Google/Yahoo/Bing/YouTube search pages.
26) Most importantly, if we can work on generating videos transcripts and the same can be uploaded and sync on YouTube subtitles and cc section then it will help google to know what is inside the video because Google indexing can be done using these video transcripts. This is again to increase organic ranking on Google search page.
27) Allow video embeds because it lets others share your content on blogs and web pages.

YouTube Video Off Page Promotion Technique
28) It is very essential to have one website or blog site around YouTube channel theme wherein relevant content/videos can be uploaded and that’s how website traffic can be diverted to YouTube channel.
29) It is very important to have YouTube video outbound links on relevant and highly traffic website to increase the Google ranking of YouTube videos
30) It is important to create outbound links by submitting YouTube channel and video links to relevant article submission directories, social forums, social bookmarking site, classifieds etc.
31) YouTube video’s outbound links can be generated by posting video links on Blog’s comment section.
32) Very important to ensure that outbound links should not be generated unnecessary otherwise it may give negative results if considered spammy in Google’s eyes.
33) On Google search page, using keywords tags, we get to know relevant blog/site content on 1st page where we can go and comment and then post our video links to generate more traffic.
34) Another way to get viewers on YouTube platform is via video response. One of the easiest ways to get more views is to identify your video as a “video response” to a popular video. Your video will show up underneath the original video and also possibly in the sidebar adjacent to it: that could mean 100,000’s of eyes on the link to your video.

YouTube Video Promotion on Social Media
35) It is important to promote YouTube video link/content on social networking sites i.e. Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Pinterest, Instagram, LinkedIn etc.
36) Engage with your audience on these platforms by participating in conversation with them.
37) Create prebuzz via announcement of video post schedule to create curiosity amongst followers.
38) It is important to have one dedicated page or account on each social networking site where these videos can be share and that’s video’s reach can be increased.
39) To promote channel/videos on YouTube, one can opt for true view advertisements i.e. on search page, on display page as recommended videos etc.
40) To promote videos on Facebook, there are paid options available too i.e. either we promote it via video post engagement or we promote it via page like.
41) Channel/ videos can be promoted via organic sharing on other relevant Facebook groups .
42) One can also approach popular groups of Facebook to promote videos by posting on their page. Such groups allow you to promote videos but on chargeable basis and that too with noncontroversial video content.
43) One can also join or access Facebook group of similar interest or content and over there too, once can post their relevant video links.
44) On Twitter and Facebook, usage of relevant trending and popular hashtag words will allow us to increase our reach.
45) In twitter, we can easily see trending hashtags and using these trending hashtags, one can tweet specifically besides leaving video link in tweet. Whenever someone searches for your hashtag, they will come across your post. So it’s important to use relevant hashtags when creating a post that is linked to your YouTube video.
46) Promote post engagement via Facebook and run some contest on it. This will guarantee decent audience engagement and will give good support in fulfilling campaign objective.
47) By starting a Google+ community page, you are creating a place for others to discuss topics similar to your channel. When you are setting up your community page, you can add a link to your YouTube profile

Associating with YouTube Certified Premier Partner Network
48) Above all this, we can be associated with one of the YouTube certified premium networks which has huge subscriber and viewership base.
49) We can be associated with only one premier network and after this our video can be introduced to their network which is of huge viewership base. This is one of the easiest ways to get viewers in short span provided if video content is unique and interesting.
50) This association with YouTube premium partner network is on the basis of revenue sharing. It depends on network to network. It might be 60:40 or 70:30.
51) Here in this, YouTube does not play any role. Google AdSense will be deactivated once we decide to associate or partner our channel with this one of the these networks. These networks do payment transaction via PayPal account.

Focus on Building Strong Subscriber and Viewership Base.
52) To build string subscriber base, it is very important to post videos on regular basis.
53) Having huge subscriber base is most important to get immediate views which in turn will give higher search page ranking and that’s how video can be ranked at top 3 positions and new viewers are inclined to see video of higher viewership base.
54) Viewers can be asked to share the video or comment on the video or like the video and in return, amazing gift cards can be offered to viewers. This is to increase the reach of the video
55) Video can have annotations for subscribing the channel or clicking on new video. This is to increase the video engagement and video reach too.
56) Have an eye on trending videos as association with such trending videos can be helpful in getting views.
57) Simply asking your viewers to do something greatly increases their chances of doing it. On YouTube, there’s no shortage of actions you can ask viewers to take: Subscribe to my channel, Share with your friends, Click the like button below, Add this video to your favorites, Leave a comment, Follow the link in the description.
58) Email marketing gives you the ability to notify your followers of any new updates and videos whenever you like. You can use this form of marketing to create a newsletter that includes updates and your videos from the past week or month. By sending one email to your subscribers, you could end up receiving thousands of video views.
59) By setting up a contest around your YouTube channel with a cool prize, you are sure to garner a lot of interest. For example, the contest could require participants to share your videos on social media, leave a specific comment, or even blog about your channel. This will help spread the word about your YouTube channel and grow your audience.
60) Participating in VidCon and meetup group helps in growing your viewership as you may get a chance to collaborate with another video creator.
61) CollabVideos allows you create a bigger audience because viewers from other channels will be interested in checking out your videos
62) The YouTube Fan Finder Program allows you to submit up to 5 advertisements for your channel. These ads are then shown across different YouTube videos to an audience that is relevant to your channel. Your ads should be short video clips that give a preview of what your channel is about. Every time a viewer clicks on the channel ad, they are directed to your profile.
63) QR (Quick Response) codes can be linked directly to your YouTube channel. They are known as those square shaped barcodes that can be scanned by your smart phone. There are tons of QR code generators online that can help you create one that directs people to your YouTube videos

Be the voice of your viewers
64) Focus on viewer’s comments, requests/suggestions, interests etc.
65) Acknowledge positive comments and handle negative comments positively.
66) Viewers like to feel appreciated so it’s essential that you engage with them.
67) One way to engage with your followers is by doing question and answer videos. Your viewers ask you questions, and you answer them. To make this work, you can ask your viewers to leave their questions in the comments section for you to answer in the next video.

Things to be take care
68) Videos can be monetized only after linking YouTube channel with Google AdSense
69) Video should not have more than 3 flags. In case someone reports to flag then video owner can appeal to YouTube about it and can know the reasons behind it and if needed, video owner can give their point of view in defense.
70) Video should not be matched with third party’s video property. If it happens so then there is chance of channel suspension or account suspension.

Finally, be original, not only with the videos but in the promotion strategy you build around them.

Please share this article as it may reach out to others and probably, that is how we can maximize our learning.

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GOSF 2014 – Unique Taste of India Shopping Festival

The Great Online Shopping Festival (GOSF) was created by Google India on 12 December 2012 in collaboration with a number of Indian online shopping portals. The idea of the GOSF was that the online shopping sites would give heavy discounts for one day, in order to promote their sales.

The concept of a one-day online sale originated in the United States, where many online shopping sites offer discounts on Cyber Monday, the first Monday after the so-called Black Friday, the day that follows the U.S. Thanksgiving. Cyber Monday started in 2005 and the concept has spread to several countries including Canada, Japan, Australia, Colombia, and the U.K.. In China a similar day of online shopping is observed on November 11, which is known as Singles Day.

How GOSF 2014 is different from other shopping festival?
This time GOSF 2014 launched pre- party concept to create pre buzz and to increase top of mind recall value amongst Indian consumers for upcoming GOSF 2014 event.
This year, Google announced a Pre-Party on Nov 25th running up to 9th Dec’14 followed by main event on 10th – 12th December 2014. Google will have a run-up event with 14 shortlisted brands, starting from 27th Nov to 9th Dec. During these 14 days, Google will reserve a day each for one company to offer day-long deals and run contests for consumers. Also, everyday, during these two weeks, a lucky winner will be announced, who will get to shop for free from a range of select items.

GOSF 2014 – Play a Game and Win a GOSF Deal?
If you think you have a matchless speed when it comes to shopping, play ‘The Game’ starting from Nov 25 till Dec 9, and stand a chance to win some fun and surprising gifts in GOSF 2014.

GOSF 2014 - Win 14min of Free Shopping?
In 2014, GOSF is partnering with 14 brands to give 14 winners FREE shopping for 14 min worth up to 2.5 lakh rupees. Each day a new brand will offer a new way to win and on December 9th, right before GOSF opens, we'll fly you down to participate in your crazy 14 min of free shopping. The brands participating in this Pre-Party are Asian Paints (25 Nov), Jet Airways (26 Nov), All New Kindle (27 Nov), Micromax (28 Nov), HP (29 Nov), Askme.com (30 Nov), Craftsvilla.com (1 Dec), Cox & Kings and ezeego.com (2 Dec), Goibibo.com (3 Dec), Big Bazaar (4 Dec), Koovs.com (5 Dec), TrendIN.com (6 Dec), Lakme (7 Dec) and Lenovo (8 Dec).

What’s Unique and New in GOSF 2014?
GOSF 2014 has 400 participating stores and 2 new sections in GOSF 2014.
400 Participating Stores
Google, for its third edition of the Great Online Shopping Festival, has roped in 300 offline and online merchants. They range from the regular e-commerce sites to large FMCG and consumer durable brands.
Interestingly, Flipkart, this time is giving GOSF a miss.

Exclusive Launch Corner
You will get to shop from among a wide assortment of never-seen-before products exclusively launched on GOSF. The Mountain View giant is expected to launch the Google Nexus 6 during GOSF.

Rs. 299 Corner
Keeping first time online buyers into consideration, this time search engine giant has launched a new section called “Rs.299 Corner”, where branded products in price range of Rs 600 to Rs 1500 will be sold at Rs.299. Delivery will be free of charge, and Google hopes to attract first-time online shoppers with cash-on-delivery. The new section will include popular brands such as Philips, Uber, JBL, Benetton, Alia Bhatt Collection and Ever Pure water purifier.

Google India has partnered Aditya Birla Money My Universe as a preferred partner for this year's event.

Last year, GOSF saw tremendous response from consumers in India and the company claimed it attracted 2 million visitors. The company had also claimed that its GOSF 2013 partners over 200 e-commerce websites saw daily sales jumping 3 to 4 times. Google had revealed that out of the 2 million unique visitors, almost half were women.

For GOSF 2013, Google said the peak time of traffic was between 2pm and 8pm each day, with 62 percent viewers coming from the 18 to 34-year old category.

It would very interesting to see the response and behavior of Indian Consumers during GOSF 2014 as similar occasions i.e. big billion day, and super savings day exclusively launched by Flipkart and Snapdeal respectively earlier this year had failed to meet expectations of Indian consumers's shopping experience due to lot of technical glitches.

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TWITTER USAGE CHECKLIST: HOW TO BUILD YOUR PERSONAL BRAND

Twitter began with simplicity in mind- It started as a text message service and has transformed into a global service but has always revolved around bringing people closer to their interests. Your business is of someone’s interest...so are you on Twitter?

500 million Tweets are sent out a day. There are 230 million active users on Twitter. Do you use Twitter? Have you thought about the basics? Will you ReTweet, @reply, use hash #tags, add links, photos, videos!

If you want to harness the global power of social media marketing, in particular Twitter, you can’t just set up a Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Tumblr – you name it – account and expect the world to come to you.

Let us check out the Best Practices of Twitter usage which in turn helps to build your personal brand.

1) Upload an engaging and professional individual photograph of yourself (size 500*500 pixels)
2) Upload engaging cover photo of 1500*500 pixles
3) Include a username that is easy to identify as you
4) Describe yourself  in your bio
5) Choose to use the new Twitter layout
6) Include a URL to your company/website/blog in your bio
7) Include your physical location in your bio
8) Share timely news; useful information.  5-7 tweets in a day.
9) Share your thoughts/observations using interesting hashtags
10) Give your opinion about trending hashtags
11) RT influencer’s tweets which can be helpful to your followers
12) DO show your personality on Twitter: Add commentary to retweets and share what you are rereading on- and offline
13) Include photos and images every now and then. Use pic.twitter.com extension
14) Share your passions and your voice.
15) Tweets that have 100 characters or less, can boost your engagement by as little as 18%, as do tweets with just 3-4 words.
16) Be choosy with hashtags- Don’t hashtag everything
17) Choose your passion and develop a niche and define your online brand.
18) Ask Questions - Don’t be afraid to reach out to a celebrity, sports team, school, etc. You never know when they will tweet back!
19) When using cards or links in your tweet, stay clear of hashtags and usernames as it can put users off!
20) DO Facilitate conversation: Leave room in tweets so others can retweet with commentary. Always remember to use #hashtags
21) Do create twitter lists of your favorite Twitters Set up a feed from blog to twitter and from Facebook to twitter
22) Develop a schedule for twitter posts
23) Thank your followers
24) Engage with your followers- Favorite, Retweet, Respond
25) Unfollow everyone that’s inactive.
26) If you notice that a particular tweet received a lot of engagement, consider paying to promote the tweet and see if it generates any new leads
27) Using more than one exclamation mark in a tweet can plummet the engagement rate! So be careful when sharing something exciting!!!!!!
28) Be a good Twitter community member - Retweet great tweets. Give mentions. Don’t steal others tweets and make them seem like they’re your own.
29) Participate in #FF (Forward Friday) and Twitter chats.
30) And finally, Twitter is a great way of showcasing your business’ unique personality, so don’t try too hard to create an amazing tweet. The first thing that comes into your head is usually the best and most natural thing to tweet

It would be very interesting if I get to know more about from you guyz. As they say, everybody has different and unique experience for the same situation so keeping learning agility as one of the strengths into consideration, I would welcome all inputs from all of you.

Please share this article as it may reach out to others and probably, that is how we can maximize our learning.

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Observations and Recommendations: Flipkart, Amazon, Snapdeal Digital Marketing Strategy

We know that E-commerce is at a very nascent stage in India. Everyday, we come across new player in this realm with bunch of similar services and products with some tweaked features.

As I told you in my earlier blog about my observations and recommendations based on study of top 3 eCommerce giants of India. To my observations, I was not very surprised to know that all 3 companies which are valued more than $1bn in market but yet have lot to do to make eCommerce Platform as "5 star Shopping Mall" from typical "Fish Market".

In the similar line, I have made following observations and recommendations based on my understanding and experience.

Common Observation

1) Surprisingly, these top 3 eCommerce players have been following into each other's shoes and not doing any path breaking innovations and lead by example 2) Flipkart and Snapdeal are experimenting with Indian audience by introducing marketing gimmicks i.e. big billion day, singles day, big savings day similar to US and China instead focusing on building strong technology platform 3) These 3 players are well funded and supported by investors and have full capacities to set benchmark for rest of the world 4) Digital Marketing strategy is limited to Facebook and twitter only and all other platforms are currently ignored or not focused adequately 5) These 3 players are very optimistic about mCommerce business and have been trying very hard to increase revenue proportion from mobile 6) Recently, these top 3 players have adopted or followed a new trend of providing their online platform for exclusive launch of products 7) Print ad, Commercial ad and digital ad seem to be very important part of their brand building exercise 8) Targeting biggest events or shows by sponsoring it is the fasted way of getting attention from shoppers 9) These top 3 players will certainly shift the trend of shopping drastically by targeting rural and semi urban areas 10) Surprisingly, north east and southern shoppers are the one who prefer to search and shop online more frequently 11) 85% of the shoppers are between 18-40 age 12) Handling customer queries and complaints is something a very major area of concern for all these players 13) Brand Loyalty is missing due to lack of experiential marketing and personalized engagement as 95% shoppers buy only because of coupons and deals 14) Unlike amazon and flipkart, snapdeal does not have any inhouse service and products to differentiate its brand. 15) Taking conversations off social media and then continuing to not address them properly, all 3 eCommerce giants are failing constantly. 16) The customer grievance mechanism fails to curtail negative sentiment around customer services. Comments and posts do not resonate with customer satisfaction. Even positive posts from the brand’s end turn into venting grounds for frustrated customers.

Common Recommendations

1) Focus on other social media platforms to give one class above unique experience to users across social media world. 2) It is important to have unique strategy in place specific to each digital platform i.e. linkedin, youtube, google+, pinterest, instagram etc. 3) Path breaking innovation in services and products is much needed to give reasons to shoppers to visit online store. 4) Usage of predictive analytics and sentiment analysis to give personalized and customer centric experience to each shopper. 5) To increase eCommerce transaction volume, it is important to target northern, central and western part of India 6) They should target shoppers of all generations i.e. age above 40 and try to bridge the generation gap of online shopping. 6) Flipkart to have exclusive youtube channel in order to offer visual content to viewers 7) Flipkart to be aggressive at PPC and have strong mobile Re-marketing strategy in place to gain first time buyers 8) Flipkart to have transparent and seamless affiliate program to increase sales. 9) Amazon to have customer complaint resolution service process in place to improve brand opinion score. 10) Amazon and Snapdeal to ensure adequate social engagement activity on across all digital platforms 11) Snapdeal to invest in R&D and innovation to come up with its own inhouse services and products to ensure sustainable business and revenue model. 12) Classifieds could be new revenue stream for these big players 13) The customer grievance mechanism should be made with strong processes and online complaints should be addressed online only instead dragging it offline.

It would be very interesting if I get to know more about from you all. As they say, everybody has different and unique takes for the same situation so keeping learning agility as one of the strengths into consideration, I would love to welcome all inputs from all of you.

Please share this article as it may reach out to others and probably, that is how we can maximize our learning.

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SNAPDEAL's DIGITAL MARKETING STRATEGY DECODED

The $4 billion Indian e-commerce market is witnessing aggressive competition from global giants as well as home-grown players. Led by increasing Internet penetration and youngsters shopping online, India's e-commerce market has seen huge growth in the past few years.

Given the country's large consuming public, people do not have the required access to goods but e-retailing today is one of the hottest form of marketing and has a good potential in the country 65cr people of the country are the consuming public.

This is in continuation to my earlier 2 blogs written on decoding Flipkart's and Amazon's Digital Marketing Strategy.

Here I have to come with study of 3rd largest player in term of valuation of eCommerce Industry of India. Recently this company has been in the news as giant investors like Ratan Tata and Softbank has invested in Snapdeal considering eCommerce potential and growth in India which has been very impressive and remarkable from Investor's point of view.

eCommerce Giant		Snapdeal
Founders		Kunal Bahl & Rohit Bansal. Owned and Operated by Jasper Infotech Pvt. Ltd.
eCommerce Drivers		Mobile and Internet for location-based marketing , Personalization and Customization to meet the needs of each customer, User friendly shopping experience, Easy accessibility and availability, Wide range of products, Competitive price through offers and discounts
Started in		2010
Headquarters		New Delhi, India
Business Model		Online Market Place
Revenue Model of eCommerce Industry Comprise of		Pricing, Packaging, Shipping, VAS etc. Selling goods it stocked to consumers at prices lower than traditional brick-and-mortar stores. Working with min. profit and gaining from economic of scale is how it works. Selling Inhouse branded services and products to customers.
Size of the Market Place		No of Sellers - 50000 Unique Visitors per day - 15mn(Oct'14) Registered Users - 25mn Product Categories - 24 Products Listed(Catalog) - 5mn Fulfillment Centres - 40 Total Sales FY 12-13 - $330mn
Financial Scenario		1) Recently raised funds from Tata 2) Market Valuation - $1bn 3) $340bn funds raised in 5 rounds since its launch
Top Investors		Nexus Partners, Bessemer Patners, eBay, Indo-US Venture Partners, Intel Capital, Kalaari Capital, Saama Capital
VAS		Same Day Express Delivery, Cash on Delivery, SD Cash, 7 day return policy, 100% money back guarantee, Order Tracking,
Inhouse Products/Service		1) TrustPay - Buyer/Seller Online Protection Service 2) Snapdeal Express - same day delivery 3) Safeship - Logistics for Sellers 4) SmartFeed - Personal Shopping Guide 5) Courier Service delivery method
Payment Options		1) Internet Banking (Tie up with 22 banks) 2) EMI (HDFC, Citi bank credit card) min. value of Rs.3000/- 3) Cash on Delivery (on certain products only) 4) Credit card/Debit card - Visa, Master Card 5) SD cash 6) Mobile payment
Sales Promotion Techniques		Deals, Offers, Coupons, Promo codes, Discounted vouchers, referal reward system, Savings Day
Advertising budget 2014-15		Rs. 40-50cr
Ad Agencies		FCB Ulka
Digital Marketing Startegy Focus		1) Building Brand equity 2) Increase Repeat Purchases 3) New Customer acquisition 4) Providing unique online service
Website Rank		Google Page Rank - 5/10 Alexa Website world Rank - #265 Daily Page Views - 4.2mn
SEO		Load Speed - 2.8 sec Backlinks - 3923 User Interface - very Good Alexa Site Navigation Rating - 4.7/5 Keywords - Snapdeal, Online Shopping, Buy books online, online book store, online shopping India, online shopping website, online shopping store Organic SEO Rank - 6 or 7
Consumer Search Trends of Past 12 Months (Google) Part1		Web Search - 36 Image Search -34 News Search - 15 YouTube Search - 0
Consumer Search Trends of Past 12 Months (Google) Part2		Top Web Searches - Mizoram, Tripura, Meghlaya, Goa Top Image Searches -Tamilnadu, Gujarat, UP, WB Top News Searches - Tamilnadu, Delhi, karnataka, Gujarat YouTube - NA
Google Adwords		PPC Search ad- Category based text ads Display - Product's offers based ad images Gmail - Content/Topic based Text ads Keyword Targeted - All category based keywords Paid ad rank - 8 or 9 Overall Paid Search Performance - Below Average
Re marketing		Remarketing activates if customer visits site and clicks any display/search ad
Successgul Brand Campaigns		"Bachatey Raho", "Yam - Dude", "Shake Karo aur Save Karo", "Big Savings Day"
TV Commercial Strategy		1) Objective is to build brand and increase brand recall value 2) Targeting biggest event of the year Big Boss 8 as lead sponsor in a deal of Rs35cr to penetrate into tier 2 market. 3) 50 ad films, 30 celebs, 85 national and regional channels until Diwali to make history in sales nos. 4) Mobile shopping app download TV ad aiming at shopping at anytime anywhere besides offering monetary savings. 5) use of celebrity in tv ad to convey strong message of Savings in your hands which goes inline with its slogan "Bachatey Raho" 6) Launching campiagn i.e. biggest sale of the year to gain maximum volume share
Facebook Strategy		1) only one official Facebook Page 2) Likes - 2.4mn 3) Facebook ads with image and into title 4) Product launch based cover photos 5) Updates on new products and offers 6) Avg posts per day - 1 or 2 7) Response on customer complaint is above average 8) Runing contest to ensure user engagement 9) Avg response rate per post - 40-45 10) Focus is on customer engagement and service 11) Social Listening/Emotional Connect - Above Average 12) Recently they launched campaign called Selfie with Snapdeal 13) SuperSavingsDay campaign for user engagement
Twitter Strategy		Engagement Based Marketing 1) Followers - 54,000 2) Updates on new product based contest besides offers and discounts using interactive title and images 3) Other Inhhouse Products/Services focused twitter channel 4) Avg. 6-7 tweets on product/contenst based  per day 5) Launched Mega Campaign on Micromax Canvas Nitro 6) 24*7 customer service channel - Snapdeal_Help 7) Real time connect 8) response on customer query is on real time 9) Focus is on customer service and engagement 10) Social Listening/Emotional Connect - Good
Linkedin Strategy		1) update on company info, news, events, culture, technology, hiring updates via posts, video, image ads 2) Followers - 22,000 3) Interaction with followers is zero
Youtube Strategy		1) Exclusive channel on youtube 2) Subscribers Base- 1500 3) Total Video views - 3.8mn 4) Service/Product launch/Brand Promotion specific video 5) Good Partcipation from viewers on Snapdeal channel platform 6) Engagement/partcipation with viewers is lacking
Pinterest Strategy		1) Followers - 750 2) Teme based 55 boards i.e. Nail art, DIY, Excl offers, perfumes, watchubuy, worth a read etc. 3) Each Pin is redirected to its official webpage 4) Each board and image is very appealing
Google+ Strategy		1) Followers - 6,37,000 2) 1 or 2 category based Posts everyday. 3) Less focus on Deals/offer specific posts 4) Category/Product feature based posts with attractive image ads 4) Follower engagement is area of improvement
Content Marketing Strategy		1) It has its own official blog page(http://blog.snapdeal.com/) 2) Blog posts on "how to"on categories i.e.fashion, home, travel, gadgets, health, entertainment etc. 3) PR release page also exists 4) PR release about company info, events, exclusive product/service updates
Integrated Channel Across social media platforms		1) No of offers post varies across social platforms 2) No of post per day per platform also varies 3) quality of experience management/query response /service also varies across all platforms. 4) Level of engagement with users/followers also varies across platforms
Mobile Marketing Strategy		1) Mobile optimized website is available 2) Mobile app on all platforms(iOS, Android, Windows) 3) 1mn downloads, 4.2 rating, doesn't reply to negative reviews 3) 18% sales via mobile 4) Exclusive Cashback offers for shopping on mobile app 5) Campaigns - Shake Karo aur save Karo 6) Product offers, Order Tracking, Seamless experience  Secure payments are mobile apps specific features 7) mobile website - m.snapdeal.com
Affiliate Marketing Straetgy		1) Earn upto 20% for each purchase via content site and upto 12% for each purchase via shopping site 2) Payment via EFT options 3) Referral Payout for each month/category is communicated 4) Payments made 60days after the month of sale 5) various reports are released to help Affiliates 6) very transparent and accurate program
Brand Association and Acquisition		1) Grabbon.com, esportsbuy.com, Shopo.in, Doozton.com 2) Tie ups for exlcusive electronic launches i.e. Micromax Canvas Nitro, Micromax LED TV, Karbon mobile, Kriya Jewelllery, Intex mobile 3) Recently, company has tied up with Karbon for exlcusive launch of thier Android one based low cost phone.

It would be very interesting if I get to know more about from you guyz. As they say, everybody has different and unique takes for the same situation so keeping learning agility as one of the strengths into consideration, I would love to welcome all inputs from all of you.

Please share this article as it may reach out to others and probably, that is how we can maximize our learning.

And yes, I would request to read my next blog which would be on my observations about which things these 3 companies are doing in common and recommendations in order to make out unique brand image.

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AMAZON's DIGITAL MARKETING STRATEGY DECODED

In my last blog, FLIPKART's DIGITAL MARKETING STRATEGY DECODED, I mentioned that 21st century belongs to India and yes, when we see  Seattle-based Nasdaq-listed e-commerce company Amazon entering India by launching its market place model immediate after India allows 100 per cent FDI only in Business to Business (B2B) e-commerce and not in retail trading online and this shows how important it is for global leaders and investors to explore India as an business opportunity keeping one fact in mind that is E-commerce is at a very nascent stage in India.

So this is in continuation to my earlier blog on FLIPKART, here I come with my study specific to Amazon's Digital Marketing Strategy.

eCommerce Giant		Amazon India
Founders		Jeff Bezos
eCommerce Drivers		Mobile and Internet for location-based marketing , Personalization and Customization to meet the needs of each customer, User friendly shopping experience, Easy accessibility and availability, Wide range of products, Competitive price through offers and discounts
Started in		2013
Headquarters		Seattle, Washington US
Business Model		Online Inventory and Market Place
Revenue Model of eCommerce Industry Comprise of		Pricing, Packaging, Shipping, VAS etc. Selling goods it stocked to consumers at prices lower than traditional brick-and-mortar stores. Working with min. profit and gaining from economic of scale is how it works. Selling Inhouse branded services and products to customers.
Size of the Market Place		No of Sellers - 4000 plus Unique Visitors per day - 18mn(Oct'14) Registered Users - 18mn Product Categories - 28 Products Listed(Catalog) - 17mn Total Sales FY 12-13
Financial Scenario		1) Recently announced $2bn investment 2) Market Cap - $148bn 3) Global Annual Revenue - $75bn
Top Investors		Capital world investors, vanguard group inc, Price T Row assoc, Capital research global investors, State Street Corp
VAS		Free return pickup, Guaranteed 1 day delivery, cash on delivery, Gift Wrap, Fulfilled By Aamzon (Free shipping), AtoZ Guarantee, Delivery Tracking to the doorstep,
Inhouse Products/Service		1) Amazon Pick up Service 2) Amazon Studios - online social movie studio 3) Amazon Kindle - eBook, digital service 4) Klickpay - Amazon's preferred payment solution 5) Amazon Prime($99/year) - Prime membership service, 6) Amazon fulfillment centres - fulfilled by amazon/seller 7) AmazonBasics - amazon branded electonic products 8) Amazon Cloud Drive - Cloud computing 9) Amazon Instant Video - Video on demand service 10) Amazon web services - collection of web services giving cloud computing platform 11) Amazon MP3 - online music store 12) Amazon appstore - interactive venue for developers and buyers 13) Amazon Cloud Player - sync music and playlists
Payment Options		1) Internet Banking (Tie up with 22 banks) 2) EMI (HDFC, ICICI, Citi bank credit catd) min. value of Rs.3000/- 3) Cash on Delivery (max order value of Rs 50,000) 4) Credit card/Debit card - Visa, Master Card 5) Mobile payment
Sales Promotion Techniques		Deals, Coupans, Rebate, Qunatity Deals/gifts,
Advertising budget 2014-15		Rs. 100-150cr
Ad Agencies		Taproot Inida, Initiative Media
Digital Marketing Startegy Focus		1) Increase brand reach to Tier II and Tier III cities 2) Communicate Brand promises 3) Offering unique and global service 4) Interactive and one class above Experience
Website Rank		Google Page Rank - 8/10 Alexa Website world Rank - #221 Daily Page Views - 5mn
SEO		Load Speed - 2.2 sec Backlinks - 6562 User Interface - very Good Alexa Site Navigation Rating - 4.5/5 Keywords - Amazon, Online Shopping, Buy books online, online book store, online shopping India, online shopping website, online shopping store Organic SEO Rank - 4 or 5
Consumer Search Trends of Past 12 Months (Google) Part1		Web Search - 32 Image Search - 45 News Search  -17 YouTube Search - 35
Consumer Search Trends of Past 12 Months (Google) Part2		Top Web Searches - Goa, Tripura, Mizoram, Manipur Top Image Searches -Kerala, Karnataka, Tamilnadu,WB, AP Top News Searches - Haryana, kerala, karnataka, Tamilnadu,AP Top YouTube Searches - karnataka, Tamilnadu, AP, WB, Kerala
Google Adwords		PPC Search ad- Category/Product based text ads Display - Product's offers based ad images Gmail - Content/Topic based Text ads Keyword Targeted - All products/category based keywords Paid ad rank - 1 or 2 Overall Paid Search Performance - excellent
Remarketing		Remarekting activates if customer visits site and clicks any display/search ad
Successgul Brand Campaigns		Service specific Campaigns i.e. Gigantic Amazon Box, Guaranteed 1 Day Delivery, Easy Return Policy,
TV Commercial Strategy		1) Objective is to Introduce brand and connect with an audience 2) Target biggest event of the year i.e. IPL T20  2014 to increase amazon brand awareness. 3) Ads targeted to offline shoppers who don’t use internet 4) Ads aimed at increasing awareness of their VAS and products 5) Creative ad depicting chemistry of husband and wife 6) Ad of guaranteed 1 day service depicting quick family solution 7) Drive the purchase using preemtive occassions
Facebook Strategy		1) only one official Facebook Page 2) Likes - 3.6mn 3) Interactive questions based Facebook ads 4) Seasons to Festives to Product launch based cover photos 5) Updates on new products and offers 6) Avg posts per day - 3 or 4 7) Response on customer complaint is below average 8) Runing contest to ensure user engagement 9) Avg response rate per post - 20-25 10) Focus is on customer enagagement 11) Customer Service is huge area of improv. 12) Social Listening/Emotional Connect - Below Average
Twitter Strategy		Engagement Based Marketing 1) Followers - 23K 2) Updates on new product, offers and discounts using interactive title, good quality videos and images 3) Other Inhhouse Products/Services focused twitter channel i.e. AmazonCloudDrive, Amazon Prime,AmazonMusic etc. 5) Avg. 4-5 product offer/launch based posts per day basis 8) 24*7 customer service channel - AmazonHelp 9) Real time connect 10) response on customer query is on real time 11) Focus is on customer service and engagement 12) Social Listening/Emotional Connect - Good
Linkedin Strategy		1) uodate on company info, news, technology updates 2) Followers - 860K 3) Interaction with followers is zero
Youtube Strategy		1) Exclusive channel on youtube 2) Subscribers Base- 37K 3) Total Video Views - 24mn 4) Other channels i.e. FBA by Amazon, Amazon Kindle, AmazonFashion, AmazonWebServices 5) Service/Product/Brand/Performace specific video 6) Good Partcipation from viewers on Amazon channel platform
Pinterest Strategy		1) Followers - 8.5K 2) Theme based 23 boards i.e. lifestyle, tech, gadget, party 3) Each Pin is redirected to its official webpage 4) Each board and image is very appealing
Google+ Strategy		1) Followers - 5.9K 2) 1 Posts on fortnightly basis 3) Deals/offer specific posts 4) The whole strategy is lacking 5) Interaction and participation level is very poor
Content Marketing Strategy		1) PR Release page exists 2)  PR release about company info, events, exclusive product/service updates 3) Amazon has various blog pages i.e. Amazon Associates blog, Amazon web services
Integrated Channel Across social media platforms		1) No of offers post varies across social platforms 2) No of post per day per platform also varies 3) quality of experience management/query response /service also varies across all platforms. 4) Level of engagement with users/followers also varies across platforms
Email Marketing Strategy		1) One promotional mail in every 2-3 days 2) Emails with subject line is not that appealing 3) All categories offers in one mail 4) Email ad/text image quality is average 5) Product launch and deals based email 6) Deals, upto % off, flat % off 7) End of season sale, festival sale, season based sale
Mobile Marketing Strategy		1) Mobile optimized website is available 2) Mobile app on all platforms(iOS, Android) 3) 20% sales via mobile 4) Inbound Targeted Marketing 5) Campaigns - Product launch, Engagement and Retention 6) Mob App Distribution Portal 7) Product offers, Order Tracking, Reviews, Recommendations, Search scaning, Secure payments are mobile apps specific features
Affiliate Marketing Straetgy		1) Earn upto 20% for each purchase on website 2) Payment via EFT options 3) Referral Payout for each month/category is communicated 4) Payments made 60days after the month of sale 5) offer higher commission compared to competition 6) various reports are released to help Affiliates 7) very transparent and accurate program 8) Amazon Associates Mobile Policy is in place
Brand Association and Acquisition		1) Junglee.com, audible.com,zappos.com, fabric.com, askville.com, lovefilm.com, dpreview.com, lexcycle.com, pets.com, diapers.com 2) Tie ups for Exclusive Electronic Launches i.e. Lenovo tablets,  Microsoft Entertainment products 3) Recently, company has tied up with Micromax for exlcusive launch of Android one based low cost phone.

It would be very interesting if I get to know more about from you guyz. As they say, everybody has different and unique takes for the same situation so keeping learning agility as one of the strengths into consideration, I would love to welcome all inputs from all of you.

Please share this article as it may reach out to others and probably, that is how we can maximize our learning.

And yes, I would request to read my next 2 blogs which would be on Snapdeal's Digital Marketing Decoded and Ofcourse my common observations and recommendations in order to make out unique brand image.

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FLIPKART's DIGITAL MARKETING STRATEGY DECODED

India has been recently added into emerging and ever shining Digital world and eCommerce has played very vital role besides mobile and internet penetration. In such scenario, every top investors are trying their best to leverage this opportunity as every top leader of the world has admitted that 21st Century belongs to India and the pace at which innovations are taking place in this realm is something I would say unstoppable and incredible.

So keeping this new digital wave into consideration, I was curious to know about what these top eCommerce giants are doing in this space as this concept has now shifted from introduction to growing stage and how they are taking an advantage of this 24*7 connected world. I have started analyzing top 3 leaders of eCommerce industry that actually drive the major part of the eCommerce show.

To begin with, Here I wanted to show you the comparison of all 3 big giants of eCommerce Industry but due to space constraint, I opted for sharing my study by each company as an individual. In next 2 blogs, I would like to share my study of other two companies and in the 4th blog, I would like to share my common observations and recommendations based on my study and understanding.

eCommerce Giant		Flipkart
Founders		Sachin Banssal & Binny Bansal. Owned by Singapore based holding company
eCommerce Drivers		Mobile and Internet for location-based marketing , Personalization and Customization to meet the needs of each customer, User friendly shopping experience, Easy accessibility and availability, Wide range of products, Competitive price through offers and discounts
Started in		2007
Headquarters		Bangalore, India
Business Model		Online Inventory and Market Place
Revenue Model of eCommerce Industry Comprise of		Pricing, Packaging, Shipping, VAS etc. Selling goods it stocked to consumers at prices lower than traditional brick-and-mortar stores. Working with min. profit and gaining from economic of scale is how it works. Selling Inhouse branded services and products to customers.
Size of the Market Place		No of Sellers - 3000 Unique Visitors per month - 28mn(Oct'14) Registered Users - 22mn Product Categories - 24 Products Listed(Catalog) - 15mn Total Sales FY12-13  - $1bn
Financial Scenario		1) Recently raised $1bn funding from investors 2) $1.7bn total funding raised since its launch 2007 2) Valuation - $5bn to $7bn
Top Investors		Naspers, Tiger Global Management LLC, Accel Partners, Morgan Stanley Investment Management, GIC, ICONIQ, Sofina and Vulcan, Dragoneer Investment
VAS		30 day return policy, Delivery withini 2 days, cash on delivery, Free Shiping, Card Swipe on Delivery
Inhouse Products/Service		1)Flipkart Flyte - Online Music Store 2) Flipkart DigiFlip- online digital products store 3) FlipkartFirst- Annual Subscription Service,Free shiping In a day & same day guarantee, 24*7 service 4) PayZippy - Payment Gateway Solution 5) eKart - Logistics Service arm 6) Fliptomania - First Brick and Motor Store
Payment Options		1) Internet Banking (Tie up with 45 banks) 2) E-Gift Vouchers 3) Cash on Delivery (max order value of Rs 50,000) 4) Credit card swipe on delivery 5) Credit card/Debit card - Visa, Master Card 6) Wallet (Topped up, Store credit, Promotional balance) 7) mobile payment 8) EMI (HDFC, Citi, SBI, ICICI) min order value of Rs 4000/-
Sales Promotion Techniques		Rebate, Deals, Refunds, Coupans, Qunatity Deals/gifts, Full Finance @0%, Instant cashback
Advertising budget 2014-15		Rs. 75cr
Ad Agencies		Happy Cretive Services
Digital Marketing Startegy Focus		1) Customer Service Information 2) Brand Building and Positioning 3) Customer Enagagement and acquisition 4) Trageting Youth
Website Rank		Google Page Rank - 6/10 Alexa Website world Rank - #109 Daily Page Views - 10.1mn
SEO		Load Speed - 3 sec Backlinks - 12214 User Interface - very Good Alexa Site Navigation Rating - 4.5/5 Keywords - Flipkart, Online Shopping, Buy books online, online book store, online shopping India, online shopping website, online shopping store Organic SEO Rank - 1
Consumer Search Trends of Past 12 Months (Google) Part1		Web Search -100 Image Search - 100 News Search - 70 YouTube Search - 16
Consumer Search Trends of Past 12 Months (Google) Part2		Top Web Searches - Goa, Tripura, Mizoram, Meghlaya Top Image Searches -Haryana, Tamilnadu, Karnataka, Kerala, Top News Searches - Haryana, Odisha, kerala, karnataka, Tamilnadu Top YouTube Searches -karnataka,Maharashtra,Tamilnadu, AP
Google Adwords		PPC Search ad- Category based text ads Display - Product's offers based ad images Gmail - Content/Topic based Text ads Keywords missing - Online books shopping, online shopping are not showing top of page 1 rank for flipkart Keyword Targeted - FLIPKART Paid ad rank - 6 or 7 Overall Paid Search Performance - Good
Remarketing		Remarekting activates if customer visits site and clicks any display/search ad
Successgul Brand Campaigns		“Fairy tale”, “No kidding, No worries”, “Shopping Ka Naya Address” and "Don't Shop, Flipkart It”, "Shope Anytime, Anywhere!" "Big Billion Day", "Singles Day"
TV Commercial Strategy		1) Objective is to build brand as a verb for shopping 2Target biggest event of the year i.e. IPL T20 2014 3) Total 29 ads released since 2011 4) Portraying kids as adults in ads gives higher brand recall 5) Ads targeted at Pan India shoppers of all generation 6) Ads aimed to popularise the brand as a verb 7) Testimonial based creative campaigns to demystify the fear of online shopping experience 8) Mobile App download TV ad to increase mcommerce value 9) Luanching Campaign i.e. The Big Billion Day on 6th oct'14
Facebook Strategy		1) Category Focused FB page i.e. books, gaming, fashion etc. which is for building engagement with fans 2) Deals and Offers based FB page which is for customer acquisition 3) Likes - 3.3mn 4) Seasons to Festives to Birthday based cover photos 5) Avg. 3-4 posts per day basis 5) Updates on new products and customer quiries 6) response on customer complaint is average and inconsistent 7) Running contests/gamification 8) Exclusive customer tab for support 9) Avg Response per Post - 40-50 10) Focus is on customer acquisition and engagement 11) Customer queries response is area of impro. 12) Social Listening/Emotional Connect - Average
Twitter Strategy		Engagement Based Marketing 1) Followers - 160K 2) Updates on new product, offers and discounts using appealing videos and images 3) Tech@Flipkart execlusive channel on tech updates 4) Running Product/Service based contest like Flipkartfirst, AcerA1onFlipkart 5) Avg. 2-3 product offer/launch based posts per day basis 6)FlipkartSupport Exclusive channel on quiries solution 7) Flipkart-Offers Special offers based channel 8) 24*7 customer service channel 9) Real time connect 10) response on customer query is on real time 11) Focus is on customer service, engagement and acquisition 12) Social Listening/Emotional Connect - Good
Linkedin Strategy		1) uodate on company info updates 2) Followers - 70K
Youtube Strategy		1) It does not have its own channel 2) It executes lots of youtube campaigns i.e. search page, display ad, video ad etc. 3) Total 29 videos uploaded 4) Total Video Views -1.4mn
Pinterest Strategy		1) Pinterest startegy is very unclear 2) deals/offer based pinterest 3) 8 boards and 290 followers.
Google+ Strategy		Theme Based Marketing 1) Followers - 500K 2) 1-2 Posts on per day bsis 3) Less focus on deals/offer 4) More focus on company updates, product launch update besides Festive/season/customer mood based posts 5) focus is on more on engagement and brand building rather customer acqusition 6) Interaction/engagement with follower is area of improvement
Content Marketing Strategy		1) It has its own official blog page(http://blog.flipkart.com/) 2) Blog page gives updates about company, Industry, tech etc. 3) It has its own unique tech focused blog too(http://tech-blog.flipkart.net/) 4) PR release page also exists 5) PR release about company info, events, exclusive product/service updates
Integrated Channel Across social media platforms		1) No of offers post varies across social platforms 2) No of post per day per platform also varies 3) quality of experience management/query response /service also varies across all platforms. 4) Level of engagement with users/followers also varies across platforms
Mobile Marketing Strategy		1) Mobile optimized website is available 2) Mobile app on all platforms(iOS, Android, Windows) 3) 5mn downloads, 4.3 rating, responding to each negative review 4) 25% sales via mobile 5) Campaigns aiming towards Product launch, Acquisition, Engagement and Retention 6) Mobile Remarketing does not seem to be part of strategy 7) Mobile weekend offers to target repeat purchases.
Affiliate Marketing Straetgy		1) Earn upto 15% for each purchase on website 2) Payment via Gift Voucher and EFT options 3) Referral Payout for each month/category is communicated 4) Payments made 45days after the month of sale 5) offer lower commission compared to competition 6) various reports are released to help Affiliates 7) lack of transperancy and inaccuracy in the program
Brand Association and Acquisition		1) Flipkart + OLX Joint Marketing Campaign 2) Flipkart Acquired Myntra - Online Fashion Portal 3) Tie ups for Exclusive Electronic Launches i.e. Xiomi, MSI gaming laptops, Samsung Galaxy S5 mini, MOTO G etc. 4) Recently, company has tied up with Spice for exlcusive launch of thier Android one based low cost phone.

It would be very interesting if I get to know more about from you guyz. As they say, everybody has different perception for the same situation so keeping learning agility as one of the strengths into consideration, I would love to welcome all inputs from all of you.

Please share this article as it may reach out to others and probably, that is how we can maximize our learning.

And yes, I would request to read my next 3 blogs which would be on decoding Amazon's and Snapdeal's Digital Marketing  besides one blog specific to my common observations of how these 3 top giants are actually performing and recommendations in order to make out unique brand image.

Read More