Social Media adoption by Indian businesses

Rajesh Lalwani, the Managing Director of Scenario Consulting Private Limited, in an interview talks about the current state of Indian businesses and its move towards social media. (Have used the points from his interview with due permission) Also check his popular blog at 'Rajesh @ Blogworks'.

Indian businesses prefer mainstream media and do not want to take the risk of testing the waters of Social Media. Why? Traditional media tools such as the print media (newspapers, magazines), and electronic media (T.V. Radio) have greater reach. They reach out to many people at once which help to establish the message that the sender (the businesses) wants to deliver. The chances of recall are higher which adds to the overall image of the brand. How many of you remember the full page ad of the new Yahoo! In 'The Times of India'? And how many remember the pop up ad in any website you last visited? The chances are very less or bleak... On one hand we have the urge to do new things and follow the social media strategies adopted by a Dell or Satrbucks. On the other hand, we need to fight our biggest hurdle – Internet penetration. The current penetration is only 5-7%

Social media, is an engagement tool which involves building conversations/collaborations and understanding what people are saying. In India, social media has been used as a tool to engage with the employees. Most businesses maintain their own blog which helps them reach out to customers. This builds a relationship of trust. Customers know you as a company and can relate to what you say. And then there are social media channels such as social networking sites (Facebook, Orkut, Friendster), professional networking sites (LinkedIn) , microblogging sites such as Twitter, video sharing sites (Youtube) etc which brands are using to reach out to more customers. This is a gradual process and the results happen only over a period of time. These channels help to get feedback instantly and many brands have used this as an opportunity that brings about the co-creation of a product.

Helping clients plan and choose a social media strategy is vital. It's not about letting clients have a presence on say Twitter but it is about Twitter adding value to the business of a client. India has about 350 million mobile connections. The best way to use this is to make it internet-friendly. There will be a sea change in the way businesses operate and use social media. Brands will engage with customers directly, resolve customer queries and complaints, will take in feedback and suggestions among others.
Companies must prove that the implementation of social media has had a significant impact on the company's growth as a whole.

Source: Digital Media Across Asia