Facebook Marketing

B2B or B2C - it is all Human to Human now!


Here are a few tips and best practices that I have found fruitful for social media marketing on FB. No big lectures and huge explanations - just a few pointers I strongly feel noteworthy...


1. Try different type of content because you never know your audience as much as you think you do. A study of their engagement is your best market research. Below are some different types of content you could try out.


a.) Memes and cartoons - People dig them and they are the most shared types of content!

b.) A single catchy line - this could be a question or an attractive status message. Remember "Less is More!"

c.) A photo with a link if you need to navigate them out of FB

d.) A series of photos in an album from your latest event or from you latest product launch. Make sure you name the album and give it a proper heading so that people to talk about it. It shouldn't come under "iOS photos or Mobile photos or Timeline photos".

e.) A photo with a simple question

f.) A puzzle or poll or fill in the blanks

g.) Videos and infographics are always a hit

h.) Organizational news and pictures with employees


2. Post at the right times of the day and at the right times of the week. Check your notifications for the exact times or see the time when users comment. The ones that comment most are the ones that give you most engagement. Draw out a pattern for their timings. This could take a while but will be totally worth it.


3. Make your posts personal. Using 1st person is recommended. Which one of the below posts do you think is more noteworthy? (Courtesy: www.postplanner.com)

Today’s special is the bacon double cheeseburger for $5.

or

Hey today for lunch I’m stuffing my face with this massive bacon double cheeseburger! And it’s only $5 bucks! ~Scott


4. Reply to comments, thank users for compliments and always answer them when a concern is raised. The mind space you create in users when they feel a connect towards your brand is the first step towards brand loyalty. This needn't even be your target customers. It can be anybody, even a 13 year old student who just happened to show an extra interest in your technology-centered start up. You never know how word of mouth spreads!


5. Use your hashtags wisely. You just have to be sensible with this one. One hard set rule would be to not use many. You need not use them with every post also. It is a personal call but be rest assured that there are a lot of folks out there who find the overdose of hashtags annoying.

On Twitter and Instagram, hashtag is all you need. Facebook is still slow on this. I think I'll die waiting for hashtags to come on LinkedIn.


6. Check out your analytics! It's pure genius and it takes no genius to figure them. Just be patient.


7. Your profile picture and cover picture speak a lot more than 1000 words. Coming from a Design background, it irks me to say this, but guys...please make sure all your pictures are never pixelated. FB does that for you anyway, to suit all platforms (mobile, PCs, tablets, etc.). So when you upload a picture, make sure it is of high quality.


8. Complete your "About" section. People come to your Page seeking content and information. Don't send them away disheartened.


9. Run a contest. People love winning - bank on it! Nonetheless, do read the terms and conditions of FB before running a contest. If you didn't know, FB contests need to be strictly run on 3rd party apps. Simple messages like "Like our Page to enter the contest" alone can make FB remove your Page.


So all you Page owners, never underestimate the authority of FB to take down your Page. You'll be surprised at the number of Pages they take down every single day. Have a quick look here at the Facebook Page Guidelines.


Have fun Facebooking!

I am Mallu

Being born a Malayali and living as a quintessential one - whether it is the best thing in the world, I don't know. Will I find out? I don't know. Is it a blessing? I can for sure say yes.

If you are Indian, you must have often heard one say - Mallus are everywhere! If you've been to a stand-up comedy in India - making a joke out of this not-so-trivial fact is undoubtedly on the agenda. They say if you ever went to the Moon, you'd find a Malayali there too, selling chaaya (Tea). Exaggerated as it is, there's no smoke without fire (Mallu proverb I've grown up hearing). It is as blatant as it looks. We, "Mallus" are all around the world. And am talking about the 7 continents, not just the 28 other states in India.

Today, when I think of going back to my hometown Kochi, it is only for the joy of parental care and affection. The city I grew up in, the land that contains my roots with all my childhood memories and my chuddi-buddies for life, is nothing but a mirage now; the reason why I said I don't know if being born a Malayali is a blessing or not. That's the thing with us Mallus, once we leave Mallu land, there's no coming back. Unless you go to the Gulf and they throw you out after you've taken what even your children can live with. That's a different set of quintessential Gulf NRIs from Kerala, who slog their ways out in the Arabian deserts to send money back home so that his "aanti" can go to church flaunting that "Gelf" perfume.

When I look back today, I realize there's no way I can ever live in a city where all my dear ones are. There's always my aunt and family in the Gulf, my oldest childhood friend who's settled in the US with her techie hubby, the rest of my childhood friends who are scattered all over the country and outside, my favourite teacher who's gone to Russia to settle down...the list just goes on! Should I be happy that no matter where I go, I will always find shelter? :) I don't know!

Ah. But do not be mistaken, you don't meet Mallus, Mallus happen to you! And Mallus don't just happen to you. We grow on you as well ;)

Top 3 reasons why I would trade anything in the world to be born Mallu again...
#1. Mallu comedy - so here's the deal. Find one person who's grown up watching Mallu movies and movies of any other language and ask him to choose sides.

So how long before he cracked up recalling his favourite Mallu movie dialogue?

#2. Perfect holiday getaway - also home!  A pic sans photographic filters and effects, there's the reason why Kerala is called the God's own country.

#3. Malabari chicken biriyani, Kerala porotta, chilly beef fry, puttu & kadala, appam & chicken stew/ fish molly,  karimeen fry, kappa and meen curry, idiappam & duck roast and naadan kallu. Enough said. And you thought "sadya" was our speciality.

Have you planned your next trip to God's own country yet?

What kind of person do you want to meet?

Me, I love charming people! They are always so cherished! They dance around to your tunes and sing the song you long to hear. They send out a sort of positive energy that stays with you, resonates your thoughts/beliefs/faith and restores your confidence in yourself. That's the thing with these charmers. They make you realize that things are right out there. That you are both the master and the puppet. And that the grass isn't greener on the other side, after all.

Now who doesn't secretly want to be one of them or want to be better than the charmer you already know you are? Perspective - that's what you boil your life down to.

Lucky by these people who you meet and lucky are those who get the better of you (mind you, you may never know who all - you just might be surprised)

Recently, Facebook’s data scientists manipulated the News Feeds of 689,003 users, removing either all of the positive posts or all of the negative posts to see how it affected their moods. When positive expressions were reduced, people produced fewer positive posts and more negative posts; when negative expressions were reduced, the opposite pattern occurred. All this simply proving that we resonate the emotions of people around us and they in turn resonate you in the most trivial yet unimaginable ways.

The trick is right out there...

My 2013 Thanks Giving Note

So 2013 is over. Hmmm. Actions do speak louder than words (I swear it would have meant a lot to me to spend New Years eve with each one of you but am in Kochi this year - my little sister is getting married in a few days) and yet it is also the thought that matters - hence this thanks giving letter/year ending self note for this year.

For starters - Family. Where everything begins and ends. Thanks for making me who I am. Thanks for bringing me up until here. In the year to come, I hope to spend more time with all of you.
Appa & Amma: Thanks for everything. Every single blessing in my life has been directly because of you both.
Billu: Thanks for being the person you are. You are, hands down, the most respectable person I know.
Dheedi: Thanks for being the greatest gift to my family and the biggest support to Appa and Amma.
Lig Chech: Thanks for just being there. Thanks for making me feel I can always come to you. Being with you puts me in my zen mode - believe it or not.
Shajcha: Thanks for all good times I have had with you, during engineering and during my quick trips to Chalakudy. I love being around you. Yes, ok...thanks for your medicines too. You are the best daacter I know!
Bijcha: You are a lot like Billu. Thanks for being such a huge support. I don't know what I would have done if it weren't for you at many points in my life. And cheers to all the fun times we have.
Pappa and Mummy: For putting up with me and everyone else on the planet.
Dai: Thanks for all the pep talks and fun times.
Aby chaya: Thanks for being the best husband to Lig chech. You should know it means a lot to me to see her so happy. 25 years running and I can still see how happy she is when she talks about you. Hats off to that.

Kochi - from my roots to my guts, I owe it all to you.
Sala: Ayra is all I can think of. You've made me the luckiest and happiest aunt ever.
Jo: Will things never change? Platonic feelings aside, I have found my soul mate in you.
Hafzu: I can never be my self with anyone else the way I am with you. I am not going to thank you here because you are the only person who I needn't say it to for you to know how grateful I am.
Palli: Thanks for being there. I love it how you tell me the right things and they are always the things I need to hear - just bang on! How do you do it???
Anju: Time and again, all it takes is that one convo to make me realise how much we've drifted apart and how unfair a deal that has been.
Sumi: Every time I meet you or talk to you, you rekindle my hope of innocence still persisting in this world. You are truly one of a kind.

Bombay. Enough has already been said.
Shank: Bombay starts and ends with you. All the best times and the bad times. All the love and the hate. Oh my, You are Me. 
Raman: A day without talking to you feels so incomplete and thank Heavens for moulding me that way. Thanks for being my 'true friend' (Inside joke)
Snape: Where are you and why am I not with you right now :(
Damoo: Thanks for all the times you have never let me sleep. Thanks for all the pranks. Miss you so much. Hope my city treats you right - just the way your city treated me :)
Bittu: Thanks for being around whenever I have needed you, Bits. I love how I can connect with you. You and Shank should have been twins. It would have been an endless episode of fun and laughter.
Uncle and Aunty: My family in Bombay. I love every minute at Paradise and I can never get enough of both of you. Undoubtedly the cutest couple ever. Thanks for taking care of me like I am a part of the family. I can never repay you with deeds or words but if I could I promise to never let you down.
Rashiiiii: Thanks for being the cutest and sweetest person. Thanks for being your awesome self - always! Never a dull moment when you are around.
Aru & Rosh: Cheers to all the fun times! Wish we didn't have to part.

And finally Mohi: My dearest in Chennai and also one of the sanest, most caring and empathizing people I have come across. Thanks so much, love. Those endless talks about anything and everything - God save our souls :) Miss you tonite.

Beautiful Imperfections - Your thoughts, actions and being

This may sound as random as random can get but I have recently started to believe in the (underestimated) power of talking - just talking. Anything! Nonetheless, each one to his own.

We all have our favourite stories to tell. We all have those people who time and again listen to the same drama unfold every time we say the same story without even changing so much as our hand gestures. Haven't your friends subjected you to this as well? When they start narrating their favourite 100-times-done-and-over stories with the exact sentiments and glint of joy in their eyes... Recently I saw that video again. One which brought the very same tears to me the first time I saw it. 'Tis funny how we still feel the same - the same excitement and the very same emotions and feelings every time we come across those beautiful imperfections life is made of. Like we know the exact depth of penetration in the eyes of the hero in question and yet long to see it again. Well, isn't that the beauty of life itself? About how you can go back and live that moment? Be it through tears of joy or sadness, aren't we living our memories again? Philosophers speak about living for the moment but what about this world that we are living in - which is paradoxically bound by memories of the past and uncertainties of the future?
*** *** ***
It is not about taming the human mind to think practically. That, according to me, is impossible. It is inherent that we think illogically. It is necessary that we talk irrationally, think the unwanted, question the necessary, fight for the forbidden  and sometimes even forbid the mandatory. As oxymoronic as it sounds, in the words of Carl Jung, "What resists, persists".

Letting it be a part in your system - a positive part. It is yours for you are the sole owner of your memory. Memories be it good or bad, circumstantial or by choice - the onus is the result of what your flesh and bones are made of.
*** *** ***
One of the my favourite profs. from MBA school told us about the 'magical world' of happiness which lies behind forgiving yourself. He spoke about how you need to forgive yourself first for going through an act in order to forgive the people who made it circumstantial for you to begin with. To speak about what you resist yourself from speaking about is the beginning of discovering yourself. To attain your 'magical world' is the beginning of empathizing with yourself.

One of my favourite quotes from Oscar Wilde - Man is the least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask and he will tell you the truth #whattawiseman


Check out this video on Beautiful Imperfections

Bombay - Felt. And Left.

They say Mumbai is a city and Bombay is an emotion. No one understands this more than a Mumbaikar who has had to part with this emotion. And him, not more than a non-Mumbaikar who has had to part with it. Why so? It is euphemistic to having your one-day-old iPhone left back at home in a comparison to having lost it for good.

My relationship with Bombay started at the Lokmanya Tilak Terminus and ended at the Chattrapathi Shivaji Airport. Started with a degree in MBA and ended with a degree in life's precious lessons mastered. What seemed like a culture shock initially ended up in me shocking my very self at the end of 2 not-so-academic years.

What is so awesome about one of the most overly crowded cities known to human race, also making dwelling grounds to the second  largest slum in the world?
-The crazy mid nights hours? When people tell you Mumbai is a city that doesn't sleep, believe them. Blindly.
-Town side? Sobo! Everyone's favourite. I can't give justice to the feel if i put it in words. If you haven't been there, here is your checklist #Cafe Churchill #FrangiPani facing Marine Drive #Bade Miyaa Bhuna chicken and rumali roti #Badshah falooda #Trishna seafood
-The Bandra-Worli sea link? One of engineering's finest! Memories of a Monsoon drive on the sea link never loses its spark.
-Chembur Gymkhana? Undoubtedly the best of its kind. If you don't believe me, try their cheese chilly toast. Or better yet the caramel custard. Or the jacket potato. Or the chicken soup. Or the chef's special pizzas. Ok *mouth zipped* And and and...the pan ice cream!!!
-5 Gardens? The evening walks to the sandwich wala and the innumerable late night street chinese dinners are just as wonderfully pleasant as it sounds.
-Fish Koliwada from  the shadiest bar in Bombay? (Can you believe it? There are places shadier than the Jantas and the Yachts!!!)
-The shop-but-you-won't-drop Linking Road? Let alone Irla and Hill Road. And let's never get to Colaba Causeway.
-Paradise? Yes, there is a place called Paradise and it is literally Paradise.
-Or the cotton soft idli at Matunga's Arya Bhavan? Which is my Reason Why I Love Mumbai #187

'Tis simply all this and a 1000 more added with my seraphic bunch. Uhm. Yes. If Mumbai isn't mine, then definitely a few Mumbaikars are.
It is true when people say home is where the heart is. I have found mine, lost it and found it again...because Mumbai isn't my city but Bombay is my emotion :)