A lot of people have been busy pouring over the documents filed by Facebook, for their IPO. Finally, it seems there is enlightenment about this magical land called Facebook!

Amongst the various Facebook facets that people have commented upon then, is also this one take – that Facebook’s reported numbers of Daily Active Users, may not be an accurate number!

These reported numbers have been questioned for accuracy, also here and here.

The key point that all of these articles make is that Facebook counts as a daily active user, someone who clicks a Facebook like button, on a third party site, without even visiting Facebook.com, either on the web or on the mobile.  And which these authors feel, is an inaccurate way to measure the daily user. Their main argument, it would appear, is that the particular daily user, is someone who cannot then be targeted for advertising, since he does not even come to the Facebook property.

Okay, so before I jump in to my views on the subject, let me explain this third party business, for those who may not quite get it.

If you are a Facebook user, the one obvious type of usage you can do, is when you go to your Facebook profile, say on your wall, as under:

You could also access Facebook similarly on your phone, say:

The authors of the articles mentioned above reckon, that such type of access to Facebook is the only kind that should really count, as being an active usage.

So what other ways CAN you be using Facebook?

Well, there are many web pages all over the Internet, which have plugged in what is known as the ‘Facebook like’ button, on their own pages. It would look something like this below:

What you are seeing here (and which you’d see on many web pages) is an article on a website, with a ‘Facebook Like’ button next to it.

So if you were on this website, and you actually enjoyed this article, you might just click this Facebook Like button next to it.

Now Facebook is counting SUCH clicks to also be a daily active usage of Facebook. And these authors who are questioning the number, are questioning exactly this factor!

Personally, I believe that it is perfectly okay for Facebook to count this as a daily usage number.

And I will give my reasons below.

First of all, let’s understand WHAT happens when a user clicks this particular link.

It is not just about a self-acknowledgment that “I liked this article”! What it does simultaneously is that, it sends out a status update on behalf of that reader, on his Facebook profile, to the effect that “I liked this article”, and with a link to the article.

Something as under:

Liking this page will result in a Facebook update of this kind:

In fact, this article explains this point in detail.

So as you can see, first of all, on account of having clicked that ‘like’ on the web article, there is amplification of the article, and it has a chance to be seen by many OTHERS (the reader’s friends, who may see his update on their walls). This then has a chance, to increase their engagement on Facebook, and also of course, increase traffic to the concerned website.

Note that, EVEN IF the web article did not carry the “Facebook Like” button, there are ways in which you can “Facebook Like” anything that you see on your browser. Thanks to “Facebook Like” browser plug-ins. I have one installed on my Chrome browser, as you can see below:

So anytime someone clicks such a Facebook Like button:

1. They are acknowledging that they are Facebook users
2. That they are logged in to Facebook at that time
3. That they want their Facebook friends to know that they liked a particular Web URL

And on account of this, many of their friends may ALSO engage via Facebook to that particular web article.

So why should this NOT be a legitimate Facebook usage?

The observers who are questioning this count worry about Facebook not being able to reach this user, via its’ ads. And hence, they feel, that such usage should not be counted as daily active usage.

Well, from a pure earnings’ standpoint (and which is of interest at IPO times, I guess), this may be a fact. For now at least. I presume, theoretically, there may be ways for reaching this user for some form of advertising or the other, later on. And I will not put this beyond the ingenious engineers at Facebook.

But from all other, non-revenue aspects, I believe that participation, even via third party, external sites, IS a perfectly legitimate use of Facebook, and cannot be questioned.

At this point, I may also emphasize another key element that people should think about, when they think of Facebook, especially in context of its comparison to most other web properties.

There has to be a recognition that the web is changing, and that content is getting mobile!

Time was when Amazon’s reach was the number of people who logged in to Amazon.com.

Then Amazon got affiliates. And allowed other websites to carry Amazon shopping options. Now if I were on a gardening blog, and saw a gardening book offered by Amazon, there was a chance that Amazon could have reached me, without my having gone to Amazon.com.

Think Google and Google search ads.

Earlier, you’d see Google ads on the Google search engine, when you searched for some topic. The ads would appear on the right side.

And then Google enabled other content providers to also carry Google ads. So again, if I went to a gardening blog, and the blogger had enabled Google ads, those ads would appear on the blog as well.

So if a gardening tools advertiser had picked some gardening related keywords to advertise on, his ad would be seen by a user reaching that blog, and who did not even go to Google to search!

And the feature of Facebook like buttons on external websites, is a part of this dynamic web 2.0 world. Especially in the case of Facebook, which is a Social Utility (being different things to different people at different times!), the important part is about creating a Facebook ecosystem.

And it has clearly created that in a big way!

Then, for a Facebook ecosystem, measuring the usage by considering how many people came to the website, Facebook.com, would in fact, be an inaccurate estimate of the impact that Facebook has on people’s lives, on a daily basis!

I believe if 450-odd million people connect with a Facebook property or link, one or the other way, that’s clearly more power to Facebook. And irrespective of the reach of advertising to these folks, these guys count!

Now, if it was about the little +1 on the corner that I see when I access Gmail, and which I do nothing about, and if Google were to treat THAT as active Google+ usage, then that would indeed be wrong. No matter what changes Google does to the user agreement!

Anyone who knows me a bit knows that I am an avid Bollywood fan. But that does NOT mean that I watch all films. I do have my favorites and I do have hunches. And I end up seeing a lot of films in the process. From a film marketer’s point of view, I would consider myself a top consumer.

One of the last big releases of the year, from a successful film maker and starring a popular and also successful pair released last week, viz. Tees Maar Khan. Ordinarily, I would have not waited for reviews and would have seen a film with such pedigree. But somehow, due to a hunch that the movie may not be so great, and also a basic paucity of time, I held back. And I am glad that I did. Because the verdict was out by early Saturday. On Facebook and Twitter, the film was flamed. And I was glad that I had not wasted my time on it.

I do not understand so much about movie making economics, so I am not sure if Tees Maar Khan will still end up recovering its costs or not. But overall the film has flopped. And there is no denying it. And two very critical factors in the failure of the film are:

1. Social Media – Facebook, Twitter etc. – that enables reviews and opinions from people spread out faster, and

2. The fact that ‘people trust people like themselves’. So much for the number of stars the film got, in the newspapers. That is only one reviewer’s opinion. I will trust my friends and people of that kind.. !

This article on Film Marketing shows the impact that Social Media is having on Hollywood as well.

A few specific quotes from the article are as under:

When negative Twitter commentary seemingly torpedoed the Sacha Baron Cohen film “Bruno” in July 2009, movie executives started talking in solemn tones about the ability of social networking to sway attendance. The era of using marketing to trick consumers into seeing bad movies was drawing to a close.

It was mostly lip service.

Yes, as it says, there was denial in Hollywood as well. Although they sensed the possibility of a Social Media impact, and talked about it, they did little in terms of actual response. So what was the result?

As Hollywood plowed into 2010, there was plenty of clinging to the tried and true: humdrum remakes like “The Wolfman” and “The A-Team”; star vehicles like “Killers” with Ashton Kutcher and “The Tourist” with Angelina Jolie and Johnny Depp; and shoddy sequels like “Sex and the City 2.” All arrived at theaters with marketing thunder intended to fill multiplexes on opening weekend, no matter the quality of the film. “Sex and the City 2,” for example, had marketed “girls’ night out” premieres and bottomless stacks of merchandise like thong underwear.

But the audience pushed back. One by one, these expensive yet middle-of-the-road pictures delivered disappointing results or flat-out flopped.

And what was one of the reasons WHY this happened?

As a result, studios are finally and fully conceding that moviegoers, armed with Facebook and other networking tools and concerned about escalating ticket prices, are holding them to higher standards. The product has to be good.

Although the article is more about the need to make quality films, the impact of Social Media on pronouncing a verdict on the success or otherwise, of films, is clear and unambiguous. This is true of Hollywood, and becoming increasingly relevant in Bollywood as well!

Why just cinema? In fact, even television shows are impacted significantly, by Social Media chatter.

Check this data about Twitter and its relevance to television programming.

It is clear that with smartphones, streaming television, and a fundamentally multi-tasking attitude of people, the activities of watching television and tweeting, often happen simultaneously. The tweets could be about not believing Barkha Dutt’s words as she tries to give her side of the story in #RadiaGate or it could be your view on the singer in Indian Idol. It could also be about the bizarre twist that the story takes in your favorite soap opera, or your opinion on the commentator at the cricket game.

The tweets (or facebook posts or blogs or whatever) have a tendency to create larger opinions. Whether a program ‘works’ or not. Whether a TV anchor is doing a good job or not. Whether a channel does good coverage of sporting action or not. Suddenly in addition to your isolated TV watching (or maybe with few friends or family), you have a whole world out there, ‘watching with you’ and also ‘talking to you live’, about their feelings regarding the television program! Your opinions are obviously subject to their influence now!

So if you are in the television or movie business, these are not mere statistics. These are real signs to watch for, to deal with. The success of your film or your television program, WILL have dependence on the chatter in Social Media. The earlier you accept this, the better.

Once you accept it, and you are still responsible for the marketing success of your entertainment product, what can you do about it now? Or can you do anything at all?

Here are a few thoughts:

1. You cannot get away with an ordinary product. Sorry, there are no short cuts anymore. Word gets out. It gets out fast. Fewer suckers are available to test your product, if it is fundamentally not good. So work on creating a good product, in the first place!

2. Talk to your audience before the release of your film, or the launch of your television program. Use the Social Media channels to create the right expectation around your product. Most of the time, a film bombs because people were expecting something very different. Or the wrong audience went in, they did not like the film, and then the wrong buzz started on Social Media. By talking to your potential viewers in advance, setting up the film / TV program, for what it really is (and what it ISN’T as well), you make sure that the audience that likes that kind of entertainment, will only watch, and they may actually like it, and start sharing good tidings about your film / TV show.

3. Don’t oversell. A lot of the buzz on Social Media, prior to the release of a film, centers around the reports that one has picked up, and the anticipation therefore, about how the film will turn out. If there has been aggressive selling, there is every chance that the expectations will be very high, and as soon as these are not met, the chatter on Social Media will swing to how the film did not measure up! And disaster follows, then. An example of this may be the new show about to be launched on Imagine TV, with Shah Rukh Khan as the host. Marketing messages about it being the greatest show on television or how SRK is being paid close to $ 0.5 mn per episode etc. are creating massive expectations out of the show. Will it measure up in actual delivery? Either ways, the pressure will be very high for the show to be absolutely perfect for everyone. A tough expectation to live up to.. !

4. Listen, monitor.. : Whether it is a film or a television show, listening in to what your consumers are talking about, on Social Media, is absolutely critical. Listening, and then acting on the feedback. For an ongoing television program, there is no more immediate a feedback loop than Twitter. Even as the show is on, you will see tweets about ‘how the VJ sucks’ or about ‘the bias from the celebrity judges of a reality show’, etc. There is a chance to correct in the next episode and relate better to the audience. Of course, the ultimate opportunity is to crowdsource the complete show, going ahead, based on feedback from Social Media. In the case of a film, there may be low opportunity to correct, since the serious monetization life of a movie these days, is about a week or so. Still, say, Ashutosh Gowariker listened to, and got the feedback that Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Se was a little too long, and people were strongly disliking that fact, AND if he had also kept a shorter edit ready, could he have quickly replaced the prints, and given the film another chance to succeed? Possibly.. !

For the record, our company, Social Wavelength, works with few entertainment brands (amongst other clients) and we would be happy to guide you, for creating a good Social Media strategy for your next film or your next television program! Feel free to contact our sales team at bd@socialwavelength.com.

I would love to get your thoughts / feedback on the above points. Do share them in the comments below..

A lot of brands have high consumer touch points. Footfalls, if you please. Literal footfalls, like in stores. Or airlines. Or cinema houses. Coffee shops. Etc, etc.
Or virtual footfalls, like in a popular web site.
Or remote footfalls like in television channels, with high viewer base.

When such brands go on to Social Media, as they embrace the new platforms like Facebook or Twitter, they do start from zero. Usually, the approach remains restricted to the Social Media space, and fan base is attempted to be built organically, or through other means, but by staying in the Social Media space, and creating interesting strategies, or spending money there itself.

Why not integrate the physical touch points, and convert them to be your fans?? Would that not accelerate the growth of fans on Facebook? How about converting those Footfalls to become your Fans?!

Here is a presentation that I made to the Social Media Club in Mumbai, India, about this proposition:

The interesting element to note is the second part of the story, viz. getting those Facebook fans, back into the stores. That is often forgotten or left to chance. However very little business is actually done on those Facebook pages. The money to be earned is in the stores, and not on Facebook.

The key element is to get the fan from Facebook, back into the stores, spending money. And which is all about converting the Fans back to being Footfalls!

What do you think about this? Do you see a closer integration of messaging in the offline space, and the Social Media space, for a brand? I’d love to read your views. Please share them as comments here!

Enough now, about where the money is in Twitter! I would like to answer that question here and now!!

Now, you could be selling bananas in Denver, CO or you could be an agent for printing machinery in New York, or you could be a hot shot investment banker in Singapore or you could be running a play school in Mumbai. I may not be able to answer the question for all of you in just this one post.

But I will take a generic example, and hope you can figure out your hypothesis from this example. And find your own pot of gold from Twitter, if you can

So the most generic example will have to be one, where someone is seeking to sell, and make money as a result. So say, you are a small store selling laptop computers or books or clothes or cameras or whatever! If Twitter had to work for you and make some money for you, you would want it to point you to buyers of your products, isn’t it? Can Twitter do this? It sure can.

As a salesman, making cold-calls, what would be the perfect timing? To be at the right place at the right time! Like you were a salesman of guitars, and you walk into a home, just as the parents have decided that they will get their son a new guitar. Could it get any better for you, as a salesman?

Can Twitter play out this fantasy for you? Sure, if you would only stop and look.

If a person was in the mood of purchasing something, what would she say to herself? Or to her friends? What kind of statements are typical of this stage of buying?

“Planning to buy”, “Thinking of getting”, “Thinking of buying”, “Which one should I get”, “Should I buy”, etc. etc. Isn’t this obvious?

Now, Twitter being nothing but simple conversations of this kind, these are the kind of phrases that people use ALL the time. And you as a seller can simply look up the public timeline of Twitter, and find the people who are using these phrases!

No, you do not need thousands of followers for doing this. No, you do not need to be a Dell or an HP to do this. No, you do not need any programming skills to do this.

In short, this simple trick is available for anyone who chooses to use it. And then dig that one step deeper to find those buyers who are looking to buy what you sell, and perhaps, in the areas, where you sell. And you are on! At the right place, at the right time.

Check out these searches on http://search.twitter.com and once you have got it, and if you are a seller, you will not ask the question again, “Where’s the money in Twitter?”!

Now if you are not selling something, but you are into other activities, you just need to extrapolate the example shown above, for your own area of interest.

So if yours is a medical practice looking to attract patients, you may want to track the phrases, “looking for a cure”, “cure for”, “know a doctor” and such.

So did you find your magic phrases? Is there enough Twitter traffic for those? Good, so keep counting the cash, then! Cheers!