Measuring beyond fans and feedback rate

Brands have been frantically accumulating fans (or likes) with a hope of increasing their brand value. Businesses have started adapting different ways to attract fans for their brands with the most popular one being the “Like” gate. Incentivizing consumers in exchange for a like with the intent to grow their Facebook presence may seem like a killer move. Sure, it is a great first step to grow the size of your community but that by itself does not indicate your success. Are you better off having 100,000 fans or 1 million fans? What does the number of fans mean to a brand?

The number of fans a brand has is a mere indication of the size of your community, it says very little about the health and the interactions that happen within your community. Monitoring your fan health becomes vital to ensure your fans remain engaged. The question is how you are able to accomplish it. The answer to your question is ----- Fan Health Score (FHS)

Fan Health Score (FHS)x = f(FRx ERx IFx AUx Ux)

where x is the fan page under consideration

Fan health Score (FHS) is a function of 5 different variables that indicate the state of your Facebook community. They are weighted based on the level of importance they hold in deciding your fan health. For example, higher feedback rate will impact your score more than higher impression per fan rate. The explanations of the variables are given below:

FR – Feedback rate: Feedback is the interactions (Likes+comments) you receive per post, the rate of which is computed using the formula (comments + likes)/Impressions.

ER – Facebook edgerank of your page: FB EdgeRank is a complex algorithm of sorts framed by the folks at Facebook to determine newsfeed optimization (who views your wall post and who doesn’t). Thankfully, we have a tool now to determine a brand’s edge rank [1]which makes life that much easier.

IF – Impressions per fan: Impressions per fan is nothing but the measure of fans who actually view your post, which is the total impressions per post divided by the number of fans.

AU – Active users: This indicates the number of people who interacted with or viewed your page or its posts.

U – Unsubscribes: Also referred by Facebook as unlikes, are the number of people who choose to unsubscribe from your page so that your stories will not appear in their Newsfeed in the future.

Now that we have the explanations out of the way, our next step is to identify the variables, plug in those numbers and voila you have your fan health score. The resulting score is a number between 0 – 10.

Fan Health Score (FHS)	Performance indication
0 – 3	Poor
4 -6	Average
7 -10	Good

One thing to keep in mind is that FHS indicates the current state of your fan base based on activity that happens regardless of your current strategy. If your goal is to increase the number of fans, your FHS might be low but if you are in an active engagement mode make sure FHS is at least above 5. The score would help you understand the effectiveness of your strategy and make appropriate changes based on it. Once you have your score and have understood the effectiveness of your strategy, the next step is optimizations to improve your score..... and that is for another day......

---

[1] Edgerank calculator is not a Facebook published tool. It is a tool developed by a third party based on Facebook’s algorithm

Interview with Avinash Kaushik from TheBizMedia on Vimeo.

ICC says WADA, BCCI says Wat the...

Sports, and according to me cricket - What’s happening in there??? Well, Team India is enjoying their well deserved break owing to the overkill of cricket in the past few months. But can they really take the chill pill and not be in the news for sometime??? My guess would be NO.

With no games and very little brand endorsements (blame the recession), team India is struggling to stay away from the limelight. This time though, it is not the usual “Captain cool hooks up with a bollywood babe” or “Kambli crying yet another time on TV”. It’s about BCCI’s take on the “whereabout” clause of World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). OMG that sounded too technical.

Let me explain – this clause makes it mandatory to disclose a cricketer’s whereabouts three months in advance. As always, ICC’s adoption of this clause, like the other sports governing authority, was objected by BCCI. It is embarrassing because BCCI is the only cricket board that has raised its concern stating it as an intrusion of privacy and security. All sports personalities (except cricket) in India have signed the dotted line but still BCCI is apprehensive about it and is trying to convince ICC to frame its own anti-doping code. This decision of BCCI is obviously fueled by concerns raised by members in team India (read: Sachin & Dhoni).

Though some sports personalities, (the likes of Nadal and Federer) have had similar concerns initially, they did agree to the code and abide the law. I wish this will be the case with team India as well. I really hope ICC does not succumb to BCCI as always and take a firm stand on its decision. We will have to wait and see what is going to happen in the coming days.

Dooms Day Guide for Dummies

12212012 -->Crack this code and you’ll know what I am talking about. Ok let me give you some more hints… Nibiru, 11:11, Time-zero, Polar Shift, Edgar Cayce, the I-Ching…No??? Still no clue??? All right, I was just showing off a bit there… Some easier clues now à The Mayan prophecy, December 21, 2012, End time prophecies. Yeah you are right, it is about the end of the world or as we all know “The Armageddon”. The world is coming to an end and I can prove it. Oh what the heck, who am I kidding??? Continue reading with no expectations (people who have read my earlier posts would know by now)

I’ve always wanted to know what this conspiracy was all about. Now that I have started publishing every single thing I discover, thanks to Web 2.0, I shall tell you guys what I found. To be honest with you, this stuff is scary when you know just know one side of the story. Well less of rambling and more of the findings.
In a nutshell, Mr.Nibiru (fondly known as rogue planet) is on its way to enter the solar system and have a friendly collision with the earth. The impact would be so huge that it would disrupt the entire planet and would mark the end of the world. Yeah I know, your thinking I am ripping of some parts of Armageddon (the movie) and narrating a movie of my own. But NO, this is the prophecy. Call it coincidence or sheer Hollywood miracle; US will be the country that will face the impact directly. Hahaha…

There are a few facts (fictions rather) that lead to this discovery though.
Fact 1: Ancient Mesopotamians and Mayans had discovered that a massive planet, Nibiru, was about to enter the inner solar system and doom the Earth. The Mayans have indicated this on their long calendar and apparently the day was adjudged to be 12/21/2012 which marks the end of the Mayan calendar.
Fact 2: This is something that actually got me thinking, primarily due to the credibility of this man. Albert Einstein has stated that the earth’s magnetic poles are shifting. The North Pole is moving toward Siberia. As these poles shift, the weather systems of the earth also change. There has been unusual weather around the world in the last 20 or so years. The closer Nibiru gets to our solar system, the more their magnetic flux affects the orbits, axis and trajectories of the planets in our system. Fortunately, there is no evidence that this would collide with postulated doom’s day. Whew!!!
Fact 3: Prophecies of Nostradamus, Edgar Cayce and other fore-tellers have also predicted a catastrophic apocalypse. I have never believed in them and never will so I am not gonna ponder over it.
Fact 4: Polar ice caps melting, volcanic eruption, frequent earthquakes, Tsunami, unusual climatic changes suggests these are piling up to create a massive destruction of some sort. But then again there is no proof of date. I believe this is all an effect of global warming and can be controlled only if we get more “socially conscious”
Fact 5: Religious scriptures also talk about the arrival of Anti-Christ, shift of power to the east, economic turmoil and stuff like that. But yeah, if there was an Anti-Christ, it would have been Hitler himself, as he was one person who closely matched the specifications of that guy. But yeah, he’s dead and we still exist which is good enough at the moment!

All of these are more of a fiction than anything else, except maybe the global warming issue. My guess is that only a tiny fraction of people truly believes that Armageddon is coming in December 2012. But their uncritical acceptance of this story worries me as a warning of the dangers of our current scientific illiteracy. If at all a threat exists to our planet, it’s only due to global warming and we will have to deal with it by being more conscious.

One of funniest things about this Nibiru story is that it is a rerun – there was a big Internet concern that Nibiru would destroy the Earth in May of 2003. Something tells me this didn't happen, yet now the same myth is resurrected. Are we condemned to suffer a Nibiru scare or will people come to their senses??? Lets hope we live that long to witness it ;)

Social Networks & India

Back from my slumber and all ready to post!
IPL has not lived up to its expectations and I am running out of topics to blog about it. “Fake IPL Player” is doing a good job at it anyway. I have become a devout follower of his blog plus he has more insider information. He has got IPL live and kicking to some extent!!! So, back to today’s topic of interest – Social Networking
Off late @ work, I have been doing a lot of research on social media and how companies can leverage it. Businesses have started to take it seriously and they believe it’s not a fad. Social media is here to stay!!! Now this got me thinking (something I don’t fancy doing most often) “hmmm… really???”

I am not gonna talk about how businesses over here are leveraging it but rather why businesses in India are not making use of it! Social networks, in particular, Facebook, and Twitter have caught up well in India and are slowly replacing Orkut which to me is becoming more of “Porn”kut these days. You don’t believe me do you? I knew it. Being the professional that I am, I have data to prove it. Take a look at the chart above
The first graph dates back to 2007 and the other two are the present day stats. I don’t think I need to explain what the graph indicates. It’s pretty apparent that we have been caught up by the FB (facebook) and Twitter bug. Now looking at the larger scale of things, who is using FB and what kind of businesses could start leveraging it?
Yay!!! Some more stats for you. This is FB’s demographic stats for India. India has a total of 1.7 million active FB users and you have the rest of the demographic data on the chart below. Interestingly, 48% of FB users are Gen Y (18-24). I am sure most of you guys are going -- “Dude, so what’s your point?” So the big question is really “Dude, so what’s my point?” I took this information and tried to identify businesses that could be a best fit for using FB as a marketing channel. For a start, in India, I presume that youth brands should keenly look into this.
One company that popped up in my head instantly was Coffee Day. They have the ideal target group and an established customer base. So I logged into FB to check out their social network presence. I was happy to find that it had 44,158 fans. But, interestingly enough there is no participation directly from the company; I could only find user posts, reviews and user uploaded pics. I don’t understand why coffee day isn’t seeing this as an opportunity to connect with their customers and enhance their brand image.
Consumers have moved online and traditional marketing channels no longer hold good. For a start, businesses should at least get involved. If you don’t believe me this is how CCD’s fan page looks like. Just to let you guys know how active certain businesses are, I have also pasted the fan page of H&M, a clothing and accessory store. With over a million fan following, they are so current and up to date in the information they provide. Each tab is live and has some activity going on. They also have an online catalogue of their summer collection, videos, pictures and recent announcements.
Again the question is “Dude, so what?” Well, Ill tell you what --- The best part is its FREE. You can not only enhance your brand image but also use this as your PR channel - No costs involved. People are out there you don’t have to go looking fro them. Companies like CCD have an established brand image, so getting people to befriend you is gonna be a cakewalk. You get to listen to what customers have to say about you. Take the positives from that and showcase them, take the negatives and correct them.

I really believe this is a cool way to connect with your customers and customers would also feel delighted about the fact that companies are listening to what they have to say. I have been really impressed with FB after realizing the potential it holds. Twitter similarly has its own way of helping businesses enhance their image but I am not gonna talk about it cos I realize by now most of you are cursing me. I shall liberate you from my gyaan now.
BTW, just to make a better comparison I tried to look at Shoppers Stop and Globus on FB and found nothing. If you guys happen to find them do let me know. That’s it folks!!! HAVE a FUN!

So wats the latest???

I know it has been a long time and I really thought I wouldn’t post until I am free from my grueling schedule. But when I stumbled upon this piece of information I couldn’t resist myself. Literally, I HAD TO WRITE…. So here I am.

If you guys are guessing, what was so compelling that I had to do this… Well it combined two of my interest Cricket (IPL in particular, not for its novelty) and Marketing… I am sure by now, guys who are following IPL would know where I am coming from… The mystery of the “Fake IPL Player” …. Man, isn’t this awesome… So who is this Fake IPL Player?? He claims that he is a member of the KKR. He describes himself as a “perennial no hoper” and he goes on to say “there’s one thing I do very well. Serve drinks. And that’s what I am expecting do in South Africa”. When he started off, there wasn’t much hype about it, even I read the posts but I brushed it away. But, boy! He is so interesting…

I am not here to write my own conspiracy theory on who it mite be, but all I know is, if I were go with my intuition, I think this is one of Dildo’s (for people who are going wtf… Dildo = SRK) marketing gimmick just to get the word out. Even before it all began, KKR was in the limelight of all controversies and I beleive Dildo is just making use of this opportunity to get some popularity via this blog. He is pretty sure, he aint gonna create any buzz from the “cricketing aspect” of his team and I guess he is using this avenue to create a buzz around his team.

I should give it to the fake IPL player for choosing that name for SRK. I am sure there aint no better name for him that can fit him to the T. I am so compelled to use the F or the B word to prefix his name every time I mention him, now dildo somehow reduces my compulsion to a great extent. For people who don’t have any clue on this here is the link…read it directly from the horse’s mouth, it is more interesting… http://fakeiplplayer.blogspot.com/

Ok gtg now….Duty calls!!!! As we get deeper into IPL I will have more on this coming up.

Indian Politics League

Though I couldn’t find anything positive about the whole IPL fiasco, I was able to come up with more reasons that could dent the reputation of the biggest ever cricket tournament, or atleast that’s what they say. From a mere sporting event, IPL has now become a political issue. I should appreciate the people who run our country for their ability to mix politics into everything that is possible.

The latest development regarding this issue is the recent tussle between our Home Minister P. Chidambaram, BJP Leader Arun Jaitley and the BCCI board. Indian politicians are famous for playing the “blame game” and that’s exactly what they are doing right now. BJP is blaming the current government and so is the BCCI board and in his defense, our home minister, is asking the BJP to shut up and BCCI to get lost.

I should appreciate Mr.Jaitley for rightly identifying the opportunity cost involved in this whole debacle with the elections right around the corner. Though this may seem as amusing as ever, the burning issue is the image it has created on India as a nation. In my view, I see this as a lack in ability by the country to provide the required security. I am not gonna blame my country for this, I’d rather blame IPL.
The whole idea of flaunting around money and having things their way is not helping IPL in anyway but put down the nation for their personal gains. Modi has said that he is willing to compensate the franchisees over and above the cost they would have incurred if it was conducted in India. The reason stated by him was that brand image of IPL would take a hit, if it was postponed to the next year. The costs for hosting it expected to exceed $40 million and most of it is benefiting some other nation and Modi is proud in stating that it would help the economy of S.Africa.

This is what Warne had to say about the whole situation “Hopefully they get some good crowds. But, it'll be nothing like if it was in India, and it's a shame it can't be in India” This is also gonna jeopardize the future of Indian cricket because if we do not have the ability to run our own domestic tournament, how will foreign countries tour us in the future. It is truly a shame and India's image is under the radar because of the ego clashes on top.

I am sure I will enjoy this season on IPL as well because of the passion I have for the sport, but I'm sure it can’t override my Season-I memory.