APEKSHA HARIHAR GURMAN BHATIA A REPORT ON THE SOCIAL MEDIA STATE OF INDIAN TELEVISION INDUSTRY THE TELEVISION INDUSTRY ON SOCIAL MEDIA HAS EMBRACED THE MARKETING CHANNEL A BIT LATE IN THE DAY. THOUGH THE SOCIAL MEDIA SUCCESS OF THE CHANNELS IS DIRECTLY PROPORTIONAL TO THE TAM RATINGS, MOST OF THEM HAVE A SIMILAR STRATEGY. NONE OF THE CHANNELS IS DOING ANYTHING VIVIDLY DIFFERENT FROM THE OTHER. YOU NEED TO UNDERSTAND THAT SUCCESS ON SOCIAL MEDIA DEPENDS ON THE HOW ORIGINAL THE CONTENT IS. ON TELEVISION, THOUGH EACH ONE HAS A SIMILAR SET OF TARGET AUDIENCE, YOU CAN TELL APART BY VIEWING THE SHOWS EACH ONE HAS TO OFFER. SIMILARLY, ON SOCIAL MEDIA IF YOU DO NOT ACCOMPLISH INNOVATIVE CAMPAIGNS, IT IS NOT GOING TO WORK IN YOUR ADVANTAGE.
DURATION OF STUDY - 30 Day Sample for The Year 2013
1 2 COLORS CHANNEL
Colors, one of the most popular television channel owned by Viacom 18 targets a Hindi speaking crowd in over 90 cities of India. The channel projects a youthful personality. Soon after its launch, the channel hit high numbers owing to popular shows like Balika Vadhu, Big Boss etc. Within the first 10 weeks of the launch, Colors enjoyed a 24% market share and reached the no. 2 spot among competitors. Today, the viewership is skyrocketing and the channel maintains a current average TRP rating of 2, highest being 2.8 of Balika Vadhu.
3 COLORS HAS AN IMPRESSIVE PRESENCE ON FACEBOOK. WITH A FAN FOLLOWING OF 1.9 MILLION,
the content strategy of the channel is pleasing. The growth rate of the page draws a straight line towards the top on the charts, standing at 7.4%. The PTAT score of the page is 4.9% which is above the average industry score. A good community size and a fine growth rate has generated a curiosity within me to exploring more.
4 ENGAGEMENT
Looking at the growth rate, I had assumed the page boasts of a good engagement score. And I was right. The channel has double the score of an average score in this sector. On an average each post receives 6K likes which is excellent.
However, I attribute this score to the popularity of the TV shows more than the channel page on Facebook. There are precisely three reasons for this.
Fans cannot post on the wall (Despite being a viewer oriented channel, it has blocked the opportunity to take any feedback or understand its audience.)
The channel does not interact with fans (Not a single comment has been replied or addressed to.)
3.There are no interesting applications/custom tab (Currently, the channel was highly promoting the launch of the new show Pammi Pyarelal. It could have extended this promotion by creating a fun app but did not.)
5 CONTENT STRATEGY The content on the page can be categorized into the following heads.
There is nothing unique or attractive about the content. There is no effort put into image design, infact some images lack resolution too. Overall it is a shabby presentation. The only effort for designing has been taken for the promotion of a news show Pammi Pyarelal. The posts are interesting. 6 7 Apart from this, lots of images from popular reality shows like Jhalak Dikhlaja are uploaded as a pre promotion of an episode. The channel page has regular updates of 2 posts everyday. 8 CREATIVE
As mentioned above, not all images are not appealing due to being low quality. The cover photos are not innovative either. A set pattern of copy pasting images is maintained on the page. The channel should realize that images attract the users more and drive maximum engagement. If the channel puts in a little effort in design of the posts, there will be more scope for visibility.
CUSTOM TABS
There are no custom tabs and negligible monthly active users. It is startling that the channel has not bothered to launch any tabs even though entertainment has so much scope in custom applications. The tabs HOW THEY CAN are mainly directing users to other social media properties like Twitter, Youtube, Instagram and IMPROVE? Pinterest. Unfortunately the page also has 2 inactive tabs which it has not removed. The very first thing they should do is open up their wall for fan posting and start interacting with their fans. Also, the content and SENTIMENT design can be so much better and interesting. Somehow it depicts that the page is not being handled by professionals. Sentiment is usually analyzed on the basis of the fan posts but since Colors does not allow this, we would They can develop some great not know the sentiment on the page. However, the applications on the page which interactions through comments suggest that it is a are viral by nature. This is happy world for obvious reasons that they love the will enhance their Facebook television shows. marketing and get the fans more engaged.
9 @ColorsTV the Twitter handle of the channel has a huge community size of a little less than 1 lakh, 99K+ followers. The follower growth has been excellent in the last 3 months where they acquired 42K+ followers. This growth rate is brilliant at 75% and showcases the importance the channel is showering on this micro-blogging platform. On an average, 30 tweets are sent out on a daily basis.
10 # ENGAGEMENT
Colors has acknowledged most tweets by users and replied to them within 15 minutes on an average. This is a great ART for customer service. A total of 992 mentions and 900 retweets bought the channel a huge fan following on Twitter.
An interesting takeaway from the charts shows that the most number of tweets are sent out between 9-12 pm which is the prime slot for shows. The hash-tag and twitter handle of Colors is flashed during this time while the show is on, encouraging people to participate in discussions. The concept of a second screen is supported very well by the channel.
# CONTENT STRATEGY
The channel is engaging very well with its followers through chats and QnA sessions. Recently, it completed 5 years and celebrated this by bringing lead actors of various shows to answer questions using the hash-tag #Colorsturns5 calling it Twinterview.
11 A similar QnA session was done with Akshay Kumar during the screening of Special26 in June with the hash-tag #Special26onColors. This is a good strategy since followers love to chat and interact with celebs connected to their television shows and premiers.
3 Hash-tags were created by Colors during 3 months namely #Jhalak, #ComedyNightsWithKapil and #IndianTellyAwards. These have received good interaction levels. Though each show has its own Twitter handles, Colors cross promotes most of them. The content strategy is to promote interaction for latest shows that have just begun or are going to begin. # HOW THEY CAN # SENTIMENT IMPROVE?
Positive sentiment is all over the account. A very small number of negative updates are present. Entertainment is about feeling They can share candid pictures of good and people are attached emotionally stars since this is viral in nature. to television shows. No doubt most GEC Also, fun trivia on stars would be an accounts should have positive sentiment. interesting read for followers. Apart from this, Colors is doing a great job on Twitter.
12 On Youtube, the channel named ColorsTV has 1.7 million views and over 3 lakh subscribers. There are more than 18K videos uploaded by Colors. The video view growth is over 2.9% which is more than the average growth rate in this sector. These figures are quite normal for a television channel since a lot of people enjoy watching repeat telecasts, behind the scenes and follow other activities the channel has to offer.
13 CONTENT
The quality of the videos is good since it is a replication of the same episodes shown on TV. However, a campaign is being run on the Youtube channel called Step of the Week. The viewer has to learn the step shown through the video and upload their video on the channel website. The chosen winner will be gratified with an ipad or a chance to meet Madhuri Dixit who is judging their famous show Jhalak Dikhlaja. However, with over 1.7 million subscribers the views received on the video are negligible.
14 The good thing is the channel interacts and takes part in community discussions. Asking questions and taking feedback about the shows is appreciated.
SCOPE FOR IMPROVEMENT
There are lots of interesting videos that a television channel can upload ranging from star interviews, behind the scene activities and special previews for subscribers.
These videos can further be promoted through Facebook and Twitter. Currently, no tags are being used to enhance the promotion of the videos. Tagging helps in search results.
15 The Pinterest community is very small as compared to other social networking sites. There are only 185 followers. Even though the growth rate of the channel is 14%, it has become stagnant from the month of July. Colors started Pinterest activities only in June 2013 so it is yet to utilize the platform fully. Brands are yet to make their mark on Pinterest and realize the importance of this platform.
16 CONTENT
The channel has 18 boards and 194 pins. The pins could have been more interesting with unique board names and unique images. However, the boards are about different events that the channel has under its brand name. Some boards are also featuring unique photo shoots of stars. This does not come across as original or exciting. There are no images that were not seen in any other platform before.
However an exclusive board has been created for the new show 24 by Anil Kapoor which has been creating quite a buzz. Exclusive pictures from the 1st day of the shoot have been showcased through 6 pins.
17 There is no effort to undertake any activity like commenting or engaging with the users. SCOPE FOR IMPROVEMENT
The channel could have launched a Pinterest content since it was new on the platform, linking it to the massive community on Facebook and Twitter. This would have ensured increase in followers. For instance the board mentioned above, 1st Day of the 24 shoot, is being promoted on Twitter with the hash-tag #24onColors but there is no link to the Pinterest board, motivating users to have a look at the exclusive images.
They have quite a few pictures on Instagram which have not been used on Pinterest.
CONCLUSION
Overall, Colors strategy on social media could have been much better. The only platform they are using very well is Twitter. As one of the most popular channels, their social media platforms should scream this brand image.
18 STAR PLUS CHANNEL Star Plus, one of the oldest general entertainment channels is a part of the 21st Century FOX’s Star India’s network. The channel has been catering to middle aged women since 1992 as Star TV and 1996 as Star Plus. However, with introduction of reality shows the audience has become widespread. Ever since, the channel has maintained its no. 1 position till date. Though, it has been receiving some tough competition from Colors lately in terms of viewership and popularity. The channel is currently stable on 243 GRPs. Diya aur Baati Hum, the top rated show from the fame of Star Plus boasts of 3.7 TVR.
19 Star Plus has a huge fan following on Facebook and is almost touching the 3 million mark.
Currently it has 2.9 million fans and has received 2 lakh + likes during this period. This represents a growth rate of 9.1%. The demographics of the Facebook page have an equal percentage of male to female ratio and 85% of the users are below the age of 30. PTAT of the page has a lot of variation. We believe this is because some posts have been boosted else a remarkable difference of 9K likes per post and 300 likes for another is unexplainable. Star Plus has a 3.7% score which is above the average industry benchmark of 3.4%.
20 ENGAGEMENT
The engagement score of the page is not very impressive. 3K likes per post and 1K+ comments per post is too less considering the 2.9 million fan following. The brand is not making an effort to interact with users through comments even though most posts are question based. It is shocking that not a single comment/response has been given by the brand on the page. We wonder why brands do not understand that being on social media is about engaging with their audience. Mere posting updates do not maximize reach or solve the purpose. It is a two way communication channel.
21 CONTENT STRATEGY The content on the page can be categorized into the following heads.
1 Questions related to the shows
2 Twitter updates The content is neither original nor innovative. The page is relying on the popularity of the star updates with a link leading to shows. Asking questions and 3 more questions everyday is the youtube channel content strategy of the brand.
The post above has been linked to an episode of the serial on the Youtube brand page and the hash-tag #Saraswatichandra has been used. The post has generated buzz and increased views on the video. However, this is a very common content post. Users tend to pass these posts at an eye glance since questions are repetitive. It has been seen and done before. What will really grab the attention of the user is something that they have not seen. This could be behind the scene videos or Instagram images of a live shoot going on at the moment. People would love to share such interesting content.
22 ‘HIT LIKE IF YOU LIKE THE PICTURE’ is definitely not a strategy. This is especially not expected from a brand like Star Plus. They could have certainly come up with something more interesting and engaging.
23 The channel promotes a lot of Twitter activities through Facebook. It seems like more importance is being given to Twitter as a platform for conversations than Facebook. The brand needs to understand that Twitter has a completely different kind of audience and it needs to make similar engaging content on Facebook too. There can be campaigns on upcoming premiers too. The channel currently changes the cover image to display the upcoming movie but it can surely create more buzz around it.
CREATIVES
The post images are great in terms of resolution, dimensions and design. An effort has been put into designing these posts. The cover photos are updated and effectively used as an announcement for various activities that the channel undertakes. Masterchef Cover photo is one of the most creative cover photos and has received a great engagement. Emphasizing on design is key to Facebook marketing success.
24 CUSTOM TABS
The channel has interesting custom tabs on Facebook, promoting the shows. However, there are an average of a negligible 22 monthly users using the application. Infact, the applications are not even promoted through posts. It is next to not building any application. Building apps do not necessarily attract users. Promoting an application through an interesting campaign is the best way to build engagement.
SENTIMENT
The sentiment towards the channel is very positive. There are hardly any negative posts which is a given for a leading entertainment channel. Talking about their favourite shows and connecting with an audience who loves the shows automatically results in a happy atmosphere among users. Negative sentiment in such sectors mainly arises when a character of the show is replaced or the story does not climax according to personal interests.
HOW THEY CAN IMPROVE?
The channels prime concern at the moment should be about building interest around the applications they have created. Probably, concentrating on 1 application at a time will yield results and increase views.
Secondly, they should concentrate on improving post content and include interesting activities in their strategy. This can involve some unseen images of the upcoming episodes to generate curiosity. Star activity on the sets could be another fun element on the page. The images can be branded and designed in a much better fashion.
And lastly, the most important step is to start interacting with users by replying to their comments and appreciating their interest in the shows.
25 The community size exceeds 113K followers which is an excellent number. The channel is chasing a growth rate of 200+ users per day. This does not come as a surprise for such a popular channel that carries out an excellent content strategy.
26 ENGAGEMENT
The brand is engaging very well with users. On an average, each tweet receives 5-6 retweets and replies. The users love commenting on channel updates about shows and are eager to interact with stars given an opportunity. It clearly shows that they are very closely attached and regularly follow the shows and star lives.
27 CONTENT STRATEGY
The channel regularly tweets and retweets. An average of 20 tweets and retweets are sent out on a day. This increases depending on activities conducted like chats or quizzes.
The tweets are highly interactive and viral in nature. Star Plus is doing a good job on Twitter. Questions are asked, chats are conducted and show reminders are constantly tweeted through the channel account. The header image is also very well used to announce an upcoming IIFA awards on the channel.
The content strategy includes the following:
#Show Reminder Various individual hash-tags like #Veera, #DABH and #SaraswatiChandra have been created for popular shows and these are used to create buzz around the show. Along with this, show reminders are tweeted which are very crucial for the GEC sector. Users who are reminded about an upcoming show or an important episode will definitely like to be followers of the channel. It also generates curiosity.
28 #Live chats Star Plus conducts Live Chats with contestants of its reality show India’s Dancing Superstars. With the hash-tag #IDSChat, users send tweet their questions and the channel replies to them. This activity creates immense visibility and reach for the account since many users are excited to chat with contestants.
Another interesting GK quiz was initiated through the hash-tag #SabseBadaChampion, to promote the new reality show by Eijaz Khan.
29 #Emotional Connect The channel capitalizes on emotionally bonding with users. The emotional attachment that a viewer has with TV soaps is replicated in the Twitter space.
#Interactive Interactive posts like questions, captions and votes are taken through Twitter.
30 #SENTIMENT
There is a roar of positive sentiment on the channel page. People seem to love the channel, the shows, the stars and everything related to Star Plus. They regularly comment on images which shows that they are happy everytime something is posted.
31 HOW THEY CAN IMPROVE?
The channel can post some exclusive images of the stars since people are eager to see this and this type of content has a shareable nature. The content is quite similar to what other channels are doing. Star Plus should try and create some unique content to differentiate from competitors.
32 On Youtube, Star Plus has over 3 lakh subscribers and 2 billion views. Between May and July 2013, the channel had an excellent growth rate. It received over 5 million views and 1 lakh subscribers. With video length of an average of 5 mins and 4 seconds, Star Plus uploaded a total of 1108 videos on the channel.
33 CONTENT
Most of these videos are show telecasts and that is the reason why it receives so many views. However, there is interesting content that the channel has started promoting recently. Quick videos are created where stars speak about how they love user comments on Twitter and Facebook, followed by the link of the social media accounts. The link to the video is http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4M0sgjbb5A
34 35 Apart from this reality show contestants are also communicating with users through videos and directing users to chat with them on Twitter. This is a nice way of making the most of two social platforms. The video link is http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUu_bhJsJSI
36 This is the kind of content a channel should upload on the channel. It’s exclusive and is a great way to bring the viewers closer to their favourite stars. The video quality is good since the channel shows are republished.
HOW THEY CAN IMPROVE?
The channel should create more and more exclusive content for the Youtube channel and promote it on other social networking sites. Integrating of all three platforms will ensure maximum reach and visibility and boost the channels online presence.
37 The channel has 378 followers and a total of 30 boards. Star Plus started its Pinterest activities in June 2013. The channel received a total of 559 repins and over 1000 likes during this duration. However, after the 10th of July the growth in followers is stagnant.
38 CONTENT
There are some interesting boards and interesting activities that the channel is initiating on Pinterest. One of the boards is dedicated to a romantic star couple and users are invited to share some photos of them which will be pinned by Star Plus on this board.
Another interesting board is about food and recipes and for each pin, the hsh-tag #Masterchef is used to promote the reality series. Behind the scenes is another board which interests the users. The pins of this board have unique pictures on the sets of the show and are exclusive for Pinterest users. The remaining boards are about different shows on television.
HOW THEY CAN IMPROVE?
To boost its presence on Pinterest, the channel should drive some exciting campaigns on this social platform. Dress up like your favourite star, captioning images, Predict the story ahead etc. can be interesting activities on Pinterest that will engage the users.
39 SONY ENTERTAINMENT TELEVISION
Sony Entertainment Television, launched in 1995 and is owned by Multi Screen Media Pvt. Ltd. Popular shows on Sony include Indian Idol Junior, Bade Achhe Lagte Hai, and Adaalat. According to TAM ratings Sony is on the fifth place.
40 Sony Television Limited has a lesser fan following on Facebook than most general entertainment channels. 254K is not a very big number in comparison with other channels. However the channel had a good growth rate of 28.6%.
41 ENGAGEMENT
The channel has more people talking about them than most channels. 7.8% of the community is engaged in brand conversations. This is a good sign that shows that the channel has started taking its social media marketing more seriously. A small glitch however is that the wall is closed. It would do the channel some good to keep the wall open for user posting.
42 CONTENT STRATEGY Sony TV has a fine content strategy in place and showcases a professional approach towards Facebook marketing. On an average, the channel posted 4-5 posts a day which means it keeps its page regularly updated with content.
The channel takes special effort into designing every post which are branded with Facebook page and Twitter account of the Sony Television. The channel promotes new shows, show reminders, asks questions related to the show in an interactive manner and even takes part in conversations. For instance, a post on the new show was updated with a very creative design, integrating a question in the post.
43 SONY KEEPS ITS USERS ENGAGED BY ASKING SEVERAL QUESTIONS IN FUN WAYS.
Some of these styles include spot the difference, comparison between stars and favourite shows. The channel is making use of the hash-tag #SonyTV in every post. Spot the difference is one of the common ways, Sony uses to interact with the users. Screenshots from within the show are used. This lets the user spend some time on the post, encouraging their interest in the show. Though these posts do not receive many likes or shares, the comments section is filled with excitement.
44 Topical content is also a part of the content strategy. A show is related to general interest stories. For instance, a star in the show does a very different kind of makeup. Using this as a subject, Sony created content with makeup which is a general interest story.
A very noticeable fact on the Facebook page of Sony account is that all the posts are highlighted. The images too are designed in that fashion. On an average, each post received 266 likes. Though some posts received less engagement, some posts received great engagement, probably because some were boosted. For instance, a question related to favourite thriller show was asked. This is a general question which has been asked many times on the wall. The question is why did only this post receive 900 likes, 36 shares and 907 comments? This is a good way to understand your consumer behavior and take audience feedback.
45 In contrast to the above post, Sony adopted a passé content strategy to increase the likes and shares of a particular post. This should be avoided since there is so much scope for creativity. These kind of posts do not substitute a good campaign. If a brand is looking to increase engagement then it should be innovative. Unexpectedly, there were no campaigns run during these 3 months. Campaigns are a great way to boost your organic reach and maximize the viewership of upcoming shows. Instead, a post like this was updated on the page. 46 Lastly, a very good strategy undertaken by the channel is uncovering Behind the Scene activity. Photos and videos are posted showcasing stars. A video has been shot where the stars are encouraging people to get onto the Facebook and Twitter pages of Sony to interact with them on a regular basis.
CREATIVES
The creatives are excellent considering that they are high resolution, well designed and good quality. The cover images are changed from time to time, announcing upcoming movie premiers, new shows and award functions. Each and every post is well designed to suit the dimensions of the posts.
CUSTOM TABS
The two main applications that the channel has created are Shows and Events. Both the applications have a list of shows and events. There is no creativity involved. Also, these apps are not promoted since the average monthly users are only 145 on an average. These apps are active since last year and no initiative has been taken to create anything new. Surely, the channel can do better than this. Interesting applications should be created to make the page viral.
47 SENTIMENT
The sentiment on the page cannot be tracked since it is based on user postings on the wall. Since this is closed, it cannot be evaluated. However, through the comments section it is evident that there is more positive sentiment than negative.
HOW THEY CAN IMPROVE?
The channel can improve in various ways. It should incorporate more hash-tags like names of the show or stars in the posts. Hash-tags make the search easier. They should be used like keywords. A high priority should be given to opening the wall for user posting.
The channel should understand the reach of applications. This can be a great way to increase fan growth. Combining this with an interesting campaign will surely enhance the page reach.
48 Sony has over 15K followers which is a very small number among the GEC sector. This is probably because the channel has recently set its foot on Twitter. During 3 months, the channel gained over 5K followers. The growth rate of the channel was 64% which is a highly encouraging number. Since Sony is already a brand name, this is expected.
49 ENGAGEMENT
The channel, on an average, has been posting 19 tweets per day, out of which 10 are proactive tweets. It has been receiving 4 retweets per tweet and 2 replies per tweet on an average. This is extremely negligible considering the number of followers the channel has.
CONTENT STRATEGY The content strategy of the channel is nothing compared to other channels in this sector. Sony is simply copy pasting similar content from Facebook rather than trying to differentiate itself on Twitter. It is important for brands to understand that different social media platforms have different set of target audience and marketing to them differs.
Most tweets have old-fashioned content promotion strategy. Asking users to retweet to express their opinion about a particular show does not make any sense. Instead, creating interesting content to make the content shareable in nature is what the channel should be aiming for.
Most tweets did not have any addition to them like photos or videos. Photos and videos add an interactive character to a tweet. They also make the tweet go viral since most people would retweet a picture or a video.
However, Sony did take an initiative to be interactive with some tweets. The images were designed to appeal to tweeples. However, as mentioned before, they have already been posted on Facebook and do not offer the fans any reason to follow them to Twitter as well. It almost seems like Sony does not want to take the effort to roll out serious social media strategies for its different social platforms. Having said this, it is a nice way to take 50 Whether in form of questions or quizzes, the tweets are mainly about constant reminder to watch various shows. There is nothing that can excite the fans about any show.
During the month of June, the channel ran a campaign for the event TOIFA awards that it was screening. Questions were asked by quizzing the fans. A hash-tag #TOIFAonSony was created, asking people to express their views about the awards. This was an interesting hash-tag since it had the brand name as well as the event name incorporated within. The campaign however was not out of the ordinary. If the brand needs to increase viewership, it needs to get innovative.
51 A similar contest was run for the promotion of a new series Maharana Pratap. Again, a similar quiz contest was initiated by the channel. It is disappointing to see that a channel like Sony which premiers many interesting shows for its target audience cannot come up with pioneering campaigns on social media.
Currently, the channel is mainly using Twitter for awareness. However, if it really wants to make a mark, the content strategy will have to be revamped.
SENTIMENT
The sentiment on the Twitter account is largely positive. Fortunately, the GEC sector can be happy about the fact that most of their fans will have positive sentiment regardless of the content owing to the popular shows on television.
HOW THEY CAN IMPROVE?
There are majorly 3 ways in which the channel can improve:
-Getting innovative with campaigns and conducting live chats with stars. Pushing more creative content to capitalize on the potential of the micro blogging site.
-Using branded hash-tags more often by incorporating them within a tweet or a campaign. More so, pushing these hash- tags to trend by generating shareable content.
-Integrating twitter activities with other social networking sites like Pinterest, Instagram and Youtube. Posting links to these sites will hekp maximize the reach of the channel.
52 The Youtube channel of Sony has over 2 million subscribers and over 7 billion views. The channel increased its subscriber base by over 5 lakh during May, June and July. The channel is growing its fan base at a good rate of 10.3%.
53 TYPE AND QUALITY OF VIDEOS
The videos are mainly different episodes of the shows. The quality is very good for obvious reasons that they have been picked from the episodes that were shot for television and uploaded on the online channel. Though this is a necessity for entertainment channels since viewers want to catch up on missed episodes online, it is also essential that Sony understands the viral nature of Youtube. Apart from posting links in the discussion forum, Sony does not interact with users in the community.
HOW THEY CAN IMPROVE?
Some key suggestions for enhancing the Youtube channel by Sony TV include: -Create exclusive content like new show trailor first on Youtube probably just before launching it on television. This will give subscribers novelty. -Content generation should incorporate videos apart from episodes. Quick star interviews, social messages or even behind the scene activities should be circulated via Youtube. 54 Sony is not on Pinterest currently. They should try and build their presence on this social networking site since it gives the channel an option to explore storytelling through images. Good content generation on this platform can result into a healthy number of followers. As suggested for other channels too, Sony should try and incorporate behind the scene images as exclusive pictures for Pinterest users.
55 ZEE TV
Zee Tv, a popular General entertainment channel was launched in 1992 and is owned by Zee Entertainment enterprises. The channel mainly targets female viewers for its family dramas and reality shows. The channel gives a tough competition to Colors and Sony TV. After Star Plus and Colors, Zee Tv grabs the third spot according to TAM ratings. Popular shows like Qubool hai, Dance India Dance Super Moms and Pavitra Rishta have a good TRP. Sapne Suhane Ladakpan Ke is the most popular show with a 2.1 TRP rating.
56 THE CHANNEL HAS A COMMUNITY SIZE OF 418K WHILE 21K+ PEOPLE ARE TALKING ABOUT THE PAGE.
The PTAT score of the page is considerably falling each day and this should alarm the person in charge of the page. The growth rate is 40% which is remarkable considering the content strategy and the engagement levels on the page. This is probably because the brand is indulging in paid promotions. Since some posts in the month of May have an average post like of 200 and suddenly from late June to July hike up to an average of 1000 likes per post, nothing can explain this jump other than ads.
57 ENGAGEMENT
Zee Tv has a decent engagement level which has a huge scope for improvement. The channel needs to be more interactive through posts. However the good thing is that it interacts with its fans through comments, unlike many brands who choose to ignore this completely.
58 CONTENT STRATEGY
Zee Tv definitely does not come under a great social media example. The content strategy of the channel on social networking sites resembles that of an amateur brand. Being one of the most popular channels, this comes across as a very disappointing marketing attempt. Not only is the channel haphazard in something as basic as the dimensions of post creatives but is also careless with the timings of post updates. The content strategy of Zee Tv is totally disorganized.
Though a total of 339 posts were posted in 90 days, which amounts to an average of 3 posts per day, the frequency of the posts was irregular. There were days when 4-5 posts were up on a single day while the next 4 days did not have a single update. Irregular updates reduce your chances of maximum visibility.
The fact that the channel page has not opened up their wall for their fans is another faulty attitude of the channel. Being in the entertainment industry, audience feedback on shows is what should keep the channel going. However, this does not seem to be important for Zee. 59
The page mainly focuses on asking questions, posting updates on Live Twitter Chat and announcing new shows. Most of the GEC strategies on social media follow the same routine. Zee Tv has done nothing to differentiate itself.
Posts containing questions receive the most engagement.
60 The channel also does a few interactive posts which are interesting. Only if they did it on a regular basis, the engagement would definitely grow. However, I noticed only 2 such posts in 3 months.
61 Between 27th May and 11th June, the channel ran good creatives to promote the new show, ‘Connected Hum Tum’. However, everyday a post only about the new show was posted. This was a wrong strategy when the channel had other shows to talk about too. The audience views repeated content for 10-15 days and is saturated within a couple of days, missing out on most updates selectively. Also, the channel did not use Facebook ads to boost the promotion of the new show. This explains extremely negligible engagement on these posts. If the channel had a proper content strategy in place, this could have been avoided.
62 CREATIVES
The post designs are selective in terms of shows and updates. For instance, a new show which is being promoted will contain good quality images and well designed posts. However, other posts are hardly attractive. One of the most unacceptable aspect of the page is that it does not follow image dimensions. The posts are always showcasing a Twitter follow sign at the bottom right however, it gets cut out when you view it on the page because the image is not designed according to the highlight image dimensions.
This is how it looks on the page.
This is how it looks when you open it.
63 This is another shabby example.
Good quality and well designed post images attract more engagement on the post. Following simple guidelines go a long way in establishing a better connection with your fans. The cover photos are used well mainly to promote new shows, special episodes and announce festive greetings.
CUSTOM TABS
The channel has launched an application called ZeeTv Housewives which encourages users to share images of housewives acknowledging their achievements. A lucky housewife will be gratified with prizes. There are a total of 64 monthly active users who have been on the application which is too low a number to measure the success of the application. Probably, the channel should focus on promoting the application through posts and cover image. Another application Umeed ka Diya was created which hardly had any users on it. Custom Tabs should be an important part of a brand’s social media strategy.
64 SENTIMENT
There is more positive vibe on the wall than negative. The negative sentiment infact is negligible at 3.6%. However, this is imcomplete information since Zee Tv does not all fan posting on the wall and the sentiment is mainly based on that so it is not possible to comment on fan behavior.
HOW THEY CAN IMPROVE?
Zee Tv can better its content strategy by regularly updating the page with posts rather than following haphazard timings. It should serve content in a more interesting way and try to tap on the viral reach of social networking sites. Exclusive content for its fans could encourage more users to like the page. For instance, the channel can treat its fans with a sneak peek of the upcoming episode of a particular show.
Opening up the wall for fan posting is a must. Unless the channel does not communicate with its fans there is no purpose of creating a Facebook page.
The page needs to work on exciting applications. It further needs to enhance them by promoting it.
The last and the most important suggestion is the channel should look into designing the images according to the dimensions of the site and lay more emphasis on the design of the content. 65 Zee Tv has a sizeable community of 71K+ on Twitter. This is a good number as far as the GEC industry is concerned. The follower growth is a decent 9.1%.
66 ENGAGEMENT
The channel engages very well with its audience. It has maintained an average of 15-20 tweets per day and retweets when a user appreciates the shows. Unlike other channels, Zee Tv is quite prompt in replying to comments too.
CONTENT STRATEGY
The content strategy of the channel is a set pattern of questions, videos and live chats which are driving a lot of interactions. Zee Tv has created hash-tags which are related to individual shows. This is a common strategy among most channels. However, Zee Tv is also creating topical content with common hash-tags which are great for conversations on Twitter. For instance during the rainy season, the channel created a hash-tag #MonsoonMemories and posted the image of a rain scene in a show. People instantly connect to such a tweet and enthusiastically begin answering. 67 The show related questions are very general too. This is a good thing since more users participate even though they do not follow a show. For instance there is a show called Connected Hum Tum and to promote the same, the channel indirectly asks questions to increase interaction. 68 During the three months, the channel promoted two activities namely, Gold Awards and Live Chat. During the telecast of Gold Awards, the Twitter account not only reminded the audience to start watching the show but also constantly gave updates of the activities while it was being shown on TV. This was a great way of encouraging tweeples to watch the show out of curiosity and increase viewership.
69 Most often channels undertake Live chat activities with stars where users can ask questions and they are answered by the stars themselves through the channel account. Zee Tv adopted this on its Twitter account too.
ZEE TV IS CREATING SOME GREAT CONTENT ON TWITTER. UNLIKE OTHER CHANNELS, IT OFFERS BEHIND THE SCENE VIDEOS AND IMAGES TOO
70 HOW THEY CAN IMPROVE?
The channel is doing a good job on Twitter. It can definitely incorporate some contests to engage its audience further.
71 ZeeTv India has 27 boards, 305 pins and a total of 114 followers. In the month of June and July 2013, the channel increased its follower count by 20 which is negligible. It clearly shows that the allocation of time on this social network is very less compared to the other two giants, Facebook and Twitter.
72 CONTENT
The boards are related to individual shows, events and behind the scenes. There is nothing that I can rant about since most boards look incomplete and are haphazard. However, an interesting board is Arts and Artifacts which showcases the important inanimate objects from Jodha Akhbar show. This will increase the audience’s observation during a particular show and engage them. Unfortunately, the channel is not bothered to add more pins or drive conversation.
The board Sapne Suhane Ladakpan Ke has the maximum pins while the board Punarvivah has the highest number of repins per pin ratio. The boards have received a total of 156 repins. While there are only 2 comments among all the pins, there are 433 likes.
HOW THEY CAN IMPROVE?
Zee Tv should come up with quirky board names and interesting pins. It should define its objectives on Pinterest since it is not clear what the channel is trying to achieve. The best way to increase followers and reach would be to launch an exciting campaign/contest on this platform. Driving traffic from Facebook and Twitter to this platform will be a good idea.
The channel has added Pinterest tab on its Facebook page which pulls all the boards added on the account to the application. However, the channel should instead direct users to get onto Pinterest website so they can follow, comment, like and repin. 73 The Youtube channel of the brand has over 6 lakh subscribers and has crossed 4 billion views. In 3 months, the channel received over 22 lakh new views and over 2 lakh new subscribers. Zee Tv had a negative growth rate of -9.91% which is alarming. It had a steep fall in the month of June.
74 CONTENT
The Zee Tv channel is stuffed with episodes of various shows. There is nothing exclusive or new about the channel. It is a given that users mainly come back to watch missed episodes on the channel and this is an important part of the Youtube content strategy. However the channel should understand that they can tap into 6 lakh subscribers to make videos viral and garner more reach from them. The videos will definitely go viral if there is an interesting content that is shareable in nature. This could include star interviews and funny behind the scene videos.
The discussions forum is full of negative comments that are not being responded to. Either Zee Tv is not serious about its image on Youtube or does not have a team to handle the channel which has a lesser possibility.
75 HOW THEY CAN IMPROVE?
As mentioned above, the channel most importantly needs to begin replying in the discussion forum. They need to take part in the discussions, look for opportunities to build more viewership and generate positive comments. Secondly, it needs to get a content strategy in place., Being a GEC how much time does it take to shoot a 1 minute video of a star or behind the scene activity. It is infact the easiest activity for channels. Launching a campaign for a new show will only get more eyeballs if this is done.
CONCLUSION
Overall, Zee Tv is achieving decent engagement on Facebook and Twitter. The channel is not doing exceptionally well though and has a lot of scope for improvement. 76 SAHARA ONE CHANNEL
Sahara One, a part of the Sahara India Pariwar, is an entertainment channel launched in the year 2000. The channel has not been very popular since its inception, attempting various tactics to increase viewership. It features shows like Haunted Nights, Jai Jai Bajrangbali, Piya Ka Ghar Pyaara Laga etc. These shows gather a good rating but are nowhere in competition with the other channels. It is evident that Sahara One should be using Social Media all the more to their best.
77 On Facebook, the channel has a community size of 265K, which is the lowest in comparison among other channels which are a part of this study. The channel is infact looking its fans and has an extremely slow growth rate at 3.4%. Sahara One managed to acquire only 8K+ fans in the period of 3 months.
78 ENGAGEMENT
The number of people talking about the channel fell drastically in the month of July. This is probably because there is a steady downfall in the social media space, as much as loosing fans by -73 in 7 days currently. In a community of 265K, if the PTAT score is only 1.7%, the channel ought to make serious changes in its social media strategy. Needless to say, the channel does not interacts with its fans through comments or even replies to wall posts.
79 CONTENT STRATEGY
In 3 months, though the channel has an average of 3 posts per day, it does not follow a set pattern of posting on a daily basis. Infact, in the month of July, the channel made only 13 posts. It is obvious that they do not have any content strategy in place.
The posts are neither designed well nor are the dimensions taken into consideration. Random images are being picked from the picture library of the channel and being posted on the Facebook page. There is more focus on religious sentiments to promote the show Jai Jai Bajarangbali. Though such posts have the highest number of likes, it has more to do with the religious sentiment of a user rather than the popularity of the show. What else explains 400 likes v/s 30 likes for other posts.
The channel has also included Hindi translation along with English while posting various show updates. This does not seem to be helping the channel, but makes sense since it is an entertainment channel. 80 Apart from this, it continuously posts links of its Youtube videos on the wall which hardly receive any engagement. It also promotes movies being telecasted on the channel. However this is done only once a day prior to the premier. It also makes highly irrelevant posts. For instance, a Coke banner was uploaded with no relation to the brand.
81 The channel did not take the initiative of running any campaigns or contests. With such a disinterest in social media marketing, it is questionable why is the brand even present on Facebook.
CREATIVES
As mentioned, there is no effort put into creatives of the posts. This is one of the most important aspects of good marketing on social media since images play a critical role in success of content strategy. The cover images too are not aiming to achieve anything. They are about greetings on occasions, generic image of all the shows and random images from shows. It seems that the page is being handled by an amateur person and no professional interest by the brand has been shown.
CUSTOM TABS
The channel has created applications using Static iFrame tabs. The apps are about Program timings, movies of the month etc. However, neither do these tabs have custom tab images nor are they complete in design. Infact, most of them do not work. This only adds to the whole incompetent content strategy of the brand.
SENTIMENT
The sentiment is mostly neutral and does not boast of any negativity. However, this does not substantiate the fact that their social media strategy is not in place.
HOW THEY CAN IMPROVE?
The brand immediately needs a social makeover to achieve any kind of objectives. Right from post designs, post copy, frequency of posting, inclusion of hash-tags, replying to users on comments and posts as well as increasing engagement. In short, the channel is in a desperate need of a good content strategy. 82 The community size on Twitter is a mere 492 followers. It seems that the channel has recently started using the micro-blogging site to its advantage. Though it has already managed to send out 1K+ tweets, this number is too small in comparison of with other top channels. The growth rate of the fans is 9.3%.
83 ENGAGEMENT
A total of 852 tweets were made during the three months period which is on an average 11 tweets per day. The channel retweeted 43 times. What is surprising is, that it replied only 6 times in 3 months. Sahara One was mentioned only 14 times
CONTENT STRATEGY
Alike Facebook, Twitter too has no content strategy. Usually, replies from brands are template lines but Sahara One uses tweets itself as template lines. There is a set pattern for every tweet and most of them are about shows on the channel, timing reminders and a line summarizing the story of the show in Hindi. 84 Sometimes, the brand also links the followers to their promotions on Youtube channel.
There is nothing worthwhile the channel is doing that can be mentioned. Inspite of knowing that there is no retweet or comment received in any of the tweets, the channel is not bothered to transform their social media marketing strategy, if there is one SENTIMENT Since there are no comments, sentiment cannot be measured.
HOW THEY CAN IMPROVE?
They can do the following things: -Create hash-tags that will enhance the branding of shows as well as the channel -Conceptualize and run contests and campaigns to promote new shows or upcoming movie premiers. -Understand followers behavior and take feedback to shape a superior strategy to increase viewership of shows. 85 20K+ subscribers for a television channel is negligible. However, 3 million+ views is not bad. During the 3 months period, it received over 3 lakh views and 2K+ subscribers. Only 337 new videos were uploaded during this time period. The channel is growing at 10.5% which is a slow and a steady growth.
86 TYPE OF VIDEO AND QUALITY
The Youtube channel is stuffed with episodes of various shows. There is no creativity involved in terms of campaigns, fun videos or different content. Asmentioned already, Sahara One’s tweets are all about linking to the episodes stored in the Youtube channel. The channel could have instead made some good videos apart from episodes and linked them though the Twitter account.
HOW CAN THEY IMPROVE?
There is a huge scope of improvement needed on the Youtube channel of the brand. Apart from all the suggestions given for other channels, Sahara One can do the following:
-Use Facebook and Twitter to generate more traffic on the the Youtube Channel
-Launch a campaign integrating all three platforms
87 Sahara One is not on Pinterest currently. They should try and build their presence on this social networking site after improving their Facebook and Twitter pages, since it gives the channel an option to explore storytelling through images. Good content generation on this platform can result into a healthy number of followers. As suggested for other channels too, Sahara One should try and incorporate behind the scene images as exclusive pictures for Pinterest users.
88 89 On Facebook, Sony has the highest growth while Sahara One has the lowest. Sony’s PTAT score too is the highest while Sahara One is the lowest. Closest to Sony in terms of PTAT score is Zee Tv.
When it comes to engagement, Colors TV is a clear winner while Sahara One again looses it with only 58 likes on an average per post. 90 Out of the 5 channels, I would rate the over all success of the channels on a scale of 1-5, 5 being the lowest. 1. COLORS 2. SONY 3. STAR PLUS 4. ZEE TV 5. SAHARA ONE
On Twitter, Colors and Sony are doing an excellent job and have the best engagement. Colors is leading with an average of 11 retweets, 6 replies and 7 favourites per tweet.
91 Sony has the most number of views while Colors TV has the highest video views as well as highest growth rate of 23%. On Youtube too, Sahara has not seeded any innovation.
Sony and Sahara One are not on Pinterest. Out of the remaining three channels, Star Plus has the most number of followers while Zee Tv has the highest growth. 92 WHY COLORS AND SONY HAVE THE BEST CONTENT STRATEGY?
Colors on Twitter and Sony on Facebook have a good content strategy. Colors supports the concept of second screen and engages very well with its followers. The channel also takes only 15 minutes on an average to reply to tweets. Sony, on Facebook has a very professional approach towards content. The creatives are well designed and posted frequently. The channel promotes new shows, show reminders, asks questions related to the show in an interactive manner and even takes part in conversations through comments. 93 WHY COLORS ON TWITTER AND SONY ON FACEBOOK HAVE THE MAXIMUM ENGAGEMENT?
Since their content strategy is the best, success follows through high engagement numbers for both the channels. Colors retweets and replies the fastest while Sony interacts through comments which none of the other channels do. As mentioned above, some have even closed their walls to fan posting.
CONCLUSION
Though most channels follow a similar strategy, some do it differently. We suggest that the channels should have individual strategies and they should avoid copying one another.
SOME KEY INSIGHTS:
-Star Chats on Twitter is hot.
-Channels are using Twitter as a second screen, flashing hash-tags while the shows are on, encouraging users to interact.
-Campaigns or contests are not a part of any channels strategy. Therefore no interesting applications have been built.
-Most channels have a similar content strategy on both the platforms. Each one needs to build a unique strategy.
-A fan following build on both the profiles is more because of the popularity of the show than the engaging nature of channels on social platforms.
-Nothing innovative has been attempted by channels on Youtube. Overall, it is stuffed with episodes of the shows.
94 EXPERT VIEW and tweets of fans. The channel has a rich visual representation of behind the scenes of The general entertainment channel sector various popular shows. has advanced towards social media recently and can be referred to as a newbie. However, The concept of second screen is a key trend even though they have arrived a little late, with most channels. While self promotional they have huge fan following owing to their strategies are largely present on Facebook, existing popularity. Twitter is used as an engagement tool. This shift has been gradual but nevertheless Most of the channels are following a similar happening for over a year now. strategy as far as campaigns are concerned. Every channel swears by live chats on While Sahara One and Zee TV are not doing Twitter, taking advantage of the popularity of so well on public platforms and more over are their star actors. However, Colors TV stands not clear about their strategy. Picking parts of out when compared to all for its consistent other channel’s campaigns and merging with planning and execution of activities, their own will get them nowhere. Innovation is especially on Twitter. They have constantly key and they need to figure out a strategy that been executing live chats at every given suits their brand. opportunity. It’s reality show Big Boss 7, for instance, created ripples on Social Media. Having said that, I believe the GEC sector can still do much better in terms of innovation and Sony has also portrayed very interestingly content. They are still weak on Facebook and through its Facebook updates, characters have to figure out what they plan to achieve with interesting thought bubbles. The channel through the platform. The two possible ROI’s is offering something more to its users which for a TV channel would be to either increase the fan is so emotionally connected to. This interaction or increase viewership. increases engagement and interaction. The influential association that has developed Most channels must work on their Youtube between television and social media is a great strategy. Being a visual medium it has a example of how channels can engage in a great creative scope for being a parallel versatile, harmonious relationship, enhancing screen which complements the personality of the experiences through both mediums while various shows. A video journey showcasing at the same time generate new experience the making of shows, star interviews etc.can not possible with either alone. be effective in building an emotional connect with fans of the channel.
Star Plus is executing a good Youtube Expert View by Rajiv Dingra Founder & CEO strategy since it has short interviews of stars of WATConsult – An Award Winning Digital & who acknowledge the comments Social Media Agency.