Analysis of current social media presence of Zesta

This week my blog post is about the analysis of  current social media presence of Zesta.In today's context "Social Media Marketing" performs a great role to increase our brand awareness within the target audiance.
The most of the companies have successive stories by using the social media marketing properly and effectively.Therefore it is more important to have a better understanding about social media marketing before we carried out our marketing campaign using the social media. If we don't use it carefuly it is going to damage our brand severely.Social media marketing is not about pushing your advertisements on Facebook and Youtube.It is a broader concept than that.

There is a methodology to do the social media planning and it is called as social media planning framework.It consists with the steps such as listen,analyze,set goals,engage and amplify.This framework can be used to find the insights about our brand.The most important step of this process is the analysis,because the analysis part helps us to plan our social media campaigns by creating a edge among the competitors.So there's a tool called "Social Media Brand Health Check" to analyze current social media presence.

I have done an analysis using this tool for Zesta and it's a leading brand in food and beverages sector in Sri Lanka.Lipton Ceylonta is a direct competitor for Zesta and it seems  they are tiger competitors because they are operating in the same market with similar price ranges.Fadna is an another competitor but it's not stronger as Lipton Ceylonta.I choosed Dilmah as the benchmark brand which is performed very well in the tea market.

According to my analysis I have got 61% as social health media score and it is a comparatively a successful brand in social media.But it needs to improve in few areas and I have evaluated those areas as follows,

Reach

1.Facebook fan count
Zesta has powerful fan base on Facebook compared to Lipton Ceylonta and Fadna.But it is lagged behind compared to Dilmah.So I'm not fully satisfied with it.

2.Twitter follower count
 Currently Zesta teas,Ceylonta,Fadna and Dilmah are not currently engaged with twitter.Therefore it's needed to improve area condering tea market.Any way I'm neutral about this critiria because Zesta needs to improve and in the same time their competitors also not engaged with it up to now.So it's not a big issue.

3.Youtube channel views
Zesta is having huge gap with ceylonta and Fadna  when it comes to youtube views.Up to now Zesta deserves it in their competitive market.So it's a competitive advantage for them.But Dilmah is always performing better as our benchmark company and it has 4776 views.

4.Number of other social networks the brand is active on.
Zesta and it's competitors don't associate with other social networks other than those networks.Even Dilmah doesn't.So that also a another area to improve.

Quality of audiance

1.% of Local Fans in Facebook
Zesta and other companies are not in the social bakers network.As a leading companies it's a weakness of this industry.So Zesta needs to register in social bakers to get a competitive advantage.

2.% of good followers in Twitter
Zesta and its competitors are not in the twitter.so those companies don't have edge of it.But through twitter we can increase our online branding because most of the customers are now in to twitter.So it's better to focus on this area too.

Engagement goals

1.Facebook PTA as a % of Total Fans
Ceylonta is over take the Zesta when it comes to PTA.Therefore Zesta needs to give their attention to improve it by sharing interesting things in their social media networks specialy in Fb.

2.KLOUT Score for the Brand
Dilmah is the only brand which is engaged in KLOUT.So Zesta needs to be a influencer in KLOUT.

Share voice

1.No of relevant results for a brand search on Google Blog Search (within top 20 links)
Zesta is successful when it comes to google blog research.It's an advantage.But Ceylonta is a brand which is used in globe than Zesta.

2.No of @Mentions during last 48 Hours
Zesta doesn't have any updates because it doesn't have twitter account.so it needs to improve.

Sentiment

1.% of 'Negative Sentiments' in brand mentions
There's no any bad sentiments in brand mentions.According to my research the other brands also not have any negative comments.So the company can fully satisfied with it.But they should need to maintain their standards in social media properly by avoiding posting any negative comments in future.

Keyword Research and PPC Advertising

This time my blog post about "Keyword research and PPC advertising".First of all I would like to give you an introduction about "Keyword research".Keyword research is one of the most important,valuable,and high return activities in the search marketing field.Ranking for the "right"keywords can make or break your website.It's not always about getting visitors to your site,but about getting the right kind of visitors.These days the business environment is very competitive.Therfore to gain competitive advantage within the competitors key word research performs important role in today's context.

Google's AdWords Keyword tool is a common starting point for SEO keyword research.It not only suggests keywords and provides estimated search volume,but also predicts the cost of running paid campaigns for these terms.I have done key word research for Fast Food Restaurants in Sri Lanka using Google Adwords tool and I followed following steps to get the results.

As seen in previous picture I gave above instructions and got following results.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                

             

These results are very helpful when we  are creating PPC advertising in Google.According to the results the competition for fast food restaurants in Sri Lanka is low.So the fast food restaurant businesses can take those information when they make google ads.

After key word research I'm going to breifly describe about the advantages of pay per click advertising.This advertising helps to increase the number of qualified visitors to your website.This advertising campaign can set up with ease and it can generate results almost immediately.The other benefit is PPC advertising costs relate to the number of visitors your site receives,not the number of times that your ad is shown.Therefore it is a cost effective method compared to other methods of advertising.Not only that but also it will help to build your brand awareness within your target audiance too.

In addition to that pay pe click advertising helps to target your market in a specific way.It matches ads with what user want.If someone searches for"fast food restaurants in Sri lanka"on Google,the pay per click company displays ads related to the query.This means that those who will see your ads,are people already interested in fast food outlets in Sri Lanka.Hope now you have some idea about Keyword research and PPC advertising.

Cheers,

Isuru

              

         

       

Great experience of a remarkable lecture

Hi Every One,
Last Wednesday lecture was my first experience on web based lectures.Therefore it was an interesting session for me.Wed based lecture is a new trend in lecturing across the world and I think as a batch we all are very lucky to experience this upcoming trend.

Through web based lectures we have opportunity to communicate with the expertise who are specialized in different areas around the globe.In last week it was proved by Mr.Suranga who was a product of our department who lives in Australia.He shared his personal experience in Search Engine Optimization and his vast knowledge in this area in a very interactive manner using internet as a medium.It was helped us a lot to gain new knowledge about digital marketing under the topic of Search Engine Optimization.

Within this session we were able to follow the presentation slides while we were  listening to his lecture which is very useful to us as students.At that time I was wondering about the digital education. Finally we were able to ask questions through the face book.As a result of that it became an interactive session for us. This lecture provided us the same level of effectiveness as the traditional lecture.As the young community we all are engaged with internet in day today activities.So we all have the basic idea about what is happening in the world.Therefore these type of lectures are provided us the opportunity to experience it practically.

In addition to that this provides us to improve our practical and technical skills regarding our information technology literacy.The education system which is connected with web 2.0 helps students to become self directed and independent individuals.As a student I was fully satisfied with the last week web based lecture and I got lot of new learning's through his expertise knowledge. Hope we'll have opportunity to experience E-learning in future too.Last lecture was remarked as successful lecture and it was a memorable day for all of us as a Department Of Marketing Management Of University Of Sri Jayewardenepua, According to my perspective I think these lecture series will be enjoyable,meaningful and effective for us as students.

At the end of my post I would like to convey my special gratitude to our department,Mr.Amitha and Mr.suranga for giving us this valuable opportunity.

  

Analysis of BOC website usability

Bank Of Ceylon is one of the leading commercial banks in Sri Lanka.It is a reputed government bank and it was awarded as the no 1 brand in Sri Lanka-Brand finance.Now a days banking industry is becoming more competitive.Therefore to have a competitive edge I think  the website usability is more important because most of the people are interested in online banking.
Now I'm going to apply 25 point website usability checklist to the BOC website.

http://web.boc.lk/

Accessability

1. site load- time is reasonable. 

        BOC site load time is reasonable.It takes less than 10 seconds.

    2.Adequate text-to-background contrast

      We can clearly see the black text in the white background.Website is consisting with contrasting colors such as  black,yellow and white.

    3. Fontsize/spacing is easy to read
  It has enough space between headings and subheadings.But I think it will be better if it has little big font size than existing one.

    4.Flash&add‐ons are used sparingly
    It has used flash and add-ons in its header.

 
   5.Images have appropriate ALT tags
     The web site is consisting with images which have appropriate tag lines.When we click on the images it provide us description of that image.

   6. Site has customnot‐found/404 page
    Site doesn't have customized page.Therefore it's a drawback of the site.

Identity

7. Company logo is prominently placed
  Company logo is properly placed in a identifiable manner.It is an eye catching logo.

8. Tagline makes company’s purpose clear
Its tagline gives the clear idea about the company activities.It includes current promotions and advertising.

9.Home‐page is digestible in 5 seconds
It takes less than 5 seconds.

10. Clear path to company information
company has clear path to information with a tag line of about in the top ribbon right corner.

11. Clear path to contact information
It has clear path to contact information with a tag line of contact in the top ribbon in the right corner.


Navigation

12. Main navigation is easily identifiable
There are two main tabs.One tab is included About,Network,Download,Community and Contact.It is placed in the right corner of the top of the page.In the middle of the page there is a another tab which has different labels such as personal,development assistant, global research,investment and corporate.

13.Navigation labels are clear&concise
Those tabs are clear but they are not placing in a attractive manner.

14.Number of buttons/link is reasonable
It has reasonable number of buttons and links.

15. Company logo is linked to home‐page
when we click on the BOC logo,It is directly linked to the home-page.

16. Links are consistent&easy to identify
There are so many links to each category.As a example under personal category there are links such as current accounts,savings accounts,loans and etc.

17. Site search is easy to access 
 Yes of course.Its site search is easy to access.

Content

18. Major headings are clear & descriptive
The main tabs are in grey color block letters in white background.It can identify clearly but it will be better if it has a dark color letters than grey.It doesn't take the attention immediately.

19. Critical content is above the “fold”

It has 3 critical contents in the header and they are changing advertisements.It gives the information about their current promotions such as MEGA WASI,discounts on their debit cards and their achievement as a no.1 brand.

20. Styles&colors are consistent  
Overall it has good color combination and proper design.This color combination looks professional.

21. Emphasis(bold, etc.) is used sparingly
Main tabs are bold to get the attention of their clients.Under those headings there are bold sub headings too.

22. Ads&pop‐ups are unobtrusive
BOC is advertising their critical contents in the header as pop-ups

23. Main copy is concise & explanatory
The main copy is all about what their clients wants such as online banking,rates and ATM locator.Therefore it is convenient to their clients.

24.URLs are meaningful & user‐friendly 
The URL is also name of the company web.boc.lk

25.HTML page titles are explanatory

It doesn't explain the job title in html page.html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">
	<head>

According to my perspective I think BOC web site is an user-friendly web site.Through this analysis I have recognized some  drawbacks and those drawbacks don't create major issues to their clients.But any how if they are trying to improve those areas it will become a more attractive and more user friendly web site.

cheers,
Isuru