Social Media Awards partners with Deloitte

July 2^nd 2013: OLX Social Media Awards have partnered with Financial Services Advisory firm Deloitte for the audit of nominations which closed yesterday after 26 days of entries.

Deloitte East Africa will provide quality assurance in the voting exercise which has so far attracted thousands of entries and judges have a fortnight to select winners from the nominees. 

“We join hands in this venture as a sign that we fully understand the critical role that social media now plays in brand visibility,” said Martin Oduor-Otieno, Deloitte East Africa Partner in charge of Clients and Markets and a senior advisor in Financial Services Industry.

“Social media is now one of the key platforms used by firms to build image, brand and disseminate information on services and products offered.”

Rapid rise in the number of internet users in Kenya has accelerated the use of social media, igniting a steady increase in the number of businesses using social media platforms for brand awareness and customer service.  

Presently, 17 million Kenyans, 36 percent of the population, have access to internet according to the Communications Commission of Kenya. However, there are grim statistics that indicate the businesses are yet to optimize the use of social media platforms.  

For instance, 56 percent of customer tweets to companies are being ignored; this is according to all AllTwitter, an unofficial twitter resource. Martin Muli, one of the organisers of the recently unveiled OLX Social Media Awards, says most organisations have dormant social media accounts, and the active ones often bombard the public with bland company information.  

A quick review of comments from SOMA Facebook and Twitter accounts shows a serious contest between Safaricom and Kenya power shaping up for the customer care category of the Awards, with Orange and Faiba battling for the video of the year category.

Churchil Show, Tujuane, The trend TV are equally emerging as the favourites under the show of the year category, with Maina kangeni and Larry Madowo winning the minds of “netizens” for the media personality category as the voting process begins.

 “The OLX Social Media Awards are meant to spur professional use of social media and sustained conversation on these platforms,” says Mr Muli.  The Awards will bring together different social media enthusiasts and organizations to celebrate the tremendous contributions brought about by social media and at the same time appreciate and acknowledge those who have immensely contributed to the growth of social Media in Kenya.

“The power has truly shifted to consumers. A recent survey by TNS RMS, a research agency, showed that in contrast to Global internet use, Social Media is far more relevant then e-mail in Kenya. The survey actually discovered that out that 57 % of Kenyans believe that what other people say about brands online can be trusted more than what the brands say,” Peter Ndiangui, the General Manager of OLX, the leading online market place.

The Awards will culminate to a gala event to be held on 9th August 2013. “This is a first in Kenya, we’ve roped in experts from various fields to make sure the Awards are a success,” says Mr Muli. Other partners in the award include Trinc Media, the Public Relations Society of Kenya and Thinck, a content development firm, Bloggers Association of Kenya and Niaje.

Introducing Google+ (Plus) Communities !

On 6 December 2012 Google Senior Vice President Vic Gundotra  announced via Google Blog the introduction of a new exciting product into the Market :Google+ Communities .This "may" perhaps be one of the most significant products that may just elevate the search giant in the social media arena to rival and perhaps ultimately defeat Facebook.


At present pundits and techies alike are musing on whether Google + Communities may just be the death bed of Message Boards and many valid arguments are raised in support and against the statement.For now it may just be too early to tell the effect that Google Plus Communities may have in the World of Social Media but on the preliminary it is safe to say the impact will be "significant" enough for the dominant player Facebook Inc to be exponentially concerned.



So What is Google +  Communities? Many of us are acquainted with Facebook Pages...Well Google Plus Communities is much more.The above YouTube Video i believe illustrates what it is and what you can use it for.You can learn more however at this official page. Coupled with Google Hangout -Google communities is a serious contender for the attention of those disposed to socially interact online for business,pleasure, education, entertainment...etc.Google Plus Communities is the gathering place..the rallying call for the diverse interests.




Take for example are you a passionate Kenyan Blogger...there is already a community for you to share your thoughts, inspiration ,challenges, network... etc.This is significant due to the fact that Google + Communities is hardly 6 days old and you get such ventures already going on.

Go ahead give it a try...engage a community!

Employers Now Screening Your Facebook Profile !

Are you job seeking at the moment? Your Facebook profile may just affect your prospect of being hired or not, hence you better start watching what you are posting or sharing around on social media !Statistics reveal that there are more than 750 Million Facebook users at present and 70 % of this users are outside the USA. 50% of the users log in to facebook on a daily basis and what they do inside their Facebook account will now affect their future career prospects.

It is true that use of social media screening is not yet big in Sub Saharan Africa but that does not mean 'its not in use'.While the statistics in this article focus on Facebook screening by employers in the USA the reality is that due to popularity of use, employers outside the USA are finding this form of screening more reliable as it is a credible picture of the personality of a user over a period of time which is not very easy to derive from a face to face interview that lasts a few minutes or hours or as may be demonstrated by academic qualifications.
 
 Career Builder.Com did a survey on Facebook/Social Media Screening in America in 2009 and the results are astounding.Their survey revealed that social media screening of potential employees by employers increased from 22% in 2008 to 45% -that is an exponential increase.According to the survey what are employers looking at from your profile :

• Whether profile provided a good feel for the candidate's personality and fit within the organization -- 50 percent
• whether profile supported candidate's professional qualifications -- 39 percent
• Candidate was creative -- 38 percent
• Candidate showed solid communication skills -- 35 percent
• Candidate was well-rounded -- 33 percent
• Other people posted good references about the candidate -- 19 percent
• Candidate received awards and accolades -- 15 percent 

Negative Attributes from profile that affected employees employability are :

• Candidate posted provocative or inappropriate photographs or information 
• Candidate posted content about them drinking or using drugs
• Candidate bad-mouthed their previous employer, co-workers or clients 
• Candidate showed poor communication skills
• Candidate made discriminatory comments
• Candidate lied about qualifications 
• Candidate shared confidential information from previous employer

In essence the survey reveals that your online habits matter.If you are on facebook those you befriend online also matter.You may just need to sift through their profile photos as it is a ready picture of your kind of social networks and perhaps behaviour.

Crude and provocative behaviour online is not private or just a virtual affair anymore it affects your reputation, business prospects and employability in the real World. With this kind of revelations i guess its time users started watching what they post!

Cisco Expo 2011 Kenya

Cisco Africa will be holding  a premier  IT event   for IT, networking and communications professionals on 28 and 29 June 2011 at Kenyatta International Conference Centre(KICC) Nairobi, Kenya.
The international event which is being held for the first time in Nairobi will operate under the theme: "Collaboration and Virtualisation Beyond Borders".

The highly engaging and educative event will feature top Cisco Executives and leading authorities in the IT and Communication Sector  including but not limited to:

• Dr Bitange Ndemo ,Kenya's intuitive Permanent Secretary at the  Ministry of Information and Communications, 
• Dan Smoot, Vice President -Cisco Capital World Wide Sales
• Pim Versteeg Vice President of Cisco’s Africa Levant region in Emerging Markets
• Sylvia Mulinge : General Manager Enterprise Business Unit Safaricom  
• Tony Shakib: Cisco Vice President Service Provider Group for  Emerging Markets

 Here is a link to a YouTube Video showing Shahab Meshki, General Manager for Cisco in East Africa, announcing the Cisco Expo Kenya Conference!

The welcome statement by the P.S Dr Bitange Ndemo is quite telling as to what to expect, he states:

During the two-day event, delegates will have the opportunity to build knowledge and skills through a wide range of visionary keynote sessions by top Cisco executives, as well as technical and business breakout sessions that will bring enhanced value to their business providing insight into how to stay competitive in the current economic climate. Alongside the conference, is the Cisco Expo exhibition and showcase area, which is also an interactive learning environment where Cisco and their partners showcase and demonstrate their latest technologies. 

 If you are interested in attending this event ,registration is now open at this Link

Don't forget there is a Facebook Poll on the event which you can take and share with your colleagues. Surprises are in store, actually an I-pad is in store for a fortunate winner.

You can also follow on Twitter @CiscoAfica  for live tweets on the event on Twitter, the handle will be #CE11KE


Why not engage the Worlds leading networking and architecture solution provider and educator? See you there !

Monitoring Social Media For Brand Perception

Monitoring social media has become not only necessary- but vital for modern day businesses in order to gauge brand perception and awareness.A few years back blog posts and its other social media variants (YouTube, Facebook, Twitter a form of micro blogging)were  considered simply as  merely online quips or  random rants of no persuasive value.Social media was more or less 'social play' that had little value for any business save for entertainment purposes or communication between employees.


But much has changed in the last few years. As we move to 2011 we now expect more businesses and organizations to shade off the " cautious engagement "mode of  engaging social media and move to "full deployment".International companies such as Shell & BP learnt that Social media can have tremendous influence over brand perception influencing sales even on an international level. BP 's Gulf of Mexico Oil spill crisis received massive social media backlash last year (consider the following articles on Globe&Mail  and Urlesque websites) the effect of which cannot be ignored. Hence other international brands are taking cue to monitor and respond effectively to brand perception online.

Dell Technologies Social Media Listening Command Centre:

Case in point is Dell Technologies which has established the first of its kind 'A Social Media Listening Command Centre'.According to Mashable Dell's aim is to ensure that they tracking the largest number of possible conversations across the web and making sure that they ‘internalize’ the feedback — both good and bad…



In fact according to this emarketer article  in 2011 , 4 in every 5   American businesses with atleast 5 employees will not only monitor social media but actively engage social media by marketing their products on online social platforms.This is an anticipated 42 % rise from previous years.In fact social media is the new adlib in the marketing mix.

SOCIAL MEDIA AND KENYAN BUSINESS BRANDS:


A question may arise what about local businesses? The local arm of  the communication group Young and Rubicam (see this News item on The Standard Newspaper ,Kenya) recently commisioned a research study that indicates some of the largest Brands are still slow in engaging Africans online especially on social media.But it is anticipated that this will change as market perception morphs.

It goes without say that Safaricom ,Orange and Airtel -the communication giants in Kenya have embraced impressive social media strategies to engage their users on the various social platforms. For example Safaricom has moved from the traditional aspect of having a facebook page to engaging the followers sometimes by carrying out random questionnaires whereby followers stand an opportunity to win airtime. I believe that is a first having monitored social media in Kenya for the last 7 years or so.However i hope that the brands will show more ingenuity in this arena.

How to approach and engage social media seems to be perhaps the enigma of local Businesses. There has been a recent upsurge to utilize PR firms to engage bloggers and social media 'thespians'.In fact most of the Press Releases in Kenya are now being done via Social Media as this is timely ,prompt and cost effective(atleast for the moment).It is suffice to note however that social media may not be as cheap as it seems. In the Western World businesses are having to review their budget as to what sums to deploy when dealing with social media next year .To paraphrase an article on Adage.Com.

Social media is free, right? In some business sectors, the thinking still holds that social media is free, or nearly free. Although earned media -- the value that companies get when their marketing messages spread virally -- is indeed free publicity, there is almost always a cost associated with it, whether it be staffing, creative development or monitoring the results.

The good news is most marketers say they are increasing social-media spending next year. But the actual dollar amounts are all over the map.

PR 2.0 is morphing and it seems to be the dominant propelling factor of Social Media-Business relationships in Kenya.Where it will take us, we adopt a wait and see attitude but notably "Brand Perception online" is the 'In Thing' in successful business marketing now!

Crowdtap: Getting Consumers Engaged !

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of Crowdtap. All opinions are 100% mine.

Marketing and public relations is rapidly changing in the era of digital /online marketing. Engaging consumers with an attempt to maintain their loyalty, building brand awareness and creating feedback is the in thing! Imagine working or rather innovating  with  leading brands,start-ups, non profits... etc  to create an award winning product and earn some rewards( may be in the form of cash, freebies or gift cards/vouchers) in the process-all that is possible thanks to a whole new ingenious web platform that you can access if you  Tap In at Crowdtap.com



What perhaps may endear you to Crowdtap is that you as a member, you will have the opportunity to help a charity of your choice anytime you earn cash. 5% of earnings will automatically be donated to the charity of your choice and Crowdtap will match that 5% to make the impact even greater.If you feel more generous you can increase the level of money to be donated to your select charity.That is indeed truly endearing.

The more you engage at the site  by answering questions, completing your bio,surveys  contact info, inviting friends  etc the more points you earn, the points will eventually translate to rewards $$, hence ensure that you sign up at Crowdtap,get crowdtapping and enjoy the benefits of social media marketing .

At the moment Crowdtap is in Beta testing and is enrolling US residents only .However the promoters of the site have assured us that Crowdtap will soon roll out internationally especially in consideration of  its exponential appeal ,potential  and growth!

FourSquare.Com- Twitter in Geographic Perspective !

Foursquare .Com is the next big thing to hit the technological world of social networks.Pundits including Mashable are on to the smart phone application .Whereas, Twitter without doubt has grown to be a powerful social media and marketing forum, however the thing about Twitter is that often the tweets and friends one receives are often not geocentric.

As was the case with Myspace and Facebook ,some two genius minds have come up with a concept/social media networking forum(the service was created by Dennis Crowley and Naveen Selvadurai) that enables one to post Tweets that are geocentric about places and events and a plus to the application is that the Tweets or review about the event or place will permanently remain attached to the location. Poor service providers best beware, your customers may just be onto you!

The site includes a Google maps integration widget to enable the user point out where they are at , what is going on, a review of the place... etc and this will remain embeddable about the specific location. Now that's a powerful marketing tool.

The Foursquare mobile phone application that allows you to “check-in” to a particular foursquare location is compatible with the following smart phone's Blackberries, iPhones, Androids and Palm Pres.The application using GPS or closet cell phone tower can determine about where you are. You then choose from a list of nearby locations or enter in a new location.Once checked in, a user can write a review of wherever they are.The review stays permanently connected to that particular location in the foursquare world.The application has led to the development of the term "Geo-social Networking" and boasts of over half a million users Worldwide.

Thus if you visit a hotel and you like the service you can notify your Foursquare friends, if you come across a major sale taking place and you want to notify your friends and leave directions,Foursquare will do that for you. As you visit more places you start to earn points or badges for the places you check-in. This adds an interesting gaming element to the network, which has proven very popular on social sites like Facebook. Even better than collecting badges is the chance to become the “mayor” of a location. You are named “mayor” of a location if you are the person who has checked-in the most and a lot of locations are starting to offer special deals to the “mayor” so they keep promoting them.

Will Foursquare prove popular in Africa ? Of course but unfortunately most people in the continent dont find Twitter to be so relevant. Foursquare is about to change that because of its potential and the reward effect.For example in Nairobi one can imagine the perks a famous restaurant such as the Carnivore Restaurant would love to give for its most frequent Foursquare visitor i.e "Mayor".In effect they will be receiving free social media advertising by genuine customers.For now as i learn the application i extent the invitation to my twitter buddies in Kenya please join me up at FOURSQUARE  and lets create our virtual cities !

Youth Africamp 2010 At Lukenya Gateway

The Youth Africamp 2010 social network forum is currently ongoing i.e from 14 to 20 March 2010 at the Lukenya Getaway . The youth forum (barcamp) is being attended by over  two hundred youths from various African countries with intent to  foster youth empowerment and encourage youths to become  more engaged in civic activities in the public sphere and promote open society ideals.Africamp is sponsored by the Open Society Institute Youth Initiative (OSI YOUTH INITIATIVE).

 Without doubt the Africamp participants seem to be enjoying themselves as evidenced in the slide show annexed(Courtesy of  Africamp website)  and Mental acrobatics flickr link.Whereas the event has not received much main stream media publicity , i believe the ideals behind it are worth the attention of many Kenyan youths who unfortunately due to high unemployment and inflation rates are being caught up in negative and risky activities.Africamp 2010 seems to be among one of the few social media events that have proved successful in the Kenyan context in terms of the event being successfully managed and organized.For photos enjoy the slide show...

 

Zuqka Website versus Pulse Magazine

Hands down! in terms of content East Standards Pulse Magazine is better than Nation Media Groups Zuqka Magazine but the same is vice -versa when it comes to the online experience.Zuqka Magazine is just delightful online but i think more needs to be done about its content , appeal and the target group! Right here at our office everyone scrambles for the Pulse Magazine but not the same can be said of Zuqka, go online and you start to love Zuqka!

The Kenyan newspaper magazine circuit is starting to shape up and the battle is supreme! The Zuqka website has adopted an interactive edge by requiring users to register and ear points for their activities at the site! On the other hand Pulse online just basically engages the reader with its content but im sure that is bound to change! Newspapers must redifine themselves with the advent of social media and citizen journalism, even CNN has adopted IReport inorder not to loose out in the emerging reliance by consumers on e-news and social media. But when it comes to Kenya for the online experience ZUQKA is number one but for the content: Pulse anytime!

Social Sparks For African Bloggers!

I signed up for Social Sparks as a way of getting additional revenue for my blog, and well for quite a while i have been waiting for them to avail me an opportunity and fortunately enough this is the first post!Many African bloggers generate revenue from Google but this is hardly enough and may be scanty(most of us end up making a dollar a month despite generating traffic in the thousands meaning one makes 12 dollars annually which can be made with a single post!)Programs such as payperpost and Social Sparks however enable one to make better amounts in relatively shorter period spans due to their content!

However,to be honest enough i find social sparks to be the better option, why for example in early January my blogs Google page Ranking was around 5, when i started writing for Payperpost i lost google ranking to nil, since then i have worked twice as hard to get to page ranking two.On the other hand SocialSpark is :

-100% Audit-able In-Post Disclosure
-100% Transparency
-100% Real Opinions
-100% Search Engine Friendly

Which means one does not loose page ranking or fare badly!The opportunity prices may range from $5 upwards so the deal is good to go!

If you are an African Blogger looking for opportunities to monetize your blog Sign up to SocialSpark today ,its your interface to advertisement opportunities!At the same time the real opinion policy requires that a blogger be totally honest about a product or opportunity and not to falsely content.Indeed SocialSpark itself has no restrictions on how the blogger expresses his/her genuine thoughts on an advertiser's product or service. It's up to you to pick the Opportunities that best suit you and your blog. If it doesn't feel right, if you don't own the product, or if you can't be honest social sparks requests one to pass on the opportunity. Dishonest or completely off-topic posts can ultimately hurt your blog's credibility in their ranking system.Is that not cool.

Another added feature of Social sparks is that it is also an online social community website, hence it is possible to interact with fellow bloggers, share advice, tips and opinions. One can also get to visit fellow bloggers or advertisers website ,which is quit a unique feature!Its unfortunate though that few corporates in Africa are utilizing online advertisements in this manner but that will have to change in the long run!

Afraha.Com-Kenya's New Social Community Website

I have just received a sign up request to Join htp://www.afraha.com Kenya's new and fast growing social community website and wasn't that a pleasant surprise!For one this informs me that online ingenuity is increasing in Kenya and that homegrown web utilities are starting to emerge thanks to the work of local techies!

The social community network of choice at the moment for many Kenyans and Africans is www.facebook.com or http://www. myspace.com (i remember reading about some local celebrities such as Mercy Myra, Attitude David Mathenge aka Nameless,Robert "RKAY"Kamanzi"Ogopa Deejays etc launching their profiles on myspace as social community website of choice) but that is bound to change if more emphasis is placed on promoting local websites.The content exchange will especially have a local appeal and thats why i would encourage all Kenyans who venture online to join homegrown social websites and help generate revenue for local startups.One will just be amazed as to the kind of revenue such social websites such as Facebook generate for their shareholders because of our presence there.Whereas people join social community websites for various reasons i personally joined Afraha in order to promote local products and develop a network of friends who will particularly prove to be a loyal readership base for this blog and identify with its content.As noted in my Geovisite widget the combined total of overseas visitors far much surpasses the visit by locals and that has to change!

To move us to shame one just needs to visit a South African social community website such as http://www.blueworld.co.za to see how South Africans are promoting ,enjoying and relishing their domestic websites.At Blue world one is offered the opportunity to create a profile of oneself so that friends can find them online, write blogs, watch,share and upload videos,view the hottest and the latest clubbing photos and learn where to be @ .i.e hottest event.The possibilities of an online social community website are immense, if only our local celebrities,musicians, entertainers etc could harness the power of such tools unbeknown to themselves?We are now in the 21st Century where the internet is the medium of choice to advertise your self.So if you are a Kenyan and you are proud of local startups join meby signing up at Afraha.com!
JOIN NOW !

Social Website Link Promising Money In Kind!

Theres a social website called qassia! currently on Beta stage that is absolutely marvelous for bloggers who aim at making money on the side from their venture.Unfortuantely to access it one must be invited.The site promises qassia dollars 500$ per referall if one refers a new blogger within 12 hours from signing up.For an invite please click on my link and submit your site otherwise you cannot access the website.Try and you will find that to be true!The link is http://collinsom92.qassia.com/ thereafter refer as many people as you can.

Thats just a cool thought for Africans who decide to Pro Blog!

MTV's New Social Network Website!

Social networks have rapidly gained prominence in the internet industry in the last three years.The popular MTV company has also joined the bandwagon having recently launched its issue based and youth oriented social network site at www.think.mtv.com .The site was launched with the joint coordination and effort of various philanthropic societies such as the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation,Goldhirsh foundation,MCJ foundation among others.

The site which had been under beta testing since November 2005 and is aimed to be a pro -social initiative to empower young people on issues of fundamental concern especially in relation to education,sexuality,morality,human rights,health,discrimination,politics and global concerns.Its emphasis initially targeted low income and minority students who hardly finish high school or join college.The site aims at offering these groups information and resources to enable them see the benefits of pursuing a college degree course and accessing higher education as a means of empowerment.The site provides facts and information on the importance of graduating high school and resources on gaining access to college.The users are able to exchange ideas,video, and other forms of media.

In an attempt to get more youths involved in politics the group recently recruited 51 young citizen journalists in its "Choose or Loose Political Campaigns Coverage " in order for them to collate information on the USA 2008 elections throughout the country with weekly reports that will include short videos, blogs and animation that will be featured in the site.This initiative is being partly funded by the John S and James L Knight foundation,a private journalism foundation based in Miami.

The MTV Think site boasts a membership of over 5,000 individuals and though initially intended and tailor made to suit the US market is now increasingly gaining a world wide audience with membership including some African youths and bloggers.Indeed the youth are taking a pro active stance using the blogosphere to address issues of fundamental concern to them and social networks are providing such a platform.Make Money online with eBay