Update 1: Airtel is marketing itself big with Twitter on SMS from Airtel. ( Tweeting is a lot cheaper on Airtel). Checkout their first youtube video marketing the same. A real good one.(“My Thumb just gave me 15 kms”).

The huge success of the first post in the series ‘Social Media Presence of Indian Telecom Majors-Facebook presence’ has excited us infinitely. So, as promised we are coming out with the second post in the series.

Twitter as explained in Plain English was meant to just tell “What are you doing?”. But the marketeres saw the Gold in it. It got used a publishing service and took the marketing world by a storm.

So, Today the microreviews team set out to find how the Indian Telecom Majors are utilizing this service. Microreviews team has already reported in one of its posts how the Indian IT major Infosys Technology closed a deal on Twitter.

So, Let us not waste anymore time and start off.

Airtel: Yes, Twitter is now available  exclusively on Airtel. But, really even at Rs. 1 per sms, tweeting from a mobile phone for those who donot want to use Mobile Internet Browsing is quite expensive. Twitter on Airtel is news, but is Airtel not being on Twitter not a news? Surprisingly, Airtel India is not available on Twitter. On searching twitter account for Airtel India, all we got were the accounts for Airtel’s calling card service, Airtel Champions League and Airtel Kerala. The twitter account of Airtel’s calling card service seems quite decent, engaging and answering people to some extent. But, over the neglect shown by Airtel India in using Twitter as a customer engagement and feedback service is appalling. Either, Airtel has missed the fact that India is already amongst the top 10 twitter using country or they they think that only NRI’s use internet.

Vodafone: Vodafone outside India seems to have taken all the right moves as far as social media goes. Vodafone’s Twitter presence and customer engegment in U.K, New Zeland, Netherland etc is brillaint. They seem to be answering every query which a follower and a possibly a customer has. Zoozoos and Vodafone complaints have a twitter presence too, which for me is brilliant. Vodafone India has however not started anything appreciable on Twitter. They have a Twitter account and that is the end of the story. Going byVodafone’s Twitter presence internationally, I do expect Vodafone to come up with a much more innovative Twitter campaign.

Tata Docomo: Tata Docomo has been a complete Social Media child to say the least.  If their facebook presence was good, their twitter presence is better. They seem to have put their best foot forward answering their followers, their customers. This for example is their answer to one of their customers. With over 2000 followers and brilliant usage of hashtags and other twitter terminologies, Tata Docomo seems to be leading the Indian telecom majors in innovative twitter marketing too.

Tata Indicom: Unlike Tata Docomo, which comes from the same TTSL group of companies, Tata Indicom’s twitter presence seems next to NULL.

Virgin Mobile India: Virgin Mobile internationally has done very well engaging people and answering them on Twitter. Virgin Mobile India also seems to have started tweeting but effective usage of Twitter from their side is still a far say. Their simply do not seem to be doing two way communication on twitter as of now. One way communication on twitter is as good as none, atleast for a corporate.

Reliance Communications: RelianceGSM seems to have a one way communicating twitter presence which is far from what is expected from a  company which hires Hrithik Roshan as their Brand Ambassador (spends enough to target youth). Their neglection of facebook and now twitter says a story in itself.

Idea cellular: There is an account by the name Idea Cellular but I seriously doubt if it is their official account. A company which targets youth was expected to be more active on Twitter for sure.

Aircel India: Another Indian telecom major which is trying to create a customer base but has neglected the possibility of doing the same through Twitter.

Having gone through the the twitter presence of the Indian telecom majors, Tata Docomo seems to be the only one which is using the medium effectively. I do not know exactly how the service quality of these telecom majors compare in India and if Tata Docomo does listen  to user feedback (we will come out with a post on that very soon). But the Microreviews team has not been too impressed with the twitter usage of Indian Telecom majors.

For social media help, I would recommend people to get in touch with Aditya Prakash and Prasaad K S on twitter.

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So, with all this in mind Microreviews set out to check the social media (the in thing as they say) presence of the major telecom players in India.

Let us start with Facebook.

• Bharti Airtel : There are apparently three or four facebook pages which Airtel has. One of these has around 10000 fans which is a big number by Indian Social Media standards. The page seems to have quite a few details of the offers coming out and stuff but doesn’t seem well maintained at all. The display image is of a person, who I really don’t know and I expected to see the Airtel Logo at the place of that pic. Going to the information section gives you a shock. It is apparently the page of Airtel Srilanka. The other pages of Airtel India also fail to impress and can be found here. Coming to facebook groups of Airtel now, they seem to be dominated by Airtel Srilanka again. The facebook group of Airtel Srilanka can be seen here and here. Both seem quite active. However, when I apparently go in for the Airtel India’s facebook group, they have got their website wrongly stated as http://www.airtel.co.in . It suddenly seems that this facebook group does not belong to Airtel at all. There are a couple of other groups, which may or may not belong to Airtel and can be seen here. I did find out a facebook game by name Airtel Special 5 and did not feel like taking it. Airtel Srilanka, overall seems to be doing better than Airtel India as far as facebook presence goes.

• Vodafone India: Internationally, Vodafone seems to be very active on facebook trying to engage users on the medium. Their Facebook pages can be seen here. Vodafone India’s page however seems a baby in comparison to their international counterparts but seems quite well maintained. However, the information provided in their info tab doesn’t seem to provide information about their social media presence elsewhere. Coming to the groups for Vodafone India. There is this one group which is again not well maintained and needs to be looked after better. Going by Vodafone’s social media awareness abroad, I do expect Vodafone India to take this up very quickly and get Vodafone India’s facebook presence to count. Zoozoos, in the meanwhile seem to have a decent facebook presence which can be seen here.

• Tata Docomo: Tata Docomo seems to have changed the rules of the games as far as social media presence of India goes. Their only facebook page seems every bit complete with everything presented in the best possible way. The facebook page seems professionally handled engaging the right kind of people. With over 1700 fans, lots of pics and videos, they seem to be engaging the people very well. Their info tab has provided information about all the social media presence they have elsewhere which is what it is supposed to do. There is no such group for Tata Docomo and to be honest, you need a good page and your  job is done.

• Tata Indicom: Tata Indicom’s facebook presence can be considered negligible with less than 10 members in their groups and pages.

• Virgin Mobile India: Internationally, Virgin Mobile’s facebook presence can be considered decent. However, when we look at their India presence, there is a lot of hope.

• Reliance Communications: For a company of the volume of Reliance communications, their facebook presence can be considered a big NULL. Either, they seem to  have completely neglected a medium as big as Facebook or they think Traditional media is doing the job for them.

• Idea Cellular: Idea Cellular has always been known as a major spender on youth influencing activities spending a lot on sponsoring College Fest, Youth Festivals etc. However, their almost non-presence on facebook left me in surprise. They have recently launched a facebook application which shows their entry into facebook in a big way. There is however, still some work to be done as far as Idea’s facebook presence goes.

• Aircel India : Aircel’s facebook presence can be considered as another near NULL and leaves a lot to be desired.

Having gone through the Facebook presence of the marketing savvy Indian telecom majors who spend millions hiring brand ambassadors and  putting up expensive hoardings, it is easy to say that they have been quite negligent of the power of Facebook as a major engagement medium. Tata Docomo seems to have done a very decent job at it and other need to learn quick.

This was the first in series of the articles which covers the social media presence of the Indian Telecom majors. Look out for the next in the series in which we cover other social mediums.

For social media help, I would recommend people to get in touch with Aditya Prakash and Prasaad K S. You can also email them here and here.

We are on facebook too. Mail us here.

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