What is VKontakte?

What is that?

• VKontakte, or VK, is a fast-growing Russian social networking service which is also called “Russian Facebook”.

• VK has many similar to Facebook features and functionalities, but differences between these two can be also found.

What is that?

• VK was launched in the year 2006.

• In January 2014 it had at least 239 million accounts (55 million daily users) mostly in Russia, CIS countries and Eastern Europe region.

• VKontakte is available in 70 languages but popular particularly among Russian-speaking users all around the world.

Community

• VKontakte is based on the sense of community.

• A user "collects" friends to communicate with. They can send messages to each other, participate in discussions in different chats, write posts on their page walls, invite each other to events, etc.

• According to eBizMBA Rank, it is the 8th most popular social networking site in the world.

Special features

• Like other social networks, VKontakte allows users to:message contacts privately and publicly; create groups, public pages and events; share and tag images, video and audio;share notes and documents; play browser-based games.

• The maximum size of a file distributed is 200 MB, and the system supports mostly common text, image and media file types.

How to join VK

• A private user creates an account on which a profile page is based. After that, a user can manage personal data and interface through the “Settings”.

How to join VK

• VKontakte is a search robot which allows users to find friends, groups and communities;apply an advanced search by entering additional

information.

→Tip: This feature can be utilized in VKontakte marketing activities as well. For instance, the segmentation process can be based on age, gender, education or domicile.

How to join VK

• In order to “become” friends, a friend request should be sent first to another user who accepts or declines this request.

• As for joining groups, there are two possible ways. If a group is open, a user is free to join it. A closed group requires a membership application that is handled by a group administrator.

VK as a marketing channel• Different companies, organizations, and events may set up their own

VKontakte groups and pages to provide members with interesting content, news, activities and platforms for communication.

• These pages can be created in "My Groups" -> "Create a Group".

• The group consists of the main page where users can find: the group's description images, audio and video files possible discussions surveys links the wall (where the communication mainly takes place).

VK as a marketing channel

• VKontakte marketing is based on collecting group members or event participants and communicating with them.

• Members of the group make up a direct registry, so that they can be informed about news, given with valuable content and involved into different activities.

• At best, the group members are committed to the group and begin to market it to their friends, and this is how the whole idea of community service is realized through viral marketing.

VK as a marketing channel

• Groups and event pages are quite popular in VK, and the largest ones have millions of members.

• Members usually visit group pages on a regular basis and participate in group discussions and activities diligently.

• The most successful way is to increase the number of fans is to produce valuable content and ask friends to spread a word about it.

VK as a marketing channel

• VKontakte provides users with an opportunity to market their groups, products and services with the use of premium banners.

• VK ads service allows you to create advertisements directed to your target audience easily.

• Advertising costs vary due to the amount of times your ad is displayed or clicked. As an example, you can pay an advertising fee based on VK click-/display auction.

Reasons to apply VK as a marketing tool:

• VK is the second most visited website in Russia;

• VK allows companies to target marketing activities more effectively than in keyword or banner marketing;

• VK marketing is affordable (often free of charge);

Reasons to apply VK as a marketing tool:

• VK marketing is based on viral marketing. Tip: Testimonials received from relatives and acquaintances influence Russian consumers' purchasing decisions more than in other countries;

• VK marketing is easier than, for example, Yandex keyword marketing;

• VK is a young, dynamic and rapidly growing channel!

VKontakte vs. Facebook

According to Top 100 Facebook Pages, five biggest fan pages are:• Facebook• Shakira• Rihanna• Eminem• Coca-Cola (Coke)

Consequently, Facebook users are interested in brands, entertainment and celebrities.

VKontakte vs. FacebookFive biggest fan pages in VK are the following:

• Epicentre of humour• Ti ne poverish’! • Kinomania• iFace• Korporatsia Zla

The content of this list consists of comedy, education and entertainment. Epicentre of humour, iFace and Korporatsia Zla are popular fun pages (more than 4 million of followers). Kinomania is a group of movie funs. Ti ne poverish’! is a page where different interesting facts are posted.

VKontakte users want to laugh, enjoy and share opinions and

experienceswith other like-minded people.

To sum up:• While Facebook is focusing on factual information spreading, VK is

more entertaining. There are plenty of pictures and funny videos.

• In Facebook people have most of their attention focused on famous people. At the moment, another popular phenomenon is technology, and this is the reason why Facebook and YouTube are in the TOP 10.

• The most popular VK pages are fun communities and pages where link-minded people share their opinions and experiences.

• Discussions taking place in VK are more emotional than on Facebook.

Take the first step!

• VK is one of the most used Russian electronic channels and a significant social networking service.

• It is an important tool in positioning your e-marketing strategy in Russia, and its utilization should be taken seriously.

But does this channel seem challenging? Trust the experts who will handle it for you!