“Content is king” “Content is driving vehicle for any literary piece”. A lot has been said about importance of content, all statements lead a single conclusion that     “Content derives traffic” so it’s really essential that content is selected and presented carefully.  In this blog we have made an effort to jot points that can help in creating amazing content.

There are various ways to make your blog interesting and a potpourri; a couple of tips that can help in keeping your content fresh are:

Interesting ideas for blog: Keep yourself abreast of latest developments, a lot of blog ideas can be extracted from news and moreover it catches attention sooner.  Other sources could be blogging networks, facebook news feed top stories etc. Content is everywhere; just keep your eyes open.

For the user, by the user: “User is our lord”!! We all put so much effort to get our target audience, true….why not just indulge them in doing marketing for us and let them be our brand ambassadors and rope in more audience……..sounds strange but believe me it is possible, trick is in getting your audience work for you.

There are various ways like : Organizing Opinion polls, discussions, contests- all these can be used e.g.- if you want to write a blog you can ask your community to share ideas/opinions about that topic, not only you can get breakthrough ideas but also sometimes their personal experiences.

Another way could be -you can blog about your fan discussions, opinion polls. Similarly you can share stories about experiences of your fans with you. A lot can be done, pick up card of your choice.

Scheduling: Scheduling your posts is another critical postulate. A simple blog posted in time is far better than an awesome blog posted weeks later. “A stitch in time saves nine”.

 e.g.- If you had to post about Obama victory, post it soon after elections , rather than waiting and posting blog after he completes half term, who knows whether he will stay on post till that time or will he still be hot property for readers till that tenure “think about it”.

Curator speaks: Having a opinion leader on board for elaborating about a topic can create a great impact, not only it gives you a lot of visibility but also adds to variety in blog content. That does not mean you need to rope in hot- shots or experts always, you can also blog about day to day experiences of people.

e.g.- In a social media agency- a conversationalist is an expert on content strategy of brand, undoubtedly he is best person to talk about handling audience. Similarly, in a hospital, nurse is best person to talk about patient care. Every person is an expert; you just need to identify his power

• Real time stories: Sharing real time happenings can be an option to make your blog series interesting. I will share an interesting example- Pradeep Chopra, director of Digital Vidya shared his personal experience that how twitter solved his problem with ICICI Bank, which had bothered him for  around three months.Such stories give reader a feeling of –personal connect and thus you can inculcate your reader’s interest without much effort. This list is endless a lot can be written on this and a long series of examples can be shared but we have tried to restrict to crucial ones only.

“So guys are you ready to don your blog with all these feathers”. Learn more insights about Social Media with us @ Social Media Trainings

Discussions apparently are an inseparable part of our lives, we learn a lot from them – myths are ruled out, new ideologies are formed, we find like-minded friends and what not. In light of this advantage, a lot of brands are utilizing discussion forums for adding value to their business.

It’s quite easy to begin a discussion panel or online forum and attract like-minded people but the real challenge lies in making those people participate. Let’s just figure out what can be done to improve engagement on online forums.

Give and take: nothing in this world comes free, why would engagement, ooo……..wait, wait! Don’t think you need to pay audience for engagement, rather we are talking about perfect “barter system”- give with one hand and get in other hand, that means pay back your audience, that is cherish their views christen them “opinion leader of week” etc. and see how conversation thread shoots. Special badges like “founding peers” for initial users can work wonderfully.

 Be persuasive yet not pushy: Sounds interesting but is quite tricky, you have to use tactics and find ways to influence your community members. Try to work on idea – “what’s in for them”- are you a ‘knowledge source’, ‘topic of interest ’or‘ Opportunity Sea’ for audience.  Work on these lines and see your community members responding themselves without much effort on your end. Influence is definitely a great way to engage community.

Call to action: If your post has call to action, see audience jumping on to your wall. See how this message is calling you

“Hi Friends, WELCOME TO THE WORLD OF TRUE FRIENDSHIP.A group which is mainly based on FRIENDSHIP is SMARTTEENS.SMARTTEENS is a group of smart people from all around the world. This group can give u useful information, good messages, fun, humor, jokes and all type of messages. But remember any type of ADULT STUFF is not allowed in the group.

So, COME ON JOIN ALL NOW.HURRY UP!!!”

Easy way to respond: make passage easy for audience that means instead of making your “registration tab and comments tab” a hi-fi thriller, “keep it simple” and make it easy for user to respond.  “A complicated registration may lead to user’s disinterest”

 Appreciate, applaud and be considerate: Give due respect to your audience, weightage to their views, treat them as kings………but if they cross the line you need to hit them like if somebody is creating spam on page -send him gentle warning via private message or block him.

You will have all sorts of people on your forum and sometimes it might be the case that you (as a brand) and user might have contradictory opinion about a topic, but since forum is a user generated content page so you can’t stop him but instead work cleverly to flip his opinion.

No rule book for success: Nobody has any rule book for improving engagement but what brand can do is “remain in good books of audience” i.e.-keep doing hard work, treat your community members carefully and lovingly and then see this wonder chant working.

And last but not least “never say die”, keep your action going no matter what happens, who knows which day would turn your  fortune !!

Catch more Social Media Insights at our “Social Media Workshops”

Social media is a new epidemic which is spreading very fast all over the world, and has infected millions, and so far no one knows its exact origin and cause of this outbreak. This article is issued in public interest, by Digital Vidya to create general awareness.

Signs & Symptoms of Social Media Addict:

• Presence on all Social Networks

On conducting google search of your name, it appears on all social networks and also you are also very active on these social networks.

• Increased time span on internet

You can spend more than seven hours on social networks, without feeling tired, you have stopped watching TV and no longer you feel the need to go for movies.

• Virtual Social Bee

You are a social bee in virtual life, you have many friends on social media and are always busy checking their updates and sharing yours too, though in real life you might be an introvert.

• My own space

You have a page or own a blog with your name.

• Inevitable tendency

Checking updates on facebook and twitter has become inevitable part of your life, your day begins and ends checking the same, no matter what happens.

Some serious addiction patients have even received warnings from their bosses and respective families too, yet no improvement, they just can’t stay away from social media.

• You have become loner

These so called social networking sites have made you a loner, isn’t this statement a contradiction but strangely, this is a truth. Social Media addicts love to spend more time in their virtual societies rather than in real life, these people have generally complaining wives , girlfriends and family regarding their obsession.

• Had a recent breakup or divorce

If you have recently broke up with your girlfriend or had divorce, on grounds of negligent behavior, then this is the confirmation of Addiction, as per a recent survey facebook and twitter are reasons for 60-65% of breakups and divorces. So watch out afterall your relationship is at stake.

• Faked for illness

If you have started faking up for illness at office to catch up a tweet-up or at home to avoid your best friend’s wedding, then darling you are seriously a victim of this addiction.

• Midnight wake up

Do you often wake up at midnight and switch on your laptop or start browsing your phone for checking status updates and your twitter mentions, then you are a Social media addict.

• Feel depressed in absence of internet

Have you recently felt depressed on days of disturbed internet connection or you no longer enjoy vacations because of absence of internet, and if at all you get access to internet during vacations you get busy in updating status or tweeting rather than actually having fun, this is surely a sign of addiction.

If you are suffering from any of above mentioned symptoms, then don’t panic, just get in touch with our team at Digital Vidya to give this addiction a new direction- probably a career or a new marketing strategy.

p.s. this article is for general awareness and author does not want to hurt feelings of anyone especially Social Media Evangelists, who live Social Media day in and out

Facebook fan page promotion indeed a great responsibility, you need to handle a lot of pressure after all Brand Image is at stake. Let’s check out some cool ways of fan page promotion.

Think out of box

Become unpredictable…….that does mean a food giant should start talking about explosives, but instead work out on your strategy carefully, and plan to drive traffic to your page. I am sure you would love to watch a movie with unpredictable twists and turns, similarly you have to think about your brand strategy- different and interesting.

A great example is – Vodafone zoozoos. Everyone loves them, they are so cute isn’t it, they are more popular than IPL or  MTV shows and Vodafone is on cashing high on these videos, they have separate fan page which Vodafone is using tactfully zoozoo videos for spreading new schemes and products( mind it without much pestering). These kinds of initiatives make you stand out in a group.

Facebook advertising

Advertising gives incredible results provided you have positioned and crafted your ad cleverly. Choice of right words with an appealing image can earn a great attention and biggest advantage of Facebook ads is that you don’t have to spend too much. Even a small and limited budget will do the trick.

Fan page url as signature

Try using your fan page url as signature in your mails and business cards, a great way to get attention without much effort and free of cost too, what say?

Liaison of facbeook with your respective Social Media accounts and website

1. Adding a facebook plug on your website/ blog.
2. Tagging you tube videos with fan page link
3. Adding your fan page url on twitter profile background
4. Promotion via tweets

Using Blog for Intro

Promote your fanpage by sharing it on your blog, a brief write up can get you many fans from your readers community.

Using lucrative offers for promotion

It’s the best technique to catch eye of the audience, so darling brands please start thinking “What’s in for them” and you can have people humming like bees on your fan page. Just have a look at this picture of  Masterchef India, isn’t it  a great welcome for all budding and professional chefs.

Another example I will take of Café Coffee Day fan page, which keeps running discount offers and contests and never miss a chance to win hearts of their loyalists.

Customize your fan page url

Give your fan page a unique identity by using vanity url facility on facebook, a carefully chosen unique name can make your place in many hearts.

Leveraging fame of glorious chartbusters

Using name of celebs or calling them for openings is a great way to seek attention of your clientele, on similar lines you can tag top facebook pages on your fan page. Result- bright chances of getting visibility by a large spectrum of audience.

Personal Facebook Profile

Add your fan page url to your personal profile, and let your friends and alliances be part of your fan family.

Fans as evangelists

A closely knit community is a great asset to your brand, and mind my words if you have happy and satisfied loyalists you don’t have to worry about promotional schemes or fake tarnishing attacks

Buddy power

A healthy relationship with your fans can work wonders, they would love to be your brand ambassadors and PR managers if you the right cord and  last but not least don’t forget your darling friends who are your first supporters , initial likes by them can help you get initial spurt on your page

QR Codes

QR codes are another smart way to hypnotize your fans to your page and then their swift movement for boosting offline sales.

Breaking news via your fan page

Fan page great platform for dispersing news about offers or schemes and leverage the virality fever for brand promotion.

Don’t forget Google Adwords

Using google adwords and make your fan page as landing page- and see fan  numbers shooting provided you have made right choice of key words.

Fan page url in presentations and promotional pamphlets

Don’t miss any chance to promote your fan page be it your professional presentations or educational forums (you can add it in your address./ contact details)

There can be many other innovative ways, we have shared a few, do jump in and  contribute if you have some others.

X has 2 lakh plus fans, we have 3 lakhs……………we keep on hearing such boastful statements but do you really feel this towering fan acquisition actually work for a brand. I don’t think so.

While writing this, a friend of mine , sitting next to me is pinching me hard and telling me “A large fan base has many advantages- you get a lot of visibility, more traffic to website, blog and ultimately increased popularity and revenues for brand, this is what we want isn’t it”. But…..what if your lakhs of fans are mere dummies?

 Recently we have seen rising number of social media agencies who make claims of increasing your fan base, I mean now you can buy fans……eew this sound so cheap. Is it really that important to have a large fan base, let’s check…?

Numbers work wonders ……….  But not always!

Initially large Fan numbers may attract many to your page but if your page doesn’t have content it won’t be able to maintain its fan base and in worst cases instead of publicity, your brand may get doomed. As non-relevant audience won’t be interested in your updates and even some naughty ones might be busy posting spam or crap on your fan page, result your fan page might become notorious for some weird posts.

Take an example- Suppose Brand X posts about its new product on its fan page, now it has golden chance that their new product will get huge visibility via its large fan base ……….this all sounds so true …….but wait  my  friend you seem to have forgotten about Edge-ranking on facebook.

Merely posting update  is not going spread message to wall of all your fans, for this your community needs to be actively engaging, means – more likes, comments, participation by fans and that would be possible only in case of closely knit community of relevant fans.

And all efforts will go waste if we don’t get relevant target audience as message will remain restricted to a few.

Quality & Quantity need to hold hands

A strange fact “numbers do matter for some fans”, thin audience numbers on your page might be a deterring factor for many, therefore you can’t deny the importance of fan numbers.

Therefore to be a smart brand you need to strike a beautiful balance between quality and quantity of fans. But don’t over spend your energies on increasing fan numbers.

After all “It’s better to have one true friend rather than having hundred fake ones isn’t it”…

New product launch, clothing- line display, art exhibition or a cultural event, whatever may be occasion, no event is successful without media coverage. Getting reporters for event is easy, but getting “the blogger” to event is a big time affair.

Bloggers are creative people and with their art of playing with words they keep you hooked to their blogs and writings and getting event coverage from an esteemed blogger is like an icing on cake for event. As their words do the wonder, without being pushy or irritating they can sell your idea easily. So we are just sharing few tips on how to get bloggers for event coverage.

Welcome them with formal invitation

Invite them with formal invitation, with proper pitch and approach. Don’t merely send them media invite but in fact begin the conversation by sending an introductory letter briefing about organization and event. Invite becomes irresistible if invitation is from an industry expert/ hot shot (who rarely converses with people) rather than from a marketing manager and entice them with a hint of possible opportunities.

What is in for me?

That’s a big question for blogger, why should he go for event? That’s up to organizer’s approach that how will you make event most happening place, free gifts, goody bags, free dine and wine, give plenty notice time and lure of meeting industry’s top bosses.

Identifying a blogger

Bloggers can be biggies or beginners, it’s not their CV which you need for selection but infact  its their work that needs to be considered. Before shortlisting a blogger just go through his blogs, media reports, tweets and you will find out who is best fit for your event.

 Opportunity

If your organization is not the best host (I mean if you don’t want to reward bloggers with goody bags or gift vouchers) then don’t worry a big brand name and esteemed event-guest list could be the best way to attract blogger to event. Opportunity of business –offering advertisements on their blog, tie-ups for further event coverages, and these reasons are good enough for bloggers to cover your event.

Pay them, honour them

Combination of fame+money+love works like a guaranteed formula and will do the needful for you in convincing blogger. I will elaborate more on this- Pay them in cash or kind, honour them by inviting for guest speech, introducing them to event guests and last but not least make the way comfortable for them that means an accessible venue, transport facility and hotel stay if required.

Bloggers are great brand promoters; you can’t deny their importance so just follow these steps for enticing them.

Share with us your ideas for attracting bloggers and even opinions & expectations of bloggers are welcome.

Can you imagine a country without rules and laws? If at all such country exists, then it is sure that it would be on verge of extinction, because if everyone starts doing whatever he wants then life will be full of chaos, fights …….isn’t it. Similar will be situation if your Social media team will not have any consolidated guidelines or Social Media Policy, let’s find more about this “Social Media Policy”.

Social Media Policy

A social media policy (also called a social networking policy) is a corporate code of conduct that provides guidelines for employees who post content on the Internet either as part of their job or as a private person.

Now question is ‘how to begin’, its not that easy, since social media thrives on communication but how you can put boundaries to communication, and if at all you put boundaries for your team, ‘what will happen if an employee leaves organization’, ‘what if your fan tries to distort your brand image’ ‘should everyone amongst your employees apart from social media team be allowed to use social networks’ questions are many. We will counter these queries one by one and create some basic postulates for a social media policy.

Account/ Page ownership and delegation

Social Media Fan Page or Account is face of brand, so needs to handled carefully and should be delegated in deserving hands. Questions like ‘Who is going to be community manager( I mean a thorough bio check of the concerned person)’, ‘what all things he should ponder before grabbing position’ ‘Back up Community Manager’ ‘ What if community manager leaves company’ ‘Changing and handing of passwords carefully to new person’ all this and many more needs to be worked out.

Engagement Guideline

Engagement mantra- is your key to success, so plan it carefully. ‘Content strategy’ ‘Conversation theme’ ‘Creating connect with audience’ ‘Charismatic innovations’ all C’s should be worked upon and included in brand’s social media policy.

Mannerism of employees on social network

Social media etiquette or mannerism is most important guideline to be included in Social media policy, ‘how your employees should use social media channels for brand promotion’ ‘what should be ways of promotion’ ‘how to participate on fan page’ ‘how to handle things in closed wraps if your employee friend is your competitor’ ‘if employee posts a general status update, he should incorporate a disclaimer that these are his personal views and not of company(of whom he is considered a representative) all these things should be considered.

Disclosure policy

As an employee we become part and parcel of nitigrities of the brand, so it should be decided beforehand, by brand owners that how much information can employees disclose or what to disclose , since everyone uses social networks these days and once something goes on internet you can’t erase it. I hope everyone remembers the disgusting Dominos employee video

Brand owners watch out your image is at stake !

Crisis Management

Like Volacanos and earthquakes, social media crisis can happen any day without any prior notice, so always remain prepared for crisis management.

‘What would be content strategy’, ‘how will you handle angry clientele’, ‘who will engage in conversation with audience’, ‘whether your conversation strategy should be defensive or offensive’ ‘how to turn conversation positively’ all these points should be included in social media strategy.

Social media policy or guidelines cannot be as stringent as rules, you need to keep improvising it by trial and error and ultimately you will get a perfect policy for your brand. Remember stay social online and offline too( with your team) !!

Crisis – aah… How do you react to an unwanted dangerous situation, do you stay calm and composed or you push your panic button and behave arbitrarily? Reactions may vary from person to person depending on their basic natures.

But in case of Social Media Crisis you can’t afford to follow your basic instinct, instead you have to abide by certain rules of Social Media land. Let’s talk how we can deal with social media crises.

Social Media Crisis

Jeremiah Owyang has defined Social Media Crisis as-“a crisis issue that arises in or is amplified by social media, and results in negative
mainstream media coverage, a change in business process or financial loss.”

Reasons for crisis may be many like-untrained team, lack of clear social media policy, customer’s ugly experience etc. “A report by the Altimer Group has found that 76% of 50 social media crises between July and August this year could have been diminished or avoided had the brand been prepared and had proper training, staff, and processes to respond”

Social media is a channel for web based social communication, unlike any conference or meeting anything that happens on this platform catches  everyone’s eye; therefore brands need to be overcautious in handling social media.

Preparation for handling a social media crisis:

1) Having a consolidated Social Media policy: A well planned and analyzed social media policy should be framed and enforced on
social media team. Organized guidelines are better than on spot random decisions. A social media policy cannot be rigid as law, as what works for one, might fail for other. Therefore Social Media policy should be framed on basis of experiences of SM- team with loyalists and should be open for change as per requisites.

2) Dedicated and trained team: Key to Social Media Success is right presence at right time in right place. Real heroes of Social Media success are your team- mates, so please ensure that you have a dedicated and trained personnel for Social media, rather than
freshers; after all your social image is at stake, be careful!!

3) Ongoing education and refresher sessions: Social media world is evolving each day; you can’t master it just by getting one training session. It needs continuous practice and regular refresher sessions. A great example of such system is followed by Intel they have dedicated a special budget for digital marketing and follow a Digital IQ training program for educating their employees on Social Media.

4) Consistency in Action: A golden rule for “Social Media Presence” is consistency in action. Despite being bugged by Crisis, you can’t afford to remain silent; you are liable to answer your users. A similar serious mistake done by Johnson & Johnson and Toyota who instead of paying heed to their customers voice, they just recalled their products and results- a “tarnished image of brand and lost faith of loyalists”. Instead of abruptly recalling products they could  have conversed with their loyalists and answered their concerns and then made product recall. So please beware your silence can make you guilty!

Social media has given us democracy to share and grasp but it comes with responsibility of listening too. So please listen carefully whether it is praise or an abusive statement.

Criticism and appraisal are two sides of coin, they stay together. It’s not necessary things will go well always, so need is to pull up our socks and tighten our jackets and get prepared with our Crises management policy.

“Better be safe, rather than sorry”!!

Before writing this blog I have watched around seven videos of Kolaveri Di- original version, Punjabi version, Exam version, Kids version, chipmunk version, Gujarati version, Malyalam version……list continues. What is magic behind this song with strange Tanglish( Tamil-English) lyrics? How this song anthem of nation overnight?

In words of famous lyricist Javed Akhtar- “Kolaveri is an ordinary tone with substandard singing of insensible lyrics” but yet it has been most searched video on Youtube in India and You tube has honored the song with a ‘Gold Award’ for receiving large number of hits in a short time period.

This song had to be released officially on 16 November, 2011 by Sony Music, it was released solely as a recording version of song had already reached internet much before(around 31 October). But this fluke became a blessing in disguise for its Music composers as this song became an overnight hit and is most viewed song on You tube, with around 3.79 million views in less than a week and remained trending topic on twitter for three days. [UPDATE: Now this song has more than 50 million views on Youtube!]

See the impact of Social Media, despite linguistic constraints it became chartbuster song in Bollywood too. No other song from Kollywood has received so much adulation from whole nation. Social media experts have rated Kolaveri as one of best examples of Viral Marketing.

Viral marketing in simple words would be “word of mouth marketing”-something that compels person to transmit it to other, the compelling factor can be- interesting, provocative, motivating, luring with gifts etc. In case of this peppy song it was strangeness of language-Tanglish (Tamil and English) that rose curiosity among people even when I clicked on to view this song url (which was widely circulated on internet), I googled word ‘ Kolaveri Di’ to figure out what was this song about. No TV or print media promotions or promotional tours could have won so much popularity to song what viral marketing has done.

But since tendency of this phenomenon is viral, its outbreak can turn you upside down also i.e. it can turn negative too. I would share an old example of Starbuck- Starbuck’s started a campaign free iced coffee for friends and family efforts. The coffee chain sought to entice friends and family of employees to come into the store for free iced coffee, but when word got out about the offer and the response was bigger than expected, corporate headquarters had to nix the promotion.

However all turned well in case of Kolaveri, and it has become a youth anthem. In order to analyze its success it is being studied as case study by students of top business schools of country including IIMs. From my side Thumbs up for Kolaveri, and all the best to movie 3!

Thanks to our Constitution for giving us fundamental right- FREEDOM OF SPEECH & EXPRESSION, and enjoying this liberty most of us have tried our hands in blogging. But most of us have not been able to even hang near Veterans like Shobhaa De & Amitabh Bachan. Lets peep into what makes them worshiped GODS in blogging.

Onset or Opening: “Well begun is half done”.  A ‘catchy title’ and and ‘impressive opening’ can work wonders for a blog. The first thing
encountered by reader is ‘beginning’ so get ready to work for catching attention of users.

Content inception: ‘Content is king’, it is essential fuel for running social media wagon. Not only blog requires a captivating content but also from which source it is coming is important. Content becomes more relevant when it is user generated. There are various ways for creating user-generated content- interviews, contests, polls, comment- feedback loop, etc.

Prominent and captivating headers: Most of us would sulk reading lengthy paragraphs, articles, so why you want to torture your reader with long scripts, try to break down your post into postulates. Add suitable headers for each sect.

Relevance: “Don’t run around the bush” instead stay glued to topic. Keep yourself in reader shoes and create value to your post by being precise and concise. Remember reader time is precious; create content that is useful for reader. Add gravity to your post by sharing practical tips and experiences.

Call to action: “urging your reader to take action”- stays the ultimate goal. The real challenge lies in getting your reader to take action without being domineering in nature.

Writing style: Now last but not least writing style, which is most crucial for success of post. ‘XX might be an expert in his forte but is sloppy in expression’ then his knowledge becomes waste, as he can’t be beneficial for others. Remember, be clear and concise, and don’t sound preachy instead try to become conversational. So take care and try not to become “Clever Silly”.

I have shared these tips based on our experiences, but remember, “Rome was not built in a day” so don’t expect miracles overnight. It will take time and practice to execute all these tips. So keep your lamp glowing and might be after few days you will be sharing tips for “writing a good blog”.  So guys are you ready??