Sneh Sharma is Partner And Director at Webenza, a leading Digital Media Agency based out of Bangalore. The company has specialized focus in Social Media and New Media Marketing.
Webenza is one of the very few agencies of India that owns a social listening and analytics product named IncPot.
Digital Vidya: Does the advent of Social Media change the hierarchies in organizations that contribute to old-fashioned top-down change management?
Sneh: Social Media has established a sync between departments, people and goals of an organization. It has opened the doors of communication and has forced people to interact with each other within an organization.
Today Social Media has become extremely important for brands with connectedness as its core attribute. From a CMO who is writing brand strategies to a manager who is planning a launch campaign, to a designer who is creating a concept, to a customer service agent who is answering queries all should know what the other person is doing and planning. Everyone have to be in complete sync with each other.
Digital Vidya: As companies try to get employees to participate in social media, what lessons should they learn as to how to go about that organizational change?
Sneh: Social Media is content driven and its viral effect makes it unavoidable. Brands cannot afford to lose sight of content and conversations.
Employees were always present on Social Media, but companies have just recently joined in. The general approach of most companies is to control employees’ behavior on social media, which is a shortsighted approach. Social media is a very transparent medium and ‘Being transparent’ is the best approach a company can take when on social media..
The companies need to see social media as an opportunity to promote their brand where employees act as advocates and influence people around them.
As a company you should remember that Social Media is a mirror of your real self, be good to see good.
Digital Vidya: What do you see coming next for this whole space in the industry in the long run?
Sneh: Mobile is the future, the game changer. Power literally will move into the hands of public. Social networks will change but customers will be even more powerful, even more mobile. Public conversations will increase by leaps and bounds and brands will have no option but to listen in. Analytics will also play a crucial role in the future, where brands will utilize the Mechanics & Dynamics of the online conversations in order to get insights, attention and interest of customers. The approach will change from hunting, to farming. It will be about cultivating relationships.
Digital Vidya: What is the most important piece of advice that you would like to give to all the marketers?
Sneh: People are not interested in ‘What you sell’ but they are more interested in ‘Why you sell’. They are not looking for Facts but they are looking for Faith.
