Attracting visitors through Social Media Marketing

Do you think writing content is enough to tag yourself as a ‘content writer’? I am sure it isn’t. Are you thinking the same? Good command and proficiency over the language were the criteria sufficient for a content writer almost a decade ago.

 In the present era, to produce good content, a content writer needs to have complete knowledge of SEO (search engine optimization). SEO is the technique required to attract new visitors to your website. Yet, SEO alone isn’t enough.

Social media plays a significant role in attracting more visitors to your website. Social media optimization, along with search engine optimization, can together do wonders; your website will attract unique and new visitors. The aim of Social Media Marketing is to create content that will help a company increase their brand exposure and broaden customer reach. 

Users rely on social media sites for news and facts. The knowledge imparted about your company on a social networking site should be equally factual. The ‘about us’ section has to be well-written and it should define your organization’s intention. Your organizations goal and vision has to be clearly stated. Provide a complete address and link it to Google map.

Make efforts to create a recall value among your consumers. Your content should be the driving force. Make sure your company is omnipresent. Create your blog, Facebook page, Twitter account, LinkedIn profile, Instagram account, Pinterest etc. Keep tweeting, updating your blogs regularly and never miss updating your status. It will help your costumers to stay connected and updated on the activities in your organization.

Keep your customers informed, whether it is a launch of a new product, a new service, any festive offer, special discount season, customized AMC offer, new recruitment, birthday celebrations, new tie-ups or promotions etc, whatever may be the reason, never miss to share an update with your customers.

Post interesting content to pull your customers to participate. The more engaging the content is, higher the participation rate would be.  Do not write long sentences. Make it short and crisp. You just have 140 characters to tweet! It is always advisable to have a landing page in your website.

Further, add social media links to the content and link them to your website. Never miss to create ‘Call-to-Action’ (CTA). This CTA converts your visitor to a lead. It determines the conversion rate.  One important rule to remember: never mislead your consumers. Do not make false promises. Offer only what you can provide. In the age of social media, it is easy to grab the attention of millions of consumers across the globe, but one false promise can lead to social disaster. Reputation and trust are two key components that can make or break a brand. No trust, no existence!

For wide exposure and visibility, a website is not just enough to run a business and be successful in the World Wide Web.  You have to explore the world of social media. It is no longer the medium used just to connect to your friends and family. It is in fact, one of the most substantial and effective professional medium.  So, keep exploring!

By- Sunaina Agarwal

For the Love of Communication

Have you ever wondered what the similarity is between a student of MBA and a student of Journalism? It’s not really a hard one to guess, but people normally would avoid such confusion. Nevertheless, it’s not the end of the world.

I have a small story to tell before I answer the above question. When one of my friends started teaching journalism at a state-run university, reality was something that hit him hard. He felt that the dice was never rolled. People were hesitant and not ready to evolve. For some people, a little ‘push’ was enough, but these guys definitely didn’t want to be touched. Because to them my friend was a new problem; to handle an uptight young teacher who wanted them to gulp down everything at once! “Jeez! How much he talks!” someone whispered from the corner.

My friend could have ignored them and moved on with his classes just for the sake of finishing the course. Life could have been a little easier for him and of course for me; I didn’t have to write this piece. But my friend was a bit stubborn. His instinct pushed him forward to take a chance and modernize his students, perhaps to change their mindset. There was an urgent need to recalibrate their attitude towards technology: selfietisers to techie journalists. He tried to push, encourage and fix, but in vain.

“There is no dearth of talents. What they lack is competitiveness”. A serious communication problem. Words don’t just come out as a means to say or express. Forget English! Vernacular language is also of no help”, he said. After 17-18 classes, he somehow managed to motivate a few, but not the whole class. So can we say our dear friend finally won? No, He lost it.

One can definitely learn grammar and ways to write better. But how will one imbibe the attitude of being contemporaneous? How would one make sure that one has the right spirit and aggressiveness to follow the trends? This is something journalism schools in India aren’t ready to address. This is a deficit, a big one!

What my dear friend and I believe is being techno savvy should not be a compulsion. It should be an attitude geared up in the right direction. Communication skills and technological prowess are vital aspects of journalism. If someone fails to express or adapt to the changing scenario, things will always be worse for him or her. I have seen people take up journalism courses just for the sake of it. “I was sitting idle at home. So I thought I would do something. So I joined journalism” a young girl in her mid-twenties, makes her point. But is she ready for the class? No, she ain’t! She doesn’t have the habit of reading newspapers, magazines, webzines, and novels but she has such a huge smart phone. But all she does with that is take ‘selfies’ 40 times a day and shares it on social media apps such as Instagram, Facebook, WhatsApp, and Hike. Little does she know that she could tell wonderful stories using Instagram. She could use apps like Zinio, Worldreader, New York Times, Huffington Post and Readwhere; she can be a little wiser and up-to-date. But she prefers Candy Crush Saga.

The next big questions - can she comprehend or follow the classroom instructions? Is she smart enough to give an alternative viewpoint? I highly doubt that. As far I know, people in the year 2015 normally don’t read the basic text books prescribed to them in their syllabus. Google is always the best friend!

I shall now return to the question that I asked in the first paragraph. Yes! There is a similarity between a student of MBA and a student of Journalism. It is the ‘communication’. What more can be added to the answer is adaptability, innovative approach, a sense of competitiveness, and technological competency. Moreover, successful people do read a lot. They do gossip and it’s called a ‘productive discussion’. They believe in a constant learning and they do update themselves about every single development in the world. Basically, they learn from everyone, even from a shopkeeper down the street. They have an approach of maintaining humility, no matter how successful they become. That’s all we need. We should all be passionate learners and must strive towards perfection.

With this, we kick-start this blog ‘Communication Pod’.

By- Smarak Samarjeet