Shout,Shoot and Shine

This post is not just about expressing myself but involves many questions I have been asked in the past about Social Media, and how can it make a brand click.

First things first, Social Media is not just about those umpteen friends you have on Facebook/Orkut/MySpace, its about using those friends, using the network make your work popular.

Market Study clearly states Word-Of-Mouth to be the most efficient way of advertising, and where would the word come from, if your friend searches for your new company online and finds no result (Besides the irrelevant results, probably based on Rakhi Sawant's last 'social' act).

Social Media can create the new buzz and Zest that your company needs, and it can do all this for less the money a regular marketing firm would take to provide a similar plan.

Twitter.com , a website I once thought was irrelevant for personal and professional use is now doing wonders with its "101 Business" addition. One twitter update can do the job of a lengthy email without being that invasive.

It was amazing to see how Rider University(I worked for 2008-10) has a twitter page for all its students and staff, how easy is it for them to let their followers know of a concert to be held this weekend and let them know of the tickets remaining.

Similarly, it can be very useful for any organization to let their clients and workers know about developments in a new product, a new service or just a declared holiday.They no longer have to waste time in calling the operator and getting the status of the request they had put in last week, a 160 characters twitter update can let them know.

In fact, I am working on a plan where, inventory management could be done via social media, where every department would "re-tweet" the request received and make the members of the organization know about the process. This not only would make work more transparent, but would add to the productivity, as every step involved will be logged on the social media.

Blogging I think is a very powerful medium to let people know more about your product and services, A good blog can impress a prospective client, who no longer looks into the "About Us" section any more, and would now look forward to the more "dynamic" part of the website.

Facebook, is another interesting platform or what I would like to term as "Twitter On Steroids" , allowing the company to boast its profits with charts, numbers, pictures, blogs, almost anything that was being done via a mundane email (With the mundane, 'graphic ' signature and picture).

Then there is FourSquare, and amazing tool that will soon create ripples in the Sales and Marketing world with the claim to fame being the "Mayor ship" of a territory. Imagine multiple companies fighting to become the mayor of "ABC Company" Business Development office. It would not only give an ego boost to the company but will be accomplishment to boast about.

Social Media is not just about standing on an elevated platform and shouting out, its about standing on an elevated platform and shouting out what is at the same time being recorded on  YouTube, podcast'ed on the website and posted on the blog. It is advertising 2.0. 

So, Shout, Shoot and Shine !!

021 !!