The Emerging World of Brand Journalism

The Internet has made brand publishing ubiquitous. Gone are the days when brands required an intermediary to reach their target audience. Now, they have the luxury of reaching out to their audience directly, through content storytelling.

Welcome to the emerging world of brand journalism

Brands are using digital publishing tools and social media to directly reach out to their audience. 

On January 11th this year, one of the biggest e-commerce platforms in India, Flipkart.com announced the news of their new co-founder on Twitter. As a PR professional or a reporter, we usually expect big announcements to unveil at a press conference/event BUT with digital media, things are changing.

Flipkart tweeted the news via their handle @FlipkartStories and uploaded the full story on stories.flipkart.com. The news of course spread like fire!

Flikpart now shares all their stories on the stories.flipkart.com.

This example reiterates the fact that:

• Brands want to own the narrative and want to be storytellers to reach out to their consumers/stakeholders directly
• Brands are looking for quick and effective ways of communicating with their target audience 
• There is no need for intermediaries to tell a brand's story - with brands sharing their own stories, they don't need reporters to reach out to the stakeholders. However, how 'authentic' the story is, cannot be judged 

Brand journalism and brand content have very different purpose and ethics. Journalists/reporters share authentic news with the public, however, a brand's content is always targeted at its consumers. The ultimate aim of a reporter is to'inform' the public and that of a brand is to 'sell.'

So while we say that the world of brand journalism is emerging, not sure if it will 'shake up' the media industry. That said, we might see a rise of brand editors in the near future. What do you think?

Are you a thought leader on social media?

Recently I hosted Jason LeDuc, Founder and President of Evil Genius Leadership Consultants, LLC,

an executive and leadership coaching firm on #SocialPowWow twitter chat . The one hour chat with him fueled a lot of questions and conversation around positioning oneself as a thought leader on social media.

While offline networking and communication with the industry peers can position oneself as a thought leader in the industry, social media is the vehicle for effective leadership online. Leaders have multiple audiences, from customers, employees to industry peers and social media helps reach them all.

In the words of Jason, "Social media is an incredible way to show the world about your leadership values and style."

To become a leader in your own community, start by helping existing communities

"Communities are made of people, so connecting existing communities is a great way to build a new one!" - Jason 

Engaging and building relationships with the existing community helps strengthen your own network. An interesting point that Jason pointed out during the chat was that often best results come from connecting two communities that don't know each other and social is built for that.

While having an online presence and engaging with communities on social platforms is a must to be seen as a thought leader, what's more important is to understand which networks should a leader be present at.

We can never define one platform where presence is a must to be visible as a thought leader. It depends on your goals and who you are trying to connect with.

Interestingly, during the chat, the community voted for Twitter and LinkedIn to be the most effective social networks for thought leaders. Twitter is great for real-time engagement, feedback and to build a community. LinkedIn is effective to network with the peers in the industry and engage with them via LinkedIn groups/ posts.

Platforms like Blab, can bring across personality and authenticity. However, it isn't mandatory to be on live streaming apps or on video networks to position yourself as a leader.

And to be a like-able leader, you got to be "Authentic."

"Likeability comes after lot of work. Approachability, Accessibility, Attitude to help, Humility & Updated content" - @falgunivasavada

In fact, those in the leadership position and active on social media come across as more friendly, transparent and accessible to the followers.

If you want to be seen as a thought leader, raise your social media profile

• Focus on your objective and reach out to your target audience via online forums / LinkedIn groups / Twitter/ Blogs
• Start small - like participating in Twitter chats and building connections 
• Engage with your audience with effective and useful content
• Always respond to questions and comments 
• Share your thoughts, learnings and opinions with the community
• Engage for social good. Support causes that are closer to your heart and associate with like minded groups - @1DigitaLife

"Leadership is about people and if we are not engaging, we are not really leading" - Jason

Our community gave a shout out to the leaders who engage, communicate and lead in the areas of HR/ Entrepreneurship/ Leadership/ Communications/ Travel: @richardbranson; @anandmahindra; @AshishJThakkar;@GautamGhosh @narendramodi; @BarackObama; @sureshpprabhu;@guykawasaki; @PrabirJha; @AbhijitBhaduri; @IndianYash; @JoyAndLife;@JLipowski; @Nicolette_; @TheTravelCamel;@Sihpromatum;@PRmomentIndia; @shonali

I'd love to know the thought leaders who have inspired you on social media. What is your like-ability quotient for a leader on social networks? Share your thoughts in the comment section below!

How To Use Online Networking For Business Development And Growth

Let me tell you a story of a hardworking entrepreneur named Paul, who was dedicated to grow a successful business. Day after day, Paul worked so hard giving the maximum, but getting no results,  and he became angry and frustrated. But Paul wasn't a quitter, and decided that he had to work harder. A long time ago he was told that a hard working person always reaps the reward. One day, Paul, feeling devastated and like a failure and not made to be an entrepreneur, decided to go for a walk to blow off some steam. That walk in the park changed everything, because he ran into his college friend Amy. She was the missing link, who connected him to other valuable links.

YOU HAVE TO WORK LIKE AN ANT, AND NETWORK LIKE A GRASSHOPPER

The story of the ants and the grasshopper shows two extrems - ants work hard they don’t have time for rest and leasure, grasshopper is having fun all the time, but in the winter he ends up hungry. The moral of the story for many is - be like an ant and not like a grasshopper; but because most of the time we too, have a tendency to go to extremes, we received that lesson only half way, forgetting that we are not forced to take it to the latter but rather learn and apply what works best for each and every one of us in a specific context.

Networking was always an intricate part of a business success, because business is all about people – and that includes new connections. What gets in a way of networking is that once we focus on our end goal, we forget everything else. The more we work the more we become detached from a social aspect of our business.

Nowadays we have social networks, which represent huge opportunities to meet new people. With a good strategy and targeted approach we can save time while maximizing our efforts and success rate. Usually, networking means «business communications», but these days networking doesn’t have to be tied directly to a business to get results.

Social media networking is not free – you pay for it upfront with your energy and your time. Energy can be restored, however time invested in networking must have some kind of ROI, something tangible that can help you move forward, grow, increase sales, generate more income or gaining any of the following examples:

- New point of view
- Different experience
- Learning new skill
- Increased awareness of your personal brand
- Increased awareness for your startup
- New important contacts
- New friendships
- Invitation to participate in a tweetchat, private linkedin group, blab, community, writing a blog post...
- Start an online brand community

What’s important is to think of your time as if it were a budget, and allocate certain amounts to communicate, connect, exchange opinions, LEARN from others, teach...

If we behave only as ants, we might end up in solitude, and no (wo)man is an island. To go further, grow and innovate, we have to collaborate.

STRATEGIC NETWORKING MUST INCLUDE RESPECTING OTHERS

Choosing our tactics, like whom we contact with and how, seems very calculated and unemotional – but that’s only half of the story. Once you’re done researching and shaping your networking strategy it’s time to focus on the people.People are not assets, numbers, stepping stones... people are made of emotions – dreams, passions, needs, wants.

In other words, your networking strategy might look like it’s focused solely on you and your

business, but it also needs to be focused on the people you’re going to reach. And if you’re not a «people person» your first step, before jumping in business networking, is to learn some people skills, so you can become more effective at it and also have more fun.

- Don’t fake it till you make it – people like genuineness, they have a way to instinctively sense fake.
- If you take, you must give back – show support and respect, be a connector.
- Be prepared to give more than you receive – some people might need more to open and collaborate.
- Invest your time and energy in quality not quantity – don’t be a victim of vanity, and pick those social networks which will best serve your goals.
- Test and try – not every plan and approach will work, prepare to adjust.
- Be curious not a stalker - the more you get to know a person the better relationship

The beauty of online networking is that you can find out peoples' interests in advance, so you can connect with those who share your interests, and discuss related topics. Who knows, you might even move beyond mutually supporting one another and establish a business collaboration. It happens all the time.

Remember: Networking IS a part of Business success – a part you must not skip and leave for a more convenient time. Business success IS about people – and how they respond to your service, your product, most importantly to YOU!

Disclaimer: The post has been written by Iva Ignjatovic, @IvaIgnjatovic who was a guest on #SocialPowWow Twitter chat to speak on this topic.

 

#SocialPowWow: A meeting ground for Communicators & Marketers

While most of my friends and family are on Facebook and “addicted” to this social network, I choose to meet and interact with new people on Twitter.

No, that doesn’t mean I don’t like my friends or family. ;)

The beauty about Twitter is that you don’t need to be “friends” with someone before you start interacting with them. And what’s better than e-meeting new people from across the globe and learning from their experiences?

Social media has paved the way for us to meet like-minded people from all over the world.

Last year, I started a Twitter chat called #SocialPowWow in order to have a meeting ground on Twitter for PR pros, marketers and startups from India and across the world.

Before I tell you more about it, I’d like to give a BIG shout out to the hosts of chats and the respective communities who helped me learn and increase knowledge over the years and yes, I have built strong relationships with them over time!

I was introduced to the world of Twitter chats by Shonali, and the first ever Twitter chat that I tuned in to was, of course, #MeasurePR. Since then there was no looking back. I enjoyed interacting with the community and learning more about the PR ecosystem and the importance of measurement in PR.

It always felt good to hear different perspectives from people across the globe; that pushed me to explore various other Twitter chats including #Bufferchat (Nicole Miller does a great job by going an extra mile for her community and making a connect with them), #Luv4social (Teri Kojetin & Carmella Lanni), #BizHeroes (I can’t thank Kelly Hungerford enough for guiding me), and #SEMRushChat (Olga Andrienko) which focuses on topics like communications, branding, digital marketing, analytics, and SEO.

How did these chats help me?

Regularly interacting with these communities helped me gain immense knowledge. While I learnt a lot in my day job at a PR agency, I learned even more via these chats. From design tools to understanding analytics, measurement and the changing face of PR in the digital era, the Twitterati have definitely been my guiding light.  

Birth of #SocialPowWow

It was last year in October that I decided to start a chat to build a community of PR pros, marketers, and entrepreneurs in India to discuss topics of mutual interests. From 0 to over 400 followers in five months, I enjoyed building a community of people who have similar interests.

Power is gained by sharing knowledge, not hoarding it.

Inviting experts from various parts of the world including India, and collaborating and connecting the community in India with experts from all over the world and vice versa has definitely been one hell of a roller coaster ride!

I have always believed in the power of community; there is just SO much you can do. You learn, exchange ideas, collaborate and build long lasting relationships, because it’s true that you connect only with like-minded people in this world.

So far, the topics we’ve covered include content marketing, digital marketing, marketing challenges for startups, analytics, storytelling, community management, the gap between PR and media, IMC, marketing trends for 2016, customer experience through analytics, the ethical side of social, and the future of video in India.

It’s been five months since I started the weekly chat and the response to the chat has been overwhelming. Within three months of starting the chat, it was rated among the 15 most popular digital marketing Twitter chats by Echovme. 

Ain’t that awesome?

So, if you’re reading this post, I really hope to see you at the next #SocialPowWow Twitter chat – we chat every Thursday, 11:30AM ET/ 9PM IST. Let’s get together and build a strong community of communications and marketing professionals!

This post was originally published on WUL. 

Customer Experience Driven By Social Media Intelligence

With internet & social media, customer experience has completely changed over time. It has brought brands closer and accessible to customers and vice versa enabling real time conversation. The always connected consumer immediately gets to know the good, the bad & the ugly about a brand. All thanks to social media, phew! 

"Advent of social technologies has led to shifting demographics, real time sharing & adding sheer dynamism to marketing." - Dinesh Kulchandra

Indians make use of various communication channels to talk about customer service experiences. 

Did you know? According to American Express Customer Service Barometer, Indians continue to be the most digital savvy with 71% utilizing social media to get a customer service response. 

Embrace digital platforms to deliver better customer experience 

Companies should embrace digital platforms to build personal connect with their audience. In the past, if a customer had bad experience with the product or company, there wasn't much they could do about it, but now they can tell the entire world about a poor experience they have had with the product/company. Internet has given consumers a powerful voice and they're not afraid to use it. 

 78% of online customers recommend a brand to friends & other contacts after a great customer experience - @helpscout 

Interestingly, it's said that customers who engage with companies over social media are more loyal - @Talkdesk 

Social media can be a blessing for businesses that use it well and a curse for those that don't. Today’s networked & omni-channel customers demand personalization and prompt response from the companies. When customers reach out to companies on social media, they expect a response:

• 15% in less than an hour
• 46% in 24 hours or less
• 14% in 48 hours or less
• 25% never

With social media playing an imperative role in delivering better customer service, analytics plays a HUGE role in understanding consumer behavior & personalize their brand journey to enhance their experience. 

Social analytics provide useful insights which can help make smarter and better decisions. It touches across multiple user generated interactions impacting customer experience. Smart companies use analytics to figure out deeper issues with their product or service and resolve them.

While social media lends itself to creating communities, social analytics helps with engaged communities. Customer experience driven by social media Intelligence helps in building highly engaged communities - @Gartner_inc 

To conclude, here's an interesting info graphic by @Talkdesk which highlights the best practices for boosting customer service on your phone and social media.

 

Digital Marketing for Indian Startups

The Indian startup ecosystem has really taken off in the recent years. India has paved its way to

secure the third position in the world in terms of the number of startups. According to a recent report by NASSCOM-Zinnov, India is one of the first five largest startup communities in the world with the number of startups crossing 4,200, a growth of 40%, by the end of 2015! It's indeed fascinating to see the startup boom in India. Gone are the days when Silicon Valley used to be considered the "only place" for startups!

That said, Indian startup ecosystem faces quite a few challenges - from scaling up, to marketing their product & services. 

'Great marketing starts with a great product!'

Today, consumers have such a strong voice through social media that they can either propel a product to stardom or obsolescence! As Sorav Jain rightly pointed out during the #SocialPowWow Twitter chat, it's imperative for a startup to pick the right medium and put together a competent marketing team at an initial stage. 

"While building a great product is the key, marketing is the keyhole which opens doorway to customers" - Sorav Jain

Most Indian startups put money in product, processes, people etc. but do not allocate the right budgets for marketing. Startups must plan and know how much they can spend and over what time period. Poor marketing strategy can lead to a failed startup.  

With the evolution of social media over the years, digital has become the go to medium to attract and engage consumers. 

According to EY’s second annual social media marketing India trends study, about 90% of organizations reached out to in the study planned to spend as much as 15% of their annual marketing budget exclusively on social media, up from 78% organizations in 2013. 

Indian startups should invest in smart custom audience based marketing on Twitter, Facebook and Google for brand recall. Digital marketing not only helps in getting leads and sales conversion, but also helps the brands to understand consumer behaviour.

Analytics in fact, play an important role in understanding consumer's journey. While social media lends itself to creating communities, social analytics helps with engaged communities.

"Make community building and audience development a primary goal of your digital strategy. A startup can't make it with out" - Kelly Hungerford

So if you are a startup or an upcoming startup OR an upcoming unicorn: Be nimble. Experiment with social media strategies. Be willing to change strategies or tweak if not working. Don't be rigid!

Note: Digital marketing & marketing challenges for startups was discussed during the #SocialPowWow Twitter chat and the full transcript of both the chats can be read here: http://sfy.co/c0nCK / goo.gl/ExBLvn 

Marketing Trends & Predictions for 2016

In 2015, what marketers did right and where they missed the mark: 

In 2015, marketers understood the importance of mobile. We also observed increased use of videos and images too this year. 

It's said that by 2020, there will be over 5 billion internet users, with over half of them accessing the internet over handheld tablet devices and 80 billion connected devices worldwide! 

With increasing internet users & connected devices worldwide, marketers will push more content to their audience. While some marketers are already overdoing content, good quality content will triumph quantity.

"Storytelling" as a jargon has been used quite a bit  by marketers in 2015. However, not many have mastered the art of storytelling just as yet. Marketers must first understand their audience and what kind of stories they are likely to respond to. It's imperative to build the story in a brand's DNA, amongst its employees, content and finally in the marketing efforts.  

Time & budgets likely to be spent by marketers in 2016

According to Gartner. marketing budgets in 2016 are set to increase on an average to 11% of total company revenue. 

As we saw increased focus of marketers towards mobile and video, it's expected that marketers in 2016 will be $pending heavily on mobile and video. WithGoogle pushing video "micro moments", it will be interesting to see how brands will capitalize on videos. The purchase journey of a consumer has been fragmented into hundreds of micro-moments.

It's important for brands to be present in those moments with relevant, useful videos to establish brand equity and connect with their consumers. 

A study by Web Video Marketing Council says that 96% of B2B marketers are now using video marketing. 

Needless to say, content marketing is set to rise in 2016! As per the Content Marketing Institute (@CMIContent), 51% of B2B companies plan to increase spending in content marketing in the coming year. 

It's the age of data and it makes every spend accountable and measurable which implies analytics will be big in 2016. According to @brandanewco, expenditures on marketing analytics are set to rise by 60%. 

Smart Marketers will also reserve some $$ for organic/earned & engagement! 

Wearable technology & smart devices expected to gain more traction in 2016

As more people strap technology to their wrists, wearable devices are set to become powerful platforms for customer engagement. Wearable devices will give marketers an opportunity to analyse habits, attitudes & behaviour patterns to better serve consumers. 

Healthcare industry will be one of biggest beneficiary of wearables in my opinion. 

A report by @McKinseyDigital states that wearables are set to become $11 trillion market!  

Evolution of Paid v/s Organic 

Convergence of earned, paid and owned media will remain the sweet spot for marketers. Smart marketers will find the right balance between the three that will work for their customers. 

While it is said that paid is taking over organic growth, I believe in the long term organic growth helps build trust and loyalty with the customers and eventually lead to sales. A paid campaign can get you more eyeballs, but organic still has a long tail!  

So, what are your marketing trends and predictions for 2016? I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comment section below.

Note: This topic was discussed during the #SocialPowWow Twitter chat and the full transcript can be read here: https://goo.gl/ef1mhx