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!

#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. 

Role of a Community Manager

I often come across people who think the role of a community manager is to manage the social networks of a company/brand! Little do they realize that the role of a community manager goes way beyond managing social networks of a company/brand. 

Community manager is the "human" behind the brand who talks to its audience online.

That doesn't mean their role is restricted to posting updates & engaging with the audience on various social platforms. 

An informed community manager:

• Uses social listening & analytic tools to track conversations around the brand & industry
• The analysis of such conversations can help businesses take informed decisions for their content or marketing strategy
• Ensures that the community grows and stays vibrant; makes new members feel at home and enforces rules of engagement
• Creates a platform of conversation to help marketers engage with desired target audiences
• Helps build relationships within the community and between the company and community. Some community managers plan events, run forums and more

Strengthen relationship beyond a virtual handshake

A community manager strengthens relationship with it's audience/customers beyond a virtual handshake. Listening and responding genuinely plays a big part in strengthening relationships. We strive to deepen relationships one-on-one as we're so grateful for each customer and friend. It's important for a community manager to be personable and not just act like a machine responding to its customers/audience.

It's so great when a company can "come to the rescue" in times of frustration

Surprise & delight the community

It's imperative for a community manager to go beyond the screen! A simple 'Thank You' note is more powerful than just connecting virtually. Such initiatives cement a brand's place in people's mind and are shared & treasured by all! Surprise and delight is all about strengthening the one-on-one interactions with intangible ROI. 

While a community manager does all the above to manage and build a strong community, a company's values also contribute to the well-being of a community.  

If you have a culture of collaboration, your company will succeed for better. 

Managing a community, keeping them engaged, surprising & delighting them at all times isn't an easy task. Community managers face challenges in their roleto create a close knitted and strong community: 

• Time management - is the biggest problem for community managers. Not only do they manage the brand pages but also listen to what their fans and followers have to say about them. Solid listening tools can help ensure that the community manager is able to respond to all the great mentions. It can help to have different team members "own" different areas/platforms so they ensure all mentions are covered
• Content strategy - community managers have to prepare content that appeals to various segments of audiences, creating unmatched value proposition for all 

Trust your intuition and be yourself while building a community.  Take the time to invest in one-on-one relationships by listening, responding, sending gifts (of any kind!). Continue to care & share, tweet by tweet & post by post! 

Note: This topic was discussed during the #SocialPowWow Twitter chat and the full transcript can be read here: https://goo.gl/sEMwi0 

The Power of Community Building & How it can Benefit your Business

A community is real or virtual place where everyone with similar thoughts come together to discuss about a subject they are passionate about. Communities share their ideas, experiences and learn from each other on an on-going basis. An online community is a group of people with similar goals, interests, passion to connect & exchange information digitally. Thanks to social media that communities aren't restricted geographically anymore but are now global!

Build community with a purpose

Community building starts by understanding the needs and wants of your community. Who, why, what? Take time to understand who you will connect with & who is connecting with you already AND why you are building a community. 

Find that common thread of interest & bring them on a platform that lets them contribute to it effectively! Once you really know who your community is, you can begin to think about how you can benefit one another.

Importance of community building for your business 

Every business needs a community. Advocacy is key purpose for marketers; one of the most potent long term goals attained via community building! 

Those who regularly interact with a brand are the ones who share and spread content, recommend your brand and are repeat customers. When you invest in your community, you invest in the future and are ready to build a better business together.

Powerful community have positive impact on your business

Brands + communities have the power to bring change together and make positive ripples in this world together! It is the first defensible asset if something goes wrong. A powerful community will ALWAYS stand by you. 

Communities definitely impact your bottom line with word or mouth. Give them something to love you for, make it positive!

It spreads your word around, protects you when you're facing crisis, becomes a sources of ideas and content.

So start building your community today if you haven't yet! 

Note: This topic was discussed during the #SocialPowWow Twitter chat and the full transcript can be read here: https://goo.gl/z2NTtY  

#SocialPowWow: Share, NOT Save Knowledge

I have always believed in the power of community and over time have formed a community of like minded people who share similar interests.

“Power is gained by sharing knowledge, not hoarding it”

That said, I recently started a Twitter ch #SocialPowWow. The idea behind the chat was to build a community:

• For Indian Entrepreneurs, Marketing, PR, Advertising and Digital professionals
• To exchange ideas and start discussions around topics to explore endless possibilities that are transforming the world of business

Till now, five chats have been successfully hosted on Twitter and the response has been superb! Here’s a list of topics we have covered so far and in case you haven’t check out the chat as yet, please do give a read to the re-cap:

• Social Media for Public Relations & Strategic Communications

With our special guest Vikram Kharvi, Senior Group Head, lead B2B & Tech Practice @AdfactorsPR, the chat received a great response from the PR & digital marketing professionals in India and globally. The chat focused on the role social media plays in strategic communication, especially for those in PR, how social media can be beneficial in PR crisis management and best practices for PR teams in managing brand position on social media. Here’s the full transcript of the chat: https://goo.gl/E8x7WH  

• Content Marketing for Businesses

Olga Andrienko, Head of Social Media at @semrush spoke about content marketing. We all say content is the king and rightly so! How do you create scintillating content for the readers, align content marketing with your business objectives and tools you can use for content creation is what was discussed during this chat. Here’s a quick re-cap: https://goo.gl/Jeppsc

• Digital Marketing for Startups

The chat with Sorav Jain, Thinker in Chief @echovme was focused around digital marketing for startups, how much should one invest in digital marketing, tools which can be helpful for marketing for startups and much more! Catch the full transcript of the chat here: http://sfy.co/c0nCK  

• Social Media Analytics

Social media analytics with Shonali Burke, CEO, Shonali Burke Consulting, Inc. was a fun and engaging chat. The chat covered how social media analytics could benefit businesses and clients, how to develop strategies and measure KPIs, challenges faced to get buy-ins from the upper management and the tools that can help in social media measurement. Check out the chat transcript here: https://t.co/jHtasg6zjW

• Storytelling & Social Media

After an engaging chat with Shonali on social media analytics, we had another insightful chat with her on storytelling & social media. The topic covered the importance of storytelling in social media, focus of brands on storytelling in their campaigns, best practices in storytelling and how customers’ perception play into effective storytelling. To read the full chat transcript, click here: https://goo.gl/gTsZAn

I’m thrilled to have such wonderful and powerful #SocialPowWow community! Always around to exchange knowledge, share ideas, examples and enticing case-studies. Let’s strengthen the community and learn from each other’s experiences. Join us for #SocialPowWow, every Thursday 9PM IST; 11:30AM ET. Look forward to your participation.