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social_business

 

Running a Content Marketing firm, one of the major issues I face is convincing the clients on why they should develop their business as a “Social Business” and the advantages from it. For those who smirk at this question, yes I smirk too. But convincing the clients on the What and Why of this detail isn’t as easy as it would seem.

So what exactly is Social Business? Ans – Any business that involves the understanding of how your customers or stakeholders connect to and understand your business, and how you mould your business strategy based on their interests, can be defined as Social Business.

 

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The Social Unsocial Experiment pIC

“Sanity is a madness put to good use.” –  George Santayana

10 years of Facebook. 5 years of me being on it. 3 years of it being the source of my bread and butter. And I quit.

There are times when a man’s got to do what a man’s got to do. Without compulsions, without inhibitions, without temptations. In certain moments, trying to prove yourself to be different from others is more important for you, than showing off to the rest of the globe. One needs a reality check to gather his senses and to ensure himself that he’s not a slave. Neither of the society, nor of the technology he has adapted to. It’s not a stunt. Rather, a necessity.

It’s been close to 3 years since I have started working in the field of Social Media Marketing. Presently, my average Facebook activity for a day includes a total of 7 hours being online, 50-60 notifications, 5 friend requests, 3 game requests, 5 app requests, 0.3 status updates, stalking of 2-3 profiles and analysis of insights for client’s pages.

I have no addictions, if I say so myself. And when I started doubting that very statement, decided to go ahead with The Social Unsocial Experiment.

 

The Social Unsocial Experiment

Truth be said, it’s not much of a big deal. One guy working in the Social and Digital Media field, who makes a living off it, will be discarding Facebook for a span of 21 days (15 Feb-07 March 2014).

The guy – Me.

The Social Unsocial Experiment pIC

 

Why?

Its an experiment. An experiment to analyse the behavioral feedback of not being continuously connected to your friend circles. To understand whether the absence of information from my “friends” lives makes a difference to me, and in the process, learn what percentage of it is pure crap that’s wasting time and Hard Disk space from my brain. An experiment to examine whether my overall work productivity increases in this period. An experiment to prove, that there is more to life than notifications and “likes”.

 

So Why Make A Big Deal Out Of It?

Ask a professional football player to play football without his boots. Not impossible, but difficult. Same is the case here. Getting off Facebook might not be a big deal for all. But for me, for a professional working in that very field, it’s difficult. And that’s the beauty of it. Who wants to do things that are easy and predictable?

 

What About Client’s Facebook Pages?

All delegated to the staff and in good hands.

 

How To Get In Touch In The Meantime?

Heard about eMail? Twitter? Phone? I’ll be there.

 

What Plans In The Meantime?

Uh… In case no one knew, I have a life. Work to do. Plan to work with lesser distraction, get work completed pre-schedule and blog more. And if time still permits, start thinking about the book I have wanted to write for so long.

 

Do You Think Anyone Will Miss You?

I hope not. Am leaving Facebook. Not the world.

Well….. Maybe except those lovely people who keep tagging me in pics and keep sending me Candy Crush requests.

 

Why 21 days?

I like the number 21.

 

Why 15 February?

Like all single good looking lads my age, I still dwell in the hope that on Feb 14 I’ll receive an anonymous message/friend request. Just letting that hope live through this year too.

 

– Vijay S Paul

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Cristiano Ronaldo Website Viva Ronaldo 2

For some people 67 Million Followers on Facebook and 23 Million on Twitter just doesn’t do it enough it seems. They then go about building their own Social Network!

Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro, or as humans call him – Cristiano Ronaldo, the Portuguese and Real Madrid Footballer, has hit another goal. Not on the field this time, but rather on the internet – He has launched his very own Social Networking site.

Cristiano Ronaldo Website Viva Ronaldo

 

As W-T-F it sounds, its true. VivaRonaldo.com, is all about exclusive CR7 content, games, prizes and even a chance to meet “the man” himself. Not just launched as a campaign but rather as a Social Networking site in itself, this sure doesn’t seem a short-term hype from his PR Team. The way it has been projected and how they plan to take it forward, sure does look like its a long term deal.

 

Cristiano Ronaldo Website Viva Ronaldo 2

 

From Pre-match bets to Trivia to Live Fan Chatter when the game is on, the “Content Strategy” revolves all around Cristiano, building upon the fact that he has a sort of cult fan following. Fans can login via Facebook and stay up-to-date with the activities of their friends in this community.

 

Cristiano Ronaldo Website Viva Ronaldo 3

 

The Official Online Platofrm is developed by Viva Superstars, a joint-venture co-founded by Cristiano Ronaldo, Polaris Sports and a Portuguese-Dutch startup named bViva. They have developed this as a proprietary real-time match following platform – Live Match 4G – that allows fans in different countries and television streams to play and interact during live events.

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Politicians Targeting Wrong Audience Facepalm

The news of some IT firms using unethical means to gain likes for the Facebook Page of politicians and defaming opposition politicians has been in the news for quite some time. This just came to show that it’s all a game of numbers. None of these people give a rat’s eye about actually interacting with the public or utilizing Social Media for the actual reason it is to be used. You give them anything and they’ll destroy it. First the country and now Social Media Channels.

While these news were doing the rounds couple of days back, I found something quite interesting on Facebook. Now, let me remind you, being a Social Media Marketer, I pay lot of attention to the Ads I see on Facebook and Google and anywhere on the internet real estate. So obviously, it came as pretty amusing when I saw an Ad about Congress Party written in Mizo, showing up beside my timeline.

 

Facebook Screenshot Congress Ad

 

I never give the slightest attention to political ads. To me, they’re as full of crap as the politicians or political parties they’re sponsored by. But seeing a political ad in a language I can’t decipher was way outta my league. As I clicked on the Ad, I was taken to the following website of “Mizoram Pradesh Congress Committee”.

 

Mizoram Congress Website

 

Now, I have no idea what was written and neither do I have a good sixth sense. But all my other senses tell me it has to do something with me voting for them. Sure Congress. I’ll do. Once you explain to me how a guy from Kerala can vote in Mizoram. Burn!

Now that I see some of the BJP lovers laughing out loud on me making fun of Congress, wait buddies. The show’s not over.

The next day, as I was just about to shut down my laptop at night, the following ad jumped up on my timeline.

 

BJP Facebook Ad Screenshot

 

I don’t have the slightest idea who this guy is or what is he doing on my timeline. The ad tells me he’s a MLA from Gujarat. Again, they aren’t trying to increase my general knowledge am sure. Nor do they love so much that they badly want me to see what some local MLA does in Gujarat.

I find it pretty insulting when these people ridicule Social Media in such a manner and consider the public to be fools. Having run Facebook Ads myself a good number of times, I know that it’s not very hard to target your audience based on their location. But when a party from Mizoram and a politician from Gujarat come up on my timeline, I get really really skeptical about how these politicians and political parties plan to use Social Media.

 

Politicians Targeting Wrong Audience Facepalm

 

All said, am pretty sure about one thing. As long as such people and such parties are in existence, I’ll always get one or the other point like this to write a blog post on.

God bless social media. And my patience.

 

Image Courtesy: ramp.ie

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how to start a social media agency

I have been running a Social Media Marketing/Content Marketing Agency for about 2 years now. Wouldn’t boast that all’s been good; have had my heavenly highs and my deepest lows. Stepping into a completely new field just because I fell in love with it might sound preposterous to some. But well, that’s how certain things are supposed to align up.

In retrospect, I can point out at least a million things about starting up a Social Media Agency, which, if I had known 2 years back, would definitely have helped me and my firm be in a much more enjoyable position than it is now. But, just as a good stuffed crust Pepperoni Pizza with double dose of cheese takes its time to be made up, all good things come in time. And with experience.

Hence, when I was invited to an Engineering College to handle a session on “How To Start A Social Media Agency”, I had already made up my mind on what would be the first things I would like to share. Also, I was told most of the students had plans of starting a Social Media Agency while -in/after college. This made it all the more clear to me on what I had to share.

My presentation from the talk is as –

For the loads of veteran digital marketers out there, and for the doyens of Social Media, I whole-heartedly welcome you to put in your suggestions on whether I have missed out on any part in the above presentation.