We  have been pretty much been taken over by social media – both at a personal and professional level. I’m sure that youhave  a presence in at least one of these – Facebook, Twitter or Linkedin or some such. We are used to a world where you can stay updated on what companies are up to if you choose to. When there are important changes/announcements from a company – for example, when quarterly results are announced, you get to know what the results are and reactions to the results from both industry as well as your social circle in very near real time.

No questioning the power of social media and it’s here to stay. Here are a few examples across spheres where it has worked beyond expectations in my view:

Kolaveri – Within days of its release, this song got close to 1.8 million views on you tube and is one of the most searched videos.  Somehow, the song was able to connect with the audience and thanks to the viral effect managed to set a record. What a great way to promote a movie and all of this almost free! Yup! we had a blog on this too – http://blogs.prayag.com/latestbuzz/general/viral-power-makes-it-look-so-simple-but-is-that-so/.

Kinaxis: A supply chain management company, Kinaxis has achieved great results through its blogging efforts.  Apparently, the company experiences a 7 fold increase in website traffic, 3.2 times increase in conversion, and 5.3 times increase in blog traffic in 2009 compared to 2008. How did it manage this – through a thorough understanding of their target segment and their areas of interest, With this, the published relevant blogs including those from industry experts and positioned themselves subtly as leaders.  Some of our readers may recall that we covered Kinaxis sometime back because of their series of entertaining videos (http://blogs.prayag.com/latestbuzz/general/whacky-video-competition-will-it-blend-will-you-win/).

H&R Block –the tax consultants based in the US had such a simple strategy and that was what was so impressive. They did not opt for any of the jazzy tools and instead focused on timely content to their target audience.  There is a case study on their efforts & results available at http://smartblogs.com/socialmedia/2011/06/09/andys-answers-how-hr-block-uses-social-media-to-help-customers-through-the-stress-of-tax-season/

Will be great if you can share some of your personal favourites too!

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Off late, I have been having wondering about the volumes of content floating around – newsletters, RSS feeds, social media updates and what not. How much of this content is actually read and used? Taking my personal example, I wondered what made me select content to read and mercilessly delete the rest? Here is my list – please add what you think works for you as well.

1. Catchy headlines – by this I don’t mean the fluffy ones- but something like this catches my attention and makes me click on the link provided. Example: Today’s headline in Economic Times “Struggling to keep pace, Infosys faces a tough time ahead” or from a newsletter I have subscribed to –  “6 Steps to Getting Started With Google+”. These headlines succinctly captured the essence of the content and I did not have to spend time going through the article to figure out what it was all about. Takeaway – convey the meaning crisply and in simple terms.
2. Keywords in the summary of the content – if I come across keywords that am interested in, it definitely makes me want to read more. A high-level or vague summary discourages you from exploring it further.
3. Timing of the content – I found that during the middle of the work day, am not inclined to check out what updates are being published. What works for me is catching up either early in the morning before the rush starts or probably just before wrapping up for the day. So, maybe we should look at what time these updates are published?
4. Nature of the content – I have found that the more serious updates and announcements work well during the week – probably got to do with the frame of the mind. Over the weekend, I do not mind trivia and lighter content. Again, trivia interspersed with the serious stuff is welcome during the week too – good to take a break!
5. Content quality – if the content is laid out well with enough substantiation, I find it lot more worthwhile to spend my time on it rather than take part in a guessing game. Take this article for example in today’s Mint – this was a good one I thought – http://www.livemint.com/2012/01/22222627/Wipro-is-getting-back-on-track.html. Notice the url too – gives you a good idea of what the article is all about.

These were some quick thoughts on what makes me pick and choose from the tonnes of the online content available.  Let me know how you pick your content.

P.S Also – what did you think about the title?

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When I was studying communications 12 years back, my Professor often said, “Questions are never stupid. Answers are. So ask.” Today when I have lots of questions, I feel stupid. Maybe I need someone as strong as my Professor to help me find the answers and make me more confident.

So here I go.

Do IT marketing teams really do marketing? Or focus on branding and corporate communications? I am confused.

As I understand, building a brand is all about engaging and involving every touch point inside and outside the company using a broad set of communication vehicles. And this can include both strategic and tactical activities. Most initiatives like PR, analyst relations, events, internal communications, ad campaigns etc can all be part of the broader umbrella of branding. Be it building an online presence; demonstrating thought leadership; developing internal campaigns; advertising or even CSR, these initiatives are towards enhancing the brand image and perception of the company. Well, each company may look at brand building in their own way based on their priorities.

While the default remains visibility and awareness, sales enablement still remains a gap. Is sales enablement the most difficult thing for marketers? Does this require marketers to get out of their comfort zones?

Some of the marketing folks have often said that branding and communications is all about sales enablement. While it is essential to help the sales organization communicate value and differentiation in clear, consistent and compelling ways, do the marketing folks believe that the right information is being delivered to the right audience in the right place at the right time to help move the sales opportunity forward?

Some marketing folks I know have often said that sales don’t need us. Does it mean that the age-old sales and marketing love-hate relationship is responsible for marketing to focus more on comfortable pieces of branding and communications?

Help me with answers. I am confused.

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Well, when it comes to best practices in business writing, the list is endless and possibilities, infinite. So I am forced to break up all I want to say into short modules. As Ranbir Kapoor keeps reminding me (quite irritatingly!) “Keep it simple, silly!”.

I think there are basically four phases to creating a piece – whether it is a 20-page whitepaper, or a one-page flyer – understanding the context, preparation, the actual writing and finally, the review phase.

Let’s delve into the first phase today: understanding the context. This involves, firstly, deciding what the objective of your marketing piece is going to be. And don’t say – “Duh, to market, obviously!” For, there are nuances within this – you can aim to persuade so someone buys your product or you can simply be looking to educate the market, for instance. See the difference? In a similar manner, decide on your targer audience, the manner in which the piece will be used, where it will be used, etc.

The next step involves focusing on your audience – only when you have a thorough understanding of your audience will you be able to write copy that appeals to their needs and desires. So you really need to learn to profile your audience. Now to understand what we mean by ‘profiling’ your audience, and what it involves, you need to attend our business writing workshop!

Once you have arrived at a complete understanding of the context that your piece will be set in, you are ready to move onto the next step – preparing to write – but that, of course, is the subject of my next blog!

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I am often asked by friends and extended family about what I do and I always fumble to explain that. After 12 years, my mother-in-law still thinks I do ’something’ in multi-media (that’s where I started my career!). The situation worsens when I am asked what’s next.

So how do I explain what Industry Analyst Relations (AR) is? To put it simply, AR is about managing and engaging a focused group of influencers who play a key role in a customer’s decision making process. This is different from reaching out to a broad audience to generate exposure. AR is about leveraging and maximizing the value of a prioritized few versus maximizing number of contacts / relationships. And yes, AR is very much part of a strong and serious Marketing & Strategy function.

All the AR professionals I know have similar traits. They are multi-taskers, quick thinkers, great communicators and collaborators. They understand business, brand and market dynamics. As a necessary attribute, they are good at building relationships and connections.

Incidentally, I got into AR by accident. And that was four years back! But, it was my choice to stay on. Today, when I am thinking of what is next, I feel lost. ‘Googling’ and reading is throwing me options but unfortunately people here in India don’t understand the function or attributes required for the role so that the person can be evaluated for other roles which require same or similar skills.

If journalists can leave the media and head brand communications, why can’t an AR person be looked upon as just another communications professional? Any thoughts?

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Back after a hiatus – I was on a summer break – and thought that it was about time that I took up the reins of the business communication series that I was blogging about. We left off at ‘making content compelling’. Today, I would like to briefly touch upon the astounding variety there is when it comes to marketing communication tools – and I will be mentioning only the more common ones. The important thing to remember here, is that the online medium has opened up a plethora of options – allowing the introduction of a number of innoavtive tools and formats.

Today communication is as much about the format as what you want to say. And your audience and objective determine which tool you will use. Creating content is not just about making it compelling, but also about tailoring it to collateral type. Just run your eye over the variety possible:

• Offline: whitepaper, case study, article, newsletter, press release, brochure / flyer / product sheet, advertisement
• Online: website, enewsletter, blog, podcast, vlog, user community / forum / social network, wiki, microblog, online new release, online advertising (plus emerging formats like ebooks)

The collateral that you decide to use essentially depends on the audience that you are targeting, as well as their stage in the buying cycle. For instance, whitepapers are effective when talking about new trends and to showcase thought leadership, especially to B2B audiences; video blogs are a great way to show the faces behind your brand and to associate your brand with ideas, but are not really for product spiels or a camera-shy management, and brochures, testimonials and case studies work best when they hit a buyer who is evaluating multiple options.

Remember to also adapt your style of writing to suit the type of collateral that you use. For example, whitepapers are long and combine strong research and strong writing, are informative and demonstrate competency. They are objective and present a solution to a specific problem or showcase a trend / technology, etc. Brochures, on the other hand, are more ’salesy’ with an objective to persuade and sell. They claim competency and are more persuasive in nature. Through a brochure, you tell the reader exactly what you want him to do and get him to do it now. In the same way, cae studies, success stories, ads, blogs, even FB status updates – each tool serves a different purpose and needs to be approached differently if it is to function effectively and fulfil its purpose.

So the next time you sit down to produce a piece of collateral, first appreciate that collateral for the power it possesses and the purpose it can serve, think through your objectives and your audience and whether the tool you are using is the appropriate one – and then put pen to paper.

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