There has always been a major problem with almost all Indian businesses- an inherent lack of marketing. A typical Indian businessman thinks that marketing is a fad used only by the top corporate houses and huge MNCs. That too because they need to utilize their huge stockpiles of cash.
But, are we living in the same generation today, where a business relied on just word of mouth and the most basic and primary modes of advertising to promote itself? Obviously not! And we have modern technology to thank for that. So, by now you are probably wondering when the hell am I going to skip to the part that's useful. But, don't blame me, I like to go for flashy introductions.
The neatest advances in marketing have been made in the past decade or so. And the major reason for that is, the emergence of a catalyst. The catalyst being technology. Thanks to the modern forms of communication, opportunity has been handed over to marketers on a silver plate. So, now marketing instead of being limited to the traditional 'markets' has now blown up and invaded every facet of our lives. Today, its really hard to find a place where you won't find a single trace of advertising. And ion my opinion, its freaking awesome.
But, my concern remains, as reflected in my opening lines, that this wonderful tool is still limited to big corporations and media houses and MNCs. And till a while back, it was understandable, as the costs of marketing was high. But, that's history now. Modern marketers have been gifted with a tool, that requires almost no money at all. and that tool is SOCIAL MEDIA.
According to a recent survey, 73% of the tweens in India are active users of Social Media. Look at the size of that target market! Truly amazing. And this is not limited to urban metros only. This includes all cities and towns. The youth of this country is stuck on social media. An average user spends almost 20 minutes on social media sites daily.
Online marketing is a trend that is fast catching on to businesses. And the best part about it, you don't need to be earning big bucks to advertise on it. Social media provides a humongous market, just waiting to be tapped into. Anyone with a business, a product, a firm, a service, or even an idea can now easily reach to the millions of users on these sites.
So, its fast, cost efficient and carries the potential of mass outreach. But, the one effort that it does require, is persistence. In order to get traction, you need to have patience and above all, perseverance.
The first step towards a successful social media campaign is:
Build an Audience
Once you have set up your page and profile, start promoting your page. Ask friends and family to help out. Reach out to as many people as you can. Tap into that monstrosity of a friend list that you have been flaunting all the time. Patience is key. Rome wasn't built in a day. Or if you prefer desi metaphors, it took more than 22 years to build Taj Mahal. Be patient, and you will be rewarded. Keep posting interesting stuff while you are still waiting for your following to grow.
If your content is good enough, people are sure to pay attention to your page. And if you do not want to wait long enough, many social media sites like facebook also provide an option of manually advertising to a larger audience in exchange for money.
Launch innovative campaigns and offers
People love schemes and offers,especially Indians. We crave all the free stuff. So, use this to your advantage. Launch some form of blitz campaign to keep your followers to stay. Tell them about the new products or services you have launched or are about to launch. Celebrate your milestones with your followers. Social media marketing works, only if you consider you audience as and your business as a community. Indians tend to have huge egos, so try not to touch that nerve. EVER.
And the most important step of them all-
Strictly Avoid any breaks
The biggest mistake that anyone using social media marketing can make is; taking a break. Social Media will never forgive you for that. The relationships made on Social Media are strong, yet, highly volatile. If you disturb the balance of things, it will cost you heavily. It is very important to keep the steam running. Once a page starts losing steam, it is very hard to turn things around.
The Social Media scene is here to stay. The West has a lead on us and is heavily using it to market anything and everything. If anything is worth selling, it can be marketed on social media. It eventually pays back the little costs it does involve, all by itself. It is a service that actually pays for itself. What else do you need?
