Communications, Media & Strategy Gavel

Everyone knows the future of communication has been altered permanently. Communication industry can never remain the same. Digital communication is a major reason for this. Technology will keep changing. Better understanding of this must keep us at our toes as communication experts.

Everyone is involved in a social media effort or a sort of campaign today. This is because eyeballs have been shifted online. Easy access and opportunity to reach larger global audience is an additional advantage. Internet and technology innovation has made a demand for incorporating social media into sound communication strategy.

While many have taken advantage of this opportunity, thousands out there are daily asking for result. Some have results which are of no benefits to their organizations. This reason may be they had focused on wrong parameters.  Hence they could neither account for the time and financial investment with regards to how the outcomes had affected corporate bottomline.

For those who have gotten it right, we say congratulation but for those who are still struggling and do not know why. Here are some thoughts for the day.

 

1: Wrong targeting: Are you still using mass approach? There may be a need to reconsider your stance. The world is becoming more of a customized arena. People want what they want and not what you think they want. Be sure your efforts are targeted and consciously channeled to the right audience.

2: Misplaced or outdated offer: If you are not getting right result, you may need to ask right question. Is my offer a misplaced or outdated one? What is the uniqueness of this offer? What makes this solution we are pushing the right one for the audience we are targeting?

3: The goal is not distinct: When the purpose of a thing is not known, abuse may be commonplace. Understand the goal of your effort like you understand the back of your hand.

4:  No entertainment strategy: Everyone wants an element of fun in everything. Life is too serious for many. Ability to incorporate an entertainment value into the whole process will appeal to many. Sometimes it is the inclusion of entertainment value that does the magic. Is  your effort  too ‘serious’ and full of hard stuffs without some fun and soft side?

5. Lack of strong story telling ability: Every successful project is a great story well crafted. Tell a story of the brand in a fun-filled way. Develop a strong story yelling ability if you want great engagement that will yield better result

6: Self-centredness: The major poison that destroys many social media efforts or campaign is self-centredness. Having a selfish goal may be good but if there is nothing in the project for the audience, then you will be on a solo run.

7: Using wrong channels: Constantly reevaluate the channels you are using. Is this the best channels? Why are we not getting result? Is there anything we should do that we are not doing? Always ask the right question.

8. Using copy and paste strategy: A major source of failure for any social media effort is copy and paste. One need to understand there are no exact similarities in two social media assignments. One can benchmark but a complete copy and paste is worst

9:  No clear content marketing strategy: having great content is great but marketing is hard work that requires sound strategy. Do you have this in place?

10. You do not rally the ‘Rabis’: Influencers make your job become easier. Do you know who they are, where they are and how you can connect with them?

11. Over concentration on volumes of fans instead of engagement: Millions of fans without engagement are useless. Learn to distinguish between activities and effectiveness.

12. Avoiding risk by all means: Many avoid risk like plague. No venture no gain, be willing to take calculated risk.