Mikhail Gorbachev’s “glasnost” re-defined openness in politics and thus spelled a new era in the corridors of power all over the world. This openness was manifest in transparent governmental actions and communications. Traditional media like newspapers and the television were the vehicles of communication then; social media sites have now donned the mantle. In fact, if the 2008 U.S. Presidential elections and the recent uprising in Egypt are anything to go by, then social networking sites now play pivotal part in charting the course of world politics.

Stirring speeches, fervent appeals for support, and rousing calls for change were all parts of Senator Barrack Obama’s Presidential campaigns. And so were his website soliciting support from followers; his blogs that were regularly updated by his band of campaign managers; snaps of his campaign on Flickr; his “Yes We Can” speech doing the rounds on YouTube; and the tweets that kept the public updated on the campaign and rally schedules. From Facebook and LinkedIn to MySpace and from BlackPlanet to Asian Avenue, Barrack Obama’s campaign ruled roost on multiple social networking sites and his popularity amongst the American masses were evident from the figures he notched up on these sites—more than 10,000 new friends garnered on MySpace between 3 and 4 November 2008 (the latter being the day of the elections) and 2865 new followers on Twitter during the same period.

Social networking sites have not only helped in creating governments, but have also been instrumental in overthrowing them. The revolution in Egypt in January this year had its seeds in the discontentment of the hoi polloi but was definitely fuelled by social media sites like Facebook and Twitter. During those days of revolution, bloggers, trans-national human rights activists, translators, and even social media organizations sympathetic to the cause of the common man on the streets of Egypt, used social networking sites to transmit messages from journalists, protestors, and human rights activists in Egypt. Their activities had a dual effect—the world not only got to know about the actual scenario in Egypt but also allowed people from all over the country to unite in their common cause and plan synchronized action.

The power of the social media to reach out to the masses is undeniable and it is palpable enough to dictate the rules of the game even in the world of power politics.

When you, as a company, want to discover success with social media, then you need to understand certain aspects that drive sales. In this blog, we tell exactly where to concentrate in order to attract more first-time visitors and make them regular ones. Read on:

Keep Listening

Keep your communication channels open and listen from your customers. This means that you need to perceive social media NOT as some other marketing medium, but as a different platform where success comes with you hearing them out. Understand the needs and requirements of your customers and create a plan accordingly.

Bring Experts

Social networks are a great place to be. If you’re in a social network, then you can be rest assured that other experts are there as well. Invite them in a conversation and you will surely grab eyeballs. Remember, social media is NOT just about quantity, it is about the quality as well!

Fantastic Content

Take the assistance of your talented employees and make sure to post awesome content at least twice a week. This would ensure that you will be ahead of your competitors in reporting the latest developments from your service zone, as well as your company.

Engage

Tell fellow bloggers about your business by regularly commenting on their blogs and posting meaningful questions pertaining to your business. When they start replying, you will see people taking notice of you and they will start following you back simultaneously.

Make the most of your social media presence by following the tips. Its all about making your customers feel special!

Facebook launched a Page redesign few days back. This comes close to major redesign work launched in December. We can safely say that page owners in Facebook will now be able to reach out to others across various social media platforms.

The single biggest shift is the way page admins will be able to log in as the page itself, enabling them to comment on behalf of their page on other pages as well as on different user profiles. New notification features drive higher engagement with the page. But, how would these changes affect you and your business? Here are the changes discussed in detail:

Outreach

The biggest advantage that comes with the new design is the way administrators will be able to access their pages. They can now switch back and forth from their personal as well as professional profiles. This means they will now be able to comment on other platforms from their pages, thus enabling greater exposure and interactivity.

Fan Engagement

Fans of your page can now rejoice! Thanks to the new filtering system, wall filters are much more simplified. The “Everyone” filter will give your fans a chance to come into the limelight. With more fans coming to your page and interacting, you will ultimately benefit from the higher engagement.

Professional Profile

Gone are the days when you needed to create another “professional” profile. Keeping professional and personal lives different was a hassle. Thanks to the new features, you can seamlessly interchange between your professional page and personal profile.

Customized New feed

With administrators now being able to log in as a page, they can have news feed of their own. It shows the posts from pages they have “liked”. The modified news feed enables both the admin and the readers to stay on top of news that matters to them.

So, what do you guys think? Aren’t these modifications by the Facebook team just amazing?

Last week we promised that we would be back with the second part of this article, and here we are!

As already mentioned in the previous post, social media is all about interacting with your audience and developing a relationship with them, which would last for a long time. The more transparent you are on social media – the more chances are that your online audience will start looking up to you as a unique identity, much different from other brands around. So, when you start using social media platforms to promote yourself and your business, you need to be careful – VERY CAREFUL INDEED!

Here are some more social media mistakes that should be avoided if you want you make your company a household name in the corporate world:

Do not dive in without getting a feel for what you have anticipated to do

When you are thinking about using social media for connecting with your customers, please…avoid the “bull in the china shop” approach. It never works! Since, every community in social media works differently – you need to familiarize yourself with the unwritten laws of social networking sites. This is exactly why you need to spend some time in studying the network you’re planning to join, understand the various advantages and disadvantages associated with it – and, then become a part of it.

Disappearing…showing up…and, again disappearing

If you get to see the person you’re dating in brief spurts, won’t it be extremely hard to build a strong relationship?

Why are we talking like this – because, it’s the same scenario in the world of social media marketing. You just can’t show up suddenly, disappear for a few days or so and again reappear. You need to remember that your audience would be waiting for you, every single day.

Need to be cautious when handling criticisms

Social media puts everyone on a level playing field. So, with good things, there will also be some negative feedback that will come your way. You need to learn how to handle criticism and respond to your (sensitive) audience in the most professional way possible. This will surely help you in establishing your brand image and that too in a short span of time!

If you’ve come across some other social media mistakes, please share your experience with us. Feel free to comment on our blog!

“Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference” – stated by none other than Winston Churchill.

It’s true that you need to have the right attitude to achieve the unachievable. If you want your event to be successful – you need to think differently. You need to be innovative in your outlook and start using different social media tools to popularize your event. Staying within the limitations of traditional marketing and advertising methods will never allow you to provide the proper exposure that you event requires. Leading corporate advertisers firmly believe that all event planners should familiarize themselves with various social media apps if they are to stand out.

Event marketing with the help of social media tools

If you’ve got a large, recurring, and expensive event – your best bet would be to use the WordPress platform. WordPress is really helpful when you’re trying to build a unique brand with your event. Just in case you’re not comfortable with WordPress, creating a Facebook page for your event is almost as good. With a Fan-page or Group, you will be able to display all the information about your event as well as market it effectively. Moreover, this page will be also searchable by Google!

Using Twitter to advertise and market your event is always a smart thing to do. But, you must remember to make a Twitter hashtag for your event. This will allow an interested audience to follow any update surrounding your event, just using the hashtag. You need to trust us when we say – Twitter’s a great way to build excitement about an event! Any update that you Tweet can be retweeted by other people and thus you can easily get a lot of traction by regularly engaging with your followers on this social networking site.