#ItAllStarts with Great Story Telling - Nescafe's New Ad

"One of the most amazing ads I've seen in recent times." 

I don't even have to say anything beyond this. 

But I couldn't help it. Yep, that's what resonates most with people. At the end of the day a soft chuckle while you read a billboard. A lump in your throat that connects with the story being told or for that matter even a teardrop in your eye that waits to trickle down while you feel the story tingling down your spine and connecting with your deeper emotions while you watch an Ad like this! 

Yes, that's exactly the spot this latest Nescafe Ad did to me. I must have watched it at least 10 times. No kidding! I admit, each time I watched it I had those feelings all over again. 

Usually I may not be that attentive when I'm watching a TV show and as it smoothly transitions into a commercial break what catches my eyes or gets my attention are two things. Either an Ad that's absolutely crappy that makes me cringe and ask myself with a serious expression as to, why? Why did they even bother... Or something really great and spectacular that drives home a point with a smooth message that actually stays with me for a longer period of time.

But this actually is much more than that. Very recently I wrote an article for Lighthouse Insights about how Advertising will always be more about story telling and less about trying to market a product to your consumers. And this Ad, has validated precisely those thoughts of mine. What's more, it's really done well integrating a lot of elements that drive it's potential target audience. I happened to see this on my twitter /Facebook timeline, I think, when it was promoted or RTed by someone. What caught my eye was the fact that it was something to do with stand up comedy. Little did I know that it was more than just that. 

Very beautifully, the creators have tapped into an issue that captures an emotional sentiment with such beautiful attitude. The story isn't about how the character 'Rishi' is determined to succeed despite his challenge. The story is about how it inspires you to look at the aspect of not fretting the small stuff in life. And what is more timely is the way the product is plugged in without even sounding like an ad. In fact, it's not even a plug. A Nescafe mug, a spoon-full of coffee, the stirring and the pouring of milk literally 'stirs' that temptation within you and yet provides all the subtlety you need to avoid interruption and encourage a blend towards the story to culminate into the core message of what he's trying to put across. 

'Thank god for coffee...Isne Mujhe Lagaaye Rakha, Aur Aapko Jagaye Rakha!' 

I mean it's not even about copy writing, it's more than that. The fact that Coffee as a product is such that most of their TG, the young enchanting, raring to go and always fighting with their own aspirations will easily relate to. But it's not just about the fact that it keeps you energetic or up while you achieve your dreams but as simple as a humorous take on the character's skills as a stand up comedian to admit and even laugh it out by saying that the coffee will help you stay awake even if you're bored waiting to listen to the joke finish. Such fine detailing in the story telling is always missed out when you produce such TVCs. A great script, amazing production value and great acting. A combination of 'great show don't tell,' even cliches are so witty and put in such great context, for example the buffering and laughter club references. 

I really like the way they've used the audience laughter in points where his joke actually has a great punch and as the story he's trying to tell us within his stand up act and the end of the advertisement, how he raps his name smoothly blending into the character as they start the Nescafe music and how it makes you feel upbeat and beautifully overwhelmed that you hit the replay button on YouTube and watch it all over again. 

 
Srinivas has been a communications professional for over 15 years. He has worked with and built India's largest digital agencies from the ground up and been part of their acquistion journey. Social Wavelegnth (now Mirum, part of the WPP group) and Kinnect, now part of the Interpublic Group (IPG). He's also been a public speaker, keynote speaker at various large panels/events of the likes of BBC Knowledge Summit, Blockchain Summit Bangalore. And has been a guest lecturer at IIM, Symbiosis, Indian Institute of Digital Education.

He has been blogging since 2005. And also been author at various publications, that include Startup India by ZDNet, Social Samosa, Lighthouse Insights.  His passion for Writing, Advertising, Creativity, Digital, Blockchain and Future Tech is what drives him each day.

Copywriting is like making love!

Yep, you heard it right! Writing copy is like making love. The attraction that you have towards you brand is something that sets the tone to making the first move. Sometimes a little bit of persuasion is a lot about seduction and little about enticing your mind to come up with an idea that you hope to be a great work of art. 

Copywriting is not just about writing great words which flow smoothly and vociferously elicit your consumer to buy your product or have a top of the mind recall when they go out next time to purchase something in the market. You get the point...

It is about an idea that is well executed and not merely in words or concept. I always like to say great advertising is always about amazing story telling! And when you do that, it's nothing less than feeling the rush and excitement that stays on for a long time...

It's about your audience being provoked, maybe a grin on their face and an introspective thought of the sorts that'll say something like, "Hey, that's clever! Wow, this seems really interesting!" Or that chuckle and a bit of a laugh which allows them to indulge in the humorous moment that you intended them to be in.  

Some examples of what making love feels like. Courtesy: BestCopyAds,  BrilliantAds & Madovermarketing 

Look what happens when you cut down too many trees

When it simply needs to be there, yesterday" DHL Express ad

Ariel: Bright White Ad

And one of my most favorite recent Print AD by Durex for their 'Dotted' Condoms

Srinivas has been a communications professional for over 15 years. He has worked with and built India's largest digital agencies from the ground up and been part of their acquistion journey. Social Wavelegnth (now Mirum, part of the WPP group) and Kinnect, now part of the Interpublic Group (IPG). He's also been a public speaker, keynote speaker at various large panels/events of the likes of BBC Knowledge Summit, Blockchain Summit Bangalore. And has been a guest lecturer at IIM, Symbiosis, Indian Institute of Digital Education.

He has been blogging since 2005. And also been author at various publications, that include Startup India by ZDNet, Social Samosa, Lighthouse Insights.  His passion for Writing, Advertising, Creativity, Digital, Blockchain and Future Tech is what drives him each day.

A copywriter's dilemma

Brace yourself for you are not alone. Think about this huge idea, great concept, something you have written with a keen sense of understanding of your consumer and yet it is received by a lonely stupor with the lack of critical cognitive function and level of consciousness by the so called people who matter the most. Yes, your 'clients.' Of course they have a very good understanding of what the product is and what the consumer is all about, for they have been at the pinnacle of glory in the most fashionable way you may want to imagine yourself in. Of course they have done their homework, they've met your consumer time and again, not just in focus groups but also been a part of all the research that has made it into their values and product building through the best interests of their company and brand vision and mission. 

Sometimes, that is something which we feel is a huge dilemma for a copywriter. Trying out a new idea, a new concept or something new that your consumer would not know is a big risk. Yes, beyond Apple and Steve Jobs, we all know the overused and abused adage of 'Your consumers don't know what they want.' is something that is hardly accepted with a huge sense of conviction by marketers and advertisers alike. Of course, Jobs was a genius, he had his time and his reality distortion field to work for him many a times. But if you have an idea today and you know for sure that it's something that will put the P (read:Punch) in the 4 Ps of Marketing that most MBA marketers brag about, then I say, bring it out!

A copywriter's dilemma is not the fact that he lacks the conviction to sell his idea, his concept, his thoughts to everyone, but it's the simple fact that sometimes his customers' don't just get it. Even if they do, it isn't about them buying your product and you helping the brand reap success in leaps and bounds. It isn't about them trying out the product because they read, saw, heard or viewed your Ad somewhere. It's a simple definition of whether the writer understands his customer, deals with something as simple as thinking like one, and simply put devoid of any form of exhaustion, brings in an energy that will make them think how on earth did this phenomenon occur. Creates a curiosity for something that he will remember for a long long time! 

A copywriter's dilemma is not the fact that he doesn't believe in his product. It is the fact that he believes in them so much that it becomes hard to sell the idea to anyone else because of the fact that he just doesn't let go of his bubble for the beauty of what it has become. He tries to delve deep into what remains to be seen as a simple product. Something inspiring, something catchy, something beautiful that will not just change lives of people, but their beliefs and philosophies and understanding about a certain segment of commodities that aren't just created to appease to the senses of an ordinary world, but more to be ingrained as a lifestyle. 

A copywriter's dilemma isn't in the mere belief of a symbolic metaphor that is an inception within his audiences or a catchy jingle that the customers hum around for days, weeks, months and sometimes, very rarely, years! It is the fact that he believes that this metaphor isn't really a figure of speech but something magical that has been woven in form of a story to make you understand that the life as we are living, isn't just about hoardings, billboards, consumerism, TV ads, radio jingles but a lot more beyond that. The life we have, is all about our beliefs, the life we have is about the chance to go out there and try out something new. The life we have is to feel what everyone else find difficult to even fathom. Something that the copywriter tries hard to but fails a lot of times. Not because he doesn't believe, but believes in everything more than the consumers do. And that my friends is the worst thing for anyone who has a dream, just like you, just like each and every one of you!

Image Credit: Tom LaBaff on AlexanderPollard

Srinivas has been a communications professional for over 15 years. He has worked with and built India's largest digital agencies from the ground up and been part of their acquistion journey. Social Wavelegnth (now Mirum, part of the WPP group) and Kinnect, now part of the Interpublic Group (IPG). He's also been a public speaker, keynote speaker at various large panels/events of the likes of BBC Knowledge Summit, Blockchain Summit Bangalore. And has been a guest lecturer at IIM, Symbiosis, Indian Institute of Digital Education.

He has been blogging since 2005. And also been author at various publications, that include Startup India by ZDNet, Social Samosa, Lighthouse Insights.  His passion for Writing, Advertising, Creativity, Digital, Blockchain and Future Tech is what drives him each day.

Curiosity in the Social and Digital Day and Age!

"At the end of everything, there lies an inherent element of curiosity within everyone. One that we as humans are willing to explore beyond our known capability..."

The original article was written for Business2Community

Today, every bit of advertising and marketing that is shoved down upon our throat has an element of curiosity that everyone tries to explore as marketers. What is more baffling than anything is the fact that they know, as humans, we are bound to go click on that link, go visit that Web site, go download that app, play that game, check out the new social network, go view that video that everyone else is talking about! 

Everything from a small engagement to a great idea always relies on exploring that element of curiosity among their audience, however very few realize that it's not always about the idea itself or the fact that 'curiosity' will keep it popular or gather the eyeballs that they aspire to gain! Forget about curiosity in day to day marketing or advertising, we have the element of curiosity in every aspect of life that keeps us pushing hard, hard at our job at our work and at every aspect of our life. Heck we even went to Mars, all because of this curiosity!

In digital advertising and social media, we've done and dusted the exploration for curiosity for the sake of curiosity, right from the uncovering of campaigns, to puzzles, to mysteries to treasure hunts and more importantly the 'Like This' to Find out 'That.'

But the true element of engagement is driven from something more than just titillating those consumer senses and driving more in providing quality communication and create something that adds more value, than just relying on the curiosity of your consumer. There has been a lot of time that has been spent in research, there certainly has been a lot of time spent in understanding your consumer and what drives them and most certainly their curiosity! But today we need more time to understand what keeps that curiosity going. It may not always boil down to a fluke that ended up becoming popular for a unique reason, but also depend on that method to madness on why it became successful in the first place. Be it Psy and his Gangnam Video, The Harlem Shake, a Kolaveri Di or greater campaigns of the likes of Blend It, Old Spice, Tippex or many more... 

Understanding what keeps your consumer driven when it comes to something beyond that curiosity! Yes everyone quotes Steve Jobs today, now that he's gone and they may be right, just as he was, 'Consumers don't know what they want.' 

But they certainly have an element of curiosity, which can be fed by us marketers, and the key lies in resonance and driving that curiosity further than just what the product messaging is or the core communication of the brand is. 

To me it is more about the philosophy behind what you are trying to sell, rather an idea and a belief that they are willing to buy! 

Image Courtesy: Genelu.com

Srinivas has been a communications professional for over 10 years, and has been blogging since 2005. He has worked with the likes of Social Wavelength, now Mirum India, (A JWT Group Company) for four years and now Heads Learning and Development & Analytics at Social Kinnect: A Digital Marketing Agency in Mumbai. His passion for Advertising, Creativity, Social & Digital Marketing helps make a difference for the brands they work with. 

Consumerism and Advertising: Building Brands as Products, not Commodities

The original Article was written for Social Samosa 

Consumerism is increasing day by day especially when it comes to mass marketing and advertising being shoved down consumers’ throats. It isn’t any different on social media either. As a marketer, it is important to introspect if your consumers are really listening to what your communication is, or if they have become zombies brainwashed to buy your product. Do they rely solely on brand recall without having knowledge of or believing in what they are purchasing? Market trends keep shifting and a brand that has strong recall today can be history tomorrow.

So, the real question is how do social media marketers or advertisers communicate with and engage consumers without really having to generate the hype of consumerism around them?

I’ve always believed that communication is always about the consumer, whether in social media or in mainline communication. Making the product stand out in your communication is more relevant than just influencing the consumer or key influencers surrounding him. The communication should not only seek to break the clutter but should also make fundamental sense.

A very good example of this is L&T Insurance’s ‘Likh Ke Doge Kya?’ campaign. I had the opportunity to listen to Ms. Deepali Nair of L&T Insurance speak at the Computer Society of India IT 2020 Conference, about how they worked backwards on the entire campaign, tailored it to suit Facebook first and then ran it on television. It was an interesting campaign and very successful too.

It wasn’t about what consumers want, but what consumers aren’t really asking for. In hindsight, I am sure that, ‘Likh ke doge kya?’ is a question they always ask insurance providers. It also takes a look at how fallible the whole insurance business is, especially when it comes to claims, terms and conditions and queries. In this case, it wasn’t about shoving another insurance product that no one knows about down the consumer’s throat, but about making a firm commitment that queries would be responded to within X amount of time, and they would give it in writing. What stood out in the campaign was the promise of execution – exercising ownership and being accountable.

So, what should we, as marketers, be doing?

Research what consumers don’t know

Keep doing your research. Don’t stop doing that at all. But change the way you do it. It is about time we started looking beyond what the consumer is telling us and try to gauge insights by reading between the lines – what the consumer is thinking but not saying.

Of course there will be rants, cribbing and negative sentiments on social media. Invest time in resolving those. But don’t miss out on what the consumer isn’t telling you. And yes, by all means, classify your consumers based on demographics, but don’t obsess over the behaviour and decision-making of your target group. Yes, consumers may not know what they want, but you do. It is all about thinking backwards.

Don’t listen to what they’re saying. Listen to what they aren’t telling you.

When it comes to social media, ORM has always been the tool to listen to what the consumers have to say about brands and what consumers have an opinion about. But it doesn’t mean that ‘listening’ only involves market research, gauging sentiments, categories and keywords. Try to analyze what is lacking in the market. As advertisers, we may not have a control on the product, but we always have a control over the positioning.

Don’t give them a reason to talk! Talk to them!

The trick is to engage consumers by being proactive. Do whatever it takes to ensure that you are there as a product and brand to listen to what they are thinking and not saying. Before discussing the product or brand, ask them interesting questions. Use promoted posts to create a focus group testing within your communities. Yes, focus groups aren’t always accurate. But, be blatant about the questions that you ask – questions, the answers to which, you, as a consumer, would know but perhaps, hesitate to speak up. Consider crowdsourcingas an option but don’t feed your consumers, let them feed on the existing situation.

Don’t just shove a product down their throat! Ask them why? Why are they really using your product, as opposed to any other product? Do you really know what your differentiators are? Have you used the product yourself? Have you sat through the product brief and tried to identify if there is any difference between your product and any other product that the consumer would know about? No? Well then, do that. If there are no differences and you are just another competitor, it is more likely that the brand recall, advertising and how far your reach goes will be decisive factors for the consumer in making a purchase decision.

But if you talk to your existing communities, you will get the answer. Use that to your advantage. Create a campaign on any social media platform using any tool available to find out WHY does your consumer buy your product? Based on the responses, engage with the consumer accordingly and use it as a reference point for your next communication.

Trends change but buying behaviour has one element that will always remain constant – the ignorance that drives those trends. Use it to your advantage. What I am trying to say is perhaps futuristic but very simple. Every campaign, advertisement, billboard or hoarding that reaches out to the masses is reflecting the consumerist sense of behaviour, which is today, what is making the product or brand irrelevant. But social media has the power to change that – by genuinely engaging with the consumer. This change will not only benefit consumers but also, create a larger and more profitable market in the long run.

Interestingly, the other day Gautam Ghosh pointed me to this blog about ‘Collaborative Economy‘ by Jeremiah Owyang, suggesting how brands are already creating a shared market space amongst consumers and using it to their advantage. Rather than over-spending on products that they don’t need, consumers have let better economic sense prevail and have decided to share their needs. And that is what consumers would prefer in the future.

So what will make or break your brands is, ‘Is your brand truly unique and doesn’t need a recall to be purchased by your consumers.’

Do you know of any brands who are doing this well? Let me know.

Srinivas has been a communications professional for over 10 years, and has been blogging since 2005. He has worked with the likes of Social Wavelength, now Mirum India, (A JWT Group Company) for four years and now Heads Learning and Development & Analytics at Social Kinnect: A Digital Marketing Agency in Mumbai. His passion for Advertising, Creativity, Social & Digital Marketing helps make a difference for the brands they work with. 

Consumerism and Advertising: Is Your Brand Only a Commodity?

The original Article was written for Social Samosa

Consumerism? What’s That?

Here’s what Wiki says:

Consumerism is a social and economic order that encourages the purchase of goods and services in ever-greater amounts.

It is certainly something that drives all of us to constantly keep buying and have the craving to buy time and again. With a bend to figure out, what to buy, when to buy, how much to buy and how often to buy, consumerism has certainly been part of our lives since kingdom come. Interesting to notice how it is primarily driven on the basis of what others are buying and on the sheer influence of a majority of factors in the market. Have you’ve watched this movie ‘The Joneses,’ You’ll know what I mean…

Some key factors that affect the purchasing decisions are:

1. What purchases are happening and what the market trends are.
2. How buying behaviors are affecting lives of people in your region.
3. How advertisers both on Social Media and offline are influencing the consumers.
4. Price point and offers / how much more do I get if I buy this today.
5. Finally there is the ‘I need this because I ‘NEED’ this.

Yes, a minimal thought is given these days by consumers on ‘need to have’ as opposed to ‘want to have’ because of the ridiculous amount of money brands are spending on advertising, giving deals and discounts and a lot of other factors to increase consumption and consumerism. That is also rolling out on Social / Digital Media. But in the bargain, the true question to ask is… 

Are your consumers really listening to you? Or have they become zombies who are brainwashed to buy your product based on incessant levels of advertising? As an advertiser or marketer we certainly need to create the ‘want to have’ aspiration for our buyers. But as a product builder, it’ll always be the opposite of it unless, you are someone like an Apple Inc.

It is always a good thing to really reach out to your consumer and engage them within your community and target group. It’s also important to focus on the ‘Big or Small’ whatever data you analyze and engage with them one-one. Being there for your consumers, rather than shoving something down their throat through sometimes insignificant or even irrelevant forms of advertising, including Facebook andLinkedIn media buy. It is ironic that the same marketers and advertisers are consumers themselves at the end of the day be it on digital, social or mainline media.

Speaking of which, there’s an interesting story I have to tell. One that I observed in a grocery store while I was out to buy a couple of things to eat as a consumer. I usually get a lot of insights out there. Some things that you could really use as a marketer/advertiser especially if you want to understand your consumers better.

So here’s what happened:

I was waiting in the queue before checking out with my purchases. There was a father who was with his 2 year old son in front of me and there was a mother with his 9 year old son behind me in the queue. (Approximate ages of the kids)

Scenario 1

The father ( approximately 37 years old) had a fairly empty to medium filled trolley. He had picked up an ordinary packet of candies maybe worth Rs. 20 for his 2 year old kid. Then the kid saw a big Dairy Milk in the rack, which probably is worth Rs. 30/40 bucks. As soon as he decided he wanted it, the kid wouldn’t let go of his packet of candies either, suggesting that he wanted both. But the dad, persuaded his 2 year old to trade the packet of candies for the Dairy Milk!

Scenario 2

The mom (approximately 34 years old) was waiting behind me, her trolley was generally full of stuff that you’d buy to consume on a daily basis, the vegetables, the packet of cereals, milk, butter/cheese, eggs, a huge bottle of cold drinks, some fruits, and probably a few cosmetic items. Her 9 year old son walked in from behind and he had 2 bars of Snickers, the smaller ones which would probably cost Rs. 10/20. She just told him to drop it in the trolley with no questions asked. So, what does one intercept from this observation? Many things probably and different people would come up with different interpretations. But one good thing about both the scenarios playing out at the same time was that it probably gave me a pretty hands on perspective on this buying behaviour.

This is what I can speculate.

Father knows Dairy Milk and has a better brand recall about the product. Keeping in mind the Indian parent buying behavior especially when it comes to chocolates I’d like to say Dairy Milk is always viewed as a premium brand of chocolate, no matter what it costs. And hence the intuitive need to haggle with a 2 year old kid to get rid of the candies packet.

In this case, Snickers, it may not have had a bigger brand recall with the mother and she wouldn’t really mind his kid buying those two packets as they anyways looked small.

These were my first two thoughts on impulse to interpret the behavior that I witnessed.

But if you come to think of it, there could be a multiple amount of permutations and combinations that might have affected the purchasing and influencing decision.

For example, 

1. What is the mindset of the father/mother?
2. What is the spending power of the father/mother?
3. What was his original intent of entering the grocery store and what he was willing to spend on extra purchases?
4. How strong are their impulses, their gender and age and the kind of purchasing patterns they have etc.
5. And of course, it would very well happen that the father and the mother both were just giving in to their kids demands, only difference in both of their behavior could have been the fact that the brand made a difference in their purchase.

So whether it is purchasing necessities, requirements or luxuries and indulgences, in our day to day lives, we all and I mean all of us consumers in the current economy and the conditions in India and worldwide are always affected by brands and brand recall certainly carries a lot of weight when making our purchases. I mean, that’s a given and I don’t even need to talk to this audience about it. We all know that.

Be it in mainline advertising or Social Media, our lives have dwelled within the breakup of our Target Demographic, the kind of things he/she buys, what age group he falls in and speculating what kind of things he/she likes, who are his primary/secondary influencers and what additional things are they interested in. That is our life 24×7, 365 and we all burn the midnight oil trying to decipher the consumer as if he/she was some code or a pattern sitting in front of our MacBooks, Desktops, iPads and laptops like the ‘operator’ from the Matrix.

Very few brands, let’s say Apple and mainly thanks to Steve Jobs, will take a call and say ‘Consumers don’t really know what they want.’ and if we were to do something that would appeal to them, then we aren’t really making a dent in the universe. We are mainly subverting our product to fit in and shove it down their throat for their consumption, actually consumption till the point where they actually puke until there’s no return.

So what am I trying to get to?

A few fundamental questions that I’d like to ask myself when it comes to Social Media or any form of marketing for that matter. I remember about a year and a half I wrote this blog post on brands getting their communication right.

I read that again now. Interesting to note that, this doesn’t change even today. But yes, I’d like to differ on one perspective.

Consumerism hasn’t yet reached its tipping point and most certainly all the things that we have been doing in the past will continue to stand. But what will make us and our brands more than just a commodity and as products to ‘stand out‘ is how we productize our services and servicize our products, something I learnt from The Purple Cow. Remember the irony I brought out in the beginning?

So the questions that will still linger in one’s mind are :

1. Do consumers make decisions based on brand recall and communication?
2. Or consumers have their own wandering mind which no matter how hard we try, we cannot decipher and the trends will keep shifting depending on the herd mentality of the consumers.
3. Lastly, how do we really communicate to the consumer especially when we don’t have control most of the times over the product as marketers / advertisers

In a separate post, I have answered these questions in a different way, one that’ll help your brand be more than just a commodity, be it on social media or offline. I have written about how we need to build brands as products not commodities.  

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Srinivas has been a communications professional for over 15 years. He has worked with and built India's largest digital agencies from the ground up and been part of their acquistion journey. Social Wavelegnth (now Mirum, part of the WPP group) and Kinnect, now part of the Interpublic Group (IPG). He's also been a public speaker, keynote speaker at various large panels/events of the likes of BBC Knowledge Summit, Blockchain Summit Bangalore. And has been a guest lecturer at IIM, Symbiosis, Indian Institute of Digital Education.

He has been blogging since 2005. And also been author at various publications, that include Startup India by ZDNet, Social Samosa, Lighthouse Insights.  His passion for Writing, Advertising, Creativity, Digital, Blockchain and Future Tech is what drives him each day.

Social Samosa - Got your social media communication right?

When everyone started using Social Media for brands in early days, content writing was looked upon as just that - ‘content' writing. It focused on the basics, i.e., providing information about the product, having some quirky updates on something related to the brand, some polls, some crossword / unscramble games, quizzes about products or related items, and some interesting insights on brand profile.

Well, we have certainly evolved since then. With social networking sites changing the very nature of human communication, especially with newer interfaces and more importantly, newer ecosystems we think differently now. The focus on simple engagements in a bid to get more conversations, comments & retweets alone is now history. With the evolution of social media within the country, audiences are all the more aware about what brands stand for.

What does this mean?

Someone wise in our industry said -

"The true measure of your Klout is not by the ranking you get, but the community you build and more importantly how you engage with them."

As always, social media is not about broadcasting but about engaging and invoking a thought within your audience and driving home a point at the end of the day, which then relates to your personality as a brand. Today’s content and communication is more about how well you know your community, how well you moderate it and how comfortable the community is to reach out to you. To do all this, communication is the key.

Read the rest of the article here.