Media Archives - BOLLYWOOD SURKHIYAN

China Media Booms

No one really knows how many television stations there are in China. Best estimates put the number at 5,000. Yet, just over ten years ago there were no more than 40. The number of newspapers has increased from around 200 to more than 2,500, radio stations have blossomed from a 100 to 1,200 and TV and radio penetration is now over 85 percent.

In just, 10 years, the media in has exploded. But it is still heavily regulated and owned and controlled by the state run Communist Party. Most local media is pro-China in its content and style and is used as a tool for control and influence over the country’s huge population.

There are also limits on foreign journalists – where they can travel and to whom they can speak. Overseas media regularly have their offices screened and their activities are closely monitored.

Taiwan, Tibet and human rights issues are strictly off the editorial agenda.

Despite this, consumerism has well and truly arrived in China. There’s now an increased sophistication in the market – and marketing communications, brand management and reputation building have become big business.

There is no such thing as privately owned media in China – and foreign companies are restricted. Consumerism is driving up advertising revenue. The dominant Chinese television network, CCTV is said to earn a total of 1 billion yuan or A$200 million a year.

So in this environment how can Australian companies effectively get their message across and plan marketing communications strategies in China?

The first thing to understand is how companies will have to work in a very complex and constantly changing regulatory environment.

“China is very conscious of reforming its media and has some relatively progressive thinking internally about where to take it,” said Gary Davey CEO of Star TV in Hong Kong. “But it’s going to take a very long time because they are equally sensitive about the importance of control.”

An older generation of bureaucrats still sees the media, and television in particular, as a propaganda device and any attempt to reform it into a commercially driven business raises great suspicion amongst the Chinese leadership.

In the past the News Corporation owned STAR TV has upset Chinese authorities and Davey is quick to point out the sensitivities of the Chinese marketplace, especially when it comes to cultural differences.

“You might be able to run a successful State-run security operation by trying to force your own cultural values down someone else’s throat, but you certainly can’t run a business doing that.”

STAR TV has had to develop strategies that fit these realities. “We’ve created new companies with Chinese partners to play a part in the evolution of the policy,” Davey said.

The days of handing out long red envelopes filled with cash to journalists at press conferences in China could also well be over. The industry is trying to clean up its act and has recently released a new code of practice for both public relations professionals and journalists.

The local media is still very pro-China in its content and style but the practice of accepting cash and gifts in return for running positive stories is now being phased out.

Tony Turner has worked in corporate communications in China for over 25 years and is the Hong Kong based Chairman of the Rowland Company.

He says in the past there has been a degree of cronyism, corruption and lack of transparency in the media but that is changing as Western-based multinationals entered the market with a new set of communication standards.

“What we’ve got today in Hong Kong is a highly professional, highly inquisitive and free media,” he said.

Turner believes many multinationals don’t want their name tarnished by being caught for paying journalists.

“The opportunity for PR and professional PR is as great as it ever could be,” Turner said.

This view is reflected in Beijing where Gua Hu-ming heads up the China International Public Relations Association. He says PR as a profession, started in China 15 years ago and first appeared in joint venture hotels.

In the past it has been standard practice for reporters to accept cash and gifts in return for running positive stories or even working in conjunction with investors to ramp up the stock market.

But this is changing Mr Gua believes the Chinese media and journalists are becoming more professional.

But what impact is the Internet having on traditional news sources and PR campaigns?

Dr Xueli Huang is an expert on Internet marketing based at Edith Cowan University in Perth.

He says Internet usage is growing in China with 60 million users but news content is still heavily controlled.

Most users are young and cannot afford a computer. Instead they use Internet cafes to send emails and their main news sources are limited to international news sites such as the BBC World Service and CNN.

“I don’t think the Chinese Government will ban all the news sites, but Government will certainly want to control political sites.”

Bandwidth is also a problem in China. Huang believes newspapers, radio and TV will still provide local news because of the time in downloading information from the Internet and the lack of infrastructure.

So if you are doing business in China here are 12 success tips for implementing a successful marketing communications plan:

1. Understand cultural differences. Be sensitive to local communities and understand the complex and varied structures of the Chinese media. They are not uniform and often controlled at a local, provincial and national level. I will never forget the cultural shock of seeing an armed red-guard standing on a pillbox outside a TV studio in Guangzhou asking for my official ID. Improve your cultural literacy by understanding the culture and history of those you’re doing business with. Respect these differences and don’t impose your own values & perceptions on how the local media should treat you.

2. Use a local spokesperson. Depending on the news value of the story, you will have a better chance of gaining media coverage the more Chinese you make your message. Using a local spokesperson will give you greater credibility. For example in PR campaigns for Nokia and IBM in China, they use local Chairmen who are Chinese because they are well respected and have deep Chinese roots.

3. Know your point of difference – what you do in your own backyard you also have to do in new markets. Find out what makes you or your service or product unique in the marketplace? How will it stand out from the competition. In the past cultural differences have been used as an excuse for dubious practices not acceptable back home. This has changed.

4. Clarify your communication objectives? What do you want to achieve? To inform or entertain? To provide information? To build a profile? To influence public opinion? Personal marketing? Marketing or launching a new product or service? How will cultural diversity and differing news values influence this? News values differ in China. Often issues will be reported one or two days later and not with the urgency or timeliness of the Western media.

5. Define your target audience? Who is your target audience? General public? Customers? Competitors? Suppliers? What age are they, what level of education, what beliefs and values, geographical location, how do they use the local Chinese media? How credible is the media your target audience uses? Does it still have credibility even though it is controlled? The media is evolving and becoming more respected.

6. Identify the best channels of communication. What is the best way to reach your target audience? TV, Radio, Internet, newspapers – local or national? Do your homework on how news is structured and gathered. Investigate who is reporting on what. Find out the nuances. TV has the highest penetration, while the Internet is growing amongst younger Chinese.

7. What is your key message? The media is becoming more competitive and market driven. They need readers and viewers to stay viable in the new economy. How can you make your message appealing and newsworthy? Distill what you want to say into three key points. Always check translations of media releases. Have them retranslated back into English to check for accuracy.

8. Build your case? When building your case look for the China angle. What are the features, advantages and benefits of your message for your Chinese targets? What evidence and proof do you have that is seen as credible and independent within their cultural belief system?

9. What is the China hook? What will make your message or news release stand out from the rest and appeal to the values of Chinese journalists. You are not successful in China until the local market tells you. Giving money to Chinese journalists is no longer acceptable. Use more legal and ethical incentives such as providing transport, lunch or a gift or souvenir item.

10. Develop long-term relationships with the media. Visit and meet journalists face to face. Network, get to know them and involve them in the story. There is now a focus on the interactive brand experience. For example in a recent mobile phone campaign local journalists were involved in trailing the product prior to launch. They were asked for their feedback and engaged proactively in its development providing them with ownership of the product and subsequent story. Relationships and personal connections, or guanxi are very important in China and especially so in cultivating good media contacts.

11. If you have to face the media yourself … Use the Three Golden Rules to Perform at your Best = Know Your Topic, Be Prepared, Relax.

12. Seek Professional Help. For maximum impact, effectiveness and value seek the advice of a media and communications professional that can help your company see the media as an opportunity not a threat.

Source: “China Media – The Ethics of Influence”, 1999

How to Conduct an Impactful Media Interview

The news release has been issued to the media and now they are calling asking for an interview. Do you pick up the phone and start talking? No. Take a few minutes to read this article and learn some techniques to make sure your media interview is impactful.

Preparation is the key to a successful media interview. Think about it this way – would you step on the stage and give a presentation to thousands of people without preparing your thoughts and fine tuning your message? Hopefully not. You would spend some time reviewing your notes, checking out your appearance and making sure you remember your key points. Think about your media interview as a presentation to a large group of people. Even if you can’t see them, hundreds or even thousands (possibly millions) of people will read the article, listen to the interview or watch the clip.

Okay let’s get started with some basic ways to prepare.

1. Write down your three key messages. When you are done your interview, what are the three key points you want the reporter, and audience, to remember?

2. Formulate your interview around these key points. When asked questions that are “off message” go back to these points. Use them to transition out of sticky questions. Example – while that’s a good question, I want to stress what’s important to remember is… insert key message.

3. Determine what media outlet you are talking to and the average length of audio or video clips or story length for print. If it’s radio and the interview’s for a short news story, keep your interview short as they will likely only use a 10-30 second clip. If it’s television or video, you might get 60 seconds of you speaking in the story.

4. Tailor your message to meet the needs of the audience of the media outlet. Is this a local news outlet? National? Is the audience your peers or the general public? Each media interview should be unique, tailored to meet the needs of the specific audience, versus repeating the same information the same way in 10 different media interviews.

5. Take stock of your appearance. Solid colours are best for video interviews. No crazy patterns or logos (unless it’s your own company’s logo). For women – no clunky jewellery or exposed cleavage. And for men – button up your shirt and empty your pockets so you aren’t tempted to jingle your keys.

6. Don’t ramble. Stick to your three key points. This way when your comments are edited, what appears in the story will be on topic.

7. Thank the reporter. Too few people take the time to say thank you.

Once the story is live, review the coverage to see how well you delivered your message and identify how you can improve for future interviews.

Advantages of Social Media Marketing

In the world of business, marketing is essential. However, in our new digital age, traditional marketing is becoming increasingly ineffective, and a new form of marketing is on the rise. Because of its many advantages, social media marketing has become an almost essential part of any business’s attempt to establish a firm footing in today’s competitive market. When considering the pros and cons of different marketing methods, think of all the time and money that was traditionally spent on marketing your products or services, and compare it to what it now costs to market your business on social sites.

Originally, businesses paid out of pocket for advertisements on television, billboards, or in newspapers. Eventually, these strategies came to the point where they were not cost effective in the least. Of all viewers of advertisements, only one to two percent actually contacted the distributor and was interested in their product. Why was this? One of the most interesting advantages of social media marketing is that when viewing television, advertisements often irritate and interrupt viewers, causing most of them to be uninterested in the advertised product. With social media, the targeted audience not only watches the advertisement, but also participates in it.

Participation is a key advantage of social media marketing. Online, people willingly participate in activities and blogs that market your company for you. When the customers become involved with your business or company, they not only care about your products, the come to care about your business. Social involvement with customers usually leads to an increase in clientele and customer satisfaction.

Another advantage that comes with social media marketing is that online advertising with sites like Facebook is one hundred percent free. You no longer have to rent a billboard or air time on the television or radio. You do not have to pay for ink and paper and distribute fliers about your business. You can do it all electronically and be much more productive. Almost every human being, in the United States at least, has heard of Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter. Most of them have profiles. By marketing your business online, a completely new world of advertising opens up.

With all these advantages, a business almost cannot survive in our world without internet marketing. The best thing about it though, is that it is affordable, effective and can work for anyone. Any business, no matter how small, can effectively market itself online.

How To Predict A Call From the Media – The Could It Happen Here Story

Wouldn’t it be great to know ahead of time when and why your company or organization would be getting a telephone call from the media? Believe it or not, you already have that ability right at your fingertips. Sure, there are instances where you could pretty well guess that a phone call is coming such as in the case of a strike, a product recall, an environmental disaster or a workplace fatality. But what about those times when a call comes in that you were not expecting? While half of your brain listens to the voice on the other end of the line, the other half is frantically asking, “Why are they calling? What did we do? What has happened that I don’t know about?”

What’s happening here is what is known in the news business as the Could It Happen Here Story. Whenever there is a story gaining national attention, local news media outlets will always try to localize the event. When Timothy McVeigh bombed the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City in 1995 which resulted in the deaths of 168 people, news outlets across the country went into Could It Happen Here mode. Officials were questioned about security at local federal buildings and federal workers were asked if they felt safe in the workplace in light of the Oklahoma City incident. When tornadoes strike a portion of the nation, local media outlets air stories about local preparedness for such a disaster. When several children were sickened after playing on a lawn newly treated with chemicals, landscaping companies across the nation were forced to defend their own practices.

The bottom line is that if there is a story that is making national news and if the story is in any way connected to your business, there is a possibility you could be on the receiving end of a Could It Happen Here call. Your job is to simply be aware of the possibility. As you read the morning newspaper, listen to morning radio news or watch morning television news, keep a careful eye and ear out for stories that relate to your business. If you find one, rehearse mentally what you would do and say if you got to the office and the media called. That way, when the call comes in, you’re prepared to confidently tell the media that because of your company’s standards, policies and professionalism, it Couldn’t Happen Here!

Benefits of Mass Media For a Business

Over the past 15 years, mass media has changed dramatically. Improvements in applications, technologies, changes in consumer needs and an explosion of new media platforms have all played a part in this unprecedented evolution.

Now one can flip back and forth between several websites on the World Wide Web, 24-hour cable channels and even radio programs to stay connected to business news. Access to products and services on the Internet is no more a complicated issue in today’s “informed” times. These changes in the business end of media marketing are just some of many factors that have altered the way media is now managed, reported and used.

Today, business communications are not immune from the appeal of mass media. Many businesses have already benefited from this kind of marketing. If you want your business to create a niche on the web map, it is advisable to go for thoughtfully planned media endeavors. It is always good to remember that communications work is not merely a way to advertise products or services for a business in the media or before the general public – it can also help a business to reach its programmatic goals without any hiccups. Such an awareness campaign can help attain good results when it comes to engaging the public. Giving importance to appealing web designs templates and web development sites can prove to be an excellent option for a business in the long run.

In addition to such awareness campaigns, social networking sites and Weblogs (blogs for short) can prove to be excellent options for a business interested in creating awareness about itself, its products and services. This is mainly because modern day customers spend a lot of their time on these web mediums.

To stay close to optimum marketing benefits, a business must always offer itself as a resource, ready and full of clear, precise and unambiguous information when going for small business website development. Moreover, this information must be relevant to the goals and vision of the business.

It is important to note that dedicated commitment and strategic thinking are required to make the most of mass media campaigns. If you really want your business to move ahead of competition then patience and thoughtful planning are the best virtues before expecting any long-term results.

Interviewing With Indian Reporters–International Media Training

Today, Indians are a force to be reckoned with. They have made their presence felt in every field. When we talk of the Indian press during media training, we see that Indian reporters have a significant influence, especially in business media.

A large number of business reporters with Indian roots are internationally prominent. Consider CNN’s Senior International Correspondent Satinder Bindra based out of New Delhi. He is responsible for the Network’s coverage of India, and the South Asian region; Tunku Varadarajan is currently editorial features editor at The Wall Street Journal. He is a former chief TV and media critic for the paper and columnist for OpinionJournal.com, a WSJ sister site. And many more.

So, what is it that makes the Indian Reporter tick? How can we strike a chord with Indian reporters? Here are skills it would be wise to practice in media training.

Tips on Dealing With Indian Reporters

Honesty really is the best policy in this context. Be straightforward and factual. Indian reporters are a professional lot, aggressive and know how to find the underlying cause of an issue.
Getting an Indian reporter to trust you can be a tough job. Confidence, authenticity and being down-to-earth work a lot better than false pretenses with the India media. Never make up an answer! They will check your assertions.
It is quite all right to address the Indian reporter by his or her first name. There is no need to be excessively formal.
There is no such thing as telling a reporter something off the record. (If you are not already aware of this, it will be drilled into you during media training.) Indian reporters are no different. Don’t say anything you wouldn’t want to see in print or have aired on television! For a typical Indian, the most preferred source of information is television, newspapers, radio, and news magazines, in that order.
Treat the Indian media with respect and friendliness.

Indian journalists reflect a tough work ethic; they are comfortable with the English language and adjust comfortably with the western culture. They do not hesitate to go the extra mile to get their information. With their theoretical thinking and analytical mind, Indians have a global presence. They are patient by tradition, good listeners and sharp witted.

The Indian Press has the reputation of being among the best in the world, which is evident by the professionalism exhibited by the Indian journalists. The people of India are media savvy and have exposure to various forms of media. Investigative reporting has become quite prominent in India.

One such example is the sensational and controversial “Tehelka” issue where investigative journalist Aniruddha Bahal and his partner Mathew Samuel spent seven months posing as arms dealers and exposed top Indian officials and army officers taking bribes.

In an operation unparalleled in Indian journalism, Bahal paid bribes exceeding 21000 USD to India’s top ruling politicians and senior army officers to push for non-existent arms, secretly videotaping every transaction. This is probably why journalists play such an important role in influencing public opinion on vital issues – they believe that public opinion and interest are more important.

India’s Influential News Media

Indian press has such a deep influence over the lives of people that the Indians trust their media more than their government in terms of news authenticity. A survey shows that the most preferred medium of news in India is television (about 37 per cent), followed closely by newspapers (at 36 per cent). Then comes radio at 7 per cent and news magazines at 4 per cent. Thus, media training is a must to handle the Indian limelight.

Surprisingly, Indians trust local newspapers, television, and radio more than news websites and blogs. So the pressure is on for Indian reporters to produce engaging news stories every hour.

The Most Prominent Newspapers Of India

In most of the Indian households, the day starts with a morning cup of tea, along with a newspaper. They are an integral part of the lives of Indians.

In a survey of Indian newspapers, the Hindustan Times (www.hindustantimes.com), published from Delhi, came up as the largest circulated single edition daily with 1,175,339 copies followed by the Ananda Bazar Patrika, published from Kolkata with 1,130,167 copies. The Times of India, published from New Delhi and printed at New Delhi and Sahibabad came third with 1,102,772 copies. The Times of India, the most read English daily in India (www.timesofindia.com), having eight editions with a combined circulation of 2,771,669 copies, came first among multi-edition dailies.

The Dainik Jagran (www.jagran.com) in Hindi having 15 editions, claiming a combined circulation of 2,483,432 copies stood second. Dainik Bhaskar http://www.bhaskar.com (Hindi) with 16 editions and a combined circulation of 1,901,384 copies, occupied the third position. The Economic Times, Financial Daily (www.economictimes.com) sells 400,000 copies. The Economic Times is the most preferred daily reaches by the business population.

India’s Most Influential Magazines

Business Standard (www.business-standard.com), Business World (www.businessworld.in), and India Today (www.indiatoday.com) have a strong grip over the Indian audience. They touch the lives of the Indian public with their accurate reporting and leave room for the reader’s views on current issues.

The Most Popular TV Shows Of India

Aaj Tak (www.aajtak.com) currently dominates the Indian media. It is the most preferred and trusted news channel among the Indian audience. Then comes DD TV, followed by Sun TV, Star news, NDTV, AIR, Zee news, and BBC.

The Indian media has captured the interest of Indian audiences by its various TV shows featuring famous personalities from diversified fields, shows on lifestyle, and other entertainment topics, including serious shows airing people’s views, problems, and controversies. Shows like the Big Fight, Seedhi Baat, Special Correspondent, National Reporter, and others have rocked the newsrooms of India. The latest rage is crime shows and those discussing the law and order problems of cities.

A majority of the Indian people trusts the media seeing them as credible news providers, believing that the media brings them closer to the freedom of speech and their own culture. They feel that they can voice their opinions through the media. However, many viewers find a substantial amount of western influence in Indian media.

Indian media has reached the pinnacle of performance and will continue to reach new heights. Hence, it becomes all the more important for you to take media training and develop a healthy relation with the Indian media.

The 7 Wonders Of Social Media Marketing To A Brand

The universe of digital marketing is wide and varied, but the one factor that is dominating it is social media. Through online platforms, companies can reach a global pool of customers that are in billions. Any corporation that is not utilising this source is not only skipping on a fantastic growth window but a cash cow of profitability.

Be it mere PPC services or sharing content on social media, when a company utilises any platform, they spread awareness of their service or product. Furthermore, they indicate to search engines that the brand is reliable, valid and consistent. Let’s take a look at how else social media affects an establishment, positively.

Get the customer engaged.

Marketing is about winning the attention of a person and then conveying your message. Social media is the easiest and ideal way of interacting with customers. It is the one path that allows for two-way communication at lightning speed. Catering to the wishes or interest of the patron is fast paced with online platforms. When more consumers are engaging with your brand, there is a bigger probability of conversion.

Get more customers aware.

Facebook, Twitter or Instagram are not just avenues to converse with current customers. They are pathways to reaching an added audience in real time. Unlike most other marketing stratagems, social media is a hassle-free way to enhance the visibility of a brand. Just a few hours every seven days has shown, in more than 90% of companies, a greater awareness of product or service in customers.

The gist is to create all social media profiles, use them regularly and begin networking to generate a wide audience

Make customers more loyal.

Without a shadow of a doubt, the one benefit social media has for customers is the ease with which they can find brands. The convenience of connecting heightens user experience and benefits the company. How? A patron becomes loyal to a brand when they receive satisfaction. When a customer is able to communicate with the corporation within minutes of facing an issue or wanting to know more about a product through social presence, it ups satisfaction. This, in turn, leads to brand loyalty.

Gain understanding of the marketplace.

The reason social media is considered the MVP of digital marketing is not that it gives brands the freedom to introduce their products to a broader audience but because it offers a comprehension of the marketplace. When a company is able to talk with their patrons through online avenues directly, they get to know precisely what is needed.

Over and above, a brand can observe the online activities of consumer and get to know their opinions and interests. This would not be possible without pages and handles on social media. Think of social media as a research tool which can be employed to know the demographics when the brand following becomes large.

Be more economical.

Advertising, in the traditional sense, is not an inexpensive strategy. But promoting through social media marketing is hugely cost-effective.

Creating an account on any platform is free.
Developing a brand through your own handle costs zilch.
Even paid advertising is dirt cheap on social media.

To top the cake with a cherry, a company can invest the smallest amount and get a high rate of return. Significantly raising conversion rates is not hard with social media adverts, you need a little capital and the right time.

Gain a brand voice.

Through an online platform, a brand can create a voice that speaks directly to patrons and generates a healthy brand image. When a customer receives a tailored reply to their query on social, instead of a cookie cutter reply, they appreciate it more. It shows that the company values the consumer enough to take the effort to write a personal response. A brand voice, therefore, allows for effective communication, networking and healthier satisfaction in clients.

Become an authority.

Every time a small or big business posts an original content on social media or each time, they resolve a question posed by a customer, they establish authority. As more and more original posts go up and resolutions occur, in the eyes of the patron, the brand becomes an expert on the subject or topic. Just like satisfaction and loyalty affect the bottom line of an organisation, authority touches it too. Why? Because it leaves an optimistic picture in the mind of the consumer. It makes them more probable of buying a product and talking about it to other potential customers.

A Succinct Layout

No marketing guru or entrepreneur can deny that media is a magic wand. It creates miracles for budding and established businesses. When you post consistently, the benefits the trade accrues are:

better SEO
increased traffic
improved brand loyalty
healthier customer satisfaction

Remember, chances are the competing businesses is already exploiting social marketing to reach probable patrons. Don’t miss out on the opportunity.

Beginners’ Guide – Advantages and Disadvantages of Social Media

We all are beginners at some point. For the beginners the biggest challenge is to know the advantages and disadvantages of Social Media. Today we are going to talk about the Social Media – Advantages and Disadvantages. Many small business owners have not yet taken advantage of social media to help grow their business. It has become so vital for us to stay connected and convey the right message. To get the best out of this platform here are some tips and guidance for the beginners to know.

First of all some facts and figures of social media sites:

One in every nine people on earth is on Facebook
Twitter is adding nearly 500,000 users everyday
One in four Americans watches a video online everyday
During the second half of 2010, LinkedIn membership base grew, on average, by 1 million new members every ten days

Connect: Facebook helps you connect and share with people in your life. Just think what was your life before Facebook invented? Was it more relax, exiting, boring or challenging? In Facebook we can create a personal profile, add other users as friends & exchange messages. If we talk about LinkedIn, it gives us the opportunity to connect with professionals across the globe. Whether you are using it for personal growth or spreading your business. It also gives you the opportunity to connect with business minded people like you. If we talk about Twitter, it is simply amazing! Twitter is a real time information network that connects you to the latest stories, ideas what you find interesting. It gives you an opportunity to know what’s happening around the world in 140 characters long tweet!

Interact: With your connections Facebook gives you an opportunity to let people know about you. You can share your photos, stories and create fan page. As a business, Facebook pages are a good source of feedback on your product/services. In LinkedIn you can interact with professionals on one single platform. You can discuss business, resources, ideas, learning opportunities and lot more. In Twitter, tweets are text based posts of up to 140 characters displayed on the author’s profile page and delivered to the followers. On a personal level Twitters allows one to communicate with friends and families. On business level it connects your current & potential customers with your product & service.

Exchange: With the use of Facebook, we exchange joy, fun, sorrows, help and many more things at one place! Facebook slowly also being used like email. So this is one of the cost-effective ways to connected. With the use of LinkedIn we exchange professional expertise along with useful information which eventually enhances our professional brand. It also exchanges stronger business ideas with each other. On a business level, it helps us to exchange feedback, comments which eventually lead to increase business. On a personal level, it helps you in personal development. Twitter is a powerful tool for exchanging information and news as Twitter user often link to useful sites or articles & can be source of alternative news.

Disadvantages: As we discussed the Advantages of Social Media but we cannot ignore the Disadvantages just to be more secure on online platform.

Think about the viral potential of media. When news are negative and bad in taste, the same will happen with that brand. It is hard to undertake damage control when you are dealing with social media. Your name might get spoiled within hours. The best example is MacDonald’s Twitter promotion. According to Mail Online news article – Mac Fail! MacDonald’s Twitter promotion backfires as users highjack hash tag MacD stories to share fast food horror stories. Opponents accused the burger franchise of making customer vomit, serving pig meat from gestation crates and dishing up a burger containing a finger nail. Another disadvantage is to face threat from fake profile and ID. This is one of the biggest disadvantages of Facebook. People often use fake profile to insult or harassing someone. Students who are Facebook addicted do a bad result on his or her exams. One of the major risks of social networking and the Internet in general is breaches in privacy. These sites collect considerable amounts of personal information, with email addresses being one of the most collected pieces of personal data. Also these social networking sites possibly reduce persons’ compassion. You can check Twitter updates from your phone and send messages from anywhere. Social networking sites have the potential of having spreading negative or Anti-social messages. Amongst

As discussed above there are both Advantages and Disadvantages of Social Networking. One thing is clear; it is up to the person how he/she wants to get benefit from Social Media platform. In life we are often subjected to good and bad choices it is only we ourselves, who can decide what we want.

The Feasibility of Social Media Marketing and Consulting

A lot of research is undertaken regularly to determine new trends and developments in the online business. These exciting occurrences are conveyed to industry players and the general public as well. The online advertising market has grown enormously through the years and this growth is not at all waning.

Social media marketing and consulting has been acknowledged as one of the most viable online business opportunities. You just have to do three things to make it click.

You need to take care of the business painstakingly to make it grow and succeed for the long-term. Begin with a practical and realistic business plan. Be careful with your implementation and network with possible clients. Make sure that your customers are satisfied with your deliverables. Start slow by getting one client at a time until you are able to perfect the system and have the competence to take on many clients.

Teach a business organization to become more personal and put in place the effective foundation for success in any online venture. This concept makes it much easier for neophyte entrepreneurs to know more about social networks and brand conversations.

Give emphasis to the importance of the brand and crucial aspects in internet marketing like blog writing, put together strategies, outreach projects, brand analysis, profile enhancement and web software design.

Here is a useful advice if you want to go into this business as a competent Social Media Marketing Consulting Firm and provide professional help to new industries.

The Social Media Marketing Consulting provider must be capable of attaining the three things mentioned earlier and achieve satisfactory results. The brand becomes popular and benefits about this brand are immediately spread around because of this technique. Information is passed from a single individual to hundreds and even thousands of people. Positive information saturates the search engines and the result is website traffic shoots up. With the help of the experts, it becomes easier to acquire more customers. Converting them into loyal and satisfied customers become very manageable. These companies adhere to ethical practices and make use of effective systems to give the bets coverage for a particular business. The Social Media Marketing Consulting Company continuously upgrades its programs in enhancing awareness and upgrading the websites of their clients.

Your endeavor being one of the most feasible online business opportunities can support all types of businesses in their effort to propagate research and development, marketing promotions and advertising. These are the search engine optimization authorities that are committed in providing internet advertising and social marketing techniques as well as SEO that will surely enhance the online undertaking. Of course, the unique strategy of employing social media networking to reach out to more audiences should not be forgotten.

Social Media Marketing is now widely used by enterprising and inventive businesses. Social media has become very useful to most marketing campaigns. Business owners acknowledge the fact that this line of attack is capable of penetrating a wider audience. This technique is exciting and creates fresh opportunities to generate more visitors and inbound sales.