Internet and Indian youth are two inseparable threads that are weaving the face of our nation at the speed of light. Books and newspapers are fighting a losing battle against what is becoming the future of a more modernized and globalized India. If we have to summarize India’s future with internet in a nutshell, it is nothing less than brilliant.

Here are some of the ways in which we have categorized these points:

1. Greater Internet means cheaper internet: There was a time when having an internet connection at home was meant for the richer upper class, or for people who were supposedly more “advanced”. These days not having an internet connection at home is equivalent to not having any butter in the fridge. With the large number of internet connections getting installed each day, the cost has gone down and has become easily affordable for all.
2. People’s worlds are on the web: From online shopping, to booking flight tickets, everything is done online. With the increasing stress at work, people do not have time to shop or even get groceries. Making these facilities available online, the younger generation is becoming more and more dependent on what can be ordered online and home delivered.
3. Social Networking: People in India, especially the younger generation sleep and eat through popular social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter. No one has the time or patience to wait. Instant chat and messaging through such mediums has become popular and this trend is only inclined to grow forward and not backward.
4. Employment: With so many job search portals like naukri.com and timesjobs.com people now have a quick step solution in finding the right job. The process has become simple for employers as well since they can hand pick the best from any industry and the entire process is uncomplicated and free of any error.
5. The 3G craze: Everything can be easily accessed through mobile phones since they now come with a 3G technology, and this further strengthens the bright prospect of internet in India.

The world is shrinking with every passing day because of Internet. What happens somewhere in America can reach the Indian News Desk real time because of the speed at which information is transmitted. In 2010 India was ranked 4th in terms of its Internet users across the globe, and that was just 3 years ago! India is advancing and social media is catching up faster than anything else. The wireless age would be nothing less than extraordinary in times to come.

Image courtesy peakinfosystem.com

People talk a lot about integrated marketing campaigns. Almost every person in the media circle has got the bug but very few have been successful in implementing the same. Bing, the Microsoft search engine did not just accidentally hit a jackpot with the idea but was truly outstanding in bringing an integrated marketing campaign to blockbuster success.

The Idea: This was the time when Jay-Z, American hip hop rapper, decided to launch his book ‘Decoded’. Along with a marketing collaboration with Bing, the idea was set to engage the public in a variety of ways especially making the viral marketing tool leave no stone unturned. So, Bing decided to put together places on the map of America which appeared in the book and had connection with Jay-Z’s life experiences from the place of his birth to the start of his career.

The Map: Bing brought in the ‘map’ element as part of the central idea of audience participation. It was to disintegrate the pages from the book to locations all across the states, a total of 13. The pages appeared at sections unexpected, including places like the bottom of a Miami swimming pool to roof top of a New Orleans building. Not just that, it was printed on ceramic plates and Gucci had it on the jacket customized.

The Game: The game had people integrating the fragments from all of these 13 places. No matter where the audience was, participation required and guided people through Bing maps from one section of the book to the other. It was like being on a treasure hunt, picking clues from one point to reach another.

The Plot: The maps were modified and had ground as well as aerial views. The players of the game had the plot ‘Decoded’ by browsing and landing onto different locations for connecting the dot. This was definitely one of a kind idea of presenting the book to the public, even before it was launched.

The campaign worked on a variety of levels, for the singer, who achieved a different kind of success with the campaign, for Bing, it was a marketing and advertising hit professionally as well as economically. The audience had an amazing time experiencing the media spread and being part of a new out-of-the-box marketing stunt.

Video courtesy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XNic4wf8AYg

Music only exists in digital form in the contemporary realm. The vogue of CDs and other recording formats is also waning as music is mostly bought though online stores. This phenomenon started in the early years of the 21^st century with the opening of iTunes store. Music is now available on the Internet in universal formats such as MP3 which can be easily accessed across all platforms.

Buy One, Not All

Advertising techniques for music has also undergone a major shift.  Unlike before, one has the option to purchase songs individually rather than the whole album. This not only proves to more economically viable but also more efficient. You can also rate the songs which helps other customers with their buying decisions. Most online music stores also feature songs that are most downloaded and top rated. These lists also play a critical role in influencing the decision of the buyers.

Listen Before You Buy

Music stores also offer the option of listening to the preview of the song before actually purchasing it. The preview of the song serves as the advertisement for the song itself. The major advantage of online music stores that they provide access to a humongous collection readily. The music is organised under genres which you can access as per your taste.

Get Recommendations to Get Music

Advertisements are also projected in the form of recommendations. Online stores generally keep a track of your purchases and recommend songs on that basis. Users can also post reviews for songs and share their views about any song, album or artist. Online stores also serve the function of social media as users can interact and share their interests and ideas.

Image courtesy Squidoo.com

With a wave of change taking over the world of marketing, it is hard to tell if our businesses are on the right track or not. Millions of marketers are determined on revamping their marketing mix to keep at pace with the frenetic speed of innovation. As the marketing mania takes over the later-half of 2012, here is some food for thought. Be it the retail segment or the content writing industry, the questions running on everyone’s minds are:

A)     Isn’t it the need of the hour that we question our marketing strategies?

B)     Are we able to capture data effectively to make smart business decisions?

C)     Is what we do today in synchronization with what’s to come?

As the consumer becomes more empowered, it has become indispensible for businesses to best deploy their limited/given resources. But, when was marketing just about survival? It was and always remains about competition. Rise in conglomerates and diminishing global boundaries leave us with the only option of rethinking marketing.

So what is it that you can do to prepare a better landscape for changing consumer requirements? We believe that going by the “market-trend” will help. Read on to know what the marketing gurus say.

• Expenditure on Digital Will Increase: We all know, “digital” is the new buzz; and, it is to stay. The face of digital marketing may undergo some drastic changes, but in no way will it fade out so soon. Marketers, gear up to see some surprises on this front. Don’t give on digital this early.

• Data Will Play a Big Role: In knowledge- driven economy, all that matters in information. The data about customers and client will be playing a significant part in moulding marketing strategies. Many will say that it always has, but then they forget that that marketers often make consumers “realize needs or desires”. With data empowerment, businesses will do it better; better than ever before.

Riding the wave of change has made many businesses brain-storm. Major investment and serious thought is going into creating digital spaces. Content and communication are being used as new age weapons to fight for the biggest market share. Where PPC used to derive 30% of the sales some 5 years back, majority of the business comes from SEO and digital marketing.

Image courtesy www.wendybeswick.com

Apple couldn’t have been such a huge name without the vision of Steve Jobs. We may not know how but Jobs definitely had the talent of shafting the essential from the non-essential; and, the courage to toss the dispensable.

At the heart of the extraordinary success of Apple lies the empathetic involvement of every member working with and for it. So what is there for writers to cull from a brand like Apple. Answer? Values!!

The Core Philosophy at Apple….and what it Teaches?

 Jobs was right when he said that the user doesn’t always know what they want. True, because until someone gave them the idea, they were not aware that such a concept/thing/service could exist. This might seem like a long lost lesson, but Jobs adopted the idea of familiarizing people with their wants and needs.

The same applies to content. Readers really don’t know what they are about to read in the very next line. They are not “aware” about the vast knowledge pool that exists on or off the internet. Lesson #1 that can be taken from Jobs’s philosophy is that content (and its marketing) needs to reach people for them to know about the existence of the source. Lesson #2 which emerges from the core philosophy of Apple is that until and unless you experiment with a new writing style, no one will be able to figure out that something could be written THAT WAY too.

How Did Success Happen to Them….And How Can it Happen to You

 It was not an overnight achievement. There was careful planning and adherence to values. Apple believed in turning the most ordinary of concepts into delightfully beautiful products. Your takeaway as a writer “Take something ordinary and make it gripping/interesting for your reader”.

Another great philosophy at Apple’s is to communicate the way the user does. How do YOU do that? By empathizing. Know your audience. Write the way that you think will be understandable by them. Writing for an IT company? Let the tone reflect you as an IT expert. Writing for a fashion magazine? Make it fun, fresh yet simple to understand. Last but not the least, “Think Different”.

Advertising has been the oldest method in history to further an idea into minds. From word-of-mouth strategies to catchy jingles selling detergent, the idea behind advertising has always been to grab eyeballs. And with the different forms of media at their disposal namely print, electronic and broadcast; reaching out to people with a persuasive idea has never been difficult. The challenge that the advertising industry must constantly answer is reinvention in the face of changing times. Gone are the days when people would collect in swarms to watch the successful young women in Santoor soap ads turning out to be older than expected, humming the jingle along. Time is a precious commodity and the Generation Y knows too well, to waste it. With changing times advertising industry must revamp their strategies to keep up.

In the recent times, keeping up with the advents of virtual marketing, the advertising industry has managed to tap the throbbing vein of the generation and has paved its way to maintain their stronghold over the minds. Now “likes”, “tweets” and viral videos sell products much faster than the other traditional methods.

Advertising entails understanding the audience thoroughly and by employing the what, why, when, how and where in their strategies they are reaching out to wider mass appeal. Selling a brand has transcended the usual “buy my product” theme, now ‘advertainment’ is the mantra of the game.  To this end new media has emerged as the savior of advertising methods, reaching out to people across various socio-economic layers at once.

The use of ultra targeted campaigns with relevant customized messages along with launching initiatives to build a natural viral scenario has been the contemporary strategy, in a nutshell.

On the economical level modern day advertising methods has been banking on money making strategies using the Internet as the modus operandi. Pay per click advertising and Ad Sense are making use of referral advertising to propel its outreach and earn revenue. With the advent of new media, traditional media however has had to take a step back. With interactive satellite television companies making their technology better, viewer can skip ads with just a touch of a button on their remote. The challenge, now for the electronic media would either be to make their ads crisp and even more eye catching, or abandon ship and target the same audience on a different platform. At the end of the day no two ads are the same. They target a different audience, a different mindset and a different appeal. The advertising industry has a bright future catering to mass consumerism and adapting to new socio-cultural and technological changes.

Remember the uninformed and surprising entry of the Facebook Timeline? A number of us did not like the very idea of it, and its usage was definitely not in question. Many of my online friends were completely against it and voiced their criticism against the time-line feature pretty openly. Discussions about the time-line that led to unfair opinions against Zuckerberg and his declining sense of design were so common that I doubt if an unintended viral may not have affected  the opinion of even those who would have liked to give a thumbs-up (read: like) to the time-line feature.

You may or may not be comfortable with the timeline settings for now but what matters is if you have switched to it then it is indeed good for you. I have a silly habit of searching for things that seem disconcerting. The timeline feature in particular was for example one of the many ‘not-so-important-yet-on-my-mind’ things that undoubtedly was something that I wanted to know more about. Why so much of a brouhaha over something that was only a part of the virtual world? Why is everyone discussing it? Actually, no one was really discussing it. EVERYBODY WAS CRITIQUING. So, I took to studying the timeline and to my surprise what seemed useless for a complete bundle of goodies. I now can’t think of another way of great online marketing.

Many businesses as of present have switched to the timeline feature but haven’t been able to figure out how to benefit from it. In a market that is inexorably focused on social media, the Facebook timeline has given businesses some extremely simple ways of getting ahead with online marketing.

Advantage Cover Photo

The cover photo becomes an evident part of your Facebook profile once you have agreed to use the timeline. Inarguably, this is the most important feature of the timeline also as it a strategically thought adding that helps businesses to improve the visual-designs of their companies. This is the place where you communicate with the world in pictures. This is where on-line marketing is at its active most level. Put a cover photo that draws attention and captures the essence of your business. Be creative, take it seriously and the timeline will come alive, acting as a salesman for your business.

A Tryst at the Template

 Many of us may not know that it’s not just the look that has changed but so has the purpose and intent. Facebook timeline allows a lot more interaction and rendezvous than the earlier version did. You can make use of the template/body at the advantage of online marketing. Highlight items on your page, feature stories, and pin to other websites for a full-fledged online marketing experience. And, then there is a bar to the right-side just below the cover photo which contains four boxes labelled pictures, maps, notes, etc. You can intelligently customize these boxes to display the products, brochures and content of the company.

Knowing the Admin Panel

 No one paid attention to this, right? Well, the admin panel which is a useful part of the timeline is a feature that monitors all the activity that is taking place on your business page. There is also an “Insight Box” that is helpful to convert the user data into a statistical and/or graphical form. This helps you analyze your popularity and reach towards the World Wide Web audience.

The Kolaveri Di about the Timeline took some time to settle but its now time you start benefiting from the well-planned strategy.

To build a brand, online marketing is one of the key tools in the advertising process. Here are a few useful online marketing tips that can you can use in your brand building process-

1. Go Viral - Viral marketing has proven to be beneficial as a launch pad for many new brands. All you need to do is to make a video on a topic relevant to the brand personality, its goals etc. The video goes viral on many social media websites and relies on its likeability power. A rather informal way of communicating, the main objective of this approach is to redirect the viewers to the brand’s website and inform them of the brand’s presence.
2. Chase the Social Media- If your brand is not present on Facebook and Twitter; you might be from the 20th century. An informal and interesting way of interacting with your customers directly, it makes it easier for many people to know about you. Make a brand page, get the timeline and get started. Talk to the people, hold contests, upload the photographs, get a celebrity to endorse your page and your brand and you will soon rise up in the success graph.
3. E-mail marketing- Sending out emails to your customers is a sure shot way of grabbing attention. Since this activity is known and already practiced, why not sell the new wine in old bottle. E-mailers are known to be boring and irritating and to actually make it work; you need to be unique and different. Use an attractive template with an informal language so that the readers connect with them.
4. Banners and Print ads- Remember that tiny ad you saw on the right side while you were reading your emails on yahoo? Well, those are the ads online. You can post ads of your website or brand on any website you feel already attracts the traffic. Make your ads creative and leave a sense of mystery in their content or a picture to redirect the reader to your website.
5. Blogging- Blogging about your brand is an excellent idea. Set up your blog and invite your existing customers to read and follow it. The content may not necessarily be about your product, but also the interesting facts relevant to the industry etc. E.g. giving fashion tips to the young lads if you are into fashion business.
6. Submit Articles- One of the effective ways of marketing online is submitting written content on the various article submission websites. The articles can be on subjects and topics related to your industry and about your products. They divert traffic to your website and help in better SEO (Search engine optimization) of your website.
7. Form groups and forums- A lesser known marketing habit, you can make use of forming groups and forums on yahoo and Google and add your customers. This will update your customers about the ongoing discussions and the latest from you. In return they will be engaged in your brand and will also do some word of mouth publicity for free.

With various platforms of interactive media being launched each day, one has ample options to explore. So, reach out and make a difference!

Words hold the power to convince and contradict, even in the case when they are being used as an instrument of sales. Selling products online is a task that cannot do at all without the support of crisp and concise copy that conveys a lot about the object of sale. A good product description should hold the power of convincing the prospective buyer to purchase the product after spending a few seconds on reading the information that is relevant, appealing and sufficient to sum up the “Why Buy” of the product in 50 -100 words. Seems tricky, right? Was the same for me until I figured out the strategy for getting my product descriptions right. So, here is what I did, and what professional writers usually do too:

Read about No Touch Sales: It may be surprising but it is true that people are more drawn to ecommerce because it minimizes human contact. People purchase online when they read about a product and are longing to see the words take a shape (in the form of the product that is for sale.) So the words have to be really powerful to draw maximum consumer attention.

Understood the Tone and Language: Point to be noted. It is as important to hold back certain information as much it is to give out the rest of it. This simply means to focus on the ‘good points’. You should also refrain from giving out too many details about the product to an extent that the customer loses interest. Make your content compelling, unique and intelligent.

Kept It Original: Of course I refered to some great sites that gave me ideas on writing ome really whacky product descriptions, but managed to keep my content absolutely original. Keping your product descriptions original is important because your site can be penalized in case any copied content is published on your website.

Besides the above points, a definite structure to the product descriptions proved to be of great help. So in 100 word descriptions content writers should spend some 40 words writing about product features, approximately 30 words on style recommendation, another 20 on its utility and the remaining 10 on catchy lines and adjectives. But, often 100 words are also too much for a product description and at that time focusing on the “core functionality” + USP of the product suffices.

When it comes to generating content for web, the most important thing that comes to our mind is to look for a professional content writing company that can provide quality content. This is because we can surely trust a professional writing company for their quality content, and easily outsource our work to them. Outsourcing content writing services has become the need of the hour. With almost every kind of business employing this tool for marketing and generating content, it has become important to find a suitable content writing company to meet the needs and requirements of different kinds of writing.

A good content writing company will have the topmost professional writers, who are well qualified and highly skilled to deliver any kind of web content material. There are a number of advantages that a company can experience while outsourcing its content to a professional writing firm. To deliver perfect content it is very important that the writer you select should be an intellect. This is the reason why people prefer to hire writing services, because the writers at content writing firms are trained to deliver quality content, avoiding plagiarism and correct use of keywords. They are well aware of the new techniques and technologies that are used in writing industry also they know all the technical aspects that work behind producing original content. Therefore, it is better to outsource content writing services to get good content according to your requirement.