Engaging Content is the Gateway to Success

Did you know, an average individual spends 24 hours in a week online? And what does one browse on the Internet? Yes, you are right! It’s the Content! It is this very fact which the Digital Marketers are harnessing upon, thus devising their Content Strategy to market their products.

The question now arises, “Is any Content enough to dig a gold mine?” The answer is a big No. Not every blog that you read or every video that you watch on the web goes viral.

Research suggests that an average span of human attention is 8 seconds ONLY. So, amidst the plethora of blogs and videos that pile up on one’s online feed, your Content needs to be engaging enough to stand out and keep the audience hooked.

What are the traits of Engaging Content?

·       Easy to understand.

·       Offers value to the audience.

·       Solves the problems of the audience.

·       Emotionally connects with the audience.

Just to cite an example, last year, when actor Rahul Bose tweeted about being charged ₹442 for just two bananas at a plush restaurant, Amazon Prime Video responded with a witty tweet, thus marketing their product.

Example of Engaging Content                                   Image Source: www.twitter.com

Now that you have understood what Engaging Content is, let us now see why this Engaging Content is pivotal to Marketing Success of your business.

 

1.    Gives your brand it’s Recognition.

Engaging Content: Brand Recognition                                           Image Source: www.pexels.com

The online world is a crowded place, and in real terms, the fittest survive here. If the brand doesn’t have appealing Content for its target audience, then in no time, the brand will be lost in the oblivion. Many who understand this rule, harp on Engaging Content to create awareness for their business.

WhiteHat Jr, a Coding learning Platform is one example which in no time has become a household name in India, thanks to its Engaging Content across all platforms.  

2.    Drives Traffic to your Website.

Engaging Content: Driving Traffic to Website                               Image Source: www.pexels.com

Now that people know your brand, they should visit your website, which in turn would make them buy your products and services, thus adding to your Sales and Revenue. Engaging Content in the form of blog posts, social media feed or videos for that matter with a prominently visible ‘Call to Action’ or ‘CTA’ as they call it in the Marketing space can come to your rescue when it comes to driving traffic to your website.

How do you think the e-commerce giants like Amazon or Flipkart lure its customers into spending more?

3.    Personal Connect with your Customers.

Engaging Content: Customer Connect                                            Image Source: www.pexels.com

Study reveals that 89% of Indian Consumers prefer to shop online. Understanding the pulse of the market, Brands these days are active on Social Media which is a part of Content Marketing wherein they give their clients a medium to voice their concerns and feedback.

Have you ever visited a website wherein a chat box pops up at the right corner? It allows clients to speak to a company's representative directly.

These measures give a sense of a personal touch as the customer feels empowered.

4.    Enhance your SEO Ranking

Engaging Content: SEO                                                                     Image Source: www.pexels.com 

Engaging Content is more likely to be shared on the Internet, which makes it and in turn, your Brand visible to search engines like Google and Bing. Thus, enhancing your SEO Rankings.

 

Bill Gates once said, “Content is King,” in the contemporary times though, it’s not just Content but an Engaging Content that rules!  

 

 

 

Did you learn anything new in this lock-down?

It was mid-March when India started facing the heat of the COVID-19. As days passed, Corona positive cases kept increasing, and ultimately there came a day when our honourable Prime Minister had to announce a Nationwide Lockdown. With no sign of respite, the lock-down kept on extending, and today, it’s almost two months that most of us are confined to our homes.

When the initial few days were confusing, as people never had this much free time at their disposal. But, as time passed, they learnt to attune themselves with the new normal. Thus, were born Lock-down Chefs, Artists, Writers, YouTubers, Singers, Musicians and what not. If this lock-down had anything in affirmative, then it was the fact that people could find time to reinvent themselves.

When I was writing on and off on my social media handles, during this lock-down, I decided to deep dive in this art and attended an online Content Writing workshop for 6 days.

Here’s an overview of my learning.

Image Source: pexels.com

1.    What is Content Writing?

In very brief, Content writing is a process of writing articles which are informative or     entertaining or both.

Your Content should add knowledge and value to your readers.

2.    Types of Content Writing

·       Corporate Writing:       E.g., Writing content for a corporate Website.

·       Article Writing:             E.g., Blogging.

·       Sales Writing:              E.g., Writing Newsletters, Brochures, etc.           

·       Copy-writing:               E.g., Social Media Ads, Landing Pages, etc.

3.    Styles of Writing

·       Expository:      Wherein you write to explain.

·       Narrative:        Wherein you write to narrate.           

·       Descriptive:     Wherein you write to describe.

·       Persuasive:     Wherein you write to convince.         

4.    Process of Content Creation

Now that you are introduced to Content, let’s see how Content is created.

·       Research:     

     To write on any given topic, you need to be well versed with the subject. This is the step where you gain this knowledge.

·       Write:               

     It’s time to bring your knowledge on paper.

·       Proofread:       

     Read your own Content, look for errors. There will be many.

·       Edit:                 

     Edit your Content. This is a crucial step.

·       Design:            

      A plain write-up looks dull and doesn’t catch a reader’s attention. Format it, design the layout as per the topic.

·       Distribute:        

     Give yourself a shout-out. Distribute your Content to readers.

I hope this must have excited your curiosity.

If you want to learn more on this topic, you can read from the plethora of books available on this topic or you may even join the online Content Writing Workshops conducted by Content Vidhya.

So, what are you waiting for?

And yes, do share with me what all new things you learnt in this lock-down.

 

The Lost World - Life without Phones and Internet

“Hello, can you hear me?” Basu Da seemed to be shouting on the other end of the call.

“Yes, Dada, I can hear you loud and clear. How are you?” I asked.

Once he realized that he could be heard, he was relieved and started speaking in reasonable decibels.

“The year 2020 is taking the hell out of us. Being in the Red Zone of Corona, most of Bengal was already in Lock-down and now this Cyclone Amphan. There is havoc all around.”

“The trees are uprooted. There is water logging everywhere. Power was down for almost two days. Phone lines and internet services were dead. Things have just started to come to life. But nothing is normal.”

He continued talking for some more time, speaking his heart out. When I could empathize with him, his tragic experience kept resonating in my mind, “Phone lines and internet services were dead.”

When we are so accustomed; no, we are so dependent on these services,

What if Phones and the Internet Die tomorrow?

Image Source: pexels.com

1.    The Postman and the Pigeon

Do you remember, we were taught Letter Writing in schools?

But, when was the last time, did you send a letter to somebody?

With phones and internet not around, letters will be back in the business and so will be the two great messengers of the bygone era.

And with no Facebook or WhatsApp, we may revamp the concept of making Penfriends. 

We shall once again long for the appearance of the Khaki clad Postman singing the iconic Rajesh Khanna song, “Daakiya Daak Laaya…”

 

2.    Manual Mode, ON!

Thomas Friedman, in his book The World is Flat, argues that thanks to the internet and the telephones, geographical distance is no more a barrier between people, thus making the world flat. With no phones and the internet, all of us will be geographically far away. This will affect our lives severely; both personally and professionally.

With no internet connectivity, the prefix ‘e’ will be wiped out from our dictionaries.

Which means,

·       No e-Shopping:          

No Flipkart or Amazon! No Festive Sales. No doorstep delivery.

·       No e-Ticketing:          

No IRCTC! Waiting in long queues for buying that one ticket.

 

·       No e-Banking:            

No Net Banking or UPI will make our nearest Bank, our social gathering place.    

 

·       No e-Learnings:         

No online Webinars. Virtual Schools will find a place in History Textbooks.

And by the way, there will be neither Google nor Netflix – can you imagine, how lame the mankind will be then?

Alexa and Siri will be just two girls but with human intelligence.

With No Internet of Things, things will be on Manual mode again.

Image Source:pexels.com

3.    More Tree Cuts

Remember this e-mail signature?

When we are so concerned about the Environment that we think twice before we give that Print Command.

But, with no e-mails, all letters will have to be printed before those are posted.

They say, today, one tree is cut every hour. With everything becoming manual, we will end up consuming more papers and ultimately cutting more trees.

Usually, there is a notion that technology hampers nature, but with the death of phones and internet, Environment will be at a loss.

 

Personal Loss, Professional Loss, Environmental Loss… 

Won’t it be a lost world then?

More such thoughts kept lingering in my mind till my cell-phone beeped and my reverie was broken.

But you know what? When I think from another perspective, my mind tells me that if Phones and Internet Die tomorrow, things won’t be that bad either. Because man is an enterprising animal, he would invent a mode of communication and connection which would be faster and better than any phone or internet speed for that matter. 

What’s your take on this? Do let me know.

ते पुन्हा आले...

It's a Saturday morning, and you are having your morning tea.
The newspaper is lying on the table; untouched, but you are not interested to even peep into it - कारण रोज फक्त बैठकाच होतात, निकाल कही लागत नाही...

So, you switch on the idiot-box, and while changing channels, you coincidentally tune into a Marathi News show (yes, in this TRP Hungry era, News broadcast is also a kind of a show...)

”सरकारबांधणी अजून कगदावरंच... पण मुख्यमंत्री मात्र, एक मुंबईकरंच होणार, हे निश्चित!” the news anchor reads. You are not bothered, you wish that they should come to a decision soon. After all, it's almost a month that the results of the election are out and no government is formed yet. And it's a bad sign for the जानता to know that the administration is running without a CM.

But then, you tell yourself, “मित्रा, तू कशाला टेन्शन घेतोस, ती powerबाज लोकं बघतील काय करायचं ते... तू तुझं बघ आधी...” and you go to your favourite morning destination, after all, चाय पीने से pressure बनता है, भाई!

After enjoying your time in the washroom, you see that the same news show is still on but, there is one significant change in the Breaking News which was flashed a few minutes back and that which is shot right now.

All equations had changed...

बघतो तर काय,
ते पुन्हा आले...

तरीच पु.ल. म्हणून गेले होते,
“खरा नागपूरकर हा नागपूरला राहत नाही...”

असो,
पण politics काय असतं
आणि, ५६ सीट व ५६ इंची छातीत काय फ़रक असतो,
हे आज समजलं...

P.S. When I am entirely apolitical,
जे सुचले, ते लिहिले...

With only one hope that this alliance of completely different ideologies should last for the complete 5-year term.

JAI HIND!
JAI MAHARASHTRA!

What's in a Name?

I had once said that whenever any business becomes popular, other small companies try to harness its brand power by using the same brand name. WhatsApp Ladies Tailor seen in my vicinity was one such example.

The same logic is being applied in the case of our cities as well. Especially when you are in Mumbai, places like Parel and Lower Parel or Worli and Upper Worli for that matter have become common household names.

The latest obsession among the cities is Thane!

I vividly remember the days when the city of Thane meant going till the Teen Haath Naka and coming back but that’s almost two decades ago. Today’s Ghodbunder Road (or the G.B. Road as they call it) was a mere jungle then. (I wonder if no trees were cut down to carve a city out of Ghodbunder because I don’t recall any protests or agitations happening as they are now happening on account of Aarey! Maybe because Social Media was not popular then. But, that’s a different story for some other time)

Though Thane is not a part of the Mumbai district; being at a centre of Mumbai and since all the major cities like Borivali, Navi Mumbai and even the far fetched cities like Kalyan-Dombivli (villages-as the South Bombaywallah tend to call them) being nearby, everybody wants to live in Thane. But with the real estate prices going sky-high, it's not everybody’s cup of tea to buy a dream home in this city.

So to lure the common man, builders have come up with an idea of constructing houses in the outskirts of the city and calling them with some fancy names.

That's why you see Godrej calling some outer area of the city as Thane-Extension and Lodha calling the same as Upper Thane!

By the way, just while entering the Republic of Kalyan, you see The New BKC!

No, not the Bandra Kurla Complex, it's the BHIWANDI KALYAN CORRIDOR!

If Shakespeare would have lived to see this day, he would have definitely said,

“It’s all in the Name!”

The Art of Gossiping

You can't deny the fact that everybody loves gossiping.

Now, some may argue that females are more prone to this chattering.

If you feel that Men don't gossip; then it's the biggest myth!
The fact is, gossiping is never gender-biased. This starts from the very beginning of your life, be it in school or college, you tend to gossip. And this ’foreplay’ reaches its peak when you enter your workplace.

“सुना तुमने, राज और सिमरन के बीच कुछ चल रहा है...
दोनो रोज़ ऑफ़िस के बाद पानी-पूरी खाने जाते है...”

“इस काजल का नाम काजल नहीं बल्कि मक्खना होना चाहिए था... बॉस को मक्खन लगा-लगाकर प्रमोशन ले लेलिया...”

Such conversations are a part of the daily routine when you come to the office.

Once upon a time in one such office in India...

Yawning, you are trying to concentrate on your work when a colleague comes to you,

"Hey Dude, I heard something about you...”
(Now this is a very deadly statement to hear. When somebody tells you that he or she has heard 'something’ about you, your mind races towards hundred-odd things which could correspond to that something.)

"And what that something is?” Suspiciously you ask him, fearing what is kept for you in-store.

"I heard this... I heard that... and yes, I heard that as well!", he blushes, as if he has read the book on your life.

"And who the hell told you, all this nonsense?" you ask him a bit surprised.

"What’s his name? I don't remember.
Arnold Par...? I happened to have lunch with him today, but I don't know him", he confesses.

"Arnold Parkerson? From Sales and Services?" you ask, stressing on the name.

"I guess yes, Arnold Parkerson! Right! But I don't know him personally. Neither does he know me", he confesses again!

So the point here is, Arnold and your colleague don't know each other personally, but still, they tend to share gossip about you.

This anecdote proves that Men do gossip!

But while gossiping one should not forget the two basic rules -
1. Always gossip only in your closed circuit and not with any Tom, Dick and Harry.
2. Don't forget rule number 1.

These two rules were forgotten by Arnold while chattering in front of your colleague - a total stranger to him.

Because if you keep gossiping with anybody and everybody, then there will be some notorious elements in society who will make sure to make a gossip of you by writing about you in Media, Social Media and wherever possible!

An urgent call

(Though this is a work of creative fiction, then this may happen with anybody and everybody. Parental guidance is advised for reading this piece of shit)

You are visiting a tourist destination. The place is of historical importance and is a part of our national heritage.

They are playing an informative video singing the glory of the place when you receive a call.

No, it’s a call neither from your loved ones nor from your friend. But still, it’s that call which you can’t ignore.

When NATURE CALLS, no matter you are a kid or a full grown adult, no matter you are a मर्द or an औरत, you have no choice but to address it!

Though they are providing some really interesting information in the video, your heart is really not into it. Your mind is busy, devising the further action plan.

The moment the video gets over, you run helter-skelter (as if you are running for your life) in search of a washroom. The security guard in the premises is kind enough to guide you towards one of the makeshift toilets made at the other end.

Happily you break open the door which has GENTS written over it in black paint. But there seems to be some problem, you don’t go inside. In hurry, you then open the adjacent door. Horror strikes when you realise that both the toilets have only urinals and there is not a single pot available for potty!

In dismay, you run towards the same security guard. He pities at your condition but then he understands.

“Ladies में चले जाओ!” He suggests.

You look at him amazed as if asking him,

”Are you crazy?”

He gives you a look in response as if asking you,

“Do you have a choice?”

And you run again, this time towards another makeshift toilet which has “Ladies” written on it.

There, you see a lady waiting outside for her small kid to come out.

Desperate, you ask her -

(Next few lines are better expressed in Hindi so the language switch)

आप जो हर लड़की को, फिर उसकी उमर १६ हो या ३६, अपनी होने वाली Girlfriend की नज़र से देखते है, इस बार मजबूरी में कहते है,

“दीदी, वह बगल वाला toilet खाली है क्या, देखो ना दीदी”

She looks at you in disgust and shouts-

“भैय्या, यह ladies toilet हैं!”

“दीदी, मैं guard से permission लेक़र आया हूँ!” You respond, controlling all the pressure which has befallen you.

And those expressions on your face are enough for the lady to get convinced and just like the security guard, she too understands.

She nods and makes a way for you to enter your palace (heaven?) of the moment. You get inside quicker than the speed of wind and shut the door from behind... thud!

Next few moments which you experience; no words in any language can describe that feeling - eternal bliss!

Contented as you are done with the act, you look around, and then you shout the F word aloud!

What else can you do?

When you find out that there is no water in the toilet!