After China, India is considered as the second largest online market with 462 million users. This user-base constitutes 13.5% of the total internet users in the world. About 75% of these online users are between 15—34 years of age, given India’s young demography. The 462 million internet users in India are projected to reach 850 million by 2025 [i]– an 85% rise. As a result, there are implications every content marketing expert should consider.
(source: Scatter.co.in)
Given the overwhelming presence of technology and the way Indians are connecting with each other, brand presence and engagement to keep the visibility committed requires the major role of content.
58% of marketers said ‘original written content’ is the most important type of content [Source: Social Media Examiner]. The custom content should be characterised by transparency since millennials are averse to interacting with businesses with self-serving agendas. Globally, nearly 77% of the people expect personalized content. Hence, brands with content that focus on customers and their needs/requirements are able to retain customers as opposed to those who are self-serving.
On March 16, eChai’s Content and PR for Startups Summit saw the presence of founders who have been dealing with content and PR, giving insights to the startups/ professionals about content, its marketing and the importance of PR.
Kavita Singh, Founder of Kaffeinated Konversations
Kaffeinated Konversations is a community for readers, writers and artists. It is the only registered body for ongoing Literature and arts activities in Indore. Kavita is a freelance content writer herself.
Kavita opened the summit with the overarching points which would then be taken up by other founders/experts.
She emphasized on:
Localization Vs. Globalization: Keep in mind the local context if you are writing about the local events/experiences. If your target audience is global, ensure that the language then changes as per their understanding. The context in this case is very important.
Content Crap Vs. Content Trap: We live in content jungle and are bombarded with lots content all day. Try to examine what kind of content you need to create. Will it be just something to fill in the gaps or something that you want to attract attention? What’s the purpose of writing a particular piece.
Clarity: Not every client will be clear of what kind of content they need. Most of them push it to the content writer to work it out. That’s where the brief becomes important. It gives the content writer some foundation.
The session moved on with Vatsala Garg, Founder of Contentzoop.
Contentzoop’s global services group help mid-sized brands and large enterprises realize their digital transformation dream. Our expert team of creative developers, thought engineers, social engagement managers will address your brand’s unique needs, provide complete end-to-end solutions to your teams and implement content marketing strategy.
Vatsala explained the content and marketing essentials which can be put into the following points:
- Content is whatever your customer interacts through your online medium like web pages..social media..it is the user experience
- Content is never absolute..what holds good for a client from an industry might not hold good for a diff client from the same industry
- Content has to be bespoke..it should be written with brevity and clarity.
- Do not try to control whether your content is being liked or not instead write with sincerity truthfulness and correct English
- Use tools for free..you will save lot of money
- Make a portfolio and pick clients from Linkedin
- Work with an abundant mentality..there is no dearth of clients
Saransh Sethi from Engineerbabu
EngineerBabu accelerates the growth of an enterprise by harnessing emerging technologies and incorporating them into the existing business. Our area of expertise include disruptive technology .Create an impressionable impact by incorporating blockchain IoT and machine learning in your technology basket.Changing landscapes with OWASP. We work across myriads of domains domains including retail, healthcare, education, transportation, Fintech, Enterprise Mobility, Analytics, Cloud, AI/VR, Blockchain, Machine Learning and IoT.
Talking about technology and content, Saransh Sethi, who manages content and marketing of Engineerbabu brought out some essential inputs:
1. Don't focus on money, especially when you are starting-out in the domain.
2. Some writers say you must write 100,000 words before you can even consider your writing publishable.
Beginners must wrap their head around the fact that writing crappy words is an unavoidable, but necessary, part of the process.
3. RESEARCH. You need to carry out THOROUGH research before you pen down your article; even if you are an expert in that domain. Oftentimes, during research you stumble on ideas that can provide an extra flair to your writing.
Akshay Jain, Founder, Crenovate
Crenovate is a full-service PR communications and Influencer Marketing company, with head office in the business capital of India, Mumbai (India) and branch office in Indore (M.P). Crenovate has handled national and global conglomerates, startups and SMEs across sectors.
Akshay puts forth interesting points related to the PR Industry.
- People are not much aware of PR thinking it isn’t for them. In fact, PR is the most important thing driving all branding and marketing efforts
- PR and content marketing goes hand in hand. Good content is always a necessity to create good impact
- All kinds of media promotions be it newspapers, OHM, events or product launches form part of PR.
- Mentions/ Articles in pink papers like ET, FT and other similar economic or financial papers give the companies an edge in their PR promotions
Almost all the industries do PR but the most sought after industries which engage in PR are finance, IT, followed by Fashion, Food and luxury items.
- Want to engage into PR? Think of great story ideas which can attract the eye balls towards your story. Content should be rich and relevant for long term engagement. Glamour, humour and inspiring stories also counts for reach.
- Videos and pictures as part of social media output along with PR works very well.
- Digital PR is next big thing which is still to be explored to the fullest.
With lots of questions and interesting points shared, the summit was an eye-opener for many and led to great learning and sharing time from 5pm to 7pm. Thanks to Wittyfeed for being the venue partner and helping us host the summit.
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You can share your insights and/or ask questions in the comments section.
ps: Get Your Annual eChai pass for Rs. 1000 per year from eChai.in to attend such engaging, insightful and content-driven programs (100+ Events) throughout the year.
