According to a report by LinkedIn, 84% of B2B buyers use social media in their decision-making process. They use social media channels to engage with their peers, promote their businesses, spread awareness about their businesses, and stay informed about their industry.
As B2B businesses are blooming on social media, let us glance through the social marketing ideas that work best for them.
Posts and Videos on Company History, Milestones/Achievements
Company history plays an important role in branding a B2B company online as it gives life to the business by narrating the story of how the business started, its vision, mission, etc. This helps potential clients know what you do and why you do it.
Posts and videos about milestones achieved by your brand also increase your chances of getting new clients as they increase the trust of clients in your business.
Case Studies
Case studies allow people to learn more about how your business helps solve client problems. A B2B case study tells a detailed story that can help you build credibility in your business.
Blog Posts
To leverage SEO scores and website visibility, blog posts are effective for B2B businesses. They also help increase social media engagement when you share them on different platforms.
Explainer Videos
Explainer videos help introduce your product, its working, uses, benefits and so on as well as explain the topic of your post. As the majority of the audiences on the Internet prefer a quick and easy explanation about a product, explainer videos can be used to convey information effectively.
Corporate Images
An image with information related to your business, a new product launch, or a company event is the best way to convey business updates and make audiences aware of the happenings in your company.
Infographics
Infographics make it easier for clients to understand complex concepts in an engaging way. It displays important data, statistics, flowcharts, etc. about the brand.
Clients Testimonials
One of the simplest ways to attract new clients is to post existing client testimonials on your blog or website and share them on social media platforms.When audiences read about the experiences of others with your product or service, they engage with the brand easily.
Interactive Content
Interactive content such as asking questions, polls, quizzes, videos, and more can be extremely valuable for lead generation. When people interact with your content, you’ll drive engagement regarding your brand on social media, which can further become a lead for your business.
Employee Spotlight
This type of content gives a glimpse of how employees feel working for your company. It can attract potential employees as well as clients for your business.
A social media calendar is an overview of your upcoming social media posts, organized by date, time and important notes. It is used by social marketers to plan posts, manage campaigns, and review ongoing strategies.
It usually includes some combination of these elements for each post:
-The date and time it will go live
-The social platform and account on which it is to be published
-Copy and creative assets (i.e., photos or videos) required
-Links and tags
For great social media marketing, a dynamic social media calendar is a must, which lays at the core of it. Let us help you with insightful tips on how to create a social media calendar in this blog.
Choosing post types and formats
Gone are the days when just a static post was enough to garner a good reach, but in the current times its recommended to include a mix of content (images, videos, gifs, articles, reposts) and formats (carousel posts, reels, polls, stories, live videos).
After finalising the post format, one should focus on the types of posts to be included in the social media calendar for the month. This may include holidays, events, product launches, sales, news/updates, Q&A, roundups, etc.
Establish your posting frequency
Once you know what to post, the next step is to consider when to post.
While drafting a social media posting schedule, keep in mind your business goals, available resources, and audience engagement patterns.
Choosing the right platforms
Prioritize your publishing aspects, such as whether you will post on a single or multiple social networks, your target audience, and your budget. Indulge in a thorough research about post timings, competitor marketing, and the presence and engagement of your target audience on varied platforms. You may start with the most popular platforms (Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn) and gradually increase the visibility on other platforms.
Using social media management tools
You have an array of tools available online for social media management and calendar creation to ease your planning and sharing with your team. These can aid you in handling content planning: keep an eye on what’s being worked on, who is working on it, and when it’s due to go live. This avoids last-minute hassles and gaps in your content. Errors like posting the same thing twice, accidentally publishing an unfinished post, or a disgruntled employee posting on the company’s behalf are also removed when maintaining a social media calendar via tools.
Schedule, track and monitor your posts
Scheduling posts ahead of time not only gives you peace of mind but also gives your team enough time to fact-check the information.
Once the post is live, you may track the performance of your posts and classify the ones that are getting the most engagement and driving results. You may use these findings to implement tests on different platforms and experiment with what resonates with your audience. This will help you build a social media calendar with more accuracy that is sure to hit the target audience and generate leads.
When it comes to marketing for an educational brand, recognizability isn’t just the only important factor. It is about building a connection with the prospective students, maintaining the reputation and to get them excited about applying. There are a few effective marketing tips that everyone in the education sector should be leveraging in order to boost enrollments and stand out from the competition.
VIDEO/ LIVE MARKETING
A
video can speak a thousand words. Today,
engagement stats for video content only continue to grow. Visual content is proved to be way more effective than
pictures or blog posts. People are more likely to watch a 2-3 minutes short
video than reading an entire blog.
Moreover, with such advancement in tools, it has become less complicated to put effort into video marketing. Platforms like Facebook, Instagram, etc offer live video features which makes it easier than ever to communicate with the prospective applicants. Molding marketing strategies from time to time has also become more accessible and feasible.
Image source: Wondershare Filmora
USER GENERATED CONTENT
Consumers don’t always trust the brand directly, rather they trust people and their opinions and reviews. So, it is a great idea to use current or past students’ testimonials as a means of capturing the trust of new prospective applicants.
There is so much content floating around among prospective, current as well as past students. By personalizing it, you can make it relevant and tailor it in a way that your content stands out among the competition and becomes something worth consuming and sharing. You can create personalized campaigns based on events or also engage in re-sharing your students’ posts that they captured on campus.
EMBRACING UNIQUENESS AND AUTHENTICITY
An educational institute goes so much beyond its logo and brand name. The marketing efforts put in educational institutions must be true to its origin. Ensuring to keep the authenticity of your institute in mind and building an emotional connection is of utmost importance.
It makes sure that all your communications are going in one direction and communicating the same values that it stands for. Marketing should be a true reflection of an institution’s identity and one which existing staff and students can unite behind.
USE SOCIAL MEDIA AND INFLUENCER MARKETING
Social media is a great tool to communicate with your target audience. It can be used to provide helpful information about your program, campus, and more. You can also use it to answer queries that come from a prospective applicant, host live Q&As, contests, etc.
Consider using influencer marketing. It is basically a form of word-of-mouth but to a much larger audience all at once. It is very effective as it is a third party opinion that comes from someone people look up to. You can use influencers to share your content or they can create for your audience.
IMPLEMENT PERSONALIZED, TARGETED AND SEGMENTED EMAIL MARKETING
While you send out emails to prospective applicants on your email list, sending out generic emails to everyone won’t help. You need to focus on individual interests and segment your email list so you can send more personalized emails. Statistics show the emails with names of receivers are opened more.
When you personalize it, it gives a feeling that you know their interests and can very well cater towards the same which in turn builds their confidence for your institute.
These tips mentioned here are not often spoken about but play a crucial role in building a strong foundation online. Taking these into consideration while carrying out Digital Marketing activities will surely ensure growth for your institute.
Ever since the pandemic hit the world, there has been a major impact on the economy worldwide. While grocery stores have been left with empty shelves while restaurants are like ghost towns.
In such a scenario, your first instinct would probably be to cut on costs where possible, but your marketing budget should not be one to immediately be put on hold. The smartest companies in the landscape right now will be taking the lemons of uncertainty, panic, and global disruption and turning them into lemonade.
People will be online now and shopping a lot more than they normally would. So here are some tips for what you should consider doing at the moment, which will not only help you generate income in the short term, but also make your business more resilient in the long term.
Balancing present campaigns and always-on activities
In this time of the pandemic, you should have two types of activities happening on your Social Media. One, very specific to the cause, and the other one thinking about the long term; an ongoing activity that continues to retain a brand’s presence in the minds of people.
Review your STP
Although this one might not necessarily relate to Digital Marketing, Digital Media plays a major role in segmentation, targeting, and positioning for a brand. This might be a good time to evaluate these 3 core elements of marketing.
Improve your digital value
A website needs to communicate the core brand offering and brand personality. It should give a great opportunity to add value to the customers and so develop a preference towards their brand and support purchase intent. This may also include using a new tone of voice to communicate with your customers digitally.
Create or extend your online ad campaigns
If you already have an ongoing campaign, review and analyze it. Check google analytics to understand which campaigns are running well and would still be relevant and which ones should be called off. If possible, also create new ones.
Create video content
There is nothing more interactive and communicative as video content. Period. Videos are a very effective way to develop brand awareness and to make people discover your products. Statistics say that video content is proven to work better than picture content.
Pay per click advertisement
At this time, most of the people are at home in front of their screens, possibly looking anything relevant that comes in front of their eyes. So this is a great time to use PPC to your business’s advantage since it is also one of the most cost-effective ways.
SEO and online reviews
Use local SEO strategies to increase your chances of appearing in “near me” and thus increasing chances of people turning up to you first. Another great way is to get positive reviews on google for your brand. Google reviews are proven to shape the customer’s decisions to opt for your brand since they are most open and flexible.
Businesses must use some of these steps and strategies to cope up with the ongoing economical difficulties to make sure their brand survives and even stands out. These digital marketing tips will surely help you with the flow of revenue. Head over to our BLOG https://social101.in/social-media-marketing-post-covid19/ to see how Social Media can be used as a growth catalyst post-Covid. Have a great day!
The global pandemic has taken a toll on the economies and every business inside it. To top it off, as the virus continues to spread, there are a lot of government restrictions imposed on trade which is becoming an even greater hardship for brands.
While some of the biggest brands are either bankrupt or have stopped operations, there are some that see demand or opportunity, depending on the industry. Most badly hit industries are tours and travels, fashion retail, airlines, automobile, etc while pharmaceuticals are at a boom.
Well, if you own a fashion brand, we’d assume that you are facing your own share of misfortune, given the government restrictions on China and it being the biggest manufacturer of fashion.
But the way we, as brands, look at different scenarios can be two-fold. Meaning, you can sure cope up (if not benefit) with this situation while also showing your customers that you care about them and build a loyal community.
Showing you care; empathy!
One of the basic rules of marketing says, “Customer is the king”, and our brands must ensure that we are there for them in these tough times, empathize with them and also show them the same. Share inspirational music and podcasts to make them feel positive.
Get in on the challenges; a fun way to keep them engaged with the brand.
The virus sure has put a pause on the world, but don’t let them come between you and your customers. Find a way to keep them engaged. Get your hands on the trending challenges, do those pillow and blanket dress challenges, create a bingo board for the brand, and get your customers to fill them.
Altering the existing products and campaigns; more COVID specific.
Well, marketing is very dynamic. Every campaign that you build is either based on an event, occasion, or product line. Think of ways to mold these existing ones and create something new. Replace those body-fit work dresses with comfy loungewear. It’s a great way to give a zestful touch to your brand.
Showing the process; building trust.
To make your brand stand out in a relatively difficult time like this, you can take time to capture photos and videos of what goes behind the product and how is their product made from scratch, show a sustainable aspect of your brand if you have one. This is sure to improve trust and reliability for your brand.
Boosting their morale; dance, music contests & live.
There isn’t anything more fun than dance and music. Host dance challenges, create a brand anthem for your customers and give them something to hum on during this quarantine. Also, try to get famous artists on board and do live with them.
Collaborate with influencers; increase reach.
Influencers play such a major role in shaping the ideologies of people. A brand must utilize this time to increase their visibility and capture a new audience, instead of just building on an existing audience. Think of ways to showcase your brand’s creativity through different influencers. Head over to our blog to understand how influencer marketing is more effective than traditional marketing.
Communicate beyond your brand and products; ask questions, INTERACT!
One of the best ways to keep things going smooth is to simply COMMUNICATE. This communication goes beyond your brand and your product. Ask questions about your customers, get to know where your customers are from, simply ask them how they have been coping up with this, understand your customers’ likes and preferences. This is literally the best time that you can get to know them, you might as well use it to it’s fullest.
STOP and use your Social Media for adding community value; educate.
Alright, this last one is really important but not a lot of people might talk about it. Brands should not just be about themselves but also about the community. Don’t show your obsession with your brand, but rather add value to the community.
Educate them on precautions to stay safe during these times, tell them how they can cope up with this stress, sprout a stable and greater mental health.
Marketing is a dynamic field; one that has to adapt skilfully to every new event shaping our world. As we find ourselves in the midst of a situation that is pretty much as extraordinary as imagination may go, the nuances that go into marketing a brand will have to alter promptly in order to survive and strive. And social media is the current fad for carrying out marketing activities. Head over to our other blog to see how social media can be used as a growth catalyst. Have a great day!
When the first case of corona virus was reported in India on January 30, 2020 none of us imagined that we would be locked up in our homes for months straight to protect our lives and also the lives of our loved ones.
COVID-19 has forced governments around the world to impose lockdowns which have disrupted businesses, jobs, and livelihoods of countless people. Lockdowns have forced individuals and companies to adopt digital.
Even the Kirana store near my apartments are now accepting online orders through Whatsapp or a third-party mobile app. These brick and mortar stores who were until now technologically disabled had to learn new technologies to survive the lockdown & COVID-19’s forced new normal.
Many companies are laying off employees as part of their cost cutting policy in order to survive this pandemic. Economies of the countries are hurt badly. The first department which is to be faced with a cost cut is Marketing.
Given that Marketing of a product is generally outsourced for most companies so it is an easy target to chop budget from that department.
By carefully analyzing what our customers were doing, we tried quickly to understand what was going on. Within a few weeks, it became clear that this crisis was different.
While certain industries like Travel and Hospitality and Retail were hit very hard and it felt like they may take a while to restart, many other industries it seemed could see a tremendous need and opportunity to invest in Digital Marketing technology.
Huge Cost savings:
Now is the time for the businesses to switch from print advertising, hoardings and billboards to Digital platform. This will help to reduce your marketing cost drastically.
Also it is said that the internet consumption in India during lockdown rose 13%. As Marketing channels continue to proliferate and as brands look to deliver relevance through personalized content and creative, these costs have significantly escalated.
Marketing consumer goods is imperative:
We have to accept the fact marketing consumer goods is more important now than ever. The consumer market is going to face a change in the buying behavior. More and more online and cashless buying will be preferred.
Thus it is very much important for small businesses to reach the local audience by portraying the importance of their product using online tools like customizing the audience who will be able to see their products on their online feeds.
Similarly, quick service restaurants (QSR) also are facing a bit of an existential crisis as dining out becomes risky and consumers instead are opting to order in.
So, brands like McDonald’s, Subway, Chipotle that focused most of their Marketing efforts on brand awareness need to shift gears quickly to 1:1 personalized digital marketing — it is important that they direct consumers to their own or other food delivery services in order to survive.
So here we are explaining how to amp up your digital quotient on various platforms through effective social media marketing.
Facebook:
As per the reports of brandwatch, there are 60 million active business pages on facebook at this point of time. That’s a huge number. So how can my business cater a significant amount of reach, engagement and awareness amongst my targeted audience.
Since physical marketing has taken a blow back, it is important for small businesses to market their products on facebook. There are 2.6 billion people who actively use facebook.
Imagine you, shedding lacks for hoarding, in the busiest area of your locality and being just able to reach the local audience. What if I say that you can reach a wider audience at just 1/4th of the budget of your physical marketing? Facebook does this for you.
Facebook is based on interest, not intent. Not every update you send out on your Facebook page should be promotional. Rather, 80% of your updates should be social. Otherwise, users won’t hesitate in clicking the unlike button on your page (it’s just a click away).
Approach your Facebook page from the mindset of building a community. Add value and start conversations with your audience.
It’s best to vary your posts to include different types of content:
Brand story posts
Authority building posts
Lead nurture posts
Personal posts
Instagram:
On Instagram you need attractive images and grab your audience attention there. The focus is not much on content but the aesthetics of your page. Invest in photo editing tools for your content.
Whether it’s Adobe Photoshop or VSCO, your content has to be stellar to grab audience eyes. To avoid being overly promotional but still market your brand, consider branded Instagram hashtags.
Make effective use of free instagram tools. You can use various statistics like impressions, engagement data and can also view the breakdown of your followers like the age group, geography and active hours.
As said earlier, Instagram is more about how you can visually play with the graphics and attractive pictures. You can release small teasers about your product and increase the curiosity amongst the audience about the final launch. This will help you in keeping them glued.
You can also use the sponsored ad features that will help you in increasing the reach and engagement with your audience. This gives brands the ability to target their audience in a whole new way.
Post at the right times and avoid overposting. Post one to two times every day and check out when your followers are most active. Schedule posts to go live during those days and times.
Finally, be sure that you track the right metrics to see how your Instagram marketing efforts are paying off.
Twitter:
Twitter is a great place to have one on one interaction very quickly. Things move very fast at this platform. The first and the foremost thing on twitter is to have a really attractive bio. It has to be short, crisp and an engaging one.
Tweet during peak hours. There are certain hours in a day when you users are more active. Make sure that you are using twitter analytics in the next possible way.
Unlike instagram where hashtags are important, use minimum hashtags on twitter. One of the easiest ways to create more activity on your Twitter page is to create a Twitter poll.
Twitter is one of the best places to increase brand awareness and generate new leads, but things move quicker on the platform than any other social media network.
The average lifespan of one tweet is just a few minutes, and thousands of new tweets are generated every second.
At the core, Digital marketing agencies across the world are helping their clients to increase their online visibility on social media platforms even at a time when the offline world has come to a halt. This helps them to establish their relevance to their target groups and reassure them that they remain dedicated to providing the best quality services and products, even during these difficult times. Most importantly, even as the lock-down is gradually relaxed, it helps companies to not only sell their products but also increase their sales and earn significant profits.
Have a restaurant that serves awesome food? Great! But guess what? That alone won’t bring more people to your doorstep. You need to bring more power to your brand to gain more customers.
Here is the proper guide to make you go from zero to a hundred.
1. Go Social
We are in the era of food porn and social media platforms are buzzing with several pictures of delicacies that make people shed extra money. There are tons of social media platforms out there when it comes to food, Instagram is King, Facebook is Queen and the rest are puns. Having a website for your restaurant business is equivalent to having a food shop serving in every part.
A website opens up opportunities for a much larger market of consumers. The key to going social and gaining profit is posting top-notch food pictures and video clips. If you don’t know where to start, consider hiring a social media expert to give you valuable insight right away.
2. Don’t leave Email and text promotions
If you’ve been gathering info from comment cards or promotional cards, don’t let that list of email addresses rest. There are two ways to grow your email list; by getting customers to fill forms in-person and by getting them to fill forms online.
I would suggest you pay close attention to the latter because the world is moving rapidly towards digital. Offer monthly 2-for-1 deals if people sign up with you or leave their business card. Target the customers back if they revisit, through email and text promotions.
3. Collab
In today’s online-driven environment, ease of use is the king of the game. Many online delivery services streamline the ordering process, and people these days often love taking advantage of such delivery services.
Providing special coupons and everyday deals can be the main attraction for food lovers, one such app is Deal box.
Here are some delivery partner services you should consider:
– Zomato
– Swiggy
– Foodpanda
Also, you can partner with local delivery services to grow more.
4. Tap into the power of Food bloggers/ Influencers
One of the greatest marketing strategies today is grasping on the network of other businesses. As a restaurant owner, you can leverage the network of local food bloggers and influencers by connecting with them and getting them to share content related to your restaurant.
If you are new in the restaurant business, this can be the best way to promote it. You can provide them incentives such as free meals to popularize your brand among their connections.
5. Customer Validation
Reviews play an important part in growing your business. So never miss an opportunity to re-share the customer reviews as it will drive you a new customer.
User-generated content is always a great way to develop personal and intimate engagement with users. Host a photo contest by asking customers to share their favorite meal, and share the entries on a dedicated content page which will leave a personal touch.
6. Paid and Unpaid Advertisement
The key difference between social media management and advertising is that social media management and its strategies for digital marketing for restaurants primarily deal with organic growth.
However, with social media advertising, you will have to set aside a designated budget to run ads on Facebook, Instagram, or another platform. Ads can be of different types but target the most efficient and traditional called Geo-Targeted Ads which will get the most value out of your online marketing efforts by investing right.
Geo-targeting ads help you save money, ensuring that only users in certain cities or within a specific radius see your ads (eliminating non-relevant clicks, which can cost you big ad bucks).
Along with ads, you can run several campaigns related to expanding the views.
7. Show off
Social media marketing is one of the most powerful tools for any business. Social media marketing can put your restaurant in front of thousands of potential customers and can even break you in front of them.
Sharing your delicious dishes and menu can drive more customers as they know what they are paying for. Share beautiful pictures and videos and promote them. Sharing staff details and story will always give a personal touch to customers.
Share your successes and struggles, behind the scenes, workshops and anything else that might interest your customers.
8. Don’t miss out
Never miss out on any opportunity to make customers feel special. Plan festivals, birthday, anniversary coupons so that you be their first choice. Promote or share stalls in exhibitions, events, and promotions going nearby.
This is a lot of tricks and tips to start with. It takes time, organization, planning, patience, exclusive content, and creativity to create a successful marketing strategy. From building the foundation to keep trying different ways to better manage your restaurant, setting up your strategy won’t be a hassle if you follow the steps, tricks and try the resources mentioned above.
Digital Marketing is a term we use to relate to all the online activities & efforts by companies to connect, communicate or engage with their audiences having internet access.
Resources like Search Engine, Social Media, Websites, and Emails are all used by marketers to connect with current and potential customers.
With the advent of advanced internet in the 1990s, people began to spend more time online than offline. In the 2000s, with mobile phones and laptops, more people got access to the internet and the accessibility helped marketers to find an effective way to attract, engage, and convert their target audience anywhere in the world.
With internet penetration of more than 59% in the world out of which over 60% is through mobile phones, it has become very important for the brands to have their presence online.
What all is included in Digital Marketing?
Anything and everything that can promote your product or service to its right customer(s) online is a Digital Marketing tool.
Some very common and generally accepted tools are:
1. Website
It is a group of web pages with multimedia content and is generally used for creating primary online presence.
2. Blog Posts
It is a personal journal of an individual who shares his thoughts and ideas with like-minded subscribers on a frequent basis.
3. Email Marketing
Sending promotional mailers to a small or large number of people who have subscribed to your list.
4. Ebooks and White papers
Digital version of a book. It is generally used by marketers to attract leads for a product/service.
5. Social Media Marketing
Promoting your brand through different social media platforms for engagement, brand awareness or attracting site visitors.
6. SEO (Search Engine Optimization)
Optimizing your website to rank higher on different search engine result pages, therefore increasing organic traffic.
7. Search Engine Marketing (Most common, Google Adwords)
Promoting or advertising your content on search engines such as Google using PPC (Pay-per-click) methodology.
8. Influencer Marketing
Using influential people to promote your brand online. Most common platforms for influencer marketing are Instagram and YouTube.
9. Online PR
To get featured in digital publications, blogs, and other content websites. SImply, Offline PR using digital medium.
10. Content Marketing
Leveraging content online in any form to drive action from your current or potential customers.
Why is Digital Marketing so important?
Accessibility
Your brand can engage with their current and potential customers in Real-time.
Reach
Your brand can communicate anywhere, anytime and with anyone with less than the fraction of offline marketing costs.
Customization
You can create different messages for different customers based on their preferences and personality.
What are the main ingredients to an amazing digital campaign?
It has to be an integration of
Good Design
Worthwhile Experience
Knowledgeable Content, and
Latest Technology
How can you make a career in Digital Marketing?
To become a successful Digital Marketer you need to follow these steps:
1. Think
Yes, the very first thing you need to do is to understand your passion and goals. What is it that excites you the most and kicks you out of your bed (or that NETFLIX marathon) everyday.
If the answer to that question is to create stories, imagine the impossible, influence people towards an idea, give a human voice to digital communications or as simple as sharing ideas/opinions on Social Media, you’re ready to jump in.
2. Be Online
Create a strong online presence by engaging in relevant conversations, discussions and arguments. Create and share original content online to create a fan-base and understand the dynamics of Online Media.
3. Feed your Creative Juices
Read Blogs, browse good design on Pinterest & Behance, watch youtube videos & podcasts, follow content-rich pages on Facebook & Instagram, and go through the top winning designs on Awwwards.
4. Learn through Online Courses (Opt for a Certification) &
Read Books
There are plenty of courses available (few of them for free) that you can avail at Hubspot, Udemy, EdX, and Coursera. My personal favourite is Hubspot Inbound Marketing & Complete Digital Marketing Course at Udemy. You can also buy books from Amazon to learn basic or advanced Digital Marketing, for a beginner ‘The New Rules of Marketing & PR’ by David Meerman Scott is a must-read. Also follow his informative blog here.
5. Network
Meet like-minded people in your college or LinkedIn or Alumni Association. Discuss your ideas with them and ask for reviews, you will get an unbiased opinion of how good/bad your ideas are. Don’t get demotivated by criticism, take it in a constructive manner.
6. Work, work, work
There’s no alternative to work experience. Look out for internships using LinkedIn, Internshala or LetsIntern. If you want to freelance, find your clients at Freelancer. If you don’t like both the options, start working on Dummy Projects (you dad’s business or your friend’s startup, anything) to build an amazing portfolio.
7. Say ‘Yes’ to anything
Don’t carry your pride while looking out for work, it won’t get you anywhere. Be ready to do every kind of work because there is no such thing as bad work experience.
8. Build your personal brand
Share your thoughts and ideas on online forums or through comments section in Blogs or Social Media. Become a LinkedIn pro by forming strong connection and engaging is frequent conversations. Publish and share your blog with everyone in your circle and offer free advice.
9. Form new ideas
It’s a good thing to get inspiration from others’ ideas and build your own around them but the world acknowledges only those ideas that are new & fresh. Try out new concepts, you have got nothing to lose.
10. Just f**king START
To make it possible you need to Start. Not tomorrow, not next week but today. You can always make time for things you love so don’t give me that bullshit. If you really want to be a Digital Marketer, start with a small step, but start Today!
If you want personal advice for your career or you want a Digital Marketing Agency who can do the hard work for you, I would love to meet and know you.
Surat, famously known as the Diamond city has been the hometown of a lot of Billionaires. There are so many examples where people have proven the rags to riches kind of stories.
The things which have kept all these billionaires grounded are the struggles, sacrifices and at last the humble beginnings they have carved for themselves.
We have curated a list of top billionaires in Surat for you to read. All of the below stories have taught us one thing that money isn’t everything. If you want to become something, put in a lot of hard work, dedication, and talent and the success will follow.
So let us have a look on a few of the stories of top Surat businessmen:
Savji Dhanji Dholakia
An Indian diamond merchant and founder chairman of Hare Krishna Exports, a diamond manufacturing and exporting company. Savji Bhai was born in a farmer family in Dundhala, Amreli, Gujarat. When Dholakia was 13, he fled to Surat and started working in a factory.
When he returned from Surat his father asked him to focus on studies but his mind was somewhere else. One day he decided to go to Swami Narayan Sampradaya as his family was an avid follower. He asked Swami to tell him a way that would help him to make his life filled with happiness.
Then the Swami asked him to chant 108 names of various Gods for 11 lakh times and said that after doing this anybody can do anything.
After doing this Dholakia had a realization that he is capable to do anything. Then with this motive, he returned back to Surat and continued his job. He used to earn Rs139 from which Rs140 was spent on eating.
A coworker of his used to earn Rs1200 at that time. Savji’s determination was so strong that he worked very hard for 4 months and reached a position where his fellow co-worker was. Savji was involved in rubbing diamonds. He learned a lot from his work. He used to call a few of his friends and started rubbing diamonds in his own house.
He had gained so much knowledge in the diamond rubbing business that he went to Mumbai to expand his little business. He named his newly formed company as Green Krishna Diamond’s company. The turnover of this company was Rs1 crore in 1991. In 2014 the turnover of the company is Rs 2100 Crore.
Green Krishna Company was renamed as Hare Krishna Diamond company and has outlets in seven countries of the world. Apart from this, their diamonds are available in 5,000 thousand showrooms around the world. Known for his very humble behaviour, Dholakia in 2016 gifted 491 cars and 200 flats as Diwali bonus to employees.
Mr Dholakia’s beliefs are, always stay true to your soil, no matter the amount of money you earn in your lifetime, payback when you are capable of.
Lavji Daliya (Badshah)
Lavji Bhai is also known as Badshah for his whole-hearted social services. Born on 20 July 1972 in Senjaliya village of Bhavnagar, Gujarat. He had the courage to rise above the ordinary level without having basic education, he emerged as a Real Estate player of Gujarat. The economic condition of the family was not good. Lavji used to accompany his father to the fields. But this was not enough to run a family of six. Thus he came to Surat with sixty bucks in his pocket so that he could support his family with a decent livelihood.
For several months he worked 16 hours a day but couldn’t send a penny back home. It took four months for him to learn diamond polishing. Months after Mr Dhirubhai Narola, a diamond merchant offered him a job in his factory after seeing his work.
In 1993, he thought that he should start his own diamond business. So he asked Mr Dhirubhai whether he could loan him some amount. Seeing his sincerity and dedication towards work Mr Narola couldn’t refuse. In 1995, he entered the construction business and started a company called Shree Infra.
Initial profits were low in the business still he used to distribute the profits amongst his colleagues. Gradually, he started learning the intricacies and complications of the real estate sector and after enriching the experience. Under a new name Anjani Infra(2008) he achieved a lot.
Fast forward to 2017, his company has completed the construction of 15000 flats. By achieving the construction contract of Awadh, they became the pioneer amongst reputed construction sites in Surat, Ahmedabad, Navsari.
Lalji Bhai Patel
Lalji Bhai Patel is an Indian Diamantaire and Philanthropic social service activist. He is the chairman of Dharmanandan Pvt. Ltd. Born on 28 November 1955 in Ugamedi, a village in Bhavnagar district, Gujarat his family used to earn from doing farming activities. To complete his secondary education he went to Rajkot where he met Tulsi Bhai (his business partner) and thought of building a diamond business empire. He knew that he had to start early in his career in order to make something big.
None of them knew about the nits and grits of the diamond business. He started his business in 1974 along with Tulsi Bhai and started a factory in the early 80s named their business entity as Shreeji Gems.
Fast forward to 2007, the trust they Tulsi bhai and Lalji had for each other grew tenfold and they named their organization as Dharmanandan Diamond Pvt. Ltd.
Lalji Bhai came into limelight when he purchased Narendra Modi’s suit in an auction. His philanthropy includes working towards water conservation, education, and social work for females. He also ran a few campaigns, amongst that “Save the Girl Child” was the one he supported the most.
Jayesh Desai
Jayesh Desai is the Chairman of the Rajhans Desai-Jain Group. Coming from Parawadi village in Bhavnagar, his father owned a small grocery shop.
As a young child, Mr Desai was crazy about cars but due to financial hardships his family couldn’t afford one. He went to Mumbai where he used to work in a ball bearing shop at a monthly salary of Rs300. He didn’t like the job so he came back to his village. He used to sell groceries for three years. Frustrated he became over these years selling groceries.
One of his friends came to his village who used to broker a diamond business. He persuaded him and came to Surat. He slept in the diamond shop for months and used to run that in the day.
After saving a decent amount of money he started his own business of oil. His father used to send him oil from the village. The shop flourished in one month and did a profit of Rs10,000 which kept on multiplying later. He had meals at a lodge which was Rs400 per month and skipped his breakfast a lot of times. After many struggles initially, his business started making profits after two years.
Gaining experience in this sector, he started his brand called Rajhans with two oil tanks. He then expanded his business to other states. After success in the oil business, he ventured into textiles and made his mark in that business area as well.
He used to visit a lot of multiplexes in Mumbai, so he thought that Surat should also be exposed to modern seating cinema. Thus starting up Rajhans Cinema.
A chain of restaurants under the name Rajhans Enjoys is also doing well. Later in 2004, he thought of entering into a totally new playing field that was a construction business. Now 70% of his business is in construction. Rajhans Group is a 2500 crore group and Jayesh Bhai is the chairman of the company.
Mahesh Savani
Mahesh was born in a well-to-do family in Saurashtra Ranparada village. His father Vallabh Bhai started off as a laborer and slowly ventured into a diamond business which was expanded by him and his brothers.
In 1978 his father installed one machine and started the manufacturing unit and by 2004 their annual turnover was Rs150 crore.
He went to Bangalore to study civil engineering. He had learned all the business tactics from his father. In 1990 he became part of their family business. They manufactured 35,000 diamonds a month but after he joined, they manufactured 3 lakh diamonds a month.
He expanded his business in Hongkong and Mumbai. But after 2003 there were some legal cases against him which put him in a bad spot for some time and he shifted to Mumbai and then to Belgium for some time.
Then after he returned to Surat he shifted to the Realty business. The business started in 2008 which was an instant success. They do business under the name of P.P. Savani which builds schools, universities, hospitals. Now the turnover of their business is 1000 crore.
In 2010, he organized the first mass wedding for the people who couldn’t afford weddings for their children. He does this social work because it makes him happy. He asked around for the girls who don’t have parents and can’t afford the expense of a wedding. Each wedding costs around 4-5 lakhs and 250 couples every year get married in the P.P. Savani school ground in Surat, all in one day.
Did these stories inspire you to be the next billionaire from Surat? Talk about your ideas in the comments section below.
Social media presence can fetch cha-ching for your offline businesses. Read on to the most obvious yet less known reasons of why you should up your social media game even when not selling online.
The power of social media holds true in all realms. You aren’t with the pace if you let go of social media, thinking that your business is offline and your online presence won’t make a difference. You are rowing a different boat then.
When you are selling offline, a B2B company can find customers and negotiate with a client on LinkedIn more than on Facebook. But, a B2C company has a significant presence onFacebook and Instagram. It’s all about expanding your business with the help of social media.
Here are the deadly-if-ignored benefits of social media promotion to offline businesses:
Social Media Sells Your Business
What would you do if you have to check out something you don’t have much knowledge about? WeGoogle it! Generally, if a business is not traced in any manner on the online medium, it will be subjected to the suspicion of whether the business is really legit or not which can make your customer flock somewhere else.
But a good social media handle, with quality information and attractive graphics, lure the customers. About 3 out of 4 customers will make a visit to your offline store if you provide useful online information and have impressive social media handles.
Being There For Your Customers – ALWAYS
In a conventional set up of an offline business, the shutter closes and your customer can’t be with you until the next morning. But, if you are having a social media presence, they can contact you there, ask opening and closing times, ask queries about products, availability, etc.
This proves as great impetus to your business because you are there when the customer needs you. Faster responsiveness means happy and satisfied clients and easy operations for you!
Decline In Your Operational Costs
Every business online or offline needs to communicate with its customers. Without social media, what would an offline clothing store do to announce a sale? Maybe send out pamphlets, hire promoters and distribute leaflets, put up multiple hoardings and banners, and the like. None of these gives you any surety that your message was received and understood.
Social media can do all of this at a much lower cost along with insights into your customers! Who would not want that?
Leverage your brick and mortar with social media.
Offline businesses are slowly moving on to sell online as well but even the ones which do not want that can still benefit highly from social media.
In a traditional business set up, it’s not possible for your new clients to ask or interrogate the past/existing client about their shopping experience with you. But, with social media, your customers have an option to actively leave reviews and feedback.
And if what you are doing is actually good, time to stock up more! because your past clients will act as active promoters to new clients by telling them how happy they are by doing business with you and how good are your products. More than 70% of youth do quick research on a store before making a purchase, so go where your customers are!
There are multiple ways to ensure that your business’ online presence is highlighted in the eyes of your customers and there are many free tools available for that. That’s right, they are free.
Check out Hubspot, HootSuite, Canva, and Biteable to ensure your place in the best room in this social media boat is becoming a big cruise.
What do you think about businesses which still avoid
going online at all?
What else can be the hidden benefit for going social?
