The power of digital media is inevitable and somewhat terrifying. It can make people famous overnight, but also capable to destroy the image that has been perfectly built for years in an instant. To get this kind of power, we need to utilize it correctly because just a little mistake can make it backfire and tarnish our image instead.
Should we know how to wield this power, digital media can really leverage our current position. For example the selebgrams or famous YouTubers who can make a living just by producing some clickbait contents on their social media. Their income can beat salarymen who have a steady career and it is not unusual to have millionaires coming from this kind of works.
For companies, digital media can make promotion budget more affordable. It can reach more audiences with less costs compared to more traditional media channels like TV, radio, or billboard. However, unless carefully crafted, the digital media will have no significant effect. Nobody will know about the existence of a company just because they have a social media page unless they put some serious efforts into it. It is not a tool that automatically make someone into something without even trying. And if the admin of social media is careless, the company can face public backlash or even boycott. There are differences in having social media and using social media.
So, how's to wield this amazing power?
Firstly, we must know our audiences since the message can't be sent correctly without knowing who the receiver is. The message sent to millenials will be different with the one delivered to baby boomers.
Secondly, we should know what media channels primarily used by the targeted audiences to get a maximum coverage. This is because different generation usually have their own preferences to communicate, such as millenials who would love to use Instagram while the older generation will prefer more professional social media such as Linkedin.
Thirdly, we need to make the message appealing, like choosing bold colours, interesting slogans, breathtaking images, and other things that can make the message as interesting as possible so the audiences at least are willing to glance to our contents and not just scrolling down to find better things below.
Fourthly, enchance the message. For instance, the usage of hashtag in social media like Twitter or Instagram will make the audiences can find the contents in the same category more easily so it will increase the visibility of the related contents. Also a hashtag will differentiate ourselves with other players in the field, moreover if it is trending worldwide. More people can engage in our campaigns and it will surely make the conversation trackable and get more views.
Fifthly, it is highly recommended to follow the current trend. There should be something popular periodically on internet whether a certain hashtag, a challenge, or a heavily supported issue. By making contents related to the trend, not only we show the world that we care for what is happening but the possibility of our content get more visibility will increase, even it can be viral.
Sixthly, give the audiences some kind of benefits by following our account. Unless we are some kind of popular public figures or very reputable companies/institutions, no one wants to follow something that give no benefit to them. A medium or small size companies can not merely hope that people will automatically follow their social media accounts just because they give them "information" about their daily activities in the office. The same goes to people who post carelessly and wish that others will finally notice and ask them for an endorse. "The ordinary accounts" need to think of something that can engage people to keep interested, whether intriguing information, free giveaway, interesting contents, etc. No one get suddenly popular without doing anything on social media.
Seventhly, it is important to update regularly. People tend not to follow an account which update in a long time. They want something to be seen on their feeds, unless if our account is highly popular or important. So plan to keep engaging with our audiences at least several times in a week, get automation or scheduled posts if needed so our audiences can keep track of what we are currently doing.
Eightly, make an interesting title or what they said as "clickbait". People usually only have seconds to consider whether our content worth their time but a bombastic title can make them curious and eventually check out our content. Even if in the end they don't feel like our content is what they actually need, at least our visibility has increased.
Last but not least, we can use the helps of ads and endorsement. For example, ads placed on the website which get many traffics from our targeted audiences will make our campaigns much more noticeable by them. As for the latter, making a notable influencer (who have many followers consists of our desirable audiences) endorse our cause will make our campaigns get significant coverage. People usually love their idols to the moon and back, so they also most likely will agree and support whatever said by them. It will make our message easier to be accepted by them.
In conclusion, armed with tailor-made contents towards specifically targeted clients, the digital media can boost our profile to be the talk of the year. However, the most important factor to conquer digital media is creativity. Because if we can't think out of the box, even the best method will be less likely to have effect. It is because creativity is the soul of the contents and can distinguish our digital media from others so we need to celebrate our extraordinary ideas from now on to survive in this "4.0 revolution" era. If we are not willing to improvise, we will be left behind and the competitors will race to the finish line. So get ready, think of something good, and press that submit button!
Should we know how to wield this power, digital media can really leverage our current position. For example the selebgrams or famous YouTubers who can make a living just by producing some clickbait contents on their social media. Their income can beat salarymen who have a steady career and it is not unusual to have millionaires coming from this kind of works.
For companies, digital media can make promotion budget more affordable. It can reach more audiences with less costs compared to more traditional media channels like TV, radio, or billboard. However, unless carefully crafted, the digital media will have no significant effect. Nobody will know about the existence of a company just because they have a social media page unless they put some serious efforts into it. It is not a tool that automatically make someone into something without even trying. And if the admin of social media is careless, the company can face public backlash or even boycott. There are differences in having social media and using social media.
So, how's to wield this amazing power?
Firstly, we must know our audiences since the message can't be sent correctly without knowing who the receiver is. The message sent to millenials will be different with the one delivered to baby boomers.
Secondly, we should know what media channels primarily used by the targeted audiences to get a maximum coverage. This is because different generation usually have their own preferences to communicate, such as millenials who would love to use Instagram while the older generation will prefer more professional social media such as Linkedin.
Thirdly, we need to make the message appealing, like choosing bold colours, interesting slogans, breathtaking images, and other things that can make the message as interesting as possible so the audiences at least are willing to glance to our contents and not just scrolling down to find better things below.
Fourthly, enchance the message. For instance, the usage of hashtag in social media like Twitter or Instagram will make the audiences can find the contents in the same category more easily so it will increase the visibility of the related contents. Also a hashtag will differentiate ourselves with other players in the field, moreover if it is trending worldwide. More people can engage in our campaigns and it will surely make the conversation trackable and get more views.
Fifthly, it is highly recommended to follow the current trend. There should be something popular periodically on internet whether a certain hashtag, a challenge, or a heavily supported issue. By making contents related to the trend, not only we show the world that we care for what is happening but the possibility of our content get more visibility will increase, even it can be viral.
Sixthly, give the audiences some kind of benefits by following our account. Unless we are some kind of popular public figures or very reputable companies/institutions, no one wants to follow something that give no benefit to them. A medium or small size companies can not merely hope that people will automatically follow their social media accounts just because they give them "information" about their daily activities in the office. The same goes to people who post carelessly and wish that others will finally notice and ask them for an endorse. "The ordinary accounts" need to think of something that can engage people to keep interested, whether intriguing information, free giveaway, interesting contents, etc. No one get suddenly popular without doing anything on social media.
Seventhly, it is important to update regularly. People tend not to follow an account which update in a long time. They want something to be seen on their feeds, unless if our account is highly popular or important. So plan to keep engaging with our audiences at least several times in a week, get automation or scheduled posts if needed so our audiences can keep track of what we are currently doing.
Eightly, make an interesting title or what they said as "clickbait". People usually only have seconds to consider whether our content worth their time but a bombastic title can make them curious and eventually check out our content. Even if in the end they don't feel like our content is what they actually need, at least our visibility has increased.
Last but not least, we can use the helps of ads and endorsement. For example, ads placed on the website which get many traffics from our targeted audiences will make our campaigns much more noticeable by them. As for the latter, making a notable influencer (who have many followers consists of our desirable audiences) endorse our cause will make our campaigns get significant coverage. People usually love their idols to the moon and back, so they also most likely will agree and support whatever said by them. It will make our message easier to be accepted by them.
In conclusion, armed with tailor-made contents towards specifically targeted clients, the digital media can boost our profile to be the talk of the year. However, the most important factor to conquer digital media is creativity. Because if we can't think out of the box, even the best method will be less likely to have effect. It is because creativity is the soul of the contents and can distinguish our digital media from others so we need to celebrate our extraordinary ideas from now on to survive in this "4.0 revolution" era. If we are not willing to improvise, we will be left behind and the competitors will race to the finish line. So get ready, think of something good, and press that submit button!