Disha Dinesh is a content marketing associate at DrumUp, where she has produced over 100 guides, blog posts, and social media posts that have scaled brand awareness and accelerated lead generation and company growth. We had a chance to speak with Disha recently about how content marketing and social media marketing campaigns can yield better sales results and stronger bonds with customers.
Tell us a bit about yourself. How did you get interested in content marketing and social media marketing?
I never thought I’d be a content marketer, as I’d spent most of my life training to be a bio-engineer. It was after my graduation that I realized that I couldn’t go on without giving writing a try as a career. But I wasn’t certain what I wanted to write, just that I wanted to make money writing. I worked as a journalist for a bit and then as a copywriter, but it was only when DrumUp hired me as a content marketer that I finally found the career that I had been looking for.
I love thinking about people, understanding their behavior, and using my writing to connect with them in a world where so little continues to be said face-to-face, since most communication happens via screens.
I love studying the culture that continues to grow around social media – a culture driven by its development and influenced by its evolution. I hope to disrupt social media and digital communication and help brands find new and successful ways to connect with people.
What are some of the latest trends that you’re seeing in both content marketing and social media marketing?
Like marketing guru Gary Vaynerchuk says, “marketers ruin everything.” We’re at a stage where more people are using ad blockers each year, and organic reach on social media is declining. Brands are now moving away from the ruins of organic social media posting to using employee advocates and social media influencers to reach their target demographics.
I’ve also noticed that more brands are investing in live-streaming, video and visual marketing, and holistic virtual community development. I believe that communication will continue to grow more visual, authentic, and transparent as time passes.
Finish this sentence: “The most underutilized social media marketing tactic or technique is…”
…employee advocacy, because it has so many applications. A good employee advocacy program can help businesses amplify their content, recruit, or even sell using social media. Given that consumer trust in brands is declining while people continue to trust recommendations given by friends and family, employee advocacy is truly an underrated tactic.
What are many companies doing today that is making it more difficult for them to find new customers?
Sometimes, companies forget or underestimate the importance of the human element. Few marketers personally engage their audience, and many of those who do fail to do it authentically and wholeheartedly. Many of the social media influencers I know, like Sam Hurley and Madalyn Sklar, make it a point to personally engage with as many followers of theirs as they can.
Another mistake that some companies make is solely focusing on business goals from the company’s perspective. Many of them are afraid to spend extra money on consumer satisfaction and experience, and few of them go the extra mile. Maybe we’re all looking at it all wrong.
Today, relationships are built by providing real value. You won’t make much headway by hard selling on every platform. It may be scary, but you have to start investing in your consumers and prospects to see any real business impact.
How should a company nurture a lead that they obtain from social media – even if that person hasn’t yet expressed an interest in buying the company’s product or service?
Email newsletters work very well when you create them with knowledge of what your existing customers need, what their current concerns are, and how you can address them. If you are creating and curating content that covers the latest happenings in your niche, along with additional insights and assistance to your customers, you should be good. It is also important to ensure that people know that “the lines are always open” and that they can contact you for any assistance – even if it isn’t directly related to your product.
Do you have any suggestions or guidelines for content marketing practices regarding how often a company should generate new content and/or how many different types of content they should produce?
We create two original blog posts and accept one guest post each week, and curate the remainder of our content from top sites for our social media pages.
It isn’t necessary to create all of your content. What’s more important is ensuring that you have all the important points and latest developments covered for your audience. There’s no harm in curating expert content that can benefit your audience.
I’d say keep a clean mix of curated and created content. Create content only when you have something powerful and useful to say. As for content formats, you can repurpose what you have created into multiple formats, but it is good to have an engaging mix of all types of content.
How will social media marketing and content marketing change over the next several years?
Video will go mainstream; it is already beginning to happen. Ads will eventually lose significance, while entertaining content, storytelling, and useful informational content will take center stage for brands trying to connect with their audience. People will be more in control of content consumption than they are at present, so it will become vital for brands to gradually forget hard selling and traditional marketing and begin to forge real bonds with their current and potential customers.
Need some assistance transitioning to “21st-century marketing?” Contact us today to see how we can help.
