The great Indian social media is one of the greatest gifts of God to bloggers in India. Life feels like a roller-coaster adventure from morning till night, thanks to the godsend called social media. It’s easier to take the ice-bucket challenge, saree challenge, Kiki challenge and the like, but to cement your position on social media, as an influencer could be quite a task.
FB, Insta (Facebook, Instagram respectively for the uninitiated), Twitter, Pinterest, and WhatsApp- each is a phenomenon for people in India. Whether you like it or not, the fact is, everyone (we’re polite by replacing ‘you’ with ‘everyone’) is hooked to social media in India.
Most desi folks use social media for entertainment and for keeping in touch with dear ones. The more enterprising ones exploit it to the fullest by pulling on your emotional strings and earning obscene amounts of money. And the nerdy ones use it for studies (imagine, social media and studies together!).
Celebrities, Maa, Patriotism (Deshbhakti), Politics (I leave it for you to guess), Recipes (Are you insane? Don’t you know our love for food? ) are perpetually trending topics on the Great Indian Social Media.
Whatever the objective is for using social media, knowing its basic fundas, consumer behaviour and using it to your advantage are very important for you, especially if you are a creative writer hell-bent upon making it big on social media.
How? Well, here goes.
- Firstly, you need to brush up on your knowledge about everything around you. Keep your eyes and ears open (much like that prying aunty in the neighbourhood), so you’re in the loop on your own.
- Next, figure out the niche area of your interest and march ahead in that direction. It could be sports, entertainment, current affairs or anything. Observe how your predecessors have been writing, so you know how to go ahead.
- Brush up on your language and grammar. It matters a great deal, and even teeny-weeny linguistic mistakes are a big no-no for true-blue social media writers.
- Further, be thick-skinned. By that we mean, you shouldn’t get affected by some mean comments that may be showered upon you, for no fault of yours, of course. Trolling happens, and it’s real. Ask celebrities who face it. You need to take it with a pinch of salt if you’re dedicated.
- It would help if you were well-versed with relevant technical gibberish too. Yes, we mean terms like communicating with others using a specific platform, searching for information with precision, providing links by uploading in the right way should not scare the daylights out of you. Knowledge of SEO-friendly methods like keywords, keyword density, placing them in the right place (beginning of a sentence, titles, etc.) is essential to attract traffic to your blog.
So if you have a flair for creative pursuits like blogging, currently figuring out career options on the web, social media is the way to go.
Social Media that gets Adulation in India
Facebook:
FB is the first social media platform that took our lives by storm in India. Whether you want to keep in touch with dear ones, make new friends, flaunt your partying, adventures, holidays or even skills, FB empowers you to do it all. Also, people are now publicising their businesses and earning big bucks on FB. For you, too, it’ll pay if you jump on the bandwagon. Learn to develop apps, accounts and pages that share information with the audience. FB provided monetisation tools for these efforts, which will be helpful as you can exchange them for mega monies. Do all you can to grab eyeballs and traffic towards your endeavour, as that’s what will take you higher.
Instagram:
This platform is an insanely popular photo-sharing platform that youngsters can’t seem to have enough of. Insta lets you speak a thousand words through your pics and gives you golden opportunities to rake in big-time money. You can become an Instagram influencer, an online sensation that draws attention by posting catchy content sponsored by brands. You can also sell your products by flaunting them on your pages. Becoming an affiliate marketer who generates business for others is one more option you can consider to increase traffic and shine bright on Instagram.
Twitter:
Twitter is a microblogging site that is outrageously popular among netizens called Twitterati. It’s now synonymous with the unique culture called trolling, which means ripping someone apart publicly on the platform for displeasing you. Twitter also connects you to celebrities and Blog chatter (how can I not mention the #MyFriendAlexa challenge) directly, who can read your comments and even reply. As for the business part for a creative genius like you, well, there’s plenty you can do on Twitter to fill your coffers with. You can sell banner ads and direct sponsored tweets on behalf of someone to earn. The popular pay per click model and selling of your products also made a great way to see your wealth flourish on Twitter. Interested? Give it a shot!
Pinterest:
An incredible visual platform that enables you to operate a pinboard site and deal in pictures systematically, Pinterest will be of interest to you if you want to make it big online and deal creatively in images. Why not explore the platform that gives you multiple options to earn and have fun with pics, colours and stuff?
So make waves on the great Indian social media as a blogger, influencer by tapping on the opportunities it provides. Blogging without optimum use of social media is like food without salt.
THis is a great article. Social media is the evolving platform and we need more platforms to grow our readership.
Yes, Anand. Thanks.
This read is superb. Loved it
Thank you Jayshree.
I am always overwhelmed with all the options available, trying to figure them out one at a time but then again I am left with the lingering feeling FOMO
This is an excellent write-up,
of the emerged contender on this
Social media platform.
Spot on !