What Does it Take To Grow Your Business on Social Media?

In this age where social media has become a very strong tool for marketing, the only important question left with us is whether social media is reel or real? Caught on a panel together at ROAR 2019 – # DoYourThing were three gorgeous ladies who have been able to make their mark on social media while keeping themselves true to their customers. Shraddha Bhansali, the Founder of Candy & Green – an initiative to provide the most of the organic world; Anisha Dixit, YouTuber(Rickshawali) who became the master of her own fate when she found her calling in social media; Mitali Sagar, Co-Founder of House of MISU – an initiative to bring a bit of fashion to India, to explain their personal experience and knowledge of social media usage.

Each of them have used the popularising social media platforms to find a larger audience to show what they and their brand stands for. Thus explaining their choice to take to social media at a time when it was just starting up in India and the future was unknown.

Shraddha, says  “I realized that I really have to leverage social media if I want to tell people what I stand for and what I believe in”

Similarly, for Anisha, her dreams for her life was to become an actor but she found that she could the master of her own voice and fate when she started with her YouTube channel “Rickshawali”.

“Why social media has become great because I could just be the master of my own fate and not have producers, casting directors or any other shady stuff decide on my future and I think and I could just make what  And that’s how social media is very powerful, because, here not a certain set, but everybody decides how you are”

Mitali founded House of MISU, with Summiyya almost Eight Years ago, a time when social media in the world of digital marketing was still an obsolete concept in India. They had no idea if their market would accept this new realm of social media or not.

“Me and Summiyya started really young in social media when there were no rules in it. We started designing and we realized that this is basically the future. So, we thought, let’s get on it when the going is good.”

As Mitali explained the trends of social media over the years, Facebook came and dulled down, Twitter came and dulled down and now while, Instagram is huge, but like every other social media, there is uncertainty attached with it as well. Thus, her main focus was never on building an influential face of the brand pertaining just to social media but an identity which speaks for itself and is relevant, many years down the lane as well.

Reinforcing similar thoughts, Shraddha, who completely runs the social media for Candy & Green herself and within her team, says how important it is to have your own authentic voice on social media for your brand. This is how you end up connecting with the right kind of people who actually care about your brand. As she says, “Candy and Green is about an extension of a lifestyle that we’re selling. So I don’t need to have twenty thirty thousand followers, even if I have five thousand people, as long as there is engagement, it’s the right kind.”

However, in the world of Youtubers, there is no brand to promote, but their own ability to keep creating content which will stay with the viewers. As Anisha says, “As a Youtuber, I was just as a creative person who started making silly and fun content and eventually it turned into a business platform.”

She remarks on how when the business aspect comes in, there is a certain loss in creativity and how she had to mend her way sometimes, to get the sort of videos which agreed with the sponsors.

“I think creativity and business, come at a healthy balance. There are many times I draw a line when something goes beyond who I really I am.”

Social media can easily become a number game, where it’s often a competition of how many followers, likes and comments one can get. A quantity which is now easy to buy with money. Yet, what these ladies said was a different story altogether, they believed that no matter the number you get, it would not matter unless you have the right engagement.

As Mitali says, “It’s very important to pick the quality the ones who relate with you the ones who come back to you then pick the quantity who’ll just be the masses who aren’t really going to convert to anything.”

Continuing with their advice to anyone who would like to start a business, Shraddha points a key aspect of using social media, “I think something that I would strongly focus on is that even if you have a passion and start blogging or promoting your brand out of passion, I think it’s very important to have a purpose and goal behind”

To end the panel discussion Anisha advises the young people do not expect to start to earn big in the very beginning and to keep their patience.

In a period where all big brands look for the more popular and more followed ones without knowing the sad reality behind it where the likes and followers are bought, it is important to keep your own voice and beliefs intact.

As she says, “It’s very important to find who you are put that out and I think eventually people will come to you and people will find you!”