May 2021

Biography Of Loneliness by Fay Bound Alberti – Book Review & Summary
The Changing Face Of Loneliness

Fay Bound Alberti, the cultural historian courses through recent history to trace the development of the concept of loneliness in her book Biography Of Loneliness. Considering it a fairly modern concept, she delves into its origins since the 1800s, its evolution vis-a-vis society, and its increasing prominence in the lives of people today. She discusses case studies from social media, literature, and even Queen Victoria to understand the emotion of loneliness.

The Loneliness Epidemic

We know that emotions are an intrinsic part of humans. But how do these emotions develop? Is it possible to give feelings and emotions a timeline, to think of them beyond the human psyche?

This question can be answered when we look at loneliness, an emotion that is said to be an epidemic, showing a pattern of development in human society and undergoing change since. To give an example, the 1960’s Beatles’ song ‘Eleanor Rigby’ talks about lonely people in a village. The song marks the shift in society from a traditional ‘nuclear’ family system, a time when there were increasing instances of lonely elderly.

Today, the loneliness epidemic, according to the UK National Health Service (NHS), can cause about 30% of the affected to die earlier due to increased risk of conditions such as strokes, dementia, and depression.

Loneliness in linguistic terms is difficult to define. Though it is very prominent today, linguistically, the word isn’t synonymous with being alone, has no opposite, and involves a lack of emotional sense. Therefore, it could be said that loneliness incorporates feelings such as resentment, self-pity, shame, and sorrow among other elements. In other words, loneliness is a blend of different emotions.

Loneliness can be termed as a disease today, akin to obesity. It is a lifestyle-related, chronic condition, more prevalent in the contemporary world. Like obesity, loneliness is experienced by people who are unable to come out of the own limitations (of the mind, in case of loneliness). It places huge pressure on health services. Yet, it cannot be defined as a purely mental state, as its ramifications can be seen on the body as well.

Societal Change And The Meaning Of Loneliness

The Oxford English Dictionary dates loneliness back to the 16^th Century and gives two meanings –
- Feeling Sad – Meaning sadness occurring due to lack of company, and
- A remote place
However, before the 19^th Century, only the second meaning came to be in use, as did the word ‘loneliness’. The use of the word gave birth to a completely new concept.

The changes that came about in society then were reflected in how the word ‘lonely’ started being used. Unlike today, where loneliness has negative connotations, before the 19^th Century, and ‘oneliness’ – meaning to be on one’s own – was popularly used. This was because people then were hardly alone. When others weren’t around, people were with God. Therefore, the word, along with the word solitude had positive connotations.

The 21^st Century gave more importance to sociability – as being the cornerstone of good mental health. Contrarily, loneliness, due to the shift in the way people live and think of living is a more common, negative condition. This is because of the change from people living in nuclear or large families, to giving individualism (having great societal value) more importance. This shift, at the expense of the collective, brought about the rise in secularism. In the Western world, even the positive meaning of solitude of having religious connotations, is lost.

This loss of religious value gave more importance to individuality and relationships. Thus, when relationships are lacking, people are left truly alone, without the stronghold of the belief in God. This loneliness or even being alone today is a greater problem than people perceive.

Biography Of Loneliness by Fay Bound Alberti

The Concept Of Soulmate Vis-à-vis Loneliness

Today, loneliness not only affects those who are physically removed from others but even those who lead active social lives. If we consider Sylvia Plath, the American writer, and poet, as an example, we can see from her journal entries that she experienced chronic loneliness despite having romantic relationships and leading a good social life.

The emphasis that is placed on finding a ‘soulmate’ today makes it easy to feel lonely even when surrounded by strong relationships. Plath’s inability to balance societal expectations and her own ambitions as a woman in a male-dominated career is proof of this fact.

Plato, in his The Symposium, described the concept of ‘soulmate’ in a story of a man and a woman being one before they were split into two. Since then, women and men have sought out their literal other halves in attempts to complete themselves. However, the word itself was first used in 1822 by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, when the concept of romantic love was developing. This concept, still in use today, saw the emergence in the 19^th Century when marriage was seen as spiritual, another way of meeting spiritual needs.

More examples of the concept of a soulmate can be seen in Emily Bronte’s literary composition, The Wuthering Heights. The dangerous and tempestuous nature of love can be seen in Heathcliff’s famous lines, “I cannot live without my life! I cannot live without my soul!”

Another reference to Heathcliff’s perception of love can be seen in Stephanie Meyer’s Twilight, when Edward the Vampire quotes Heathcliff, referencing Bella Swan as his soulmate. The novel emphasizes the importance of finding a soulmate as a way to fulfilling life.

Thus, it is in the nature of today’s society to portray one as lonely without a soulmate.

Loneliness And Losing A Loved One

The inability to find a soulmate/partner could trigger loneliness. However, losing a partner or a loved one is a sure invitation to the loneliness club. The very fact that a widow or widower has to live with material objects that are constant reminders of their deceased loved ones, can rake up feelings of pain and be a constant reminder of their loss – every day!

This traumatic experience has also changed drastically over the past few centuries with the emergence of the concept of loneliness. Two examples, a century apart, explain these changes well.

Example 1: The diary excerpts of a Thomas Turner from Sussex, England in the 18^th century are detailed documentation of how the man lived his life after his wife Peggy, died in 1761. He describes himself as ‘destitute’ and mourning the loss of the ‘partner of his soul’. Yet his diary also shows that his grief was accompanied by the solace of belief in God. This was, according to the author, ‘oneliness’, the predecessor of loneliness.

Example 2: Exactly a century later, in 1861, we see Queen Victoria’s forty years of mourning for her husband Albert, documented in her diaries. The frequent use of the word ‘loneliness’ is proof of the fact that her feelings were quite different from the ‘oneliness’ that Turner felt. Her loss manifested with a profound sense of lack.

The shift in centuries and the emergence of the concept of loneliness has also rendered a new meaning to losing a partner.

How Social Media Affects Loneliness

Loneliness in its modern form manifests through the epidemic that young adults are facing due to the impact of social media. The UK’s Office for National Statistics, conducted in 2018 found that young adults are most affected by loneliness. However, as commonly believed, is social media the real cause of loneliness, or is it a mere symptom?

Effects of social media also clearly depend on the way it is used, vis-à-vis the kind of life a user is leading. While studies point fingers at social media for heightened feelings of loneliness, they also show that if the amount of online activity surpasses or replaces other offline activity, only then loneliness is inevitable.

The term FOMO, meaning ‘the fear of missing out’ surely contributes to feelings of loneliness among the millennials. A survey conducted in 2012, reports at least three out of four millennials suffering from FOMO. These feelings generate due to the overly glamorous lives that others depict leading on social media sites. An experiment conducted by Facebook in 2014 showed the relation between emotions shown in posts and a person’s own emotions when he reads those posts. It is known to have a rippling effect spanning large groups.

Social media has also brought people together in ‘real-life’. This has not only proved to be beneficial for Millenials, but also for the older generation. Therefore, social media can have a positive or a negative effect, and how it affects a person is based on a broader context. The idea is to maintain a bridge between the ‘online life’ and the ‘real-life’.

Loneliness And The Older Generation

It is true that loneliness is a problem that mostly affects the older generation. While statistics reveal that only 5-16% of the older generation claim to be lonely, the number shoots up to 50% when those over the age of 80 are taken into consideration.

Considering the fact that loneliness isn’t restricted to emotions and that it can manifest into a multitude of lifestyle diseases, physical and mental, it is a clear indicator of developing dementia. This often stems from ‘unmet needs’, a problem that is largely faced by the aging generation in the Western world. These unmet needs are actually basic necessities of getting help for daily activities or even having someone to talk to.

The problem directly relates to the fact that considering the aging population is increasing, governments are unable to adequately provide social care in the same amount as the population increase in demographic. This, coupled with the changing perceptions that members of the society should be able to economically contribute, places the old who are unable to work at risk. The older generation gets categorized as ‘useless’, which earlier wasn’t much of a problem considering that families maintained stronger ties.

The issue needs addressing. How can we meet the needs of the old effectively, without them blaming themselves for their old age? While proper care homes can be one way, the efficacy of these homes is doubted. Putting the old in care homes can help battle isolation, but not necessarily be the cure for loneliness. Moreover, care homes create a sense of separation and can alleviate problems.

Conclusion

Loneliness is a problem that has many facets. It affects people of all generations, differs from culture to culture and between genders, and has mental as well as physical manifestations. It is a clear indication of ‘lacking’ something in one’s life.

Nevertheless, loneliness isn’t always negative. For most artists, loneliness can manifest into exceptional works of art and creativity. Writers Virginia Woolf and Rainer Maria Rilke are classic examples. Therefore not everyone seeks a cure for loneliness.

The need of the hour, however, is for everyone to re-evaluate how loneliness is perceived in correspondence to how it has changed in modern times, and provide effective care for those suffering from it.
May 27, 2021
Issue #27, 25 May 2021 – Be Like The Lake, Not The Pond
Welcome to the Deploy Yourself Newsletter. Every two weeks I share what impactful leadership looks like to show your own power. I also share the most insightful lessons and stories I encountered in the last two weeks. You can also read this issue online.

Hey,

Be Like The Lake. Not Like The Pond. To Transform People

If we are alive, we all need to influence, persuade, and transform people and their views from time to time. This is one of the most common challenges business leaders face on a daily basis. During my coaching sessions with them, I often share this simple analogy with them.

If you pour salt into a small pond, very soon the water gets salty and undrinkable. However, if you put the salt into a large lake or a river, people can continue to drink the water. In a way, the lake (or river) has a huge capacity to withstand and embrace salt (read “people challenges”) without impacting the quality of the water.

Similarly for us, when we get lost in an argument, we become like the pond. We can get frustrated and offended easily and this stops us from listening to others and where they might be coming from.

Instead, if we expand our hearts like a big lake and embrace others and their views with compassion, we can accept them for who they are. We can do this without abdicating our point of view and our responsibilities. This reduces friction in communication, the suffering reduces for both sides, and mutual understanding of each other’s point of view increases.

And this gives all of us a chance to transform, influence, and move people. Genuinely. Honestly. And as friends not foes.

How do people communicate in your place of work? Do they talk like friends or foes? Reply to this email right now if you would like to know how this plays out in practice. I read and respond to every reply.

Articles and Stories Which Have Fascinated Me

One

How to Answer People’s Questions To Serve Them Best

Very often we answer people just to get out whatever is in our heads, without thinking about formatting our answers to suit the person’s needs. Learning how to answer questions can be very useful. Below are some strategies to do so:
1. Go Deeper to Understand the Real Issue
2. Paraphrase to Make Sure you Got it Right
3. Request to Offer Different Perspectives
4. Share Your Own or Other People’s Stories and Experiences
5. Refer Them to a Reliable Source
6. Check if You Answered Satisfactorily
Before answering any question, ensure you are responding to the right one. Understanding the reason behind it could also help you address the real concern. If possible, you should point the questioner to additional documentation and sources that answer their questions in depth. Additionally, stories, including personal experiences, are always a good option. Finally, you should always request feedback to find out whether you did the question justice with your answer.

From an article from my desk titled How to Answer People’s Questions To Serve Them Best

Two

A 4 Step Way To Give Feedback

Only 26% of employees say that the feedback they get actually improve their work. Here is a 4 step process to give feedback in a way that it lands well for the person receiving it – without triggering defensiveness and denial.
1. Ask a question that is short and important and triggers a “Micro Yes”
2. Give a data point. Be specific. Not Vague.
3. Specify how the data point above impacted you – positively or negatively.
4. End with a curious question to trigger a conversation.
From a TED video by LeeAnn Renniger

Three

A Quote by Mahatma Gandhi

Don’t listen to friends when the Friend inside you says Do this.
Mahatma Gandhi

That’s it for now. If you have any questions or feedback, or just want to introduce yourself, hit reply. I read and respond to every reply. All the best,

Sumit

(Twitter) @SumitGupta
(LinkedIn) Connect
May 25, 2021
Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook by Gary Vaynerchuk – Book Review & Summary
Getting The Right Social Marketing Mix

The social media world, within a span of a few years, has already become a crowded place. The numbers and statistics have shown that almost everybody has an online presence. It is a haven for marketers and products to bag valuable customers. How does one then ensure that they stand out from the crowd?

Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook by Gary Vaynerchuk shows the way to tap into the potentials of various social media platforms to increase their social media presence and enhance their profiles to ‘hook in’ customers and ‘jab’ the competition where it hurts the most!

Every time you are online, you have a barrage of adverts screaming for your attention. Many marketers put their money into flooding social media, thinking it’s the best and only way to put their product into the limelight. However, in reality, one has to use systematic methods to achieve the right marketing mix for the latest marketing platform that’s taken the world by storm.

Social Media: An Essential Marketing Tool

The importance of social media can perhaps be understood best by seeing the number of people around us who are spending their time on their smartphones. Statistics say that in the U.S. alone, there are about 325 million phone subscriptions. That’s a massive number considering the total population in 2013 was 316 million!

Nearly everyone has an online presence, on either applications or websites that connect them to other people. According to eMarketer, 71% of Americans are on Facebook for nearly half the time they use their phones. Additionally, more than half a billion people worldwide use Twitter.

Social media has also changed consumer habits, influencing the way people spend. For example, about one in four people make buying decisions based on a friend’s Facebook post or a Twitter marketing campaign.

Along with the younger generation, it is seen that Baby Boomers, in one year have increased their social media usage by 42%. It important to note that Baby Boomers now account for about 70% of US expenditure.

The importance of social media can be seen when we take into account how fast it has overtaken other forms of media. In the past, radio took 38 years to overtake the print media and reach 50 million people, TV took 13 years to overtake radio, and it took only a year and a half for Instagram to reach the milestone!

It is therefore clear that social media is vital to marketers and advertisers in today’s time and age.

Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook by Gary Vaynerchuk – Book Review & Summary

The Importance Of Content

To keep up with the changing social medial trends, marketers have to align their marketing content too. It’s no surprise that to create great content, one has to tell an enticing story. Additionally, while TV campaigns could be made for six months or so, campaigns for social media need to be targeting markets all year round with daily fresh content. It means to keep customers engaged on a daily basis.

This was done well by the Nike+ app campaign, wherein customers can share and compare their exercise goals and achievements and compete, thereby generating new content for the brand, and thus promoting it!

There are, however, a few ground rules for great content!
- Content has to be eye-catching, entertaining, and mesmerizing enough that the consumer doesn’t simply scroll past it.
- It therefore cannot be intrusive or annoying and should seamlessly blend into the consumers’ online world, else it runs the risk of getting ad-blocked, muted, or DVR’ed by the user.
- Content should be interactive and informative, yet not be too demanding.
- For content to be effective, it should be native, as the incorrect context makes all content meaningless.
- Therefore, marketers should be very precise and ensure that the content fits the demographic, format, and general trends of the media used. For example, posting an unclear pic on Pinterest might get ignored, yet with a witty caption, it can take Twitter by storm.
It is therefore essential that marketers study every available platform well before they make their marketing decisions for social media.

Understanding Facebook

Facebook is the dream world of social interaction with consumers.

Advertising on Facebook is extremely inexpensive. As compared to a TV that charges anywhere between $7,000 and $13,000 per campaign, Facebook costs are around $0.50 and $1.50 per “like.” Additionally, being sharable, these ads are interactive!

However, Facebook requires content to be absolutely outstanding. The Facebook newsfeed is created in a way to filter out content that doesn’t interest the consumer. To enable such a filter, Facebook created EdgeRank, which keeps a track of every time a user does anything on Facebook. This stored piece of information is called an ‘edge. The EdgeRank then determines what content should show up on a newsfeed based on what the user clicks on or likes or shares. For example, if a user likes a friend’s photos and not their status, more photos from the friend will feature on the user’s newsfeed.

Facebook marketing therefore should focus more on content that helps generate more ‘edges’. However, marketers should also remember that the EdgeRank doesn’t count click-throughs that lead to another site or purchased likes. Therefore a link to a website, that could generate a high number of sales, won’t feature on the newsfeed unless it is liked, commented on, or shared. Thus Facebook needs ‘like’ worthy content.

Twitter Exposure

Not many marketers realize it, but Twitter is often used inefficiently. However, Twitter can really create great business opportunities considering it can help connect with the customer directly. Twitter being an almost public platform, connects strangers too. However, a user’s newsfeed is often inundated with mostly spontaneous conversations, which is a downside of Twitter. With more than 750 tweets per second, how can an advert stand out?

To make Twitter work, marketers can apply the concept of ‘trend jacking, wherein you piggyback on to a popular discussion. Popular discussions are identified by a mathematical algorithm and are listed. Trendjacking needs witty content creation and is often underused.

One can use hashtags for effective marketing too. However, #hashtags #are #most #commonly #overused #or #misused! People often use them indiscriminately, out of context, without any humour, sense of irony, and they backfire.

Pinterest Power

Pinterest is a great platform for companies to draw customers to their websites and online stores by sharing ‘pins’, or pics and videos, that when clicked can take a customer to the website. Additionally, Pinterest can help a brand diversify into topics of interest that are related.

Pinterest, interestingly, has a huge female user base. Therefore it is ideal for products and brands targeting women (mothers and even children). Additionally, it was found in 2012, that users were about 79% more likely to buy on Pinterest than on Facebook. Moreover, it is a fast-growing social market and had about 48.7 million users by 2013.

Pinterest however, isn’t a business favorite mainly because of business dogmatism and legalities due to copyright issues of sharing photos that businesses don’t own. While no legal suits on copyright infringement have been filed yet and Pinterest does all it can to keep its usage terms business-friendly, businesses are vary that it could be nothing more than a passing fad. Therefore Pinterest often takes a backseat.

Conclusion

There is never a ‘one size fits all’ formula for marketing on social media. While it is surely an essential medium for marketing, companies, and brands should focus on creating tailored content depending on the platform they wish to advertise on.

There will be newer platforms and apps to choose from. Thus it is important to understand that a certain amount of risk must be taken to try out new places. Who knows, it might just help your sales soar!
May 20, 2021
Words that Work by Dr. Frank Luntz – Book Summary & Review

Language and the words you use are extremely powerful. Saying the right thing at the right time, using the correct words, and choosing the right language to convey our thoughts, makes all the difference between winning a debate or losing one, escaping a parking ticket or facing a fine, and in more grave situations, getting acquittal in a murder charge case.

When it comes to making an impact and winning others over with words, we need to be able to choose the right words that get our ideas across efficiently. Words that Work (2007), by Dr. Frank Luntz explores the elements of language and how to leverage the spoken word to not only make our messages clearer but also to use them effectively, so that one may make a memorable impression.

Who’s The Audience?

It is a common occurrence when a person says something, but the words get completely misinterpreted, or the other person hears it completely wrong. Flaws in language, such as these, are made by almost everyone in their daily lives. This happens often because at times, different words, though having the same meaning can elicit completely different responses.

For example, the words ‘welfare’ and ‘assisting the needy’ broadly mean the same thing. In a poll conducted, 23% of Americans thought the country is spending too little on welfare, whereas 68 % of Americans thought that there is too little assistance for the needy in the country. This happens because of how the words are projected. ‘Welfare’ is often associated with rich ‘welfare queens’ and ‘wasted government expenditure’, ‘assistance to the needy’ brings forth images of charity!

Language is surely made up of words, but the words themselves are not more important than how they are understood. In reality, how others understand words is based on their perceptions, beliefs, fears, etc.

George Orwell’s famous 1984, plays on a reader’s deepest personal fears. in the book, he describes a ‘Room 101’ that makes the people who enter the room face their personal fears. The words ‘Room 101’, soon got associated with personal nightmares.

Words that Work (2007), by Dr. Frank Luntz

Clarity, Simplicity, And Organization Of Language

While everyone has access to a dictionary, few actually use it to increase their vocabulary. That is because others seldom understand those few who have a sophisticated vocabulary.

Language, therefore, should be simple, for it to be effective enough for others to understand easily. Thus simpler, shorter words, are more important. For example, Apple’s Mac has more impact than its original lengthy name the Macintosh. Similarly, shorter sentences also make a bigger impact.

The importance of shorter sentences and words can be seen in American politics. Dwight Eisenhower’s’ ‘I like Ike’ campaign is still memorable for many, whereas, in 2004, John Kerry lost the election due to the fact that the average American couldn’t understand his sophisticated and complicated vocabulary. He simply couldn’t get his message across.

Along with clarity and simplicity, using the right words in the right order is equally important. The order adds relevance and context to any message. Thus without context, people will not understand what is being said. For example, while offering people a solution, telling them what the problem is will add context to the solution.

In 1920, Warren G. Harding won the election because his ‘back to normalcy’ campaign was apt for a post-World War I America. His solution – himself as President – was in context to the post-WWI America needing to get back to normalcy.

Appealing To The Senses And The Imagination

Language can help trigger imagination and can be used to appeal to our senses. Its power can be seen when a bunch of words such as a bear on a unicycle can fuel our imagination and appeal to our sense of humor by creating a vivid picture of a circus bear. Our brains find it difficult to resist the appealing nature of imagination. It tends to sensualize language that appeals to it.

For example, in advertising, the sensuality of language plays an extremely important role. Advertisements for chocolate always use terms such as melting, soft, silky, rich, etc. These words appeal to our imagination, wherein we can visualize how soft and rich, and tasty the chocolate is while it appeals to our senses, making our mouth water and wanting to eat chocolate.

Imagination is all about creating one’s own personal vision based on one’s deepest emotions and desires. Imagination helps create a very powerful, personal image. this was exactly the reason behind the success of John Lennon’s Imagine.

Other factors of language that make something more appealing to the senses and thus trigger imagination are repetition, alliteration, and sonic quality of words. For example, M&M’s ‘Melt in your Mouth’ slogan uses the sound of ‘M’ to create an effect one can visualize, and the ’Snap, Crackle, Pop’ of Kellogg’s rice crispies makes one literally hear the sounds.

Addressing Emotions

Language has the most important power to influence emotions. Therefore, since the beginning, advertisements, movies, songs, debates, speeches, political campaigns, etc. all rely heavily on the power of language. When language or words can affect how a person feels, it can also have a lasting effect on one’s memory. Such a lasting effect on memory can be brought about by the humanization and personalization of language or words that apply, appeal to, or describe the personal and human emotions of people.

Martin Luther King Jr.’s well-known ‘I have a dream’ speech had a humanization effect. It appealed not only to those in the black community but all Americans. Humanization and personalization have been well used in the fields of advertising and marketing for a long.

Questioning is another great way of using words and language to appeal to emotions. Questioning demands a direct answer. This, in turn, triggers people to engage in the thought processes that will lead them to a conclusion. They will be ultimately more interested and invested in the fact that they have arrived at the conclusion themselves, rather than being handed the conclusion on a platter. Discovering the answer themselves has a more profound effect.

When Ronald Reagan, during his presidential campaign questioned Americans, ‘Are you better off today than you were four years ago?’ his question, got people to think and realize that the country indeed had gotten worse under Carter’s Presidency. Reagan thus won the election.

The Credibility of Strong Language

Communication is all about the balance between old information (consistency) and new ideas (novelty). It is important to ensure that one strikes a balance between the two to ensure that the language that s used is effective to not only get one’s point across but also to ensure that the audiences’ attention is captivated.

When it comes to communication, especially in advertising, many companies and brands change their slogans too frequently, which is a mistake. No one can really remember the tagline of Coca-Cola instantly, unlike another brand like Wheaties for example. Their tagline “The breakfast of champions.” has stuck around since 1935, when it was created, whereas, Coca-Cola’s tagline was “Open Happiness” from 2009 to 2016, after which they changed to “Taste the feeling”. This is how consistency can make a difference.

Additionally, considering people get bored very easily, one needs to use novelty to grab attention. Volkswagen in the 1950s, successfully captured people’s attention by using a contradictory campaign “Think Small” at a time when cars were getting bigger. Yet contradiction has its pitfalls too. Any information or language that is perceived as contradictory to the generally accepted facts can be seen as fake. For example, Al Gore’s claim in the 2000 presidential election that he ‘invented the Internet’ became a joke! Thus authenticity is at the crux of strong language. Authenticity seen in action is more powerful than said in words, thus while one chooses the right words that seem authentic, their actions have to reflect the same.

Understanding The Audience

No bit of communication is effective if the communicator does not have a clear and full understanding of their audience. One has to know that they believe in, in general, what type of perceptions they have and what hopes do they have.

For example, anyone communicating with (or advertising to ) Americans, should know that contrary to popular belief, the average American isn’t as educated as we think. In fact, only 29% of Americans over the age of forty-five hold a bachelor’s degree, and only one out of four 25-year-old Americans are college-educated.

The average American also does not vote on the basis of political agenda. Most cast their vote on the basis of character, trustworthiness, and image. George Bush knew his audience well. Thus, after the 9/11 attacks, he successfully conveyed the image of the determined, strong leader Americans wanted to see and thus, won the re-election.

Additionally, it is also important to know how the audience perceives certain words. For example, Americans perceive the words ‘freedom’, ‘opportunity’, and ‘fairness’ very differently. ‘Freedom’, for example, is associated with the Republican party since it was most used during the George W. Bush administration. The Democrats use the word ‘fairness’ more. ‘Opportunity’ is perceived as a middle-of-the-road word with no political connotations.

Using Communication Effectively Daily

The most effective use of language is when it becomes part of a person’s daily usage; whether it using the right amount of ‘pleases’ and a believable, authentic, story to get the airport crew to re-open the aircraft door to let you in, or a right-off-the-fly ‘I’m sorry, Officer’ when you get caught for speeding, or even if it is to get your colleague to do you a favor at work.

The most important aspect of effective language and communication is how the audience perceives the words and how they interpret them. Effective language is all about clarity, simplicity, organization, imagination, and sense appeal, addressing emotions with the right words, understanding the credibility of the language, and most importantly, understanding the audience that is being communicated to. These elements of effective language need to be put into practice daily.

May 13, 2021
Issue #26, 11 May 2021 – 7 Unusual Superpowers
Welcome to the Deploy Yourself Newsletter. Every two weeks I share what impactful leadership looks like to show your own power. I also share the most insightful lessons and stories I encountered in the last two weeks. You can also read this issue online.

Hey,

7 Unusual Superpowers

I work with leaders who have taken on big and complicated challenges. Yet, I have found that as human beings, we have some unique abilities which we often ignore to use. I call them the 7 Unusual Superpowers, and we can choose to use them whenever we want. Are you using yours? They are :
1. To take a break and slow down to reflect when everyone around you is running busy and overwhelmed.
2. To focus on doing the right thing vs doing everything right.
3. To care so much (about your customers and other people around you) that you don’t care. It is a superpower when you can be straight and honest to people to serve them compared to being nice to please them.
4. To share your gifts with others and to take action – just for the sake of serving others instead of wanting something in return.
5. To be honest and admit your own vulnerability rather than faking confidence and winging it.
6. To continuously take imperfect action and move forwards instead of waiting for perfection and the right moment.
7. To respond according to your values and choice rather than from automatic habits of the past.
What is the unusual superpower that you have been hiding from the world? Reply to this email right now if you recognize your superpower. I read and respond to every reply.

Articles and Stories Which Have Fascinated Me

One

Why Your Meetings Stink—and What to Do About It

Although most organizations have meetings that could easily be cut, a no-meetings policy is unrealistic and counterproductive. Meetings can efficiently bring together ideas and opinions and allow people to do their jobs in a more coordinated and cooperative manner. They help individuals form a coherent whole that is more adaptive, resilient, and self-directing, especially in times of crisis.

So the goal should be not to kill all meetings but to eliminate the ineffective or unnecessary ones and improve the quality of those that remain. Better meeting leadership requires better self-observation. Take a few minutes after each meeting you run to reflect. Think about attendee behavior, conversational dynamics, and the content that was covered. Ask yourself: Were people distracted? Conducting side conversations?

Leading meetings might seem like a small part of a manager’s job. But the positive change in this one arena can lead to real gains for companies and their employees. If your organization isn’t training you in this key skill, it’s time for you to develop it on your own.

From an HBR Article titled Why Your Meetings Stink—and What to Do About It

Two

7 Essential Work Skills For The Future – The 2020s And 2030s

Do you remember a time when you couldn’t ‘Google’ something? Or had to rely on a piece of paper to find your way to a location? Or when ‘social networking’ just meant meeting up with people in real life? Our world is changing fast, with new technologies and ways of doing business. So much has changed since 2000 – and the next 20 years will be no different.

The coronavirus pandemic has already accelerated this change and helped some technologies like video calling to come to the forefront. People will need to adapt to this constantly changing landscape to stay relevant and perform well.

The world is changing, and those who don’t adapt quickly will be left behind. You have seen how different 2020 was from the years right before it, and the future will be no different. Below are 7 workplace skills everyone will need in the future – the 2020s and beyond that.
1. Multi-Disciplinary Thinking
2. Emotional Intelligence
3. Creative, Out-of-the-Box Thinking
4. Logical and Data-Driven Reasoning
5. Virtual Collaboration
6. Designing a Holistic Environment That Promotes Wellbeing
7. Having a Voice
From an article from my desk – 7 Essential Work Skills For The Future – The 2020s And 2030s

Three

A Quote by Benjamin Franklin

“Remember not only to say the right thing in the right place, but far more difficult still, to leave unsaid the wrong thing at the tempting moment.”
Benjamin Franklin

That’s it for now. If you have any questions or feedback, or just want to introduce yourself, hit reply. I read and respond to every reply. All the best,

Sumit

(Twitter) @SumitGupta
(LinkedIn) Connect
May 11, 2021
Duct Tape Marketing by John Jantsch – Book Review & Summary
The New Rules Of Marketing

Small businesses are the buzzwords of today’s times, and everyone has the confidence to start their own small ventures. With so many smaller businesses hitting the market every year, the old textbook marketing mantras are a far cry from what is needed to survive in the big ocean of small businesses.

Duct Tape Marketing Updated And Revised by John Jantsch gives easy, technologically savvy, and practical modern marketing strategies to make small businesses stand out. These effective techniques show how to bring in the customers and spread the word effectively. It charts out effective plans for businesses that have just started out, for businesses that need to revamp their strategies, and even for those who need to get a clear direction once their initial strategies have successfully panned out.

The challenge that most new entrepreneurs have is how to find people that have a problem their businesses can solve, know, like, and trust in the product or service that the businesses can offer, and most importantly, make those people stick with their company.

Objective Mission And Goal

Traditionally, marketing strategies were defined by striking ad campaigns, eye-catching print ads and flyers, and other age-old marketing ideas. However, before one dives into deciding what their strategies look like, it is important to take a step back and focus on how to do it.

Any marketing strategy needs rock-solid objectives, mission, and goals. For example, the objective of your business could be to lead the market, have a mission of honorable and loyally serving customers, and have a goal of increasing your customer base within a given time period.

The objective, mission, and goal form the base of a marketing strategy and how to make them strong is the focus.

In addition to these, businesses need to have three basic steps while planning their strategies.
1. Who – The first step is to know whom you want to serve. Businesses should be able to clearly define their ideal customers to be able to effectively draw strategies to target them and to specialize their products and businesses to suit them.
2. How – The next step is to understand clearly how to attract the ideal customer and how to stand out from the competition. For example, businesses could focus on a USP such as uniqueness or higher quality standards.
3. Who and How – The third step is to combine both who and how to get the product to the target market by charting out business environments, knowing what competitor products offer, and analyzing the habits of the customer vis-à-vis their needs.
Duct Tape Marketing by John Jantsch

Your Ideal Customers

Traditional marketing strategies aimed at all types of people, hoping to catch the attention of the ideal customers. Today, it is essential for small businesses to be able to define who their ideal customers are. Moreover, it is important to know what are the problems they face, and how your products or services can help solve those problems.

These ideal customers can be found by looking into one’s own business history. The clients and customers list is a great way to analyze which customers are satisfied with the company’s products and services. Additionally, the ones who bring in the profits are the ideal customers who will not only fit the loyalty bill but also be the ones who will promote the company.

The next step is to look at the same demographic as those ideal profitable customers, and them how your products or services can solve their problems, and why they need you. Once you have a biographical sketch of the ideal customers, you can train your staff to identify them.

To tap into the same demographic, you can look at the places where these people go. For example, if your company deals in technology, any tech-related conference or exhibitions will be the place to go.

The Core Message

The core message of your marketing strategy is intrinsic to get talking to your ideal customers. In order to do this, your strategy should have a marketing purpose statement. While it isn’t a statement you will use on your customers, it will be the basis of all the strategies you develop.

A window cleaning company used a marketing purpose statement to give their strategies clarity. They saw that their competitors were unprofessional to clients, and hence, wanted to show customers that they are professional. So they developed the following marketing purpose statement, “We want people to know that we treat window cleaning as a profession and that our people are true professionals who treat the homes they enter as they would their own.” This enabled them to imbibe the value of professionalism into each staff member.

The next step is to create a talking logo. The talking logo is a statement that essentially sums up the greatest USP of your product or service. The window cleaning company used “We help homeowners see a better world.” A talking logo includes a strong action verb. It makes clients react with, “Really? How do you do that?”

The final step is to develop a core marketing message for the public. This is a slogan that serves as a short, succinct statement. The window cleaning company’s slogan was, “Your Pane is Our Passion.”

It is a catchy statement that attracted clients and showed them how professional the company is as compared to the competition in the market.

Tailoring The Marketing Message

Not everyone in the target market is the same or has the same needs. Therefore, tailoring the marketing message to suit different groups within the core target group. The core target market can be divided into four different groups.
1. Suspects – These are the customers who are part of the demographic of ideal customers, but haven’t been contacted by the company yet.
1. Prospects – Prospects are clients who have shown interest and want more information.
1. Clients – Clients are those who have used your products and services. Those clients who keep coming back for new products or upgrades are called repeat clients.
1. Champions – Finally, Champions are those who refer your company to friends and others and are indirect promoters of your product or service.
While initially, businesses tart out with mostly suspects in their core group, the aim is to convert all of them into champions. Actual growth is seen when customers become regular and refer your business, rather than merely acquiring new clients. Hence it is essential to develop tailored, targeted messages to appeal to these four sub-groups.

The aim of suspects is to catch their attention by offering test versions, free information, free reports, workshops, books, etc. Trial services, discounts, and offers help to convert prospects since they have already shown an interest. Champions are the most important sub-group and rewards such as memberships and affiliate programs work best for them.

Social Media And Online Presence

Today, having an online presence is vital for small businesses. Contrary to assumptions, jumping on the bandwagon and creating a website isn’t the end of it. Companies have to curate and tailor their online presence too.

Firstly, assuming that your customers know the name of your products and services is wrong. You have to employ the correct keywords with Search Engine Optimization to ensure that the customers get to your website when they search for you. Secondly, the correct contact details should be available on every page of your website. This will ensure that the client will know exactly how to contact you, without needing to search.

Optimization does help to bring in customers, however, it is equally important to increase your social media presence, advertise on other sites online, and even display your website on offline adverts and campaigns.

Ensuring that your website is enticing and attractive to your customers is essential too. It is wise to invest in a good website designer, have clear and concise content, and make navigation on the website easy. Adding audio and videos on the website increases SEO rankings by making the website more interesting and keeping customers on the website for longer.

Customers love to read reviews and ratings about the products and services they are looking for. Therefore, adding a feedback page and telling regular customers to give their feedback is essential for success.

Offline Advertising

In addition to ensuring a strong online presence, offline media should not be neglected. They still have the power to grab the attention of customers.

Advertising adds credibility to any business. The fact of the matter is, if a company has the ability to pay for advertising, it is doing well. Therefore, while free advertising works for smaller businesses, paid advertising helps reach a wider base.

Advertising gets people to notice the company. Journalists become aware of your standing in the market, people start recognizing social media adverts and most importantly, employees can proudly show off their company to friends and family, who in turn pass on the message via word-of-mouth.

Advertising, like marketing has it own rules and procedures. It has certain components that businesses should pay attention to.
1. Headline – The headline is the most important part of the advertisement and either mentions what the company has to offer or promises to the customers. It should be eye-catching enough to get a customer to stop flipping the pages of a magazine.
1. Editorial or Testimonial – Editorials and testimonials add proof to the claim made by the advert. Nothing is better than the words of a happy customer.
1. Call to action – An advertisement becomes more interesting if it includes a call-to-action. For example, if a retail store is having an offer, the advertisement should clearly state how these offers could be availed.
Following these procedures helps in understanding if the ad is effective, as well as understanding if the medium used is correct. An effective ad – also known as the control ad – should be used as long as it remains effective. After that, the wisest course of action is to create a better control ad than the previous one.

Public Relations And Positive Press Coverage

Often advertising isn’t enough. Even if the company has a star advertising plan, it doesn’t get the credibility it should without a good PR plan. That is why many companies are willing to pay hefty prices to ensure good public relations and press coverage.

A good PR plan helps in telling customers the story of the company. A heartfelt story helps in connecting customers emotionally to the brand. Additionally, positive advertising boosts employee satisfaction, because positive news about their own company will make them feel proud.

To increase positive press coverage, companies should get to know influential journalists, bloggers, and writers of the industry. Connecting with them on social media platforms such as Twitter will get them to notice your brand. Building good relations with them can help the company create positive press coverage.

Any news on any media, events, or changes in the company should be mentioned on the website of the company. Such bits of information can be placed in the ‘In the News section of the website and can be sent in newsletters to existing clients and other people in the network.

The Importance Of Referrals

The foremost aim of any marketing campaign is to get loyal customers to refer your brand, company, product, or service to others. One of the most effective ways of ensuring more clients and customers is via word-of-mouth or referrals.

People tend to trust the opinions and referrals of friends and family more than relying on an advertisement. Referrals work both ways. They add credibility to the reputation of the business and at the same time, make a client’s word worth trusting. As the business earns a badge of trustworthiness, the client gets a good name for referring to a good product.

Referrals are often willing to pay a premium price because they expect that the referred product to be absolutely worth its price. Because it is tried and tested!

How does one therefore, ensure good referrals?

The answer is as simple as – keep your existing customers happy! Only when customers are happy with the product or service, will they refer it to others. Additionally, it is essential for the business to provide its customers opportunities and ways of referring. For example, if your product has an upgrade, you can have a campaign where existing users click a picture of themselves using the upgraded product on their Facebook profiles.

Referrals aren’t limited to customers only. Other businesses that come in contact with your business can be modes of referrals too. As part of corporate gifting, you can send diaries or pens with the logo of your company. Their partner companies will take note of your business too.

The most important part of ensuring a steady flow of referrals is to reward referrals. For example, offering discounts for customers who bring in friends, or gifting other connected companies for referring you to other businesses, and most importantly referring them back.

Conclusion

Marketing has become a multifaceted function today. While many of the old-school rules of marketing still apply, they need to be tweaked to be relevant to the fast-paced, tech-savvy world. In order to do that, businesses should understand who their ideal customers are, tailor their marketing campaigns to them and ensure a good mix of online and offline advertising, positive PR, and press.

The main aim is to ensure recurring referrals from loyal customers.
May 9, 2021
The Power Of Visual Storytelling by Ekaterina Walter & Jessica Gioglio – Book Review & Summary
Marketing, advertising, and branding strategies rely heavily on the power of visuals. Right from the advent of print media, through the era of television, and even today, with the increasing influence and use of social media and online platforms, using imagery to tell a story is one of the most influential methods of attracting customers.

‘The Power Of Visual Storytelling’, by Ekaterina Walter and Jessica Gioglio introduces us to the world of visual storytelling, shows how to use the power of images to boost advertising and branding, and understands the best social media platforms to choose for successfully meeting business goals.

Picture Power

Nothing gets attention like a good picture does.

The human brain has evolved to process images around it since the beginning of time. The written text, as such is a relatively new concept in the human timeline of existence. Thus, images are a medium that can be processed by our brains about 60,000 times faster than text. Moreover, imagery is extremely vital to the world of creativity, storytelling, and writing.

It is for this very reason that JRR Tolkien drew a map of Middle Earth before he wrote The Lord Of The rings and JK Rowling sketched images of the Harry Potter magical world before she began to write.

Pictures are more powerful than we think and elicit an emotional response. Let us take a simple example. When we read the word ‘girl’, we immediately conjure up a picture of a girl in our minds. But if we see a picture of a ‘smiling girl’, it associates the picture with emotion, happiness. This concept forms the basis of visual storytelling.

A story can be told using pictures, videos, infographics, etc. It is this understanding that helps companies and brands know whether a picture on Instagram is enough, or a full post on Facebook with a description is needed. For example, Hubspot, the marketing software company uses Pinterest to showcase their products on pin-boards, etc., as well as uses meme driven marketing of awful stock photography to showcase their quirky side to attract customers.

The Power Of Visual Storytelling by Ekaterina Walter and Jessica Gioglio

The Wonders of A Shared Story

We have all told a story with pictures and images, whether we have intended to or not. Every time, a picture is posted on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, etc., a story is told. Buzzfeed statistics reveal that every minute, there are 208,300 pictures on Facebook and 27,800 images shared on Instagram. With these huge numbers, we can simply imagine the power of sharing a picture.

However, to make a simple image moving enough to tell a story, the image must be adjusted to suit the platform one wishes to share it on. This happens when an image is both, personal and helpful. For example, one can tweak Pinterest pins to relate to tweets. However, they should not be the same. Creating relations between posts and tweets, even on different platforms, shows engagement and trust, keeping followers and fans attracted and interested.

It is important that the image posted should provide people some value because that makes the image personal. Social Listening, which means keeping an eye open to comments people post about one’s product or company can help understand the value. For example, a company selling tourism packages should look at comments on tourism sites, travel blogs, and pages such as Facebook to understand what people say.

A good story needs to be retold. Therefore, an image or post should be share-worthy. People share posts and images that they find funny, or cool, or that touch their hearts emotionally. The aim of any company or brand should be to convert their followers into ‘sharers’, thus turning them into a sales-force for the product. Coca-Cola, for example, launched the #BestSummerMoment marketing campaign, to which they received a post of a married couple sharing a coke on their honeymoon!

The shared image showed the product in a positive light by focusing on an emotional moment.

Which Platform To Get On?

It is imperative today, for companies to get familiar with the different social media platforms available to them. Different platforms target different customers, and having an understanding of which platforms are a good mix to use is the need of the day. Let us take a look at which platform to get on.
- YouTube – To grab attention on YouTube, the video posted should be entertaining. Evian’s Baby and Me campaign, the ads became wildly successful hitting millions of views.
- Instagram – About 70% of Instagram’s users are female. This is an important statistic while considering posts. Moreover, images and videos on Instagram should never be more than fifteen seconds long. Lululemon’s Every Mat Has a Story to Tell campaign, was tailor-made for Instagram.
- Tumblr – Tumblr has a varied demographic. From Millenials to the wealthy, different types of customers get drawn to Tumblr’s cool, hip vibe. To boost engagement within teens, CocaCola has a ‘Where Happiness Lives’ Blog on Tumblr
- Slideshare – A social media platform for sharing presentations, Slideshare, though information-heavy, is a great place for follower engagement. NASA uses Slideshare wisely to share videos and documents that showcase their work.
While these are the lesser-known platforms, they can still make a big difference when used well.

Using The Most Popular Social Media Sites

The most popular social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Pinterest are widely used and are essentials when companies decide their social media marketing plans. However, it is essential for companies to understand how best to use these based on the demographics they reach. Let us look at each of these as well.

Pinterest

Pinterest is a great platform for companies to draw customers to their websites and online stores by sharing ‘pins’, or pics and videos, that when clicked can take a customer to the website. A usual Pinterest profile includes different theme boards such as ‘behind the scenes’, ‘charity work’, ‘deals and offers’, etc.

Considering that Pinterest has a customer base that is 80% women, of which 50% have children, it becomes an important platform for most companies. Sephora, for example, has found that its Pinterest followers have a fifteen times higher tendency to buy their products than their Facebook followers.

Twitter

Twitter’s huge popularity is what gets most companies attracted. Starting as a small microblogging website, Twitter today gets about 460,000 new joiners every day. However, with Twitter, it is important to remember that people have a tendency to view the post rather than view the Twitter profile of a company. Therefore, using a relevant hashtag (the pound sign before the word) that stands out is essential.

Intel has over 4.34 million followers. They keep their followers engaged in a unique and intelligent manner. Their #dothemath thread on Twitter is used to post interesting pieces of information that could be statistics related or even quirky.

Facebook

Finally Facebook! The website we are all most familiar with. Whether it is more than one billion users, or their over fifteen million brand pages, what makes Facebook a great platform is the fact that it allows two-way communication between a company or a brand and their followers. The two-way communication works because the moment a customer likes a video, image, post, or any other form of content posted by the company, all the company’s information becomes available on the customers, or followers’ newsfeed.

Facebook also allows fans to send the company private messages, chat and comment on posts, write on the wall of the company’s page, etc. The sheer number of ways a company or a brand can communicate and engage with its fans, followers, and customers makes it the most popular choice.

Engagement is calculated on the basis of the number of likes and comments on posts – basically, the actions that a post makes a customer take. Engagement can take the form of user-generated content, for example, Moleskin created a Facebook campaign called “What’s in your bag?” The campaign required followers to post a pic of their ‘bag’s inner lives’, producing a huge amount of content via user-engagement and generating a massive number of comments, likes, and shares.

To technically understand Facebook, one must have an understanding of the EdgeRank algorithm. The EdgeRank score is given on the basis of the engagement level of the company or brand page. The higher the EdgeRank score is, the more prominence the company’s post gains on newsfeeds. Therefore, companies should plan their Facebook advertising and presence with the EdgeRank score in mind. Even the most scintillating picture won’t make a difference if it does not engage the audience in any way!

Strategy, Strategy, Strategy

Just as it is with mainstream marketing, visual storytelling on social media is all about strategy. Without a good strategy and plan, one won’t get very far.

For example, how would a cosmetics company with an 85% female target audience, using Pinterest, Instagram, and Facebook strategize their social media plan?

To begin with, the strategy will need a vision or a goal, say, to build product awareness. Simultaneously, the company wants to engage its followers, increase customer base, loyalty, sales, and referral traffic. To put it statistically, increase followers by 20% and sales by 5%.

Second, the company needs to monitor its current position by tabulating the current impact of its content. Therefore, monitoring post metrics such as content, date, and time of post, etc. over a period of time, to ensure that they are in line with the goal/vision of the strategy is vital.

Third, conducting a cross-analysis between the monitored data and the information gathered during social listening will help in understanding the gap between the current position and the goal/vision.

Finally, considering social media needs a human touch, it helps to visualize the company’s personality. In this case, the cosmetic company would be a young, strong, design-conscious, woman. Therefore, the language and tone of the posts can reflect the personality type to engage like-minded and aspirant customers.

Finalizing The Media To Use

Visual storytelling isn’t limited to using videos and photos. In fact, infographics, postcards, and e-cards are great tools to use too.

Infographics – Infographics present data in the form of a picture. It helps merge important information with compelling pictures. Infographics, therefore, need solid data and research. There are online tools available to create smart infographics such as Visual.ly, Easel.ly, iCharts, Infogr.am, Piktochart, etc., in addition to hiring a graphic designer.

Thus if an organic coffee company, targeting high-end customers and specialty roasters could use infographics to show the process of their fair trade organic coffee production.

E-cards and Postcards – Postcards and e-cards are a simple yet great way of communicating with consumers, especially to communicate gratitude, share special promos, offers and even notify of CSR actions taken. These cards can be inspirational or even funny, and still, be a wonderful way to tell fans the story of the brand. There are websites such as ‘SnapShop Postcard’ and ‘Cards in the Post’ that have premade options.

Thus the organic coffee company can send new product postcards to their buyers chronicling the humor of a coffee lover not getting their morning cuppa!

These tools can add a boost to any social media campaign and enhance the storytelling ability of visuals.

Real-Time Marketing And Visual Storytelling

The concept of real-time marketing simply entails planning to be in the right spot at the right time (no thanks to the luck factor). It comprises well-tailored, perfectly timed messages sent to a target audience, using social media platforms and marketing data. It is a fast, dynamic form of marketing that is the key to marketing success.

For example, Oreo used the partial power outage during the 2013 Super Bowl XLVII in New Orleans by tweeting a picture of an Oreo cookie under the spotlight with a tag, ‘You can always dunk in the dark.’ The post received nearly 20000 likes and was retweeted about 15000 times. A perfectly timed tweet!

The trick to real-time marketing is to be in sync with the latest news and trends and increase customer contact. To increase customer contact, companies need to use Social CRM (Social Customer Relationship Management). Social CRM uses fast-paced platforms such as Twitter and Facebook, and tools such as infographics to manage customer complaints and requests as they happen.

Additionally, to be in touch with the latest news and trends would mean to align marketing strategies to the happening news and current trends. For example, Mini Cooper once posted a picture of their new Nemo Model (replete with Pixar’s Finding Nemo fish colors), during a snowstorm with a tagline, ‘Find your way through the storm.’

Another great example of real-time marketing and social CRM was Smart Car’s reaction to Clayton Hove’s tweet, “Saw a bird had crapped on a Smart Car. Totaled it.”

They used an infographic showing the actual amount of bird poop (of either 360000 turkeys or 4.5 million pigeons) that would be needed to crush one of their cars. Clayton Hove, being the ad guru he is, loved and responded with “Outsmarted by Smart Car. Best. Social media response. Ever.” Tweet. It was indeed a great response using social CRM, making it a fun exchange!

Conclusion

Visual storytelling in the future of social media marketing. Using the right platforms, social media websites, and visualizing tools, companies, and brands can rake in those followers, attract a veritable number of customers, and in turn boost sales.

Using the power of visuals, applying strategy, and relying on clever, creative real-time marketing, any company or brand can take the online and offline world by storm.
May 5, 2021