Akanksha Goel ( @AkankshaGoel) has more than 16,000 twitter followers. But that isn't the only reason she is recognised as one of the top social media consultants in the Middle East. "Like you're told not to judge a book by its cover, don't judge someone by the number of twitter followers or Facebook fans," she says. "What's important is how well you understand social media platforms and how effectively you use these to drive business. The numbers should translate into something substantial - the company's bottom line. In other words, you have to take the online contacts offline, and connect in person."
Just how well she uses social media platforms is evident from her portfolio of clients - Sony, Samsung, Philips, Puma, Mall of the Emirates, Mashreq bank, Welcare Hospital and Dubai Culture and Arts Authority, to name a few. "I'm glad I work with brands that are at the forefront of using technology as a part of their business models," she says.
Using technology for business is something Akanksha is familiar with, having started out with connecting to the 3D virtual world Second Life. Podcasts and wikis (web pages that can be created and edited collaboratively by different people) followed, and now she heads Socialize, one of Dubai's largest social media agencies. Along the way, she worked as editor of Stuff magazine in Singapore and organised Asia's first PodCamp (a real-time community gathering for new media enthusiasts). She is also a speaker at major digital media and marketing conferences around the world.
Although she self-deprecatingly says, "I didn't plan anything. To start with, I was lucky to be in Singapore in 2005 at the heart of the social media revolution…", it wasn't just a case of being in the right place at the right time for her, it was knowing what to do with the right tools. We take a look at the steps she climbed on her northward bound career trajectory.
Step 1. Wiki
In 2006, while a student of Corporate Communication and Reputation Management course at the Singapore Management University (SMU), Akanksha signed into Second Life, an online virtual world in which users create avatars to interact with other users and trade virtual property. "It was at this point that I realised how much technology was redefining culture and helping me transcend boundaries. This led me to create a wiki with one of my professors, about how different cultures consume social media." That wiki (bit.ly/uUJVtT) is now a case study at The New York Times on collaborative learning.
The wiki was read by Mitch Joel, marketing and communications blogger and author of Six Pixels of Separation: Everyone Is Connected. He was due to visit Singapore and contacted Akanksha. "I was interviewed for episode 62 of his podcast on the rise of digital media in Asia, and at the end of my interview, I happened to share on-air that I was looking for a job in marketing."
Step 2. Podcast
Glen Myles, a publisher in Australia who was due to purchase a publishing house in Singapore, heard the podcast. "He offered me the job of editor-in-chief of Stuff magazine [a consumer electronics magazine]. I accepted. That was in 2007. What is amazing is that in the bricks and mortar world, it would take me so much time to email resumes to multiple companies, but with a podcast, you can reach a global audience with the click of a button," says Akanksha.
Step 3. Networking
At Stuff, Akanksha built up a good industry network. "I kept strong online and offline connections," she says. One of her contacts, Nicholas Paillart, founder of the DineDubai network and director of the Singapore-based loyalty programme OneEmpower, asked her to help with sourcing a good PR company. "In a way, I was playing the role of a media consultant. I was also asked whether I would help their in-house marketing team in Dubai and this spiked my interest. The next day, I was offered a job as their marketing director."
Step 4. Google Profile
Akanksha landed in the UAE in 2008 and set up a Google Profile account - sort of a networking wing of Google's social media services, where you can create a public profile and manage your online identity. On the profile, she placed a link to an interview she had done with the publication Knowledge@Wharton on social media in Asia. "Around the same time, Dubai-based Murdoch University invited me to give a talk on social media to their MBA class, and after that the demand quickly grew. By 2009, I was one of the first few speakers in the UAE talking about social media. I created my twitter account, and several of those who attended the sessions followed me. I began to receive inquires from companies, and it quickly became obvious that there was a huge demand for training."
Step 5. Twitter
On the eve of Dubai Twestival (a global social media fundraising initiative that connects communities offline on a single day to highlight a cause) the following year, local radio station Dubai 92 announced a compilation of Dubai's 100 Most Compelling Tweeters. "I was part of that list, and the recognition that came with that got me even more excited in the vast potential that these new platforms held. I slowly realised that I had to truly interact with Dubai's new league of netizens and this is when I organised one of Dubai's first tweet-ups. Soon, they became commonplace and businesses started to question how they could harness the power of social media. Socialize was born in 2010 to train companies on leveraging online tools and has since expanded into a full service agency that has over 40 clients across the region."
Lessons you can learn
Akanksha says, "Social media tools allow everyone to create a personal brand. Today one can reach a global audience with the click of a button, a privilege that was reserved for superstars and media companies less than a decade ago. Grab the opportunity to have your voice heard. After all, most employers Google you before they hire you. What will your Google footprint say about you?"
*Next week, are you a treasure hunter or observer? Read Akanksha's take on the five common social media personalities.
