Social Media Agency Feature : PRHUB Digital - A Social Media Boutique Agency

Who are we?

PRHUB Digital is a specialized end to end digital and social media boutique which addresses two of the biggest challenges organisations face with their digital and social media branding today - Content and Engagement.

To us it is all about extending our decade’s experience in building brands offline, to create conversations and engage your target audience on digital and social media platforms. With the added advantage of seamless integration, so that your brand speaks the same across.

It is all the more important because social media is a new phenomenon which is rapidly changing as it expands and most clients do not understand fully how it works and what it is good for? They are seeking answers from specialized firms hoping what is being done or proposed that integrates into their existing, overall brand strategy/plan.

Not social media presence or digital marketing for the sake of it but because it is cool, is the latest fad and everyone is talking about it.

What is in the name?

PRHUB Digital drives our unique differentiation home. PRHUB is among India's top 20 full services PR firm with direct presence in 5 cities (Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Chennai and Hyderabad) and the experience of catalyzing brand awareness creation and communication for close to 200 organizations over a 11 year period.

What this experience provides us is a clear understanding of how brands are built, messaging and the art of communication Public Relations have always been about creating newsy and compelling content which is the core of any successful digital/social media campaign. The digital addition connotes that it is a specialized, independent practice with its own team and clients. In a nutshell, as our client you get the best of both worlds.

What we do?

Coaching and consulting

• Evolution of social media policy
• Developing an overall digital/social media strategy
• Social media coaching
• Hands-on training (workshops etc.)
• Audits

Online/internet marketing

• Search Engine Optimization
• PPC
• Banner advertising
• e-mail marketing
• e-newsletters
• Localized marketing

Mobile

• SMS

Interactive

• Design, development and content writing for static, dynamic and responsive websites with or without CMS (Content Management System); we are familiar with Jhoomla, Drupal and Wordpress.
• Videos, presentations and like multimedia content

Why we do it?

The digital and social media foray happened at the insistence of an existing client who incidentally was a Professor teaching social media marketing as a course at a leading B-school. His logic was quite simple but profound.

Since he handled all the external communication of the B-school and knew what their positioning and key differentiators were, it did not make sense for th B-school to invest in another firm who will ask for the same information and just pipe it differently to different channels. It set us thinking and before we could pinch ourselves, we got neck deep, started running campaigns and managing projects for different clients etc

Another reason that has led to this getting deeper lies in the unique nature of digital/social media marketing. Unlike any other area/form of marketing or communication, digital/social media truly requires a multi-disciplinary and skilled team to succeed. You need account strategists/planners who know the brand and understand the marketer's needs, you need a team of content writers who translates that into suitable and compelling content, key word experts to guide the content and approach and programmers who can develop apps.

And creative folks who can design visual posts and infographics that catch the attention not to mention the client servicing/engagement part. Phew!!! And as one gazes into the future, we believe online, offline will merge and it will be one seamless connected world or market space that brands will operate in. With consulting, communication, design and content skills already built in, the addition of digital/social media expertise prepares us well to be the preferred ones who will shepherd the brands not just today but in the not so distant future when the landscape is highly different as well.

How we evolve?

Our evolution is constant and that is another unique facet of digital/social media work. It keeps changing all the time and you need to be clued in regularly not to miss a beat. It keeps you on your toes and never lets you think even once that you mastered it!

We started with a heavy social media focus and also work on specific platforms like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn etc. Then we moved into integrated campaigns with key word analysis, analytics and standardized measurement/reporting built-in. All along we continue to do online banner advertisements, e-mail blasts, e-newsletters, SMS blasts, creation of videos and websites.

Right now the focus is on integrating our digital/ social media campaigns with PR and other marketing tools to deliver integrated campaigns which we believe will be the future.

We learn the hard way...

May not be the hard way but it took us a lot of time to understand the various platforms/tools, how they work etc. but the biggest learning is to separate the wheat from the chaff. There is so much out there on digital and social media marketing that if you are not choosy you can end up reading and being even more confused.

While anyone can become a social media expert by reading up whatever is out there, we know from experience that working on the ground and learning what works (while keeping the ears rightfully open) is more effective.

Social responsibility in social media...

The campaign we did for road safety for AASI and the ongoing work we do for United Way Bengaluru are all in the public interest areas. We are happy also that they allow us to do some contribution in areas that directly impact all our lives (lakes, malnutrition, road safety etc.). We probably will do more sooner.

Need of the Hour

Bring on the basics:

Digital/social media needs to get or be treated with certain level of seriousness - it is a very important medium, opportunity and tool that brands cannot just ignore but it is also not the be all for marketers and brands. We need to apply the same rigor that brands apply to their marketing plans, messaging, choice of vehicles and campaigns here as well.The newness of the medium and other attributes does not mean anything can fly.

Quality and not just quantity 

The chest thumping is done with and most mature marketers today speak a different language. The facebooks of the world hungry for more revenues are essentially de-incentivizing the ability of the brands to communicate to all its followers or fans limiting it; so one needs to pay them to get that reach or visibility.

Organic growth unless you are a really large visible brand with deep pockets does take time and it is far more important to do that focusing on the right kind of audience and good engagement levels

Multiple platforms, multiple tools 

There is no one magic tool or wand. Most successful social media campaigns are multi-platform, with messaging and activities customized to each one while flowing from a common spring.

 Past and present clients:

• United Way of Bengaluru
• Sheffield Hallam University
• KRSMA Wines
• Paul Writer
•  AASI
•  ISF
• Aishvarye Sinha
• Mindsparks
• PRHUB
• Tektronix India
• CDC CRM
• MaFoi Strategy Consulting
• TiE Chennai
• SEMI India
• GSM Academy
• Launch of "The Startup Diaries"
• APMG India

Industry as we foresee

Will evolve quickly and in not predictable directions with one certainty. The winners won’t be the gold diggers who are captivated by the potential treasure. But those who have the right approach, invest long-term, learn constantly, have multi-disciplinary skills and deliver real value to their customers. Specific to India, the space will mature with clients seeking more sophisticated and sustainable solutions versus quick fixes. The geeks will be important but will give way to others.

A day without the internet

On work it is a disaster. And all of us are glued/clued in all the time since you can’t do digital/social media without being an active participant and consumer yourself whoever you are and whatever level you maybe at. But we do long for days when we can just switch it all off and just chill. Get the ideas flowing on a beach under the shade.

Lastly, Are you hiring?

We are actively looking for a senior manager to oversee the multi-disciplinary team and better engage our clients, a fabulous business and feature writer among others. We are always open to young talent brimming with ideas and are willing to accept a certain rigor in the way of working.