[Interview] Alicia Souza on doodling her way through social media

When you have the talent and conviction, social media is the medium for you and Alicia Souza's journey reinstates the fact all over again. In her conversation with Social Samosa, Souza gets up close and personal about her journey in the socialverse.

You have not been active on Twitter lately. Any particular reason for the same?

Some how I never got attached to the platform. I think it was because it was initially not too image-friendly. So though I made the account, I didn't use it as much.

How have pictorial platforms like Instagram, Snapchat and Pinterest helped in marketing your new range?

Because I handle all my accounts, I like being on only a select few. I've started using Instagram this year and fell in love. Of course, the ads were an inevitable annoyance but I kind of fell in love with the mobility. I'm hoping to start on Pinterest next year (though I have an account, I hardly use it). It's been great for letting people know about new products that we launch and feedback when I'm prototyping.

Do you use social media for lead generation? If yes, how do you hunt for new clients and projects?

I don't use it to generate leads but they have done it on their on! Many of my jobs have come to me because a client has seen my work on social media. Because of it, I've never had a portfolio since I began freelancing!

One of your latest content themes on Facebook was ‘childhood belief’. Are these social media centric themes? Which other themes do you follow on Facebook?

I often do illustration series on Facebook, now Instagram too. One of the first ones I did was 'Learn something new every day (which are odd words and their meanings illustrated), Old Wives' Tales, Pick up Lines, Pet Peeves and now Childhood Beliefs. I love that I get a lot of content for these from crowd-sourcing. People tell me their childhood beliefs and I draw them. It's heaps of fun for them and me!

Facebook played a very important role in popularising your doodles. What was the one thing that helped you get started on Facebook during your early days?

I think just the encouragement because I was not very confident when I started. Everyone was so generous with their kind words that it made me do it every single day since I started. I'm grateful till today.

5 things that you keep in mind while post content on any social media platform

1) Be diligent when posting (i.e., no matter how frequently, just be regular)

2) Be considerate. (If it's opinions, everyone has one.)

3) Be responsive. (Try to respond to messages regularly)

4) Be kind.

5) Be you.

What are the major challenges that you face in social media marketing?

Two things. One is the time I spend is getting so hard to put aside with the number of things that have popped up in my realm of work. The second thing is the coverage. I don't advertise and I've felt the reach of unpromoted posts diminish with time. It pinches.

Have you considered hiring a social media agency or freelancer to manage your social media accounts?

No, that is one thing I doubt I could ever do. Mainly because I work under my name and I want my voice to be, well, mine! This is why I end up writing the content for my website as well. I considered it once because things got so busy but I end up working weekends to work around it.