Social Media Agency Drizzlin, Shows How the Medium Stands For More Things Than Just 'Likes'

Social media marketing is a common buzzword today. And most of it is high volume campaigns that run on the platform for a short time. But a bigger science that the medium holds potential for, is to understand consumer behavior and use that intelligently to create long-lasting brands -- something this startup does. But back in 2006-07 when it was just starting out nobody believed in social media, the power it wields and how it can be used. However Drizzlin Media is one of the oldest users and now experts of the social media space and over the last five years have helped many brands like Lenovo, KFC, Airtel, Bajaj Allianz, ICICI Lombard, Xbox 360 and Kingston Technologies among others --build, monitor and maintain their social media reputation and online presence.

Started by Deepak Goel in 2008, Drizzlin Media, today has presence across 8 countries including India and London and services 20 clients. Talking about his experience and the journey so far, Deepak says, “Today what you know as social media is a much matured outlook of the platform. Earlier people just wanted to create a presence on social media and then forget about it. There was no constant engagement with customers, no continuous conversations – it was very static.” Now things have changed and while social media is still measured in terms of number of fans or likes, what excites Deepak and keeps him going is the chance to build a global brand using the power of social media.

Drizzlin Media is very strong on data mining and deriving insights from that data to help brands. Online brand tracking, social media analytics, online content strategy and management and creating assets online are the areas that the agency excels in. “When we meet brands, we ask them what kind of an image they want to create online. The next step would be research, look at consumer insights and build something that the brand can use for a long time to come,” explains Deepak. But how can a long time solution be built on a medium where things are constantly changing? Deepak says it is possible.

“Brands are not sure how they can use the medium, because there is a lack of understanding of the space. But we help clients make a difference in the long run through our techniques,” says Deepak. The long term perspective can be taken care of when the quality of people that a brand reaches out to is good. And engaging the right kind of people, through good quality content and right conversations -- is Drizzlin’s forte. Many firms in the market today have a consumer agnostic fan acquisition strategy. So an insurance company maybe talking to an 14-year old, who doesn’t even understand the space, explains Deepak. Drizzlin make sure the communication happening on the site reaches the right kind of customer who is actually the TG for the brand and can benefit from the communication.

Drizzlin does a lot of online reputation management(ORM) and customer service for brands as well. They do not do campaign led activities for brands right now. They have handled ORM for ICICI Bank. Drizzlin mostly works with clients on a retainer basis, because the nature of their work is long term and requires a longer association.The Drizzlin team, is a mix of people who do content, research and design. Each of them have a variety of interests besides work, but enjoy working for Drizzlin because of the freedom it gives them to be just themselves. In the last five years, Deepak says Drizzlin has grown well. “The work we have done for brands has been very satisfying and more impact driven. However because of the nature of the medium, we have to learn constantly and keep evolving, which is the fun part of our work,” says Deepak. Getting good talent to join them remains a challenge for the agency, but the bigger challenge are the many other advertising agencies out there who offer 360-degree solutions or are a one-stop shop for all needs that a brand has. How does Drizzlin compete in such a fierce market? “I believe in Jack Welch’s philosophy. He said. ‘Don’t do everything, do what you are good at’ and that is what we are doing,” says Deepak.