Thilanka Rathnayake already a giant in untangling social media, engraving out professions – by Sunil Thenabadu
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Social Media in today’s context has grown to be an inherent area of our souls. It has obviously transformed the manner humans connect but also shifted the way business is performed across the world, making way for redesigning via innovation like earlier. It is why we are that is also why it’s developing progressively further important to get it spot on.
Thilanka Rathnayake s an old boy of prestigious Royal College ,Colombo, has had his higher education in the hospitality sector, then having an interest in marketing and photography but decided to carve out a comparatively a new career path in Sri Lanka, venturing as the Founder and Managing Director of Devotion Social Media Agency predominantly as a Social media Consultant as well as a Political Analyst .Thilanka proudly recollects how he launched on his journey, his first account was the “Daddy” band, having controlled their Facebook and Instagram pages. Thereafter, actress Yureni Noshika had introduced the “Chika” from the band. Had published their event albums had done all their promotions, event campaigns to unprecedented tall elevations. Thereafter had managed singer Lahiru Perera and Yureni’s social media platforms, thereafter it was no looking back, going from strength to strength. Currently ,Thilanka and his team handle several local celebrity accounts.
Currently on the area of high pressure, depths, and challenges of carving out a relatively new career path in Sri Lanka, in Social Media Management. Thilanka and his able team members cope with several superior brands , personalities, politicians and cricketers viz.,Wanindu Hasaranga,Kusal Mendis,Ajantha Mendis,Chamika Karunaratne,Bhanuka Rajapaksa,Avishka Fernando,Lahiru kumara and others.
Thilanka’s Devotion Social Media Agency, could be analysed as a full-service digital agency with knowledge and skill, offering the vast clientele a flawless, cost-effective and well-controlled procedure from beginning to end. The clients’ needs are deemed as constantly a priority. From enormous artistic concepts and exquisitely constructed websites, logos, social media platforms, social media handling to other digital promotion approaches, they provide all within one roof.
It’s not an one-individual show.Thilanka and his team are driven to strengthen their client’s enterprise fostering to serve their aspirations. They are dedicated in establishing significant relationships between them and their clients. That implies they operate jointly, taking the time to sincerely pay attention , summarizing complex goals and desires into clear, evident actions that generate better outcomes. Devotion Social media Agency team has so far has worked with a wide-variety of customers in many businesses. This variety has brought new assessments and visions providing the clients with innovative and unforeseen approaches to battle. The team headed by Thilanka have also linked with a diverse array of public bodies through trades and marketplaces in social media authentication. Not just several images in Sri Lanka but also several icons universally.
Through the agency they have validated Sri Dalada Maligawa, Mayantha Dissanayake, Harin Fernando, Dhammika Prasad, Yureni Noshika, Tehan Perera, Teena Shenell, Thisara Perera, Lahiru Thirimanne, Pawan Suyal, Beauden Barret, etc. The media Agency had also been involved in regaining high ranking profile hacked accounts. Thilanka had emphasised that Social Media is crucial for contemporary businesses. But for any business proprietor time is definitely scarce and their efforts to utilize social media could often be stretched out to narrow. When evaluating innumerable other factors, adding social media to the mix can be intimidating or virtually not possible to nurture. Therefore, the significance of a Social Media Manager turn into be much more important. When you have a dedicated and committed Social Media Manager to accomplish all your social media marketing happenings, it not only permits employers to direct their devotion to general management and other important errands, but also makes way for a robust emphasis on a vigorous module to any succeeding entity.
In the above context, Social media jobs are, nevertheless, still vague in Sri Lanka. This is as most people are still under the sense that just having a bearing on social media platforms and publishing content is ‘social media marketing’. Currently it is a pity that most people don’t know the importance of an appropriate social media consultant or manager, as very soon, social media will be the main marketing and intermingling platform rather than the conventional television and print channels. Unfortunately, in Sri Lanka, there are only a few social media studying prospects accessible, when matched with the global landscape. But Thilanka, is happy to see at least a few private institutions offer these prospects by conferring them with accreditations. This is very much of a vital requirement in Sri Lanka.
Brand consistency across all marketing touchpoints is a challenge for every company and brand. Social media branding is more than maintaining just a Facebook page, Instagram account or a Twitter account. A brand is how you make your customers feel, and it’s built by taking a consistent approach across every interaction they have with your brand through social media.What is needed is to be mindful of is that competitors, too, strengthen their online profiles. So, the need for you to differentiate your brand’s identity on social media only keeps growing. Building a recognizable brand known for its positive qualities will help gain and retain followers. Successfully executing branding strategies could help win a loyal following for one’s brand, too. But developing this powerful, branded social media presence is not a challenge you can just achieve in a day. It takes meticulous planning and consistent efforts.
In Thilanka’s book, social media strategy outlines on social media goals, the tactics one will use to achieve them and the system of measurement you will track to measure onee’s growth. The goals should align with your business’s larger digital marketing strategy. So, Thilanka had appropriately chosen social media marketing goals that align with business objectives. He and his team are constantly learning everything we can aboutth client’s spectators. So, as you can imagine, the work doesn’t just pause or stop.They also gather data, conduct competitive analysis to listen to what each audience has to say, when it comes to formulating strategies.
Managing and handling social media platforms is not an easy task, even though it may seem that way on the surface point. Sometimes it’s about meeting several clients repeatedly to touch bottom. In just the last decade, social media has rapidly evolved and become a major element of marketing in all businesses. As a result, social media practitioners now perform a role in more business initiatives than ever before. We are key players in managing a company’s or individual’s reputation, deploying customer service, acquiring customers, spotting trends, and navigating, breaking information. It’s a common misconception that social media jobs are glamorous but as simple as posting entertainment.
But one must note that working with cricketers is the easiest. We must get confirmation from them or their managers before posting any content, which gives us some explanation and clarity to our responsibility. Some of them are Thilanka’s school friends having played cricket with Kusal Mendis, Sadeera Samarawickckrama and even Dasun Shanka when schooling. So, working with them is naturally easy for him.
Managing politicians on the other hand is very tough, always been very cautious and contemplate not just feelings, but also optics and opinions. So, they always have to be in touch with their secretaries frequently. Social media has launched up so many new prospects, generating new marketing and media jobs and delivering new opportunities for career growth. If one does to choose to work in this field, he will likely find himself overseeing social media accounts within multiple platforms, planning advertising operations and along with that comes a significant amount of work with level of accountability, that might seem overwhelming. Hence perseverance will the only solution. As social media progresses, hence perform expert morals, technical certifications, together licensing needs. If one is new to this field, it might be difficult to find out what the job really consists of or what will be anticipated of you. You can begin your job pursuit by looking for keywords like digital content, digital media, online content, online society, social marketing, engagement, collaborative, just online or social media in common.
Sunil Thenabadu in Brisbane
e mail sthenabadu@hotmail.com,
WhatsApp 0061444533242
