Interview With Saumar Deka, Lead Social Media Trainer At Digital Vidya

Saumar Deka, a dynamic professional with the expertise in strategy development and exploring the industry as research consultant is a complete internet addict. Because of his passion and love for Digital Media, he moved towards Digital Marketing after having ample experience in Research Space, where he co-managed Global Research Center of Wipro Consulting Service. Apart from this, he also explored his skills and worked in UN FAO on the consumer research project, at Cognizant on mainframes and at Ibibo on buzz monitoring. However, Wipro bestowed him an opportunity to explore more about Social Media as an instrument so as to solve prevailing business problems in every aspect such as Employee Engagement and Change Management. Due to his ample contribution and dedication towards his work, he came into the notice of the company and was awarded for an innovation from the CTO office.

Presently, Saumar is Director, Windchimes Communications and is a Lead Social Media Marketing Trainer with Digital Vidya, India’s leading digital media marketing training company.[spacer]

Digital Vidya: How did you get into Digital Marketing?

Saumar Deka: Three very strong influences got me into Digital Marketing:

• One was a chance of an internship at Ibibo, thanks to a family friend and serial entrepreneur of substantial success. This family friend has always been someone I really looked up to, and at that point it was just about doing what he did.
• The second influence was none other than Pradeep himself. It was one of his brilliant DV sessions that sold me the idea of social media. It was clear to me by then that social media was the future of marketing.
• The third and most important influence probably was my boss at Wipro whose faith in this medium forced the Consulting Division to go beyond the beaten path and venture into this market with all guns blazing. I think that was 2010, and I do not think I have ever looked back from that point onwards.

Digital Vidya: Why do you think it’s important for entrepreneurs, marketing professionals and students to learn Digital Marketing today?

Saumar Deka: Digital / Social is not an option anymore. Your customers are on the internet. You have to sell over the internet.  Clichéd as it might sound, the question is not “if”; the real question is “how”. And that is where all our energies should be diverted. The rules of engagement with your customers have changed. And it only makes sense that everyone who is in the business of “selling” learns this new trade sooner than later.

Digital Vidya: What kind of Digital Marketing training programs you lead at Digital Vidya?

Saumar Deka: I mostly lead the Social Media Marketing Courses at Digital Vidya, and I have trained students of engineering colleges as well as multinational corporate brands. The challenge is both in terms of the width and depth of knowledge you need to have, to be able to cater to such a diverse group. B2B and content marketing are probably, my interest areas.

Digital Vidya: Please share top 5 takeaways your training participants get out of their participation.

Saumar Deka:

1. The best part of Digital Vidya is the fact that we spend considerable time discussing the strategic “why’s” and not just the tactical “how’s” and “what’s”.
2. Theories are important. Hence, we discuss theories too.
3. The case studies we discuss are definitely among the very best. The audience usually takes home with them a cumulative understanding of the industry.
4. Also, we discuss both global and Indian success stories – specific to an industry. If you would have searched, there aren’t too many online case studies around in India.
5. Again, needless to say, since we keep sessions interactive, there is a lot of learning that happens from each other.
6. And very interestingly, as a result of the active discussions we have, I have seen individuals with specific business problems having found implementable solutions during these sessions and at no extra consulting costs.

Digital Vidya: What do you like most about training at Digital Vidya?

Saumar Deka: As I mentioned earlier, there was a time when I wanted to get into academics – that did not work out. Now, my academic zeal is quenched to a certain extent by my association with Digital Vidya. The amount of diverse audience, we see across the training sessions is overwhelming at times. The requirement for every individual is different, and time is always short. This juggle is challenging, but at the end of the day, the amount of learning you come out with, is more than gratifying.

Digital Vidya: Do you suggest any changes to Digital Vidya, so that the value of its courses can be enhanced further?

Saumar Deka: I guess focused business area based training programs can help, say trainings targeted specific to business functions like “Employee Engagement”, “B2B Lead Generation”, “Internal Communication”, “Content Marketing and Curation”, “Zero Budget Marketing for Startups” etc. I guess they are already doing it partially through the webinar sessions.