An Interview With – Anuj Sharma, Senior Consultant- Brand Solutions, #ARM Digital

 Anuj Sharma started his career in Digital Marketing back in 2009. He was working for a social media agency called Media Redefined, managing brands like Samsung. After working there for a year, he went on to do his MBA. Post his MBA, Anuj joined WAT Consult, where he managed brands like Ford, Nikon and SAP in strategizing social media campaigns and was an active member in the operations team.

Post working on several social media campaigns of early times, Anuj shifted his focus to other branches of Digital Marketing with strategies at core. Currently at #ARM Digital, Gurgaon he is a senior consultant for brand solutions and work on brands like NIIT, The Quint, Groupon and Truecaller on designing, strategizing and executing digital campaigns across earned, owned and paid media.

Digital Marketing has been an important & major part of his current profile. As an active consumer of information age, it is easy to understand the connect between the brand and (target) consumer.

How did you get into Digital Marketing? What interested you in learning Digital Marketing?

Anuj: I was a part of 2008-09 social media boom in India. As a recent BBA graduate, it came easy to me when planning  and marketing for social media. As a part of my work in the first two organisations, I got to work alongside professionals on various award-winning campaigns, polishing my skills, both as a consumer and marketer.

After joining my current organization, I was exposed to other forms of digital marketing. It didn’t take me much time to decode brand demands and the actionables required. As a consultant, I worked across all forms of paid, owned and earned media – including social media, influencer marketing, digital advertising and digital media management.The fact that a user spends so much time on a digital platforms today makes it all the more simpler to reach out to them through psychographic targeting. Digital Marketing enables to reach out to users in different phases of consumption/purchase cycle – Awareness, Interest, desire and action.

The fact that a user spends so much time on a digital platforms today makes it all the more simpler to reach out to them through psychographic targeting. Digital Marketing enables to reach out to users in different phases of consumption/purchase cycle – Awareness, Interest, desire and action.

According to you, what are the advantages of conventional marketing over Digital Marketing? Do you think that Digital Marketing is a threat to the future of conventional marketing?

Anuj: The answer is simple – reach. TV and Print are primarily reach mediums. Even with Digital growing at an exceptional pace, the gap is still there. For a developing country like India, conventional marketing is established. Although their options are limited. Conventional is established to reach across urban and rural audience.Digital Marketing is growing by leaps and bounds and might be a great.

Digital Marketing is growing by leaps and bounds and might be a great substitute to other reach mediums in days to come.

Share about your 3 favorite Digital Marketing case studies. What did you like most about them?

Anuj: 

• Pepsi Bring Happiness Home: The fact that Pepsi played on their competition’s core communication and won it during the primetime of New Year 2015.
• Chipotles’ The Scarecrow: With a campaign whose core was user gamification, Chipotle played it really well with their Scarecrow game against their competition and biggie Tacobell.
• #MoreThanSlim by Gionee India: This has to be one of my favorites on Twitter India, also I was a part of this campaign. The core was how we utilized General Election debacle on Twitter to promote Gionee’s then flagship super slim phone.

According to you, what are the top 3 mistakes committed by organizations today in leveraging Digital Marketing?

Anuj: 

• Not thinking “integrated” when it comes to designing solutions across multiple digital platforms
• Not mapping objectives with outcomes to get lost in the abyss of unwanted information and underestimation of work
• Not thinking data and measurability for each step in and out of a campaign

Between Agency and In-house, which approach would you recommend for maximum value of Digital Marketing? Why?

Anuj: The agency approach is recommended for maximum value of Digital Marketing. With an external body managing the operations, the brand can concentrate better on business planning and growth.

Which are your 3 favorite Digital Marketing Tools?

Anuj: Google Analytics will top the list for all the measurable reasons. It followed by Radian6 for online listening and AppsFlyer for mobile marketing & planning.

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

Anuj: 

• For Entrepreneurs: I will put it short and simple – for entrepreneurs, it means more business. Marketing on digital means a narrowed, funneled set of audience to approach with your offerings to gain refined and quality leads for your business.
• For Professionals: For professionals, Digital Marketing is the next big thing and they need to be prepared for it. Digital Marketing allows you to try a plethora of options to measure and operate, hence its important to learn its basics and advances.
• For Students: Digital Marketing is more humane than conventional marketing. This makes it an open career option for students. The approach to marketing on Digital is always around connecting / touching the audience as king. As a consumer, you know what people like you want and that makes it simpler to sell it to him.

What are the top 3-5 skills you look for when hiring a candidate for Digital Marketing profile?

Anuj: In digital, hiring becomes very critical as one need to understand human, machine & data at the same time. Hence, it’s all about being composed, to sum it up in my words;

1. Should have an Integrated thinking approach
2. Think data
3. Understand, social is for human, hence read emotions.
4. Should know how to control crisis
5. Understand the difference between marketing & business objectives.

What is your advice for newbies, who are looking at building a career in Digital Marketing industry?

Anuj: 

For any newbie who wants to build a career in Digital Marketing industry, he must remember to step into the “consumer” shoes first. That helps in self-analysis of your ideas and map it with consumer experience.

How do you stay updated on the latest trends in Digital Marketing? Which are the Digital Marketing resources (i.e. blogs/websites/apps) you visit regularly?

Anuj: I visit a variety of websites for my daily reading. For Digital Marketing, Social Media Examiner, Copyblogger, Quick Sprout and Ad Age are my must-four resources!

Share the names of 3 people you respect when it comes to Digital Marketing.

Anuj: 

1. Seth Godin
2. B Bonin Bough
3. Ritesh Singh

How do you see Digital Media evolving in future? What are the top 3 trends do you foresee for 2016?

Anuj: Digital Media will break through platform limitations in future. For 2016, my pick for top 3 trends to foresee are:

• Video Content
• User Stories for Brand Communication
• Programmatic Media Buying

Would you like to share few words about the work we are doing at Digital Vidya?

Anuj: 

Digital Vidya is doing a phenomenal work when it comes to spreading awareness about digital media and marketing, both as a service and a career option. I remember following Pradeep Chopra back in early 2010s and the way he built excitement around digital media on social networks is praiseworthy.

Are you inspired by the opportunity of Digital Marketing? Start your journey by attending our upcoming orientation session on Digital Marketing for Career & Business Growth. It’s online and Free :).