How this woman entrepreneur simplifying digital marketing for businesses

Tell us about your entrepreneurial journey. How has it helped you in setting up your venture?

My entrepreneurial journey commenced in May, 2019 when I decided to assist my mother, Urmila Samant, launch her dream venture, "Masala Tokri"- A growing D2C small business for Gourmet Spices from Heartland India. Before that, with the pandemic on the rise, my then-colleagues at Future Group – Pawan Sarda, Apurv Singh, and I decided to share our digital marketing 'know-how' with small business entrepreneurs and marketers to grow their respective businesses. That's how "Sorted" came into existence in July, 2022. My entrepreneurial ventures fed into my independent consultancy business as both ventures were known for their digital-first content strategy.

When and how did you set up Sorted and Masala Tokri? What was the insight behind their launch?

As we begin our "Masala Tokri" venture, we acknowledge that we don't aspire to be the run-of-the-mill me-too brands competing for shelf space with the major tycoons. The market research analysis presented relevant information about the massive opportunity for us to serve, a premium experience for spices from heartland India with gold-standard quality. That is what we carried out with our freshly hand-pounded gourmet spices. With Sorted, the insight was clear from day one. The majority of consumers that found digital marketing complicated was overwhelming. We wanted to prove this misconception wrong, as digital marketing can be simplified if one comprehends the logic behind each platform and the psychology of user behaviours. Hence, Sorted is India's exclusive "No-Faff" digital marketing masterclass.

How have you leverage your experience as a digital consultant to scale up your venture?

The rule of thumb for scaling up is to remove the word 'never' from your vocabulary and use the power of "now". My independent consultancy business picked up when I quit my job at Purplle (AVP–Social Media and Influencer Marketing) and concentrated on building my niche. Also, word-of-mouth plays a vital role as the industry is small and growing, and good work always gets spoken. As realization struck me that I have to create my personal brand on my social media, that's when I decided to launch "The Sorted Girl", where I mainly influence digital marketing, branding, and content hacks for brands along with slice-of-life content and what it defines to be an independent consultant.

What role does a business coach play in entrepreneurship? How are they different from a mentor, or consultant?

A coach and a consultant run on minor differences. It's apparent that both of them are focused on solving the problems that arise in your business. The sole reason that separates the two is their approach. Business coaches work on your improvement, on you; as the leader of your business whereas a consultant takes up a more nuanced hand-on approach, providing specific and subtle solutions for your business. Thus, coaching is "done for you'' meanwhile consultancy is "done with you."

How can digital consultants and digital-first campaigns help SMEs and startups? What are the opportunities they unlock?

We live in a digitally-driven world and clearly if you are an offline kirana store or a D2C brand, one of the most cost-effective and influential mediums to market yourself is digital. In previous years, brands had to spend millions to create a wide reach over several years. Presently, if you can command and build a flourishing a community for yourself and acquire a strong brand personality that connects with your audience, half the battle is won. Digital-first is not a marketing strategy. It is a body language one needs to adopt, and the sooner the brands realize this, the better for their journey.

How will digital-powered consumer communications change in the upcoming years?

The world of customer communications is rapidly transforming and adapting to advanced ideas. At the rate at which our technology is growing, these changes are occurring swiftly. Digital transformation encourages companies to change their tactics for business models and adapt to the new market reality.

What's crucial about this fact is that it's not the companies driving this change, instead, this transition is being driven by the customer. At present customers demand authentic content related to activities that circulate their interest anytime, anywhere, according to the format they prefer, and on the chosen device. It's their journey that dictates your strategy. To keep up with the "always-connected" persona of customers, your business espouses technology to deliver an unmatched customer experience.

Customers desire absolute experiences regardless of channel. Consider how you combine the entire digital channels you attain in your company together to provide a single, user-friendly customer experience.

Which digital trend will have the biggest impact on the industry?

Voice-activated communication is playing a pivotal role in our homes, lives, and businesses. Speech-to-text technologies such as Trint will eventually save time and streamline workflows leading to ever-evolving digital products and services.

Hybrid working has opened the market to new developments in digital communication software. There is also no doubt that new and exciting AI and voice-activated products have entered the market. Thus, voice recognition will optimize the way we work and socialize, in ways we never imagined in the days when email was prominent.

What is your one piece of advice to the youngsters following a career in digital media, marketing, etc?

Three things in life are vital for every youngster who is willing to commence a startup; First and foremost, be inquisitive and carry a penchant for knowledge, furthermore, build and set up your brand and ultimately, quit procrastinating and wait up in the search of perfection and your plans to work, instead - get up and start now!