Aleena Gandhi is the architect behind Social Media Dissect a marketing inspiration and insights publishing site.
Let’s read this interview with Aleena and know about her and Social Media Dissect.
About yourself?
I always had a knack for staying in the trend, reading about what’s happening in the world and loved my job, where I managed Social Media accounts for clients in a boutique digital marketing agency. A keen eye for details and a strong creative side helped scale these brands and separate them from their competitors online. I especially loved Instagram marketing, which now, is something I am known for. I started working at the age of 16 and tried my hands at various careers before my tryst with the online world took place. With just a thought and aim to bring a community of marketers together on my platform and showcase good work, Social Media Dissect was born. We have now garnered about 90,000 followers and cater to multiple brands, agencies and individuals. With my experience of more than 5 years in the industry, I inspire to teach many more marketers and agencies to grasp the best out of the digital marketing space. I have had the opportunity to inspire people through my TED talk, workshops, training sessions and build a personal brand, which is something I am currently working on.
Please tell us about your journey so far as an Entrepreneur & Digital Marketer?
Over the years, I’ve understood that it usually takes time to finally find what you love doing. I had started with being a content writer before I shifted to an agency where I managed to discover my passion for Digital Marketing.
At first, Social Media Dissect was a side project while I worked as a marketing manager at an agency. However, I always aspired to be an independent woman with an independent business identity. Social Media Dissect was my step towards achieving my aspirations and goals.
My goal was always to uplift small brands and I managed to find a marketing gap by creating an interactive space that reviews content, uplifts small brands and captures plagiarism in an “Amicable” environment.
For me, being an entrepreneur wasn’t always about financial benefits, which I am truly grateful for, but about what I can do to influence people for the better, how I may improve the digital space, make sure that people do not miss out on what is important to them, to voice their opinions on trends, campaigns, world events, etc. My journey like any other has been of many ups and downs.
As a women entrepreneur, I have enjoyed an enticing growth curve. The industry know-hows and interactive conversations with clients and followers have always been an extraordinary learning experience.
I have learnt so much through the years from my team, my followers and the industry experts. What I aim to do is to make these learning easily accessible to everyone who has an eye for learning.
What were some of the hurdles or challenges involved in your growth journey?
The main challenge that I faced throughout my journey was to give unbiased review of certain trends and campaigns. Since everyone has a different perspective on things, I was skeptical on how my point of view of what is correct and wrong would be accepted by not only my followers but also the experts in the industry. Apart from that, keeping up with trends, campaigns and things going around the world, you need to constantly be on top of things, to look out for media campaigns and concepts all day long but this all is part of an upward growth of the company.
Moreover, as a women entrepreneur, it is difficult to successfully create your identity. At first, it was strenuous to find clients/brands as they didn’t consider individual women entrepreneurs to manage a digital marketing company. Therefore, the presumptuous beliefs and stigma around being a women entrepreneur has been a tough challenge to conquer.
With that being said, the journey has been an eventful one for my career. I’ve understood the importance of keeping myself self-motivated and prepared for any obstacles.
Do you believe success and spirituality coexist?
Typically, society tells us we can only develop one or the other. Somewhere I do believe success and spirituality can coexist. I also think that everything is perspective-based and that you attract what you think. To have a goal that not only improves you personally, but also helps people to understand better and to know better can be both – success and spiritually pleasing.
What gets you out of bed in the morning i.e what’s your source of motivation?
I think my biggest motivation would be my followers and clients. They motivate me just by trusting me to get them good work. To guide followers better or to highlight a topic or trend that they would want is so fulfilling for me. It gets me even more motivated when others apply my tips, tricks and learnings and grow their own social media accounts and businesses. I love the feeling of being able to do what I love. But the key to convert this into success is, to always stay humble and never give up on what you believe in.
For youngsters I would also like to especially mention that it’s important to be calm and patient as it works in the long run.
While working on the team how do you prepare yourself? What goes on in your mind?
I feel like I have been blessed to have a team of self-motivated individuals that are such a great support system at work. They teach me things and I think it is a two-way street of sharing knowledge and experiences. I want them to feel a part of something bigger – that is the biggest motivation out there. I also believe in a workplace that is a constant reminder of their potential. The biggest advantage in building my team has been the fact that I have been an employee. I understand what makes employees happy, sad, disappointed to stick around. I have made a lot of mistakes and learned from them too and hence, I let my team make their mistakes and learn too. With the mantra “Diligence is the Only Shortcut to Success,” the team persists to effectively grow and build the brand together.
Do you think a career in Digital Marketing is a viable one in the long term?
With the current situation in mind, brands are going digital to meet their needs. Digital marketing is something that everyone is focusing on right now. With an approximate increase in its growth rate by 33%, I think it is a very promising industry for everyone, especially the youth.
Any awards / recognition?
Recently, Social Media Dissect was awarded for our most popular campaign “Best Use of Social media for ‘Copy Alert’ Campaign” by afaqs and Foxglove awards.
Social Media Dissect and I have been recently featured in the Forbes India Digital Magazine too.
Your advice to youngsters planning to enter this industry?
I would say do what you love with immense concentration and dedication. Keep your eye on the goal always and be true to your values. There will be days when it won’t be a clear black and white picture, that is the time you truly have to test yourself and people around you. It’s also important to understand your interests and set certain goals to meet. A clear structure and map for yourself could provide you with a focussed vision in an unstructured industry. New things come up every day and it’s important to keep yourself motivated to learn everything new.
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