In the present day, digital marketing has been a driving force for brands to communicate, grow, and sustain. There are a few women entrepreneurs who are leading the way in all the gamuts of the online marketing era. Meet Saloni Agarwal, a leader in digital marketing who has shaped many brands in her last 10 years. Currently, she is running a digital marketing studio, Chammach, and is a director of Marketing & Branding at Red Baton. In an exclusive interaction with women entrepreneur magazine, Saloni spoke about her professional journey.

What is your area of expertise as a professional and what are the significant facets of your journey that has a huge impact on you?

I specialize in all forms of marketing, however digital marketing is my strongest. I am more of a strategist who steps in as a consultant and delivers solutions for growth, scale, reputation management, or brand building. While working with various clients, I realized that two huge gaps need to be addressed in the digital marketing space. First, most digital marketing agencies are just executioners and not value driven. Second, the execution of strategies almost always has gaps. Hence, I started Chammach, an end-toend digital marketing agency that delivers. The significant facet of my journey has been working with the agency. I got an opportunity to work with various brands across the globe. This gave me unparallel exposure and made me think on the go.

Tell us about your educational background and what sort of industry experience did you acquire before you set up your firm?

I hold a master's degree in marketing. And I am an avid reader of human psychology. But for me, the true education was on-the-job practical learning as I started online marketing back in 2011. I began my career as a Marcom specialist with an NGO focused on rehabilitating street & sexually abused children. I worked with embassies, corporates, and children driving a multi-billion project covering 11 cities. Later, I moved to an agency, that exposed me to various industries across the globe. The majority of my work has been in the B2B segment and I have worked with companies of each size; right from startups to Fortune 500 companies. Some of the brands that I have worked for include Swiggy, Bosch, Tata1mg, Unilever, Lollypop design studio  PS Group, and more.

Before setting up my firm, I made sure, I was an expert in 4 areas; marketing strategies, visual direction, content, and user experience.

“Marketing Is all about Storytelling. Tell Honest stories That can emote”

What are the different roles and responsibilities that you must play daily? And what are your current focus areas as a leader?

The responsibilities of a startup founder are endless. Right from managing OTPs to delivering results, you are accountable for every single thing. And hence, it is very crucial to be organized and to know the priorities. I spend the majority of my time in strategy building, quality control, and networking. The current focus for me in the given market is to drive value for our clients. I am passionate to make a shift from being an executioner to being a partner. Chammach is working relentlessly to ensure that we are spending the money of our clients in the areas that will drive ROI.

There have been many instances where we have guided our clients on better strategies even before signing up with us. We always ask about the goals, timeline, and budget of our clients and advise them on the best possible strategy.

What is the milestone that you have achieved in your professional journey?

I believe that every step you take is a milestone in itself. There are countless memories and achievements but if I had to quantify, I would say, it is 2 years of Chammach, and we have served over 20 plus clients from across the globe. Our clients have a 90% retention rate which speaks for itself.

Though the numbers might not seem big; We can proudly say that all our clients vouch for our quality and results.

What is your advice for the young Generation who are looking up to you To become a leader in business firms?

I would say work very hard, give 100% effort, and learn to balance your personal and professional life. You can have it all if you are willing to work with complete honesty, integrity, adn dedication. There will be frustrations and you will have to face your fears, but the ups and downs will just make you wiser. There is nothing better than running your own company, take charge! Finally, I will share an important lesson that my mentor taught me, ‘People work with people and not companies. So, take time to network”.

Saloni Agarwal, Founder, Chammach and Director Marketing, Red Baton

Saloni has been in digital marketing for 10+ years and has led marketing initiatives for many brands. Though she spearheads marketing strategies, she is affluent in all aspects of digital marketing, right from branding to performance marketing.