Devrims #TechTalk 045: Tahniat Alam from Social Champ Talks About Social Media Success

Fortune favors the brave. As economies have started to expand digitally, there are plenty of off-the-track paths that can lead to great success.

Social media is now an integral part of our lives. Every business on this planet relies on social media to attract, engage, convert, and delight customers. For sure-shot social media success, you will always need a tool.

Social Champ is one of the best tool for social media management on this planet. It makes handling social media a breeze. We are big fans of Social Champ and this is why we are excited for you to read this interview of Tahniat Alam.

Tahniat is a one brave soul who traded a promising pharmaceutical marketing for a fulfilling one with Social Champ.  Currently, she is the Senior Marketing Lead and works directly with community, social media, and customer success team.

This interview is packed with insightful tidbits about social media and community growth.

Devrims: Hello Tahniat, we appreciate your presence today. Could you please share your professional background with us and describe the initial steps that led you into the field of Marketing?

Tahniat: Delighted to be here; thank you for having me.

My journey into the marketing world is more of a Netflix series with fascinating twists!
I wished to study medicine and earned a Doctor of Pharmacy degree. Since childhood, I have also been athletic, which led me to a career as a professional player for Pakistan Netball. I highly credit my different life experiences for molding the marketer in me (the wildest ones, too)!

Right after completing my degree, I started my professional career in pharmaceutical marketing with a renowned company in Karachi, Pakistan. I later continued in a similar marketing position in Sydney, Australia. To me, I was on the right career path until a few years back, the crossroads of my professional interests occurred when the co-founder and CEO of Social Champ approached me and convinced me to take a bold leap of faith. Fast-forward to today, I classically have a variety of marketing colors under my hood, strengthening my capabilities of strategy-making, tackling challenges, and teamwork.

Devrims: We’d be interested to hear about the key initiatives you work on and the scope of marketing activities you oversee at Social Champ.

Tahniat: Social Champ as a SaaS platform is equally about marketing as of development. As a senior marketing lead, my scope of marketing activities majorly involves the journey from the top of the marketing funnel to the bottom.

I directly work with Community, Social Media, and Customer Success teams consisting of diverse individuals, and together we make the magic happen!

With respect to the key initiatives, my forte is brand awareness, brand image management, and customer satisfaction. We try to build brand awareness and generate potential leads through community building, advocacy, and social media. Customer acquisition, conversion, and retention strategies follow the path after which I align and enhance them all as per product needs over the period of time.

Devrims: As a senior marketing lead, what do you find to be the most valuable skills needed to succeed and drive growth?

Tahniat: People do not talk about them! The most underrated yet the most significant skills to me are ownership and a learner mindset. Further leadership skills will definitely make one excel better.

In a lead position, one needs to learn more than many others, but unfortunately majority lives in a delusion that they are obsolete from it. I found those successful and driving growth when they are open to learning about their team, their skillsets, and their capacities and aligning them to company requirements better.
Be ready to unlearn a lot to learn new.

Devrims: How do you develop effective content strategies that resonate with and engage your target audiences? What fundamental principles or frameworks guide your approach?

Tahniat: Sportsmen always keep track of other teams in order to excel in their game! They do not repeat mistakes made by others and strategize accordingly.

My brain cells work likewise. I keep an eye on trends, what failed for us and others, and what worked. Recently, the strategies we created keeping human psychology in mind worked beautifully. People felt like stopping by, reading, and taking action accordingly.

Create content for social media and not for our audiences, and for effective copywriting, my go-to strategy is always to ‘be trendy and afresh’. Create content for your audience with respect to their age group, needs, and prefrences, and know what’s trending with them!

Even you and I will not stop by something that doesn’t catch our eye! 😀

Devrims: Let’s do a quick rapid-fire round.

Devrims: What do you feel is the most rewarding aspect of leading content strategy and social media marketing initiatives?

Tahniat: A happy team and happy customers make me the happiest! Different people can have different definitions of reward, but it is wholesome to see a business achieve its goals as a result of all the content and social media strategies performed, generating a positive impact.

It’s definitely rewarding as a lead to see new potential customers entering the funnel, new communities emerging, and enhanced brand awareness, eventually boosting sales as by-products of an organically interactive social presence.

Devrims: What advice would you give someone interested in pursuing marketing or content roles in social media and tech companies?

Tahniat: Ruunnnn! Haha, run and grab a good opportunity the moment it knocks on your door.

While marketing is a super broad term and varies from one industry to another, what I can safely advise is that not everyone can justify a content role. If you are passionate about writing and exploring new waters, then definitely go for it as a career. Even a side hustle can help you earn some extra bucks.

Tech companies are growing in the market and have something to offer to everyone searching!

Devrims: Where do you go to stay inspired and keep up with the latest trends and best practices in content and social media marketing?

Tahniat: Not inspired, but definitely, the following two help me stay updated and keep my skills sharp.

• Social Media Today: I love how they are always up-to-date with every small social media happening with detailed information about it.

• Search Engine Journal: for all the trendy news.

Devrims: Is there anything specific you’d like to share about your passion for marketing?

Tahniat: You are asking a ballerina: “Why you do ballet?!”

My extroverted self is the happiest as a marketer! Ideas erupt as volcanos to me when I’m strategizing campaigns, tracking numbers, and creating new plans.

It is a field that lets me be the craziest self, come up with out-of-the-box ideas, and let me see them bring success. Marketing can never stay ‘the same’ or ‘stagnant’ and will always let you be innovative – I love it.

Devrims: Who do you recommend us to interview next and why?

Tahniat: The first name that popped up is of my dear friend and inspiration, Komal Ali.
She is currently the Manager of Regulatory Advisory & Reporting at Deloitte Netherlands. Her professional journey and experiences are something I look up to, while her personal take on life is beautiful.