Social Beat: A Homegrown Digital Marketing Leader

Suneil Chawla,Co-founder,Vikas Chawla , Co-founder,Social Beat Digital Marketing | Business Magazine

When a business invests in the latest form of marketing i.e. digital, it expects returns in form of conversions, sales and returns on investment. While there are many players in the market right now, Chennai based Social Beat Digital Marketing LLP has adopted a client-centric approach backed by creativity and customer acquisition marketing with an aim to deliver business results to its clients. It aims to fill in the lacuna of homegrown digital agencies which can deliver value at scale and it is its mission to be an ROI-driven digital marketing agency.
The Serial Entrepreneurs
Vikas Chawla and Suneil Chawla are the Co-Founders of Social Beat.
Suneil, a Commerce graduate from Loyola College and an MBA from IIM Ahmedabad spent around four years as a case team leader with strategy consulting firm, Bain & Co, across their Boston, Delhi and Mumbai offices.
Vikas, a Commerce graduate from Loyola College, holds a Master’s degree in Management from London School of Economics and has 15 years of experience in diverse functions ranging from marketing, sales and HR across Taj Hotels and Murugappa Group.  The two have been instrumental in driving the growth of Social Beat and making it one of the largest independent digital agencies in the country.
Customised Services
Social Beat has clients spanning across various sectors, right from real estate to FMCG, B2B, BFSI and Health care. It liaises as an end-to-end digital marketing partner providing:

  • Social Media Marketing
  • Video Creation & Marketing
  • Performance Advertising
  • Multilingual, Content and Influencer Marketing
  • Web Design & Development
  • Progressive Web Apps
  • Search Engine Optimisation
  • E-Commerce Solutions
  • Branding & Identity

Some of its key accounts include Shapoorji Pallonji, Tata Mutual Funds, Himalaya Wellness, Finolex Cables, Klay Schools, and Narayana Health. Also availing its services are Voylla, Casagrand, Sundaram Mutual, Star Health, Murugappa Group, Dr. Mohan’s Diabetes Specialties Centre, and more.
A Vibrant Industry
According to the co-founders, the industry currently is fragmented which gives a lot of choice for clients and brands. But there are only a handful of creative and digital marketing companies that are doing amazing work. The biggest challenge the industry faces at the moment is talent and being able to attract talent for creative as well as digital marketing areas. The other challenge is the ever-changing dynamics of the industry requiring both brands and agencies to continuously learn and many times unlearn as well.
But not one to be bogged down by the challenges, Social Beat is continuously adapting to new technology for better solutions. It runs technology enabled influencer marketing platform, Influencer.in and has clients like Paytm, Hike Messenger, Craftsvilla and more. It also launched a multilingual content platform, 22 Languages where brands can create content in multiple languages that resonate with diverse vernacular audience segments to grow their customer base. It has strengthened its technology and analytics team to allow for leveraging data and combining our UX strengths with technology to enhance user experience.
The company recently launched a book to showcase its digital marketing insights. Through its YouTube knowledge series Digital Bytes – it allows marketers to understand digital marketing better. It also released its Digital Marketing Industry Report 2018 that provides a comprehensive look at how companies today are using digital marketing to promote their brands.
In the years 2017 & 2018, Social Beat was awarded for ‘Innovation in Advertising’ at the Google Premier Partner Awards as well as multiple awards at Advertising Clubs across the country, including Maddys, Big Bang Awards, Social Samosa Awards and more.
Happy @Work
To keep the creative spirit running high in the company, Social Beat takes care of the overall culture and environment at the workplace. All new members undergo a proper onboarding process with a well-designed induction process including a session by the founders on Social Beat’s values.
Social Beat prides itself on ensuring and maintaining transparency with its team members regarding their roles and responsibilities. For a happy and satisfied workforce, it provides flexible-hours, work-from-home options, equal representation and well-balanced leave policy to ensure that its team members’ welfare is at the centre of their work policies.
For team member engagement and development there are  Game Nights along with Chit Chat sessions every alternate week to share the latest trends in digital marketing and success stories across teams. A 360-degree feedback system, regular team outings, training sessions and guest lectures aim at skill development and performance management.
To the Rookies
The industry, being a promising one, is witness to startups that are increasing competition. To the newbies, the duo advises that “It’s important to speak to people in the industry, prospective customers and others – before you start out. Secondly, be choosy of who your initial core team will be as that can define how your organisation grows and at what pace. Finally, build an organisation and a culture that you would love working in yourself.”
Moving forward
The past six years have seen Social Beat grow from a team of five in a small office in Chennai to over a hundred people across three cities. Vikas and Suneil, along with their team are working hard to achieve 10x growth, $10 million revenue and $50 million of Managed Digital Advertising Spends for its clients all by 2020. With a cultural atmosphere that is conducive to attracting talent, Social Beat is sure to achieve its targets with a strong belief in its team and the values it stands for.

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