A Marketer by day, an Influencer by night, this superwoman juggles multiple hats. In our exclusive feature with Freelance Marketer, Fashion blogger, and the director of FashionHQ, Pinky Peya, we dig deep into discovering the brains behind this beauty, understanding the ins and outs of the digital hustle as an Influencer cum Marketer and all about her latest venture FashionHQ, the digital marketplace for all things stylish.
1. Tell us one quirk fact about you.
One fun fact about me- Coca Cola is the sauce to my French fries. Also I am hardworking and reserved.
2. For the people who don’t really know you, give us a to do list of what you do as an influencer, digital marketer and now as a marketing director.
In our country the terms are very vague and often tend to overlap one another. Sharing my experience from my country’s context.
As an influencer I feel it’s very important to earn the trust from the audience and build a strong network. One cannot expect to have followers overnight. It’s a slow process. You need to be authentic and creative.
As a marketer one needs to research on marketing strategies and share innovative ideas and campaigns for a brand/company. Read articles and take inspirations from international brands.
As a marketing director one needs to know how to penetrate the market and build brand awareness, create a loyal audience for the brand, arrange campaigns and brainstorm ideas on how to make the most of the situation.
3. What are some of the creative rules that you swear by while making and marketing content?
"Staying positive and calm. Being vocal about ideas and giving suggestions on planning campaigns. I do not suggest any product or service which I personally have not used or liked."
4. From your understanding and experience as a digital marketer, do you think content creation, content marketing and social media influencing can be a sustainable full time career path for aspiring young adults in this country yet?
To be very honest content creation and marketing can be a full time job. Social media influencing might not be a full time job in our country for now at least.
"From what I have seen is when an influencer works with too many brands and he/she is on every brand’s page, new businesses or brands tend to lose interest and search for new faces. This is why I suggest everyone to work with selective brands. Also always being dependent on social media can be stressful and tiring. I have seen people getting depressed on losing followers. This is scary. People need to know this is the virtual world and one should not rely on it. Instead try building strong networks and relationships with people who can help you in the next phase of our life."
5. You have been someone who has had to work on the backend nitty gritty as well as be the face for certain brands and promotions I believe, how would you best describe your line of work?
I never consider myself as a Fashion Blogger or an Influencer. I prefer to be known as a freelance marketer because that’s my main job. I actually love my work and the best part is I get to do what I absolutely enjoy doing. I must say I’m very blessed to be working with brands who believe in my ideas and give me the opportunity to execute them.
6. Take us back to the beginning for your Instagram Journey.
When I opened Instagram back in 2014, I was not aware that Instagram accounts can be set to private. I thought it’s meant to be an open platform for everyone to share their pictures, videos and feedback/reviews. What I noticed was a lot of people started following me. I still wonder why? I never tried hard to maintain an aesthetic feed. I posted whatever I felt like, gave reviews on products which I bought myself. It was very casual. Fast-forward in 2016 few brands and companies wanted me to promote their products by sharing my reviews with my supporters. In mid 2016 brands wanted to collaborate and offered me to do photo shoots for them.
7. What is that one 'seal the deal' attribute that helps you say yes to a brand collaboration?
I always worked with brands I personally liked and bought clothes or took services from. For me it was never about doing a photoshoot for money but more about my authenticity. Before collaborating with any brand I ask myself- As a consumer will I buy from them? If yes, only then I would work with the brand. I’m very picky when it comes to promoting a brand. I do my own research and mostly try to communicate with the owners to know more about the brand. In the process I tend to share marketing ideas and strategies with them to help gain more exposure and brand awareness. I believe in building a good relationships with the people I work with.
8. What is the one thing, anyone starting out in your industry needs to know?
"Do not rely on social media."
9. Tell us about your new venture FashionHQ. How did it start, where are you standing currently and where do you envision the brand in the future?
FashionHQ is an ecommerce website solely focusing on Fashion. My partner, Osama Bhuiya and I started it in the hope of giving people the opportunity to purchase clothes from different brands under one roof and giving people more options. Dhaka city has almost 100+ local fashion designers and retailers. It is impossible to know who has what collection at what price. Given the traffic situation in our country it’s very difficult to visit every clothing shop and compare. FashionHQ provides an opportunity to all vendors to have more exposure and a bigger selling platform. To make it easier for people we decided to bring local brands under one roof where people can choose and buy from. We started with 17 vendors and in a months time we have around 25 vendors and expanding. We aim to make Fashion more accessible to the majority and hope that FashionHQ is the first name that pops in people’s mind when they need a fashion solution
10. What makes Pinky Peya stand out?
Being myself. I try to stay as realistic as possible in terms of wearing or styling something. Being confident.
11. What are some of the most fulfilling working experiences you’ve had?
The campaign I organized for ICT division which turned out to be one of the biggest campaigns in Asia and got featured on CNN Switzerland.
12. What is that one thing about your line of work, that you are struggling with at the moment?
One struggle that I face is the lack of time management of everyone in the team for a day long shoot. I have learnt to schedule my week’s plan beforehand and be more interactive with people I meet.
12. Where do you see yourself and the digital industry you’re working in, over the next 5-10 years?
I believe the marketing tactics are changing rapidly and social media influencers will be playing a very big role in terms of brand awareness or penetrating the market.
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