They say that marketing takes a day to learn but a lifetime to master. And honestly, not everyone is cut out for it. But with the growing demands of skills at workplaces, it has become a quintessential part as everything is profit-driven and that sheerly comes through sales.
With the rapid transformation of the entire world’s functioning into computer codes, we are in a time when marketing has hugely gone digital. Of that social media marketing is a major part. Even my boss has already been pushing me to take up a course in digital marketing for several months now.
Meet Anubhav Mukherjee, the founder and managing director of The Kolkata Buzz who has taken the roller coaster ride in the field and created a platform with over 213k followers on Instagram and 1100k on their Facebook page.
The Kolkata Buzz covers all things about Kolkata and Bengali culture which includes peppy memes, food, mood, festival, and thematic photographs. They also have a video segment on Youtube and are expanding into a website.
But nothing happened overnight. It has been a long and tedious journey for Anubhav and his team to build the platform that we love today. Let us delve into the details.
Anubhav started his journey from Mahendragarh in Chattisgarh, which is his hometown. Although a Bengali, he mastered the language only after shifting his base to Kolkata. Having completed his initial studies he came to the City of Joy to learn filmmaking and ended up creating his own social media channels and agency.
“It all started three years ago in 2018 when I left Chhatisgarh to come to Kolkata for learning filmmaking. Having attended classes for almost two months, I created The Kolkata Buzz. I was kind of inspired by the movie Yeh Jawani Hai Diwani so I would roam around the city and anywhere I went, I used to take as many pictures and videos as I could. And then I posted those on the page. The response was good but I wasn’t generating any revenue for many months. Yet I kept up my work and at the time of Pujo, it was a hit. That’s when I left film making and dedicated all my time to the platform,” says Anubhav.
There have been days when Anubhav hit his rock bottom. But that didn’t make him stop but rather propelled him to work harder. He learned everything about social media marketing from Youtube and other websites and implemented his knowledge without taking up a course in the sector.
“My family would often pressurize me to go back home as I wasn’t earning anything initially. One day I had only Rs.10 in my pocket and survived on Fuchka. That’s when I told myself that I will have to make it at any cost. And then I started following tutorials and got self-educated for my platform. Today I train other youngsters,” he says.
Anubhav’s family was not exactly okay with his decisions. They were constantly fretting over him and asked him to come home a couple of times when he was not doing well. Gradually Anubhav opened up to them and his growing success made them realize his worth.
They would constantly pressurize and also asked him to come home a couple of times when he was not doing well. Gradually Anubhav opened up to them and his growing success made them realize his worth.
“Since I took up film making my parents had been pressurizing me. I had a tough time for many months and was basically an introvert. I had to leave my comfort zone and learn to talk to people, both to approach my parents and to get into marketing. Now when I do photo walks and interview celebs, they feel content and encourage me to keep it going,” Mukherjee shares.
With an increase in reach and engagements, brands started approaching him and he gradually started generating revenue.
“One day I got a call from a person who wanted to advertise on my platform and he offered me Rs.500. Thus, we started to mint money and haven’t looked back. Of course, not all experiences and people have been good but I have learned from it,” he says.
View this post on Instagram
Today he has a team of working professionals under him who garner, and create content and also handle the marketing. He has now registered The Kolkata Buzz into a Company named Buzzaffair ventures (OPC) PRIVATE LIMITED. They are into brands, Influencer marketing, event promotions, and social media management, and is also a platform where one gets to know the nook & corners of the city of joy Kolkata regarding food, fashion, lifestyle, shopping, travel, etc. By now they have covered hundreds of brands locally and nationally.
Mukherjee’s official social media handle Digital Anubhav is an inspiration for the wanderers who are dreaming to make it big.