Digital existence is vital for brand creation, survival, and success. Keeping a relentless online presence so that your stakeholders, especially your customers, remain in constant touch with you is of cardinal importance. Keenly aware of this modern reality, 365Digital perfectly blends its best techniques and practices of branding, technology and design to evolve modern hyper-interactive systems. At the helm of this futuristic firm lies an impassioned leader—Ankit Jaitly, the CEO, who brings his expertise to provide the best services to the clients.
In the vast realm of PR, branding, advertising, promotions, influencers, and digital marketing, the company attracts attention by leveraging cutting-edge technology and data analytics to drive operational excellence and strategic decision-making. Its digital transformation initiatives optimize processes, predict maintenance needs, and enhance overall efficiency across all operations. Moreover, the company implements comprehensive sustainability programs that reduce its environmental footprint and create new value streams through circular economy initiatives.
A Powerful Realization
The journey of 365Digital’s foundation began with a simple yet powerful realization: the PR industry was evolving at an unprecedented pace, and staying ahead of the curve was not just a choice but a necessity. Ankit recognized the immense potential of personal branding and its ability to help businesses and individuals establish themselves as authorities in their respective niches. From a freelance SEO to a successful Digital Marketer & PR professional, he served as a testament to the transformative power of personal branding and strategic PR.
Further, with the vision to empower businesses and individuals to become the go-to authorities in their industries through innovative PR strategies and personal branding, Ankit established 365Digital. With an unwavering commitment to client success and a results-oriented approach, he stays ahead of industry trends and cultivates strong relationships with media outlets. Moreover, he prioritizes client success over profits, navigates the complex PR landscape and delivers exceptional results for my clients.
Encouraging A Systematic and Well-Supported Approach
At 365Digital, the guiding philosophy is to lead with the purpose of driving transformation success. With a systematic and well-supported approach to activating leaders, the company focuses on technology, strategy, talent, operating model, data and scale, and adoption. It follows the four key pillars of successful digital transformations: IT uplift, digitizing operations, digital marketing, and new ventures. The right starting point depends on the client’s context, needs, and digital maturity.
Core to 365Digital’s philosophy is the six habits of digital transformation leaders—focusing on customers first, nurturing talent with new incentives, innovating at scale, being nimble, and implementing major changes to business models at scale.
Effective Leadership Style
Ankit’s leadership approach involves several key elements:
Inspiring a Shared Vision: He works to articulate a compelling vision for 365Digital’s future that energizes and aligns their entire team. “This involves clearly communicating our purpose, values, and long-term goals in a way that resonates with employees at all levels.”
Fostering Innovation and Creativity: They’ve cultivated a culture that encourages risk-taking and values diverse perspectives, says Ankit, who regularly challenges his team to think outside the box and provide them with the resources and support needed to pursue innovative ideas.
Empowering and Developing Our People: They’ve implemented robust training programs, mentorship initiatives, and career development pathways to help the team members reach their full potential.
Building a Collaborative Environment: Ankit says, “I strongly believe in the power of teamwork and cross-functional collaboration,” adding that they’ve broken down silos within the organization and implemented structures that facilitate knowledge-sharing and joint problem-solving.
Leading by Example: He strives to model the behaviours and values he wants to see throughout the organization. This includes demonstrating adaptability, ethical decision-making, and a commitment to continuous learning.
Fostering Psychological Safety: “We’ve worked hard to create an environment where team members feel safe to voice their opinions, share ideas, and even challenge the status quo without fear of negative consequences,” insists Ankit.
Aligning Individual and Organizational Goals: He adds, “Our performance management and incentive systems are designed to ensure that individual objectives are clearly linked to our broader organizational goals.”
Strategy for Streamlined Operations
Ankit also believes that operational efficiency and customer satisfaction are closely linked. He says their approach includes:
- Customer-centric innovation,
- Leveraging analytics for data-driven decision-making and
- Employing agile methodologies to adapt swiftly to feedback.
The team invests in technology that streamlines operations and enhances the customer experience, such as AI-powered tools and automated systems.
Additionally, they focus on empowering employees to balance efficiency with customer needs, fostering a culture of continuous improvement and maintaining open feedback channels. Regular assessment of Net Promoter Scores (NPS) alongside operational KPIs ensures they meet both efficiency and satisfaction objectives.
Integrating Digitalization
365Digital places technological innovation at the core of its operations to drive a forward-thinking future for both clients and the industry. Recognizing the ever-evolving digital landscape, the team prioritizes staying ahead of these changes to ensure success. Their approach to integrating digitalization starts with internal processes.
“We’ve adopted advanced project management and collaboration tools, enabling seamless cross-disciplinary teamwork,” says Ankit. This enhances his and his team’s ability to deliver cohesive, multi-channel campaigns for clients. Heavy investment in data analytics, including AI and machine learning, provides deeper insights into consumer behaviour and campaign performance, allowing for real-time strategy optimization and maximum ROI.
In web development, they explore new technologies to enhance user experience and website performance. They also leverage progressive web app technologies, AI-powered chatbots, and advanced SEO techniques to keep clients’ digital presence cutting-edge and future-proof. “Our commitment to adopting new web standards ensures continued innovation,” adds Ankit.
For digital marketing, team 365Digital harnesses automation and AI for personalized, effective campaigns. This includes AI-driven content creation, advanced social media targeting, and predictive analytics. In public relations, it uses technology to monitor brand sentiment, manage crises, and measure campaign impact, using tools for real-time social listening and sentiment analysis.
Workforce Empowerment
At 365Digital, personalized learning paths are implemented to support employee growth, aligning individual career goals with the company’s requirements. These tailored development plans cover areas such as SEO, content marketing, web design, and crisis communication while also encouraging cross-functional training. This allows digital marketers to explore web development and PR specialists to engage in social media analytics.
Moreover, skill development is a continuous focus, supported by substantial investments in internal and external training. Internally, regular workshops and knowledge-sharing sessions are conducted, where team members present new tools and case studies. Externally, employees are encouraged to attend industry conferences, take online courses, and pursue certifications, with the company providing generous budgets for these opportunities.
A flat organizational structure fosters open communication and idea-sharing across all levels, enabling employees to pitch innovative concepts and new services directly to leadership. This approach empowers the team and ensures the company remains innovative and responsive to market trends. Additionally, a mentorship program pairs junior employees with experienced staff, accelerating learning and offering leadership development opportunities.
Recognition plays a vital role in the empowerment strategy, with individual and team achievements celebrated through announcements and performance-based bonuses. Ankit informs that they also utilize digital learning platforms for flexible, self-directed learning and emphasize soft skills development through team-building exercises, communication workshops and leadership training.
Surmounting Challenges
During the initial months of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, 365Digital faced significant challenges as many clients, particularly in travel, hospitality, and retail, were forced to cut marketing budgets drastically. This sudden shift led to a substantial decrease in its project pipeline, endangering both revenue and job security for its team members.
Despite the adversity, the team demonstrated exceptional resilience and creativity. Recognizing that while some sectors were struggling, others had rising needs, they swiftly adapted their strategy. “We developed new service offerings to meet emerging market demands, including a specialized digital transformation package for brick-and-mortar businesses.” Moreover, the web development team accelerated the launch of e-commerce websites, while the digital marketing experts crafted strategies to help these businesses build an online presence quickly.
The PR team also pivoted to offer crisis communication and reputation management services. They created a COVID-19 communication toolkit to aid businesses in effectively managing stakeholder communication during the crisis, which proved invaluable in maintaining client trust and loyalty. Additionally, they identified the growing importance of virtual events and webinars, rapidly upskilling in these areas to help clients engage with their audiences despite physical distancing measures.
Internally, 365Digital focused on supporting its team by implementing a comprehensive remote working strategy and increasing internal communication through virtual town halls and team-building activities. This approach helped the firm retain its workforce and led to growth in its client base and service offerings by the end of 2020. Notably, a successful digital marketing campaign for a local grocery delivery startup resulted in a 500% increase in user signups within three months, highlighting the company’s capability to drive results under challenging conditions.
Pearls of Wisdom
As a seasoned entrepreneur, Ankit advises budding entrepreneurs to stay ahead of the curve by continuously updating themselves with the latest trends in digital marketing, emerging web technologies, and evolving PR strategies. Attending industry conferences, participating in webinars, and engaging with online communities are essential for staying informed and connected. Building a diverse skill set is crucial; professionals should be cross-trained and develop a holistic understanding of the interconnected digital ecosystem. Prioritizing data-driven decision-making is also key—investing in robust analytics tools and mastering data interpretation can optimize operations and deliver substantial value to clients.
Networking and forming partnerships with other agencies, technology providers, and industry influencers are important for business growth and opportunities. Solving real problems rather than just offering trendy services ensures sustainable success by meeting clients’ genuine needs and delivering measurable results. Investing in your own brand is vital; use your expertise to build a strong online presence through thought leadership content, case studies, and active social media engagement. Additionally, focusing on financial management and operational efficiency, including sound financial planning and resource allocation, is critical. Embracing ethical practices and transparency is imperative in the digital marketing and PR fields, as it fosters a reputation for integrity and combats misinformation, setting you apart in the long run.
Fostering a Digitalized Future
365Digital’s vision is focused on utilizing cutting-edge technology and innovative strategies to democratize access to high-quality digital services and drive transformative growth for businesses across India. A major aspect of this vision involves the development and launch of AI-powered tools and platforms designed to help a broader audience leverage digital marketing and PR. Ankit says they aim to empower small businesses to compete effectively online, regardless of size or budget, by providing user-friendly, AI-driven tools.
The integration of advanced AI technologies into the company’s processes and services is central to its strategy. This will enhance operational speed and efficiency while delivering more personalized and data-driven solutions to clients. “For example, we’re developing AI-powered content creation tools capable of producing high-quality, multilingual content at scale, catering to the diverse linguistic needs of the Indian market,” he cites.
Understanding Gen Z’s significant influence, Ankit is also ensuring it focuses on creating specialized services and tools to engage this tech-savvy and socially conscious generation. Their strategy includes:
- Leveraging emerging platforms,
- Developing immersive AR/VR experiences, and
- Adopting purpose-driven marketing approaches tailored to this demographic.
Additionally, they’re exploring partnerships with educational institutions and government bodies to address the digital skills gap in India. By fostering a new generation of digital professionals, they aim to support India’s ambition of becoming a global digital leader. Ankit concludes, “Sustainability is our another key focus, with efforts directed towards developing green digital solutions and promoting sustainable practices among clients, aligning with India’s commitment to sustainable development.”
“Sustainability is our key focus, with efforts directed towards developing green digital solutions and promoting sustainable practices among clients, aligning with India’s commitment to sustainable development.”
