#SS30Under30 jury on their expectations from the entries

#SS30Under30 is all set to enter the next phase. With the nomination deadline closing on March 20^th, #SS30Under30 received 130 entries. 130 social media superstars who are fighting tooth and nail to be a part of Social Samosa Top 30 Under 30 list.

The initiative is now in its jury evaluation process wherein each member of the jury panel will scrutinise, brainstorm, and debate to churn out the most deserving candidates. The panel will assess all the entries basis pre-decided parameters in the light of their expertise.

“They need to be forward-thinkers. They need to be able to see the future of digital marketing, social media and content marketing, and plan for it. Better yet, they need to have successfully evangelised it. And they need to have a great portfolio of work to show for it,” shares Samit Malkani, Brand Lead, Google India.

Malkani opines that the participants need to understand what social media needs to do for a client. “And no, "trending on Twitter" is not it,” he further exclaimed.

#SS30Under30 is not about owning an agency or holding a head position, it is about passion, commitment and the will to learn and make a change.

“This is a constantly evolving ecosystem with choices ranging from hyper private to public social networks and the same person, depending on the context, need to be spoken to differently on each. This understanding will help you to break the attention deficit barrier which is critical for success in today's cluttered environment,” says Rishi Dogra, Chief Marketing Officer, Babajob.com.

Additionally, nominees should have clarity of thought and be a strong evangelist of this medium. In a majority of cases, there is a wide gap between the world view of the marketer and the consumer and this causes dissonance - think through the relevance, objective and overall role of social in the larger marketing/business context and think through the UX and intended outcome.

“I expect them to put together their success story well: focused on ideas and achievements,” states K. V. Sridhar aka Pops, Chief Creative Officer, SapientNitro. “Nominees should also have the ability to understand the problem and solve it with utmost imagination and creativity.”

Social media is a fast-paced, ever-evolving beast. To ace this medium, one needs to be a master of all trades.

“Today, Social media marketing has specialities within itself. With listening and brand engagement and performance driven advertising becoming specialist disciplines within social media, it's time that youngsters having holistic knowledge of social media as a discipline get recognised. I would look for youngsters who understand these nuances and excel at it,” Deepali Naair, Marketer and e-commerce expert.

Now you know what the jury expects. Off these, how many boxes have you managed to tick? Stay tuned for more updates on #SS30Under30.