What led you to start your page on Instagram and what is it about?
I have always been a sort of person who was madly in love with food. Like every other college student, I was extremely broke during my college days but I enjoyed trying new food so much that making restaurant styled food at home on a budget became my hobby. I was that "bhukkad friend" who would advise my friends what and where to eat. I used to tell them details, stories and ingredients of the dishes while eating it. (Well! TBH none of them was interested in that📷)
I used to save up my pocket money and internship stipends to visit different restaurants/cafes of Delhi and then, started documenting all my experiences on Instagram. Soon, there was an influx of people who were enjoying my content and this is how Delhi Eats grew into the community of 250k+ people in the span of 2.5 years.
How would you distinguish the term blogger from an influencer?
Blogger is a person who actually writes a blog maybe on a blogging platform or a website.
I certainly don't call myself a blogger since I am more inclined towards documenting my experiences in the form of videos rather than writing about it. Further, I don't even call myself an Influencer because I feel people should decide that I am able to Influence them or not. I am a digital content creator who is creating content for various online platforms like YouTube, Instagram, etc.
Is it financially sustainable to be an influencer today?
Now, as they say, Rome wasn't built in a day. In the same way, you won't be showered with money, opportunities and fame immediately after uploading content on digital media. A lot of time, money and effort is devoted towards content creation in order to reap gain out of it. I did my first paid gig after 6 months of uploading content day and night. Currently, for me, it is quite financially viable. But for those who are starting out, I would advise you to be extremely patient because making money in the market which is so saturated is not an easy job.
What do you think influences consumer behaviour?
Being an economics post-graduate who has made content creation her full-time job, I can say it is not just one factor that drives consumer behaviour. An Influencer campaign can drive a consumer to buy a product but it doesn't guarantee whether the consumer will gravitate back towards the product or not. Consider an example, a person won't buy X skincare product because his/her favourite actor/actress is promoting it but will buy it if the cream would satisfy their expectations from the product. Marketing & branding campaigns, tastes & preferences, the utility of a product/service, market trends together determine consumer behaviour.
Your opinion on Instagram contemplating removing likes option for posts.
To be honest, it doesn't matter. Well, I won't say I am not affected by numbers at all, the truth is that numbers have always been a motivational factor for me. But I personally feel, this might put an end to fake number games which are quite common in the Influencer industry. Further, brands would be focusing more on content and the analytics than just the number of likes.
What is your idea of success or your mantra in life?
Well, the word success has a different meaning for different people. For some, financial stability is a success while for others, being happy is equivalent to being successful. I am a 25-year-old TEENAGER who is still figuring out how to move forward in life. 📷 I am still not there at that phase where I'll call myself successful, there is a long way ahead. I am grateful that I have received so many opportunities at this point of life but I still don't feel that I have attained my goals yet. But the only thing that I follow religiously is that I try to stay away from negativity, negative thoughts and negative people, all these things always affect your work adversely and nobody wants that.
I am Kuljyoti Dhingra, founder of Delhi Eats. Delhi Eats is a food and travel community with more than 267k+ people on Instagram and now we are growing tremendously on other platforms like YouTube too. (Search Kuljyoti Dhingra and SUBSCRIBE to my channel #aadatsemajboor)
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