Meher Bajwa is the Deputy Regional Director of Digital Operations at BurdaLuxury. She will share how she keeps up with the fast-paced nature of the digital industry.
What has your career journey been like at BurdaLuxury?
I started working with Burda back in 2014 as an editor with Maxim magazine in India. By mid 2016, I grew into the role of Deputy Editor for the brand, and simultaneously worked on building its digital presence via original content and organic traffic (the pages I curated are now called LSA.Arena on Instagram with 176K followers, and The Men’s Arsenal on YouTube with over 60 million video views). In 2018, I was given the opportunity to take on the MSN Newsroom project as part of a team of two managers – we essentially took over, re-structured, streamlined, and upscaled a team of 140 journalists who worked in a 24X7 digital news production and curation operation for MSN.com in 14 countries. In late 2019 I was made the Director of the MSN Newsroom and continue to be directly responsible for meeting the performance and quality KPIs set by Microsoft each month. We have maintained a 100% KPI achievement rate since July 2020. As of September this year my role has expanded to include working with the different editorial teams (LifestyleAsia, Prestige Online, AUGUST MAN, and Travel+Leisure) across the region to drive performance and synergies.
What’s the most exciting part of your job?
Working with a team of talented creators and curators who share a common goal of engaging our audience – driven by an interest in data analytics and a love for storytelling.
What’s your most-used productivity hack?
To-do lists! Simple, but so effective. And the satisfaction of crossing off completed tasks is always a bonus.
How do you keep the team motivated?
Regular feedback, performance recognition, and operational transparency are the tools I prefer to employ with all my teams and team leads. This has proven effective for trust-building and motivation.
As the Deputy Regional Director of Digital Operations, how do you keep up with the fast-paced nature of the digital industry?
It’s safe to say one has to be open to constantly learning and unlearning, especially in the area of user acquisition and engagement. With search engine algorithms and user consumption patterns changing, a data-driven approach to content led by SEO expertise is the key to steady growth. This will be my focus area for our brands in the coming months.
What show are you currently binge-watching?
Shark Tank! Better late than never, right?
What’s your favorite famous or inspirational quote?
“If you want to be happy, be…” – Leo Tolstoy
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