Do you agree with the opinion that advertising and marketing do not stand still and require innovative methods? In modern conditions, the role of advertising specialists cannot be underestimated, since this area is constantly evolving and does not stand still. Qualified specialists have always been valued in any field, but a professional who practices in various areas of work and constantly learns himself and teaches others is triple valuable.
Ilya Balakhnin is a prime example of a self-made man who is considered a strategist in the field of new media, advertising, sales and marketing communications.
Education
Ilya Alexandrovich was born in 1987 in Moscow. In 2009, he graduated with honors from the Faculty of Political Science of Moscow State University. Lomonosov. Later, he completed advanced training with honors at the Peoples' Friendship University of Russia and the State University of Management. Buthe did not have a chance to work in his speci alty, although Ilya Balakhnin always speaks of his education with great respect.
The start of the journey
After graduating from high school, Ilya Balakhnin began working in an advertising agency that provided SMM marketing services (Social Media Marketing). It was then engaged in a new type of activity - promotion in social networks. Balakhnin quickly became an ace in the new field, and since, in his opinion, the agency was not working properly, he quickly left it.
Own business
Balahnin opens his own business - consulting agency Paper Planes, offering a wide range of services, such as: SMM marketing, branding and attracting the target audience, logo and corporate identity development, as well as the development of educational events. At the moment, the organization is the best marketing agency in Moscow according to RAAR. The company has more than 400 successful cases, which create its fame.
Self assessment
Managing partner and CEO Ilya Balakhnin speaks only of superlatives about the work of the agency. He characterizes his company as follows: "We are the key consulting company in Russia." He confirms such a loud statement with a large number of customers working with consumer markets. Evaluating his work, Ilya Balakhnin speaks very respectfully about his clients, calling them with a capital letter. Perhaps this is one of the main secrets of success.agencies. The customer is everything.
Speaking about his work experience, Ilya Balakhnin expresses the opinion that four years ago Paper Planes set itself a simple goal: to grow in revenue by at least a ruble a year. 2014 was a very successful year for the entire market, and it grew by leaps and bounds by 36%. Later, the company experienced a recession due to the crisis, feared the curtailment of the economy. The first half of the year confirmed the fears - a drop of almost 9%. Then they launched several new services, including those unique to the market, changed the approach to marketing, and rebuilt several business processes. And as a result, we closed 2015 with a 12% increase in revenue.
The company has changed a lot this year:
- headcount increased by 10%;
- salaries increased by 1/3;
- turnover was 7%.
A new employee training system was introduced in the agency, Lean implementation was continued. More than 100 projects implemented in 28 markets. Regional expansion has begun. Ilya is proud of every employee, assuring that only professionals work for him.
Teaching
In 2010, with the support of IABC/Russia, Ilya opened an innovative educational project - the Idealogy School. A project is first of all a way of thinking, it is a factory of new ideas. Ilya Balakhnin is the rector of Idealogy New Media Superhero Squat, Russia's first university of the future. Russia's first school of strategic communications in Social Media presents a training course for additional education "Strategic communications in new media". The experience of working at school was for Balakhnin a start in a new profession - coaching.
New Media
The leading social media practitioner Ilya Balakhnin gives special preference to such a marketing tool as New Media. Speaking about new media, he notes that today information is no longer needed, but it is necessary to strive for the involvement of consumers in communication with the seller. This leads to the deverticalization of communication flows, a person today receives information from everywhere, and therefore a tough information filter is formed in him, in connection with which it is necessary to attach particular importance to establishing trusting horizontal relationships with the buyer.
In an interview, Ilya Alexandrovich shared the main indicators of the success of advertising campaigns in social networks. Ilya Balakhnin named engagement as the main metric, he notes the fact that today there is a shift from an engaged audience in favor of its quality. By using entertaining materials and simple content techniques, any brand can increase audience engagement.
Balahnin today
Over the past 8 years, Ilya has positioned himself as a leading specialist and strategist in the field of new media and marketing communications. He has hundreds of cases on his account, a lot of loyal clients and cooperation with large companies both at the Russian and international levels. As part of his Paper Planes agency and as an independent consultant, Ilya was able to cooperate with such large companies as Skolkovo,Russian Standard Bank, Microsoft, leading mobile operators in Russia, international corporations such as Coca-Cola, banks, representatives of medium and large businesses, and even entire states. Among the successful orders, his agency has unique projects for promotion in the Internet environment of states, experience in conducting communication campaigns to prevent hostile takeovers.
Trainings and master classes
Ilya Balakhnin, whose biography is closely related to marketing, is happy to share his experience and knowledge with beginners. He is the author of trainings and master classes. One of his latest master classes is called "How to Benefit from Social Media", it is aimed at teaching those who do not already know how to use and benefit from SMM competently.
As a speaker, Balakhnin actively works at scientific and practical conferences and seminars, he manifests himself in the activities of a number of trade unions and associations. Balakhnin often acts as an expert and consultant for business representatives of various levels. His lectures gather a lot of students in many leading universities of the country. his participation makes many sales and promotion conferences prestigious.
Publications
Ilya Balakhnin, whose books are now in the TOP of the best-selling marketing publications, at a certain stage realized that he already had something to say to people. In 2011, the "pioneer of Russian new media", as he is often called, began to writebook, in which he set a goal to share his rich experience in the development of new media spaces, which he received in the process of repeated communication with major entrepreneurs of the world, in the course of solving the most complex marketing tasks. In addition to the specified " title", Ilya was named "New Media guru" for significant merits.
In 2012, Ideabooks Publishing published Ilya's book Horizontal World: Economy, Innovation, New Media. This book is based on the experience of building a successful innovative business, consulting, and a huge consulting work. In the book, Ilya Balakhnin, whose reviews are left by the largest entrepreneurs in Russia, tries to convey to the reader the idea that a new information era has come, in which the old methods do not work. Therefore, you need to constantly learn and implement innovative methods using the resources of new media. The book received a large number of positive reviews and will be useful to employees in the field of marketing and advertising. Balakhnin is also the author of a number of articles on innovative communications, information policy, business and leadership.
