The Indian digital marketing landscape is a mixture of two major forces: on one hand, we have the traditional way of doing business and on the other hand, we have the new-age digital marketing.
India is a land where many cultures and traditions exist together and it’s always been this way. It is not only a country of different languages but also different cultures, religions and philosophies.
In such an environment, it’s hard to imagine that things like social media or the internet would be successful at all. But surprisingly, they have been able to reach almost every corner in India despite this diversity. They have done so by being culturally sensitive in their approach.
What is Indian Digital Marketing?
Indian digital marketing is the most modern, highest cost-effective and most engaging form of marketing. The Indian digital marketing industry has grown by leaps and bounds in the past decade. The coming years are expected to see this growth continue exponentially.
The year 2017 marked a new high point for this industry with total digital ad spends reaching Rs 2,878 crores, according to data from the KPMG-Google joint report on Digital Ad spend in India. India’s online population is projected to grow over the next few years which will only help the country’s digital marketers reach new heights.
In this era, everything gets digitalized and can be marketed with the help of digital media.
In India, the economy is diverse, with a variety of cultures and languages being practiced across the country. The Indian Market covers 1.4 billion people from different age groups, social backgrounds, religions and occupations. This diversity is what makes Indian Advertising very special because it allows brands to break into new markets without much difficulty.
The emergence of digital media has made it easier for marketers to connect with their audience in real-time by adopting interactive mediums such as text messaging or social networking sites like Facebook or Twitter to interact with them in real-time through promotions.
To succeed in today’s global and digital context, it is important for organizations to create and manage a strategy that takes into account the new ecosystem of consumers, competitors and partners.
Must-Have Aspects of Businesses before Investing Indian Digital Marketing Strategies
A successful digital marketing strategy is important for businesses of all sizes and industries. Before investing in digital marketing, Indian companies should do some research to figure out which channels they should focus on.
According to a recent study by Google, 88% of consumers say that their decisions on which brands to buy from were influenced by the ads they saw online. Furthermore, another study said that 40% of digital campaigns are abandoned after just one day and 50% after three days if there is no ROI.
Some of the must-have aspects of Indian businesses before investing in digital marketing strategies include:
1) A plan for customer acquisition or lead generation: Marketing is an important aspect for any business to succeed. It can be difficult to market a product or service effectively, but there are many ways to do so. One of the most common ways is through customer acquisition or lead generation. There are many different ways businesses can acquire more customers and generate leads that fit their target demographic.
2) A strong SEO strategy for your business: Search Engine Optimization is a process of optimizing a website so that it ranks higher in organic search results for keywords and phrases relevant to the business. It’s important to have an SEO strategy from day one as this will help increase traffic and conversions.
3) Content Marketing Strategy for your Brand: Content marketing is a marketing strategy in which brands use various mediums to distribute content in order to attract and retain a specific audience. In the modern-day, content marketing is vital for any company’s success, because it can be used to build trust with potential customers and establish community.
4) Advertising Plan and Budget for your brand: A well-planned advertising campaign is a key to success. Without a proper understanding of your target audience, it can be difficult to know what sort of route to take.
5) Social Media strategy for your brand: Social media has changed the way that brands find their audiences. Creating or joining an online community, following the right influencers, and engaging with your customers are all crucial aspects of a successful social media strategy.
5) Logistics and delivery mechanism for your products or services: The choice of transportation mode depends on factors including speed, cost, goods handled per trip, and distance traveled. When one mode is not working well for a business or company then they must change it to another one.
Different logistics services have different delivery mechanisms depending on their location and how far they need to travel. The delivery mechanism used will depend largely on how much time it will take to get to its destination as well as handling large amounts of cargo at once.
6) Service and After Sales Service for your customers: Customers need to know that the company they are buying from will be there when they need them. Providing great service before and after the sale will help your customers feel confident in their purchases.
7) Setup for Grievance Management and CRM: As a manager, good grievance management and CRM can help you establish and maintain a healthy and safe workplace for your team members. If your company is experiencing strife, the first thing you should do is take steps to improve communications. This will reduce frustration and allow everyone to focus on their work.
Why You Need to Have an Effective SEO Strategy for Your eCommerce Site?
Effective SEO strategy for your eCommerce site is the key to success. It doesn’t just drive traffic, but it can also help you build your brand and increase conversion rates.
The first thing you need to do is to make sure that your eCommerce website is compliant with Google’s webmaster guidelines. This will help you rank higher on Google’s search engine since they are the most popular search engine in the world.
Next, ensure that your website content is original and unique. This will make it easier for Google to understand what your site is about.
Try to engage with potential customers by providing them with information about products they are looking for on your site by providing content like blog posts or videos. This will drive more targeted traffic and increase conversion rates as well as customer engagement rates!
Learn more about eCommerce SEO here.
How Indian Online Marketplaces Work
The e-commerce industry in India is booming. It is expected to grow at a CAGR of 29.4% over the next 5 years, reaching $37 billion by 2022. India is not just one of the largest but also one of the fastest-growing online markets in the world.
Online marketplaces are dominating this space. They provide the infrastructure and logistics to connect customers with retailers, which applies to both B2C and B2B transactions.
The Indian online marketplaces are classified into two types – general merchandisers and niche players. General merchandisers are Amazon, Flipkart, Snapdeal, Myntra, etc. Niche players are Firstcry, Pepperfry, etc. General merchandisers provide a wide range of products whereas niche players cover only specific product ranges like books or clothes etc.
Niche players have higher customer retention rates as they usually cater to a specific target audience with their products and services. They also have lower marketing costs as they don’t need to compete with other sellers on the platform for visibility of their products on the site, and the site takes care of generating sales leads for them.
- Retailers such as Flipkart, Amazon, Snapdeal, Myntra etc., can list their products for sale on these platforms. These platforms allow customers to purchase these goods by paying online or by cash-on-delivery.
- These ecommerce sites also generate revenue through commissions that they charge from retailers and other value added services such as advertising and marketing help.
- Customers can compare prices, read reviews, and select items conveniently.
- Deliveries to customers are expedited as they are partnered with the best logistic partners or have efficient systems in place internally.
- Availability of plethora of options, best of offers and low cost of shipments and efficient delivery systems gives customers the incentive to make purchases from these platforms.
The problem: The rising number of online marketplaces has to lead to fierce competition between them and this has hurt Indian e-commerce businesses due to price wars and discounting.
India’s Online Advertising Market
The Opportunities
India is the second-largest internet consumer base with 19.3% of the total population. It is also the first country with the most active social media user base with over 250 million users on all platforms combined. India is the second-largest internet user in the world, with over 300 million people accessing the internet.
This presents an opportunity for online advertisers. The Indian online advertising market is predicted to be worth USD 30 billion by 2022.
Online advertising is not just about ads on websites anymore. There are other avenues for advertisers to focus on, such as mobile video streaming apps, social media platforms, and digital marketers. Digital marketing has grown exponentially in India because of its low barriers of entry and low cost to start a campaign.
The Indian online advertising market offers many opportunities for both traditional and new-age players in this space to explore new avenues of revenue generation.
The Challenges That You Will Encounter Along the Way
However, this growth may not be as smooth as expected. Challenges for this market include poor internet connectivity, low adoption of digital payment methods and heavy reliance on the TV advertising industry.
The Indian online advertising market has always been very fragmented due to the lack of a unified standard. However, the government is now working with advertisers, publishers and agencies to implement a unified standard across all media platforms including TV, print, radio and digital.
The Indian online advertising industry still faces a lot of challenges. Firstly, Google and Facebook account for 95% of digital ad revenue in India. Secondly, they are not yet able to target regional languages accurately or measure impact on offline sales.
The challenge in the Indian advertising market is the need for a perfect blend of creativity and technology. The growth in e-commerce in India is giving an impetus to the demand for online advertising, which in turn is driving ad spend growth. This trend is likely to continue over the forecast period due to rising internet penetration but it will be challenged by high data costs and low average income levels.
The Role of Content Marketing in Digital Marketing Strategy
Content marketing has been an important part of digital marketing strategy for a long time. That is the reason why it is better to have a campaign in place. But what is content marketing? Content marketing can be defined as a technique of getting attention and building trust by creating and distributing valuable, relevant, and consistent content to a target audience. A company can create a lifestyle or brand or product around this type of media.
There are many benefits from using content marketing for your digital strategy which includes:
1) Reducing costs: Content marketing is a cost-effective way to get your message across. This form of marketing has been proven to have positive effects on customer engagement, brand awareness, and conversion. It accomplishes all of this without the high costs of traditional advertising.
2) Increasing organization revenue: In the world of marketing, content marketing is king. And for good reason. Research has shown that 72% of B2B marketers say their top content marketing goal is lead generation, and 83% say their top goal is customer retention.
3) Boosting SEO rankings: Content marketing is the best way to make your website rank in Google. The more content you have, the more backlinks you will get from other websites. It also helps with brand awareness and customer engagement.
Hire a professional Content writer or multiple content writers
Content marketers use blogs, social media, e-books, videos, infographics, newsletters or any other online tool to create attention for products and services.
The first thing you should look for is expertise. You should know if they have experience with your company and understand its needs and goals. The second thing to look for is how well they write. Just because someone knows all about your product doesn’t mean they can communicate that knowledge effectively through writing. And finally, you should look at rates and budget constraints before hiring any writer or agency!
If you are looking for talented content writers for your company or blog then you can hire professionals on freelance websites like Upwork. There are also many agencies that specialize in this type of work that you can hire as well. You just have to do your research to find the right person or agency that will suit your needs.
How the Right Digital Agency Can Help Your Brand Succeed In India
The use of digital is not limited to just the internet. It also encompasses different aspects of marketing, sales, and customer service. A digital agency can help your brand succeed in India by leveraging its knowledge in the latest trends in web design, mobile app development, content marketing, SEO services, etc.
Depending on what you need help with most be it online or offline marketing or both, they will provide you with the best possible strategy to meet your business objectives. Therefore, it is important to hire a digital agency for your brand because they are experts at creating successful campaigns that are cost-effective and that are designed to increase customer loyalty.
Go Digital or perish like the frog in gradually warming water
In the age of information, it is not enough to simply provide content for your customers. You must also be where your customers are – online. According to a study by Hubspot, 92% of people go to Google before they go to a company’s website, and 80% of them expect a response within 30 minutes or less. Digitalizing your business will help you meet those expectations and better serve your customers’ needs.
Digitalization is not just about going digital either- it’s about adapting to the ever-changing landscape of customer expectations. Businesses can use digital transformation as a tool for improvement and why it is so important in today’s world.
If you are not already on the Digital bus, honestly you have missed traveling on low fare. While you can still get on another one, it will be costlier than before. It is still good to be late than never as in the near future your business would be considered obsolete if you don’t have any digital properties up and running.
If you are on the lookout for an efficient partner to get the digital focus on your business, you can consider us at 7 Peaks Digital Marketing (7PDM) to get you going. You can write to us or call us for the same.
