Have you seen the advertisements of other companies/ brands / products that you know or use while surfing internet or while using Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn etc.?

Well you are able to see them because they are promoting themselves by “Digital Marketing” and targeting you or your region or your age group. You are able to see those ads also because they are following your interests on internet or your visits on their websites etc.

Whether you are a new business or an old established brand, in the times we are living there will be no one who does not want to promote themselves online on Google Search, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn etc. Few months ago it was a debate that is “Digital Marketing” a better option than conventional ways of news paper, outdoor publicity and TV advertisements. But we all have evolved with that and now everyone knows that Digital Marketing is the future of brand promotion and marketing.

How is “Digital Marketing” better than conventional ways of Marketing?

1. Cost Factor:

Whatever be your marketing budget, if managed properly Digital will be always more cost effective and result oriented than conventional ways.

2. Better Reach:

The number of eye balls you can attract, the ways (Text, Audio, Video) in which you can communicate with your target customer, the detailed analysis / features / USPs you can show is better than conventional ways.

3. Targeted Audience:

If your customers are from outside Udaipur, then there is not much of advantage to promote yourself in Udaipur. For businesses like Hotels & Exporters, Digital Marketing is one of the best ways of reaching that gender, those age groups, cities where you think you will get more business by showing your presence.

What are the Drawbacks of Digital Marketing?

1. Time Consuming

Making a TV ad or a newspaper creative/ ad once and then broadcasting it or publishing it is easy. But in Digital Marketing you need someone to look after your marketing strategy and day to day communication by creatives, articles, blogs, videos etc. If you have the knowledge & skills about it you can do it yourself or get it done by your in-house staff or you can hire a Digital Marketing Agency/Company who can do it for you. It’s always better to hire a expert so that they can give you results and you can concentrate on your Business.

2. Less reach in rural India

No matter how much we would like to believe, but still the rural India is still catching up when it comes to Internet Penetration and Smart Phone users. Therefore a newspaper ad and other mediums of Marketing and Advertising are also very important. But the progress on increasing Internet and smart phone usage is very good in rural areas too and very soon like electricity, mobiles and Television, Internet will also reach everyone there.

How should a business ideally plan on their Digital Marketing Budget, Strategy and Agency/Company?

1. Budget Plan

Don’t think of Digital Marketing as the only way of Marketing. Shift a part of your marketing budget to Digital Marketing and see the results for few months. You yourself will be the best judge on increasing that budget or decreasing it in due course of time. Ideally Digital Marketing should be a part of your overall Marketing.

2. Marketing Strategy

Plan your Strategy well. Out of Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, Google+ etc. you should know what is the best platform for you. You should be able to judge that by investing in which platform you are able to get more benefit. What kind of information or creatives you would like to share? etc. Timing is also very important, you can decide that you want more online activity in your off season or peak season of business. You can plan to enter new markets/ regions/ countries also with your strategy.

3. Hiring an Agency/ Company

By reading this article till here you must have understood that Digital Marketing is time consuming but cost effective. Also, that it needs constant control and expertise. Here comes the role of a “Digital Marketing Agency/Company”. A good Digital Marketing expert will understand your requirements and expectation and accordingly plan a Digital Marketing Strategy for you. If you find that strategy exciting than they will start working on it accordingly for you. But, if you think that you can manage this on your own then you should give it a try for sure.

Some Important Terms related to Digital Marketing:

1. Organic / Inorganic Marketing:

Organic Marketing is the one in which you are not doing any paid promotion for ads in Google AdWords or Facebook etc. Inorganic Marketing is in which you are paying for the visibility of your ads. Both Organic and Inorganic Marketing have their important role. It depends on your marketing strategy how you manage them.

2. PPC (Pay Per Click):

Pay per click (PPC), also called cost per click, is an internet advertising model used to direct traffic to websites, in which advertisers pay the publisher (typically a website owner) when the ad is clicked. It is defined simply as “the amount spent to get an advertisement clicked.”

3. SEO (Search Engine Optimization):

It’s a set of rules to be followed on your website while writing content of pages and there titles, keywords & descriptions so that your website is easily readable and searchable by search engines like Google and Bing. Your websites ranking on your preferred keywords depend a lot on your websites SEO.

4. SMM (Social Media Marketing):

Websites like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, Pinterest, Instagram, Tumbler are social networking sites. All kinds of activities that you do for the promotion of your business on these websites can be called as Social Media Marketing.

Frequently asked questions by Businessmen?

1. Can my Website Development Company and Digital Marketing Company be different?

Yes, they can be different. But it’s always better to give the control of your website and Digital Marketing to same company so that they can keep them in sync for all updates. Also, there can be confusion between the message that your website and digital marketing is giving to your audience if they are managed by different companies.

2. How long should I continue with Digital Marketing for my company? What should be the duration?

Digital Marketing is a constant process. There should not be a case where you are very aggressive for 1 month and then not do any activity for 6 months. This will lead to your hard earned initial audience forget you. You can always manage the pace and level of activity.

Eg. You can increase your activities in your peak season and slow down in low season or vice versa. Digital Marketing Companies usually do a monthly contract with you and gives you discount if you upfront given them a long term contract of up to 6 months or 1 year. In this too you can get weekly or monthly reports of the activities performed and response generated by it. Different Companies adopt different strategies for it.

3. How to select a suitable Digital Marketing Company for my Business?

> First check the portfolio of already managed successful campaigns by that company. Also, their own visibility on Internet as a Digital Marketing Company. If they cannot promote themselves online then chances are slim that they will be able to promote you.

> Take a presentation by them on how they are planning to promote your business. On the basis of their confidence and level of creativity and ideas you can take your decision.

This is my first article for Udaipur Times, do let me know in the comments below what you think of it or if you would like to add few more points that I might have missed for this topic.

By: Karan Garg, CEO-IFW Techno Creations Pvt. Ltd.