This is the right time to start Digital marketing for your business. I am saying this because the rules of the game have changed post the 2020 pandemic.
Digital sales are rapidly increasing and physical walk-ins in the shops and stores have significantly gone down. People are utilizing the internet more than ever for shopping online, booking online, and ordering online.
In order to stay in the competition (if not ahead); traditional ways of marketing and advertising will no longer give you significant returns.
So what should be done now?
“Get started with Digital Marketing”
No matter from how small efforts you start with; Getting started is very important and through Digital Marketing, you can definitely make your online presence count.
All it needs it faith, consistency and choosing the right Digital Marketing strategies for your business.
In this article, I will describe all these points to give you more clarity on Digital Marketing for businesses in India.
- Overview of Digital Marketing
- Scope of Digital Marketing for Indian small businesses
- Why is ‘this’ the right time to start with Digital Marketing?
- How to get started with Digital Marketing
- How to do it all by yourself (Most important)
- Ideal tools and digital platforms for your business
Overview of Digital Marketing
Any activity on the internet to promote, and advertise a product or service is called as Digital Marketing.
The ‘Sponsored’ posts we see on Facebook, Instagram are examples of Digital Marketing activities, Ads on YouTube and most of the products endorsed by influencers are also a part of Digital Marketing activities.
There are tons of ways to start Digital Marketing for your business. But, before that, you need to be clear on the following things.
Your target audience and market –
You should be very clear of the audience whom you want to sell the product or service. If you are not sure of your target audience, do a lot of research and figure out your actual audience. Otherwise, all your marketing efforts will go in vain.
A lot of companies first create products and then try to use marketing to make sales. But the reality is sometimes that people do not need that product or service.
Such organizations miserably fail because they have not tapped the right target audience and market. To understand your target audience better, interact with your audience, community members and existing customers on a regular basis. It will help you understand better about them.
Right product fit –
A right product fit can only come out of thorough research and feedback from your existing customers. Perfection comes in iterations. No product in the world was perfect before it went through improvisations after customer’s feedback.
Ask your customers to review your your products and services; keep updating your product range as per their feedback.
(Ex. iPhones are a sensation because Apple keeps improvising the same iPhone model with new features and updates).
Market Need –
There has to be a market need for your product. Otherwise, all the marketing efforts will go in vain. Look out for competitors, identify the market leaders and analyze their business operations thoroughly to make your strategy better than them. At the end of the day, your product/service should ultimately resolve the problem of your customers. This is the only “Mantra” to get successful in the business world.
Scope of Digital Marketing for Indian Businesses
There are more than 6.3 crore MSMEs in India and India is also the biggest user base of Google, Facebook and Instagram. This sentence is itself a proof of how much potential India has and up to what extent Indian MSMEs can take benefit from such a huge internet audience.
Consider these brands – Zomato, OLA, Myntra, OYO, Byju’s, Paytm. These brands were not always this big; through consistency, technological advancements and perseverance; they did everything that solved the problems of their target audience.
The concept of each one of them is very simple. For example; Zomato is just a medium between a person who wants to eat and the restaurant owner who sells something to eat. Similarly, Ola is just a medium between the passenger and a cab driver.
In a nutshell, these brands are helping people in making their lives easier by resolving their problems through their online platforms.
Why is ‘this’ the right time to start with Digital Marketing?
Digital sales in retail are growing at 57% annually. Those who started early are already enjoying the benefits of Internet marketing.
We all are testament to the fact that the country has turned more digital post demonetization and the pandemic has surged the use of the internet more than ever.
Even in the Tier 2 cities and below, internet users are rapidly increasing. Thus, considering all such factors; we can be very sure that this is the best time to start with Digital Marketing if you haven’t started yet.
Secondly, the Internet in India is far more affordable than many parts of the world thus, keeps the connectivity soothing throughout the population. You as a business can benefit by reaching a very wide audience and also show them your products and services through your website, social media, paid ads etc.
How to get started with Digital Marketing
Starting with Digital Marketing can be intimidating at times because of tons of knowledge & content available on the internet.
However, everything you see on the internet with regards to Digital Marketing for your business may not be apt and beneficial for your business.
There has to be a well-defined strategy and an execution plan. That’s where you will need a consultation to get started with.
The right Digital Marketing strategy for your business will be the one that is tailored to suit your business type. No two businesses are the same. Hence, no two strategies can be the same and as effective for both businesses. It involves a lot of things such as:
- Your vision & mission for your business
- Your affection towards your customers
- Your products & services
- Your sales cycle
- Your after-sales services and more.
For all the above points; Internet can help you in countless ways. You can start with creating your online presence in the form of a Website, Social media profiles and setting up an Email Marketing tool to communicate with your customers in an easy way.
- A website and social media profiles are crucial in the initial stages of starting an online marketing journey.
- Facebook Pages are Free to create and offers plenty of features that are beneficial for your business. You can Create a Facebook Business Page in 4 steps.
- Create an Instagram business profile and integrate it with your Facebook Business Page.
- Use Content Marketing to create and channelize your content across different areas and platforms on the web.
How to do it all yourself (Most Important)
Getting started with Digital Marketing for your business by yourself can be overwhelming at times. But if you start with small steps; you will master it gradually.
A lot of people think that Digital Marketing is just about marketing digitally and if they hire a reputed Digital Marketing agency who could do the work for them, then their brand will become successful.
Such an approach can be disastrous. Reason being, in digital marketing; only the medium changes to online mediums. The principles of marketing will always remain the same.
You as an entrepreneur should treat your venture as a baby and should raise it yourself. Think like a marketer first. Segment your audience type; understand your people well, take constant feedback from your existing clients.
Once you are at this juncture where you understand your audience well and are doing all the needful things; it will be easy for you to serve your customers well.
Also learn the basics of Digital Marketing using YouTube, blogs etc. Once you are clear with the fundamentals; it will be easy for you to get the work done by any Marketing agency. Execute your strategies effectively and keep Content Marketing as the backbone of your marketing strategy. You can start with Content Marketing for Beginners.
Ideal tools and platform for your business
The internet is bombarded with new tools and platforms everyday. However, which one will suit you the best will depend upon your target audience and the place where your target people are located.
Best online platforms to have a presence on are –
- A responsive website
- Quora
- YouTube
All of the platforms provide you with data analytics of how your content is performing in each one of these. The role of Data Analytics in Digital Marketing is very important to understand and analyze your marketing efforts.
Conclusion
Digital Marketing is simple but not easy. You need to have the right strategies to win in the digital space. For that, you need the right knowledge and a consultant who cares for you and your business.
Note: I hope this article gave you some clarity on Digital Marketing. Let me know what you want to learn more about.
Here is a short Google form which I would request you to fill. It will help me understand you and your business better.
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