In this session, we have Ms. Yashita Shah as an E-commerce Trainer and Consultant. She’ll be covering the topic on “Learning in the Digital World”. The session will be useful for those who wanted to learn digital marketing, but they don’t know from where to start. Since March 2020, all of us have been isolated in our houses due to covid 19 pandemic. It’s been a year and all of us are connected digitally. Speaker explained very well as to how the time has changed and the way we used to interact in 1992 versus 2017 and versus 2020 is different all together. In 4 basic parts, speaker shared the importance of Digital Marketing:
1. Modes of meeting & celebration
In 1992, we used to meet people in mass gathering, festivals & occasions. In 2017, we used to meet people through social media gathering, Whatsapp video calls etc. In 2020 & 2021, we are now doing virtual meetings, virtual classes, webinars on zoom app or Google meet app.
2. Way of advertising & marketing
There is tremendous shift in the way of advertising & marketing. In 1992, we were dependent on newspapers, pamphlets, TVCs. In 2017, we were relying on social media, Instagram, YouTube, Google etc. In 2021, we are more inclined towards influencer marketing. Influencer marketing is type of marketing that uses influencers to promote a brand to a larger market. Influencers are opinion leaders with a social media following base. They appear as experts or trustworthy sources of information. A blogger or makeup artist can be the influencer for many people.
3. Research
In 1992, there was complete offline research. People used to go to the field & meet other people. In 2017, we used Google for all kind of research, online shopping etc. In 2021, we are using amazon & YouTube for research, online shopping or when we need to gain knowledge or learn new thing.
4. Learning/way of studying
In 1992, there were proper schools, boarding schools, colleges and institutes in open/natural spaces. In 2017, students learned in classroom or through video on demand learning, where we learned from any YouTube video by watching it only. In 2020 & 2021, we have so many online portals which are providing us recorded sessions, demo sessions and live sessions also.
For the survival in today’s world and for our benefit, we need to learn digital marketing.
Speaker shared how people are using any digital platform in every 60 seconds. Our youth will be watching Netflix or Amazon Prime; Parents might be socializing on Facebook or Instagram, kids might be learning their rhymes or mathematical learning through YouTube or any online Ed-tech platform. For instance, Students can also learn on GrabGuidance. On GrabGuidance, we are providing online classes for class 9th. GrabGuidance is pioneering in academic & career guidance from class 8th to 12th & undergraduate and postgraduate students.
What exactly is digital marketing?
Digital marketing is a form of marketing for promoting your products/services through a digital medium (internet). It helps to grow your business and reach to you consumers.
Digital Marketing Ecosystem
- Social Media Marketing (SMM)
We all are spending time on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, twitter etc. We learn about new brands and we see lot of ads on Instagram & Facebook. On these social media platforms, we not only send friend request to our known ones, but we can see & buy products/services of different brands. Now a days, social media is a platform where you can expand your business.
- Content Marketing
All of us are creating content through video, audio, texts, banners, blog, and posts etc. When we are trying to talk about niche & reaching out to our audience though that content is called content marketing.
- Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
It means the process of improving your site to increase its visibility when people search for products or services related to your business on Google, Bing, and other search engines. Everyone wants to reach to the 1st page of the Google. That you may get by using SEO.
- Search Engine Marketing (SEM)
SEM, or search engine marketing, is the act of using paid strategies to increase search visibility. Brands pay for ads to appear as search results on search engine results pages. For instance, if we want to buy a laptop online. On Google, we search by using these 3 words buy laptop online. Within a second, we get many ads on the page.
- Online Reputation and Management
It means getting ratings, reviews, and good publicity about your brand. Speaker has given example for the same. Before buying anything on Amazon, we see product, read description, reviews and ratings. Good publicity of a brand can be done through different medium. These rating drive big time for anyone to buy the product.
- E-commerce
It is a platform where buyers and sellers come online to buy/sell goods and services. Amazon, Myntra, Flipkart are the examples of e-commerce platforms.
Where should a business/product be present?
We are online always on some or the other digital platforms. Each one of us must be using mobile phones, tablets, or laptops. Digital screen is the new marketing medium for us. Speaker shared 2 case studies of brands in which one brand has built journey through digital way and product has been completely built online. There is no offline presence of the brand. Bunaai is a Jaipur based brand which deals with Indian fusion clothing. Pari Choudhary is the founder of Bunaai. She has worked with some fashion houses/labels also. She realized that she has good sense about fashion and can write about it. Someone suggested her to create a blog and start writing about it. She started sharing tips about fashion. Later, she created a brand of her own where she can sell her sense of fashion to people. She has tied up with women entrepreneurs who are home makers and have 3-5 hours in a day. Pari didn’t know how to sell her products on Instagram. She started sharing pictures on Whatsapp with local brands and started gaining orders. She understood that selling her products online might be good idea and she need to invent new designs to engage their audience. On Instagram, she tied up with an influencer on Instagram to showcase her product. Influencer makes a product visually appealing in front of people. Gradually, her brand’s follower increased day by day and now, she has 1 million followers. After that, she thought to open her e-commerce store (website) where she can sell easily. All their products are available only on their website or on Myntra and Nyka. There is no offline store. If we want to expand our brand, then we need to understand where our consumer is. How can we reach out to more consumers?
Speaker shared another case study of her own brand, OWL Academy. It is for experiential English learning for kids of 6-13 years old. This academy is based in Surat, Gujarat. Due to Covid-19 her offline academy has shut down. She started online virtual classes. She has students from different states of India. She targets tier 2, tier 3 cities, or those areas where there are no good educational facilities. She will make short courses also on international level.
How does future look like for learning/business?
In 2021, so many people are learning online. But, we know that some people might go offline because online is not a permanent solution. People suggested her to shut online and go offline once situation of covid-19 is under control. The actual way speaker feels that Omni channel model for the learning is the new thing for digital marketing. Students do feel the need of interaction with others, learning new things and networking is must for them.
After the session, speaker cleared the doubts of users who were asking questions in the comment box.
Q1. Do we really need a course for Digital Marketing or it can be learnt by research?
Speaker has suggested user to watch YouTube videos on Digital Marketing and try to learn from there. If the user still faces any problem or she need to learn practically then she should compare some good institutes who are providing online courses and go for 3-6 months course. Before that try to attend their workshops of 2/3/4 days. User can do proper 2/3/6 months of diploma course on digital marketing. Try to access free of cost option first then upgrade to a better course.
Q2. How should we decide on the budget for digital marketing?
Speaker has suggested to research about your target audience. Either your consumer is on social media like Facebook or Google. For social media marketing, you can put 3k-5k of budget for 2 months & on Google 5k-10k of the budget is fine. But it completely depends upon the TG and the product or service.
Q3. Is SEO more useful or SEM? In how much time, website can be on 1st page of Google?
According to the speaker, it will take 4-6 moths for a website to come on the 1st page of Google. It is difficult to choose between SEO or SEM. Because both will work well together. SEO means improving your site and helps in coming on 1st page of Google. SEM is paid advertisements.
