Vijay Thomas, founder and Web List Posting partner at Tangent, began by saying, “As a consultancy providing technology solutions to increase organizational effectiveness, we now talk to CMOs, not CEOs or CIOs of our corporate clients. This tells you how big and important marketing budgets are to an organization, especially with the onset of digital marketing.”
Anand Natarajan, a chief business officer at Excello, pivoted the discussion to the key role of data in digital marketing. “Marketing clouds now offer ample data, unlike traditional TV, radio, etc. This also means customers expect you to know what they like and prefer.”
Julie-Lynn Tikekar, senior manager for risk management at PayPal, added, “Big data is a buzzword nowadays. It describes the speed, access, and amount of data available, and it is making marketing more focused and accurate, therefore creating more profit.”
Rajesh Munjal, COO of Carzonrent India, offered his insight that technology is not enough; content is also important. “For instance, we have provided vehicles for corporate rental. B2B is niche and should be customized. Tech and content are equally important; this is where sound marketing strategies will come into play. Data are abundant with everyone thanks to the internet, so you must use technology like analytics to make sense of all this.”
The panel also shared their views on what marketing tools and tips can increase online marketing efficiency.
“Have a data feed to keep your front end relevant; use analytics. Pay attention to the placement of products on your pages to optimize sales. Product preferences vary by geography”, suggests Vijay of Tangential.
Kunal Gupta, associate director for media, digital, and e-commerce at Nielsen, suggests experimenting with giving free data to consumers: “Keep track of what happens when you give internet data for free—how many people will experiment with shopping online, etc. It’s another revolution.”
Julie-Lynn of PaPpal added, “Maximize your digital real estate; don’t just build a website and forget about it. Keep it dynamic. While building your website, test it out with your target audience to ensure you’re attracting the right audience.”
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Keeping track of online marketing costs is very important. Mohit Gill of Global Sell said, “While it increases visibility, the cost of online marketing must be checked (sponsored ads, paid campaigns) to make sure your spending justifies what you sell. When you’re earning back around 30%, it’s not justified. Say you pay 100 rupees for five days, but the product is sold in five hours. That’s not justified either.”
Gaurav Kachru, CEO of Today Retail (now part of Zee Media Corporation), says, “Do not underestimate the power of SEO; it brings traffic to your sites cheaply. Be careful about paid acquisitions and display ads; they no longer draw customers. It is better to use influencers like friend networks to like your product.”
Summing up this discussion, things come a full circle when Gaurav said, “No matter what, marketing is still what it was. The fundamentals have not changed, and you must get those right; only the tech and tools have changed.”
Julie-Lynn agrees, “There’s no substitute for studying an Excel sheet for about 2 hours. Based on my findings from an Excel sheet, I can still find points with which to challenge guys who use.”
