THE ROLE OF DIGITAL MARKETING IN INDIA

M. Sunil Manohar Subbaiah1 , C S Harsha Vardhan Reddy2

M.Rajesh Naidu3
1
Asst.Prof. of Gates Institute of Technology Gooty (India)
2
Student of Gates Institute of Technology Gooty (India)
3
Naidu PG Student of Gates Institute Of Technology Gooty (India)
ABSTRACT

Digital marketing is an umbrella term for the marketing of products or services using digital technologies,
mainly on the Internet, including mobile phones, display advertising, & any other digital medium. The way in
which digital marketing has developed since the 1990s & 2000s has changed the way brands & businesses
utilize technology & digital marketing for their marketing. Online marketing campaigns are becoming more
widespread, as digital platforms are increasingly incorporated into marketing plans, & as people use digital
devices instead of going to physical shops.
Online marketing includes social marketing, word ads, banner ads, video Advertisement etc. Like other forms of
market, internet marketing has its benefits & pitfalls. The ability to precisely target consumers & to measure the
effectiveness of marketing strategies are the major advantages of online marketing. On the internet the level of
consumer exposure varies greatly unlike traditional media like newspaper billboards,.Visibility is the primary
prerequisite for online marketing, traffic cannot increase if people don’t know about the company & its products
or services.
Keywords: Online Marketing, , Television, Target Consumers, Social Marketing ,Marketing
Strategies, Traditional Media, Internet, Marketing Plans

I. INTRODUCTION
DIGITAL MARKETING
Digital marketing is an umbrella term for the marketing of products or services using digital technologies,
mainly on the Internet, but also including mobile phones, display advertising, and any other digital medium.
If marketing creates and satisfies demand, digital marketing drives the creation of demand using the power of
the Internet, and satisfies this demand in new and innovative ways. The Internet is an interactive medium. It
allows for the exchange of currency, but more than that, it allows for the exchange of value. A business on the
Internet can gain value in the form of time, attention and advocacy from the consumer. For the user, value can
be added in the form of entertainment, enlightenment and utility; content marketing is one powerful way to
create value.
A business on the Internet can gain value in the form of time, attention and advocacy from the consumer. For
the user, value can be added in the form of entertainment, enlightenment and utility; content marketing is one

821 | P a g e
powerful way to create value. The reciprocity of the transaction is what’s important here – in other words, the
exchange is a two-way street that provides benefit to both parties simultaneously.
The Internet has changed the world in which we sell. It is not a new marketing channel; instead, it creates a new
paradigm for the way in which consumers connect with brands and with each other. The complete scope of
marketing is practised on the Internet – products and services are positioned and promoted, purchased,
distributed and serviced. The web provides consumers with more choice, more influence and more power.
Brands have new ways of selling, new products and services to sell, and new markets to which they can sell.
The roles played by marketing agencies are shifting too. So-called ‘traditional’ agencies are getting better at
digital marketing, while agencies that started out as digital shops are starting to play in the traditional
advertising space. More than ever, integrated strategies that speak to an overall brand identity are vital to
achieving an organisation’s goals. Consumers are increasingly more fluent in their movement across channels
and in their use of multiple of channels at once. They expect the same from the brands with which they connect.
Anyone still thinking in the old ‘traditional versus digital’ dichotomy is sorely out of date.
However, marketing on the Internet does not mean throwing out the rule book on marketing and business
principles. Instead, the Internet provides a new environment in which to build on these. Profit is still revenue
less cost. The Internet does not change that.

Brands build loyalty among users who love their products or services. Users fall in love with products and
services when their experience is tailored to their needs, and not the needs of the brand. More than any other
type of marketing, digital marketing is measurable. This gives brands the opportunity to build tailored,
optimised brand experiences for consumers.

Once you have a clear sense of what the business challenge or objective is, and you have defined how your
marketing strategy will work towards fulfilling it, you can start thinking about your digital marketing strategy.
Digital marketing strategy builds on and adapts the principles of traditional marketing, using the opportunities
and challenges offered by the digital medium. A digital marketing strategy should be constantly iterating and
evolving. Since the Internet allows for near-instantaneous feedback and data gathering, digital marketers should
constantly be optimising and improving their online marketing efforts
User-centric thinking, which involves placing the user at the core of all decisions, is vital when looking at
building a successful digital marketing strategy. The digital marketing strategist of today is offered not only a
plethora of new tactical possibilities, but also unprecedented ways of measuring the effectiveness of chosen
strategies and tactics. Digital also allows greater opportunities for interaction and consumer engagement than
were possible in the past, so it is important to consider the ways in which the brand can create interactive
experiences for consumers, not just broadcast messages.
The fact that digital marketing is highly empirical is one of its key strengths. Almost everything can be
measured: from behaviours, to actions and action paths, to results. This means that the digital marketing
strategist should start thinking with return on investment (ROI) in mind. Built into any strategy should be a

822 | P a g e
testing framework and the ability to remain flexible and dynamic in a medium that shifts and changes as user
behaviours do.
If we defined strategy as ‘a plan of action designed to achieve a particular outcome’, the desired outcome of a
digital marketing strategy would be aligned with your organisation’s overall business and brand-building
objectives or challenges. For example, if one of the overall objectives were acquisition of new clients, a possible
digital marketing objective might be building brand awareness online.

Tactics and evaluation Many digital tools and tactics are available once you have defined your digital marketing
objectives. Each tactic has its strengths – for example, acquisition (gaining new customers) may best be driven
by search advertising, while email is one of the most effective tools for selling more products to existing
customers. The table below expands on some of the most popular tactics available to digital marketers and their
possible outcomes. These will be covered in far more detail in the Engage section of this book

II. HISTORY OF DIGITAL MARKETING

The term digital marketing was first used in the 1990s, but digital marketing has roots in the mid-1980s when
the SoftAd Group, now ChannelNet, developed advertising campaigns for automobile companies, wherein
people would send in reader reply cards found in magazines and receive in return floppy disks that contained
multimedia content promoting various cars and offering free test drives. [
Digital marketing became more sophisticated in the 2000s and the 2010s, the proliferation of devices' capability
access digital media at almost any given time has led to great growth of digital advertising; statistics produced in
2012 and 2013 showed that digital marketing was still a growing field.
Digital marketing is often referred to as 'online marketing', 'internet marketing' or 'web marketing'. The
term digital marketing has grown in popularity over time, particularly in certain countries. In the USA online
marketing is still prevalent, in Italy is referred as web marketing but in the UK and worldwide, digital
marketing has become the most common term, especially after the year 2013. [13]
Digital media growth is estimated at 4.5 trillion online ads served annually with digital media spend at 48%
growth in 2010. An increasing portion of advertising stems from businesses employing Online Behavioural
Advertising (OBA) to tailor advertising for internet users, but OBA raises concern of consumer privacy and data
protection.

2.1 The Importance of Digital Marketing

Why is digital marketing so important? Because it is not only a rapidly growing force in the current marketing
playing field, it is set to be the future of marketing, and it seems likely that digital media will soon replace more
traditional forms altogether.

While older generations will no doubt lament the demise of paper-based newspapers, books, communication
methods and traditional TV and radio broadcasts, those who have grown up with the internet and mobile phones
as a God-given right are already embracing the brave new world of digital consumption.

823 | P a g e
The facts are that digital methods of communication and marketing are faster, more versatile, practical and
streamlined, so it is perhaps unsurprising that once the technology became available we began quickly moving
into the digital age. The good news is that digital offers just as much potential to marketers as it does to
consumers.
Before we look at the benefits of digital marketing, let’s take a quick snapshot of some of the key forms of it at
present:
1. Websites and SEO content
2. Blogs
3. Internet banner ads
4. Online video content
5. Pay-per-click (PPC) advertising
6. Email marketing
7. Social media marketing (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc.)
8. Mobile marketing (SMS, MMS, etc.)
This is far from an exhaustive list, and new forms of digital marketing, such as augmented reality, are arriving
all the time.

So, why digital marketing ?

First of all, digital marketing is infinitely more affordable than traditional offline marketing methods. An email
or social media campaign, for example, can transmit a marketing message to consumers for the merest fraction
of the cost of a TV ad or print campaign, and potentially reach a wider audience.
But one of the main benefits of conducting your marketing digitally is the ease with which results can be tracked
and monitored. Rather than conducting expensive customer research, you can quickly view customer response
rates and measure the success of your marketing campaign in real-time, enabling you to plan more effectively
for the next one.
Perhaps the strongest case for incorporating a digital element into your marketing is that digital media forms are
quickly overtaking traditional forms of information consumption. According to the Office for National
Statistics, over 82% of UK adults went online in the first three months of this year: that's over 40 million
individuals.
The bottom line is, the digital age is here, and those businesses that fail to adapt to the new marketing climate
are at great risk of going extinct sooner rather than later.

III. TYPES OF DIGITAL MARKETING AND WHAT THEY ARE USED FOR.
Email Marketing Email marketing is one of the earliest forms of digital marketing. Send regular updates to your
customer base about your products and services. Or be different and send articles that may be of interest to
customers that will not be viewed as a direct sales approach. Be sure that you do not send unsolicited mails.
SEO (Search Engine Optimisation)

824 | P a g e
SEO is the art of increasing a website’s visibility in online search engines such as Google, Bing, Yahoo, Ask
and many more. By using the search engine’s Keyword system, you can increase the ranking of your website
and ensure it is visible when customers search for your products and services.

PPC (Pay Per Click)

Paid search, also known as PPC, is the management of paid adverts in the search results of a search engine.
These paid adverts are typically placed above, or to the right of the ‘organic’ search results and can be quite cost
effective. Paying per click means you only pay when a prospective customer clicks on your ad. You can control
your cost by setting a daily budget of say €5 per day.

Social Media
Social media management isn’t just about sending out tweets or posting on Facebook – it’s about managing a
brand’s image through multiple social channels. Social media management has become increasingly complex
over the last few years, with greater reporting tools available, and a wider range of social networks. Different
social media sites to consider:

Facebook
This is the biggest social media channel with over 1.10 billion people using the site every month.
Facebook can be thought of as the ‘social’ home for your business on the internet. It’s a place where people can
go to leave a message, browse through business products and photos or chat online. It also allows people to
share your content, thus giving you an opportunity of expanding your brand reputation at a very fast rate.

Twitter
Twitter is meant not so much for friends and family but for people you actually want to communicate with
making it a great way of connecting with your customers. If you have an unsatisfied customer you will most
likely hear them on Twitter, and this is your chance to excel at customer service. If you have succeeded in
gaining some popularity with your twitter account you will know how viral twitter can be. Google +
Google + plus has new great features, making it a great place for marketing. It is a great way to be interactive
with not only your customers, but with other businesses too. Google+ is Google, which means great search
engine results for your business. If you have a Google+ page and someone searches for your business, despite if
they follow you or not, your Google+ page and its most recent posts will be displayed on the right side of their
personal search results.

LinkedIn
LinkedIn is the largest social media network for business people and professionals but most small business
owners still don’t have it on their marketing radar. Business owners are now realising the value of this site and
the opportunities to build relationships and sales leads. Note that LinkedIn is more serious in nature compared to
Facebook and Twitter. Approach this social media channel more seriously and assume that the users will want

825 | P a g e
serious, professional and informative information. Other popular sites to consider are YouTube, Pinterest,
Instagram and Foursquare.
Online Advertising
Online advertising differs from PPC in that you are advertising on other peoples’ websites. For instance, you
may want to buy banner space on a specific website, and you would pay the website owner either based on the
number of impressions, or the number of clicks the advert receives.
Blogging, RSS & News Feeds
Blogging – and ensuring that blogs are visible – involves not just writing blogs, but creating a blogging strategy
that brings together SEO, PR, social media and web design. A good blog will be one that attracts natural,
organic traffic through effective keyword research, as well as social traffic. It will be well designed, and it will
have a consistent voice that makes it instantly recognisable.
Viral Marketing
Viral marketing combines many elements of the marketing mix. Some call it ‘content marketing’, as it always
involves disseminating an element of content across multiple channels. This can include videos on YouTube,
blogs, email marketing, as well as traditional elements, but the aim is to ensure that the content captures the
imagination of your market, and that the content spreads naturally through online communities

IV. THE ROLE OF DIGITAL MARKETING

The sources and amount of data is overwhelming, necessitating investment in larger and more
complex databases and data analytics tools in order to make sense of all the information
available.Being able to uncover these insights results in better ability to spot opportunities, correct
courses and engage with customers.
4.1 Data visualization tools can help you improve the effectiveness of your campaigns
With the increase in competition, thanks to the digital age and opening up of borders through the Internet,
marketers are looking for ways to understand and interpret data speedily.
Given the amount of data available, data visualization tools are used to derive actionable insight. For a business,
these may include insights into inventory flow through the year, peaks and lulls in shopping periods, customer
behaviors and preferences among others.
This ability to visualize data and get practical insights means that business customer relations teams can come
together and hold data-driven discussions, in which there is factual evidence to support ideas.
Decisions are made based on collective understanding of data points, and the gathering of different minds can
lead to breakthroughs to significantly improve business bottom-lines (e.g. identifying slow-moving stock for
better inventory control, greater savings and higher sales turnovers).
4.2 Real-time customer insights can help you acquire more customers and reduce churn
Analysis of consumer data using data analytics tools means that marketing teams are better equipped to respond
to consumer demands and changes in habits, preferences, incomes and other consumer data for overall better
customer experience with the business.

826 | P a g e
For instance, performance can be tracked, tweaked and pivoted to maximize returns from a consumer.For any
business, improving customer experience should be at the top of the list, given that customers are free to leave at
any time to go to another business for goods and services.
Larger businesses have lots of data to deal with, given that they have larger consumer databases. Enlisting the
services of remote DBA experts can help with both troubleshooting and implementation of analytics tools for
such businesses to reduce the decision-making time turnover.For these businesses, they face a challenge in
making sense of huge amounts of data stored by the business – to know what to use and what to ignore. Data
visualization software suites can be used to effectively sift through thousands of data megabytes coming in real-
time through various sources.This information may relate to customer experiences — for example, time spent on
site, pages visited, bounce rates among others. It may then be used to improve elements and pages in order to
make navigation easier for visitors, and to have unique value-adding points that will create happier and loyal
clientele.
The availability of current insights therefore can help digital marketing teams to generate better strategies and
ways to engage with consumers better.

4.3 Data analytics doesn’t have to be complex or expensive

Apart from offering database management solutions, many remote service providers are now looking to offer
data analytics as a service (DaaS). This is ideal for smaller businesses that also have large amounts of data but
cannot afford the cash outlay required to purchase analytics tools and licenses.This can be done through remote
service applications, which allow clients to leverage various analytical tools on their data and pay according to
data volumes processed.
You can also take advantage of interactive dashboards that are easier for non-tech-savvy team members to use to
get the insights they need from a data store. Your data will therefore be hosted and reviewed remotely, and your
company/business receives login details allowing various levels of access according to permissions that are
needed.

4.4 Using data about past events can help you plan for the future
Using the data-driven approach, marketers can analyze what’s worked in the past so that they can make better
decisions moving forward. Backed by insights from consumers and other forms of data, they can plan future
activities or campaigns with a greater degree of certainty. This is especially important for businesses that need to
constantly question their offerings and tweak them to offer good customer experience.
For instance, restaurants can leverage insights from customer order information to figure out trends and offer
special prices on less popular meals. They might also find ways to improve these products to make them more
popular among consumers.
As a marketer, being data savvy is the only way to remain relevant in the digital marketing landscape. This calls
for investment in real time data collection and analytics tools, interactive dashboards and advanced data storage
methods.

827 | P a g e
While initial outlays may seem forbidding, businesses willing to invest will receive more than their money’s
worth in customer satisfaction and engagement.

4.5 How big data can be used to target consumers

Online data is the fuel that powers any successful digital marketing campaign. While marketing teams may
already possess some offline data – consumer names and addresses for instance – it pays to consider that digital
marketing channels are cheaper in the long term, especially if they make correct use of channels like email.
There are also other forms of digital marketing, such as paid search, search engine optimization and content
marketing, and these have grown in popularity over the last few years. Marketing teams must be comfortable
with every online marketing channel, and use it to offer consumer value. This implies learning to use non-
conventional data sources, such as search information, consumer transactions, social posts and other big data
sources available online.

4.6 Big data sources you can use to improve the results of your next campaign
Web mining
As the name suggests, this is data compiled by mining the internet. It makes use of automated tools to uncover
and extract information from servers and web documents, and it allows businesses to access both structured and
unstructured data from browser activities, server logs, site and link structure, page content and other sources.
Search data
This is data derived from browser activity through use of special tools to track search information and detect
consumer behavior and intent. Consumers can also be matched to their online personae through a method called
onboarding; hence a business can create a targeted online audience.
Social networks
Social media has proli ferated most parts of the world. The average internet user spends an average of at least
two and a half hours on social networks for each day. Social networks allow marketers to harvest a wide range
of data, from personal preferences to brand mentions and tastes through tracking posts, likes, shares, comments,
check-in details among others.
Crowdsourcing
This is the process of gathering intelligence from the public, and it has been made easier by the Internet. Large
communities of people related by interest/passion are studied and data is collected by running polls and surveys
among other user-generated media.
Transaction tracking
Every transaction run by or through a business provides useful data about users, whether it is logistical, financial
or other related processes. Businesses can use transactions like insurance claims, purchases, orders and requests,
withdrawals and deposits, reservations and booking and credit card transactions to gain insight into activities of
their target audiences.

828 | P a g e
What it all comes down to
Imagine being able to target an audience made up of highly-qualified and purchase-ready prospects and easily
building them into loyal clients by anticipating their needs and hence offering true value. This is the power of
big data for digital marketing. You can actually capture the attention of consumers looking at your competitors’
products/services in real-time by leveraging unique data sources discussed above and many more.

V. CONCLUSION
Based on this paper The Role of digital marketing play vital role in business for growth. Because its have less
time and less amount do advertising through world. And also if any changes occurred in product we have to
change easily and it create more awareness rather than traditional marketing .So it play major part in product
awareness (i.e especially in New product introducing).In this digital marketing we have to use so many types
tools .so we lot of choices in digital marketing.

REFERENCES
[1] Brilliant Noise, (2012) Brilliant Model: the Loyalty Loop. [Online] Available at:
http://brilliantnoise.com/brilliant-model-the-loyalty-loop/#more-3873 [Accessed 28 August 2013].
[2] Cendrowski, S., (2012) Nike’s new marketing mojo. [Online] Available at:
http://management.fortune.cnn.com/2012/02/13/nike-digital-marketing/ [Accessed 8 August 2013]. Kotler,
P., (2012) What is marketing? [Online] Available at:
http://www.kotlermarketing.com/phil_questions.shtml#answer3 [Accessed 20 August 2013
[3] www.wikipedia.com
[4] www.google.com

829 | P a g e