Extremely passionate about Digital Marketing, Ravi Soni has dual qualification (B. Tech. + M. Tech.), Computer Science & Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi. Ravi co-founded Obbserv to make every business harness the power and potential of internet marketing and reach millions of buyers at the click of a button.
Professional Background
Ravi was associated with Flipkart Online Services Private Limited, wherein he gained two years of experience in leading the fronts of digital marketing for Flipkart in association with its founders. He has also been the principal architect of a scalable automated system aimed at enhancing the search visibility of popular SKUs at Flipkart.
Besides this, Ravi has been associated with several start-ups in terms of investments. They are:
- Sattviko: Serving Delightful Modern Pure Veg food made with benefits of Yoga
- Diskover: Marketplace to discover the curated & premium fashion trends.
- iDelivr: Hyperlocal marketplace service that makes buying from your favorite neighborhood stores easy & convenient.
How did you get into Digital Marketing? What interested you in learning Digital Marketing?
Ravi Soni: In early stage of my career, campus placements landed me into a startup who was selling books online, called Flipkart. My inclination towards marketing got coupled with technology and being at the best place to experiment it became my passion. My greatest motivation for learning digital marketing – importance of thought, everyday there is something new and innovative and it’s a new science.
According to you, what are the advantages of conventional marketing over Digital Marketing? Do you think that Digital Marketing is a threat to the future of conventional marketing?
Ravi Soni: Digital marketing is one more channel of marketing with its own advantages and limitations. The choice of marketing channel is dependent upon the target audience and the other channels act as filler or a push to support.I think digital marketing is an extension rather than a threat.
Share about your 3 favorite Digital Marketing case studies. What did you like most about them?
Ravi Soni:
- Thai Life Insurance: The depiction of emotions of target consumers and connecting them in a row to convey the message.
- Abki Bar Modi Sarkar: A significant use of digital platforms to get the ground efforts visible, engage users & supporters and making it large.
- Ice Bucket Challenge: The thrill and excitement in the campaign which motivated every user to try it once and become a part.
According to you, what are the top 3 mistakes committed by organizations today in leveraging Digital Marketing?
Ravi Soni:
- No Virtual Planning of the campaign: This leads to urgent actions, unplanned workload on team and hampers the ROI of the campaign.
- Assumptions based upon belief of team members and not referring to actual ground realities to understand consumer & target audience: Campaigns goes wrong totally.
- Not Exploring other available Channels: sometimes we consider Facebook and Google as the main channels but there are few which gives you 1/3rd CPA and better engagement with potential consumers.
Between Agency and In-house, which approach would you recommend for maximum value of Digital Marketing? Why?
Ravi Soni: The preference between Agency and In-House depends upon the nature of business, requirement of the hour and the agency you are dealing with. The major concern of every CEO is choosing right people for the job and to get effective ROI for the brand. If you get right people who can drive as per the three factors mentioned then keep it in-house else bring the experts on board.
Which are your 3 favorite Digital Marketing Tools?
Ravi Soni: SEMRush, Screaming Frog, HootSuite.
Why do you think it’s important for entrepreneurs, marketing professionals and students to learn Digital Marketing today?
Ravi Soni:
- For Entrepreneurs: precise reach to customers at low-cost marketing budgets and effective techniques. It could be the game changer
- For Professionals: has to know it to choose the right way of marketing for maximum ROI.
- For Students: this is would be an important part of future world.
What are the top 3-5 skills you look for when hiring a candidate for Digital Marketing profile?
Ravi Soni:
- Passion for Digital Marketing
- Consumer Behaviour Understanding
- Creative thinking
- Analytical Approach
You’ve hired participants of our Digital Marketing certification course. What are the key benefits you get by hiring our alumni?
Ravi Soni:
The best benefit is the exposure to digital marketing and vision to grow in that area.
What is your advice for newbies, who are looking at building a career in Digital Marketing industry?
Ravi Soni:
- Stick to the basics – everything else revolves around them
- Don’t judge by belief, refer data or check ground reality
- Every small change/tweak has an impact so be careful
How do you stay updated on the latest trends in Digital Marketing? Which are the Digital Marketing resources (i.e. blogs/websites/apps) you visit regularly?
Ravi Soni:
- Hubspot
- LinkedIN Feed
- Facebook Feed
Share the names of 3 people you respect when it comes to Digital Marketing.
Ravi Soni:
- Avinash Kaushik
- Randfish ( Moz )
- Mary Smith
How do you see Digital Media evolving in future? What are the top 3 trends do you foresee for 2016?
Ravi Soni:
- Mobile would be the prime focus – advertising and engagement
- Focus on Connecting offline & online media for enhanced ROI
Would you like to share few words about the work we are doing at Digital Vidya?
Ravi Soni:
Digital Vidya has led the foundation of educating India and creating skills set to empower Digital India. As per our experience till now, Alumnus of Digital Vidya are clear with their basics and motivated to work in Digital Marketing. Thanks for enabling students across India to e-learn digital marketing.
Are you inspired by the opportunity of Digital Marketing? Start your journey by attending our upcoming orientation session on Digital Marketing for Career & Business Growth. It’s online and Free :).
Thanks Ravi for your contribution to our community through this interview. Really happy to know your feedback about the work we are doing in spreading digital (marketing) vidya :).