Pradeep Chopra (Co-Founder, Digital Vidya): The focus of any business is to get as many customers in through the door as possible, and digital marketing has paved a successful path to growing businesses and increasing customers.
According to WordStream, the global digital marketing market was estimated at $350 billion in 2020 and is projected to reach $786.2 billion by 2026.
The massive digital advertising space has created an unprecedented demand for skilled professionals.
In this interview, I spoke to Krupesh from iProspect to get his opinion on the opportunities and challenges that the rapidly expanding digital marketing sector presents to both businesses and individuals.
In his more than 12 years of professional experience, Krupesh has focused on helping businesses grow via performance marketing.
He has helped over 100 startups & SMEs find new customers through Organic & Paid mediums, all being a digital marketing consultant. He has worked with startups right from the ideation stage/day 1 and helped them grow “From Zero to One”.
He has vast experience in Digital Marketing for both B2B & B2C segments. Through his focus on performance marketing, he serves clients across Saas, BFSI, Web 3.0, eCommerce, and Fintech.
According to you, in what kind of situations, conventional marketing techniques (e.g. Newspaper/TV) are still valuable?
Krupesh: Traditional marketing is still a realistic and important way to market certain businesses.
Although conventional/traditional marketing has been taken over by digital marketing in many industries, it is still effective in boosting your brand.
Traditional marketing presents opportunities to reach a large mass audience in ways that digital marketing cannot. For instance,
- Promoting an FMCG brand that sells soaps and toothpaste that wants to connect to the mass audience
- A Govt initiative for an awareness campaign on Polio dose which reaches the mass by print, tv, radio, etc
- In fact, most of the digital heavy brands still spend on conventional media to connect with the audience e.g Dream11, Zomato, Flipkart, etc
Some businesses may benefit from going one way or the other, but on the whole, it is possible for both traditional and digital marketing to thrive harmoniously.
According to you, what are the top 3 mistakes committed by organizations today in leveraging Digital Marketing?
Krupesh: As per my experience, I have seen a lot of brands suffer because:
- Not willing to experiment – Many brands do not want to experiment with new channels, trends, and strategies to reach their target audiences
- Lacking a Clear Strategy – Many brands do not have clear digital marketing strategies which is a waste of time, money, and resources.
- Superficial Approach to SEO – 93% of online experiences begin with a search engine and most organizations tend to ignore this channel
What do you recommend between outsourcing Digital Marketing to an Agency or doing it in-house? Why?
Krupesh: Hiring a digital marketing agency or not is a big question actually. Well, it depends on many factors like the kind of business you are in, the strength of your existing teams, the presence of your marketing team, marketing spends, products/services goods you sell, etc
You will have to consider all the variables such as cost, your market, and even your ability to build a great team.
The best route forward I would suggest is a combination of some in-house hires supplemented with a digital marketing agency.
Which are your favorite Digital Marketing channels/techniques (e.g. LinkedIn, SEO, Facebook Ads) and why?
Krupesh: Well, my favorite would be SEO
Reason: I have seen businesses doing wonders by leveraging the SEO channel in the longer run.
Why do you think most marketers bet heavily on “online advertising” as part of their digital marketing strategy? Do you think that the resource allocation including budget distribution between Online Ads and SEO/Organic is justified?
Krupesh: This is a very interesting question.
Well, most brands spend 85-90% of their marketing budgets on online ads which gives them results for a shorter period. Once the money is spent, the results are stopped.
The quality of SEO gets compromised due to limited budgets. I feel the brands should focus on both channels equally as in a long run it would bring down the Cost per lead (CPL).
How do you think Digital Marketing for B2B is different from Digital Marketing for B2C?
Krupesh: Digital Marketing for B2B vs B2C marketing is different with respect to
- The channels used are different, e.g B2B might focus more on Linkedin vs B2C will focus more on Instagram
- The target audience for B2B would be completely different than B2C
- The content creation strategy for B2B might be a more serious while for B2C engaging
There are many factors in Digital marketing for which B2B is different than B2C.
Strategies differ for B2C and B2B brands, making it essential to align your goal.
If something works for B2C does not mean it will work for B2B.
Which are your favorite Digital Marketing Tools and why?
Krupesh: I’m a big fan of Google-built tools, most of which are free
- Google Analytics – Audience Analysis
- Google Search Console – Health of the website
- Google Keyword Planner – Finding search terms
- Google’s data studio – For Reporting
Apart from this few paid tool
- Buzzsumo – Content Marketing
- Adobe Analytics – For Insights
How do you stay updated on the latest trends in Digital Marketing? Which Digital Marketing resources (i.e. blogs/websites/apps) do you visit regularly?
Krupesh:
- Search Engine Land: Search Engine Land is a must-read for marketers who wants to stay updated with the latest updates on marketing technology news
- Moz: Moz provides exclusive content for marketers, offering comprehensive guides, actionable strategies, and specialized insights from industry experts.
- Neil Patel: Neil Patel shares his experiential knowledge of digital marketing, and best practices and provides valuable resources.
How do you see Digital Marketing evolve in the future? What are the top trends you foresee for 2022-23?
Krupesh: Marketing platforms, technologies, user behavior, and consumer expectations, all have evolved and have led us to new and growing digital marketing trends.
With the changing landscape in marketing, we need to prepare our businesses for what is becoming trending for 2023. I feel:
- Rise in the short form of content: We have seen a rise in the short form of content in 2022, this would grow in 2023. Short content that is enjoyable, valuable, and only requires a few minutes to read/watch is exactly the sort of thing the audience will want to share.
- Shoppable Video ads: Buyers are looking for more interactive and engaging content from their favorite brands. While brands are looking for ways to reduce the friction between marketing and purchasing. Shoppable videos can achieve both.
- Growth of Artificial Intelligence in Marketing – Marketers are now using AI and analytics not just for data analysis and finding trends but also for digital marketing processes like content creation and strategy. The use of AI tools for marketing would grow in the coming year.
If you were given the power to make one change in the Digital Marketing industry today, what would you do?
Krupesh: Copying!
I have seen a lot of brands copy-paste strategies of others – spend time, money, and effort on it thinking it would give them results.
But this is not always the case, strategies that work for other brands, may not necessarily work for yours.
Do you recommend that freshers should consider “Digital Marketing” for building their career? What is your advice for newbies, who are looking at entering the Digital Marketing industry?
Krupesh: I normally give this advice to people, starting or building a career in digital marketing to never stop learning.
Digital marketing is evolving, and staying on top of trends is very important – be it through a new strategy, marketing tools, or a new social media platform.
What are the top skills (other than technical skills such as SEO/SEM) you look for when hiring a candidate for an entry-level role in Digital Marketing?
Krupesh: Candidates who are enthusiastic about marketing and have good analytical and out-of-the-box thinking
The curiosity of learning is the key factor that I look for in freshers before hiring them.
Would you like to share a few words about the Digital Marketing education we are imparting at Digital Vidya?
Krupesh: Providing quality digital marketing education is always been a challenge in the industry
Digital Vidya is doing great work in this space, as knowledge of digital marketing is the most essential skill in today’s world.
Anything else you would like to share with our readers?
Krupesh: Marketing is a continuous learning process, never stop learning and experimenting.
Pradeep (to our readers): I hope you find the insights shared by Krupesh valuable. In case you have any questions for him or me, please post them in the comments section.
If you are interested in exploring the opportunity of digital marketing for your career or business growth, do join us in our upcoming live online digital marketing orientation.
