Pradeep Chopra (Co-Founder, Digital Vidya): For businesses today, practically everywhere in the world, digital marketing is the preferred choice to reach out and engage with customers.
Research suggests that in 2022, the amount spent on international media advertising will account for a staggering 53.9% of all media spending.
Aren’t the numbers outrageous when compared to marketing a couple of years back?
The resources allocated to digital marketing have increased, and so are the number of job opportunities.
In this interview, I spoke to Priyang from Tata 1mg about the possibilities and hardships that the rapidly developing digital marketing sector offers for both enterprises and individuals.
In his more than a decade of experience, Priyang has actively been involved in strategically growing various organizations from scratch to sustainable heights.
Currently working as Director of Marketing in Tata 1mg.com and leading it to new heights, Priyang has helped top brands such as IBM, Housing.com, Yatra.com, and ZEE Group with his expertise in verticals like Digital Marketing, Brand marketing, Growth Marketing & Strategic Partnerships.
Apart from being a hardworking marketer, Priyang loves to write articles and helps in improving the environment with his passion for gardening.
When was the 1st time you experienced the power of Digital Marketing? What did you feel about Digital Marketing then?
Priyang: So if I rewind my life around ~15 years back when I made an account on Facebook (as a user), at that point in time FB was very much a plain vanilla type interface and we hardly see any ads on Facebook.
I still remember on that particular UI on the desktop, on the right-hand side there was a small banner ad and I always wondered, Does anyone see & buy (take any action) from that ad?
But when I started making campaigns on Facebook, a few years later, I have seen very good results from Facebook, and at that point in time, I understood that digital marketing has a strong power in itself and it can be a tool to get customers for your brand. This was the first time I felt the power of digital marketing & still feel that.
Would you like to throw some light on the “a-ha” moments in your Digital Marketing journey up till now?
Priyang: I think the evolution of digital marketing in a recent couple of years is really fascinating and mind-blowing. Consumers have shifted their buying behavior towards digital, and now the consumers want a very good experience from the brands
Digital marketing has moved from the journey of: ‘Who are your customers to ‘Know well your customers’. Now digital marketing is not about only acquiring customers, it is all about nurturing your customers and giving them a state-of-art experience, basically a holistic approach rather than just superficial.
What do you think is your greatest achievement in Digital Marketing to date?
Priyang: I think the biggest dream for any digital marketing professional will be to acquire the customers at the best optimum CAC & that too getting a good quality customer i.e. higher LTV.
So, learning & implementing hacks & tricks for acquiring customers at lower cost & of higher quality can be defined as my biggest achievement of mine.
According to you, in what kind of situations, conventional marketing techniques (e.g. Newspaper/TV) are still valuable?
Priyang: All forms of Marketing, whether it is digital marketing or traditional marketing, or offline marketing have their own place and importance. One can’t demean the importance of one over the other.
While digital marketing is now mainstream marketing, most brands, but still brands, use other forms of marketing like print, TV, radio, billboards, etc.
We have seen that Marketing channels like TV, Print, radio, and offline are widely used when an organization wants to make a ‘BRAND’ & Positive Perception in the consumer’s mind.
Also, the use of data & technology has given traditional marketing the much-required ‘Power’ & surely, they can produce a good ROI.
How do you think Digital Marketing for B2B is different from Digital Marketing for B2C?
Priyang: I don’t see many changes when it comes to choosing marketing channels. But ya, the whole strategy gets changed.
The way Marketeers see campaigns in B2C vs B2B are very different. The construct, treatment & execution will surely be customized as per the requirements, which are different in B2B & B2C.
According to you, what are the top 3 mistakes committed by organizations today in leveraging Digital Marketing?
Priyang:
- Sometimes brands feel that DM is like a magic wand that will give you customers from Day1. This is abs, the wrong mental model. DM takes its own pace of time to optimize and then will give you results. So be patient in starting to reap benefits later on.
- Lousy tech integrations can be dangerous for Marketing professionals. Robust integrations of the tools are very much necessary (or rather mandatory) to make marketing successful.
- Poor communication strategy. Sometimes brands start DM campaigns only for the sake of doing that. The messaging, verbiage & communication are not professional & appealing to customers to take any action. In this way, they are just burning money.
So every brand should have a marketing team in-house or outsourced, a proper & robust technology stack, data analytics & right communication strategy in place.
What do you recommend between outsourcing Digital Marketing to an Agency or doing it in-house?
Priyang: For young start-ups, one can start from an agency model (i.e. outsource), but once you grow, I always recommend having in-house teams.
Which are your favorite Digital Marketing channels/techniques (e.g. LinkedIn, SEO, Facebook Ads) and why?
Priyang: I think all channels are good & have their pros & cons. We, Marketing professionals, decide on the channel mix basis on the objective to achieve.
For Example, if we want to do the top-of-funnel campaign, we might choose Youtube, OTT, TV, etc., but if we want a purchase funnel campaign, we will rely upon FB & SEM.
Why do you think most of the 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?
Priyang: I think one has to understand the genre of business in detail & then make a marketing strategy from that.
Choosing the right channels is a science that needs to be backed by historic data analysis. Marketers are experimenting & exploiting every new online channel for 2 reasons:- 1) Getting better ROI, CAC & LTV 2) Saturation from the traditional online channels.
But one word of caution is to be taken into account. One should not forget the basic hygiene channels to be implemented.
Also, try to build a long-term & strategic sustenance rather than a tactical impact. Channels like SEO, organic social media, etc. should not be sidelined as these are like the ‘Banyan tree’.
You need to invest in the start without getting results, but once established you can reap benefits forever.
What do you think is the role of technology in marketing in today’s world? Would you like to share any good example in which technology is efficiently leveraged for the success of marketing?
Priyang: Data & technology play a very important role in Marketing. These 2 (apart from others) are key elements of success for any brand. Their role in Marketing is very intrinsic & involved.
Leveraging technology & data gives you an edge on the performance of campaigns. E.g. with help of data & technology, marketers can sharp targeting of their audience with the right messaging at the right time.
Let’s say a user comes on your app (you are a flight booking app) but gets dropped off from some page.
Then with help of data crunching & tech stack behind, we can identify the cohort of the user, and the persona of the user and can send him/her the right personalized communication at the right time to get him back to & convert on the app.
Which are your favorite Digital Marketing Tools and why?
Priyang: I believe all the tools in Marketing are quite important. I can’t rate one above the other.
But marketers should have ‘at least’ in-depth knowledge of analytics tools like google analytics, Omniture, BI tools for business data analysis, engagement platforms & attribution tools.
Do you recommend that freshers should consider “Digital Marketing” for building their career? What is your advice for newbies, who are looking at entering into Digital Marketing industry?
Priyang: I strongly advise all newbies to consider DM as a career option. There is a good demand for these professionals in the market. The world is moving towards ‘Digital’ & hence the importance of DM will come into play. I will give 3 advice
- Learn DM from a quality institute that imparts practical know-how
- Make yourself comfortable with tools & numbers
- Basic tech knowledge will add a lot of value to digital marketing professionals
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?
Priyang: First of all, I look for an in-depth understanding of the channel mix while hiring DM professionals. One should have hands-on expertise in strategizing & executing campaigns.
The professionals should have a strong hold on numbers (i.e. data) & a basic understanding of the technology stack.
Last but not least is the right attitude and passion for work.
How do you see Digital Marketing evolve in the future? What are the top trends you foresee for 2022-23?
Priyang: Digital Marketing is evolving every day. Crazy levels of creative & technological innovations are happening in Digital marketing.
With upcoming concepts of web 3.0, metaverse, etc. digital marketers have to keep themselves updated on these new technologies.
Also, video commerce & content to commerce are new strategies that brands are using these days & will continue to use in the future.
Also, we have seen the channels in Marketing are used in a more interwoven format rather than in silos.
Each channel is a ‘chain’ to another & talks to each other.
E.g. in print ads, people are integrating social activations with gamification with incentivization together to make a holistic 360-degree campaign.
Would you like to share a few words about the Digital Marketing education we are imparting at Digital Vidya?
Priyang: Digital Vidya is doing some fabulous work in the DM domain. The course structure is exhaustive and quite tuned to industry standards.
Also, since DM is all about practical know-how, DV is doing a couple of real-time case studies, which provide students with real know-how and more practical exposure.
Pradeep (to our readers): I hope you find the insights shared by Priyang valuable. In case you have any questions for him or me, please post them in the comments section.
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