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The Future of Marketing: Navigating the Digital Landscape

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Introduction to Digital Marketing

Introduction to Digital Marketing

In our digital era, marketing has taken on a whole new meaning. Grey are the days of traditional advertising methods such as print media and radio spots. Today, even small-scale companies are turning to Digital Marketing in order to effectively reach their target audience. Digital Marketing isn’t just a powerful tool for businesses, but an essential skill for youth and working professionals of millennials and Gen Z. It provides a platform to build engaging relationships with customers, allows you to get creative with trends, and helps you stay in-the-know about the latest updates. In this blog, we will discuss how Digital Marketing has changed the landscape of advertising.

Digital Marketing – A Quick Fact Check

Having said how Digital Marketing is growing with the trends, let’s do a quick fact check on its demand. 

According to a report by Expert Market Research,the advanced advertising and Digital Marketing profession scope in the Indian market will be valued at $ 24.1B by 2028, which is currently valued at $ 4.5B. Indeed, the growth of Digital Marketing can easily be seen with the advent of ad platforms like Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Meta Ads, which are available to help in business growth by reaching their target audience. As compared to the conventional model of advertisement, Digital Marketing has proven to be the best advertisement tool with minimal budget and proper insights that will act as an important factor in planning long-term business growth strategies. 

Besides, the use of Analytics and Data Science allows marketers to gain insights into the effectiveness of their campaigns and target the right audience on the right channels. Also, the use of AI and Machine Learning technologies in Digital Marketing further increases the efficiency of campaigns. Brands now have access to a whole range of AI-driven marketing tools such as chatbots and Predictive Analytics to help them drive more engagement and sales. Altogether, it is obvious that Digital Marketing has come a long way in just a short span of time. As its growth continues, the implementation of Digital Marketing tools is becoming increasingly common among any business around the world. 

Getting into all the above facts, it’s easy to realize how the Digital Marketing industry is growing fast, and the demand for professionals is rapidly increasing.That’s why it’s important to select the right Digital Marketing courses, training and certifications which can help you succeed in this field and boost your career prospects.

Careers in Digital Marketing

A career in Digital Marketing is a great option if you want to work with a wide range of topics and technologies, and the pay can be very attractive. Some common roles in this field are: 

✔ Content Developer

✔ Digital Marketing Strategist

✔ Media Planner

✔ Campaign Manager

✔ Social Media Manager

✔ SEO Executive

✔ Email Marketer 

and many more. 

Here’s sky is the limit as you don’t have to gain the professional trust of 3 – 7 years to get the promotion with a good hike. Having productive insight can let you grow.

Job Opportunities in Digital Marketing

Opportunities in Digital Marketing

A great shift has been created due to this digital era in which every business wants to have an in-house Digital Marketing professional; but the availability of such professionals is lesser than the demand. Companies across all industries, from small businesses to large multinationals, are turning to Digital Marketing to promote their brands.

Placement & Salary

The salary packages for Digital Marketing professionals vary depending on experience and qualifications, but freshers can expect to earn between 4 LPA to 6 LPA. The right qualifications and Digital Marketing Course With Placement can make all the difference, leading to higher salaries and better job opportunities.

upGrad Campus Digital Marketing Certification Course

upGrad Campus Digital Marketing Course

Are you interested in availing these opportunities and becoming a Digital Marketing professional? With upGrad Campus’ online Digital Marketing program, you can do just that! As a digital marketer, it is essential that you stay ahead of the curve. upGrad Campus’ Digital Marketing Course With Placement covers the entire spectrum, from Search Engine Optimization (SEO) to Social Media to Digital Analytics and more. As part of the program, you’ll be exposed to a range of topics and concepts. Listed below are some of the key benefits offered by upGrad Campus’ Digital Marketing course.

Salient features of the program

1. Comprehensive and Updated Curriculum

The upGrad Campus Digital Marketing Certification Course provides in-depth learning and offers comprehensive coverage of the fundamentals of Digital Marketing. The curriculum is regularly updated with the latest tools and technologies to ensure that you are fully equipped to tackle the challenges of the industry.

2. Accessible and Interactive Learning Platform

Every upGrad Campus student has access to a simulated online environment, providing 24/7 online assistance through mentor and expert assistance. Our courses are designed in a way so that each user learns at their own pace and in the comfort of their home.

3. Experiential Learning Opportunities

upGrad Campus’ Digital Marketing Certification Course also offers hands-on projects and activities to ensure experiential learning and to instill a comprehensive understanding of the Digital Marketing trends and strategies. Learning the nuances of digital marketing with our program includes the use of up to 46 different tools. This helps to further strengthen students’ knowledge and prepare them for the best possible job or internship opportunities. 

4.  Career Support System

Our Placement Plus and Internship Plus programs provide you with the necessary career support, including certified mentor guidance, industry expert advice and valuable tips for helping you to develop your career pathway. These add-on courses are aimed at helping you unlock job opportunities with leading companies all around the world. With Placement Plus, our experts will assist you with getting up to 3 assured interviews. Both Placement Plus and Internship Plus cover soft skills training, resume building, mock interviews and GD preparation that ultimately help you land your dream job as a digital marketer.

Enrich your knowledge with upGrad Campus

The Digital Marketing Certification Course at upGrad Campus gives you in-depth access to industry knowledge, tools and trends. Moreover, you will also have the chance to engage with industry veterans while taking the course.This is the perfect opportunity to build your professional network and connect with the best mentors around. They will help you hone your skills while giving you advice to compete successfully in the Digital Marketing world. On completion of this program, you will be able to do freelancing jobs, run business/start-up or have a stellar career in a good company.  

Ready to make your mark in the world of Digital Marketing? Take this next step in your career

and enrich your knowledge with upGrad Campus’ online Digital Marketing Certification Course. Enroll Now and upgrade your Digital Marketing skills!

Top 11 Benefits of Digital Marketing for Businesses & Students

At the cusp of 2023 – well into the 21st Century – there is almost nobody who hasn’t been faced by a piece of Digital Marketing. Be it a blog, a post, an advertisement on Youtube or even on Spotify. Whether you’re privy to it or not – this world is run by Digital Marketing.

Most of you might already know what Digital Marketing is, but for those of you who’re new here – let’s discuss.

What is Digital Marketing?

Digital marketing is the method of marketing products or services using digital platforms and devices. Digital marketing involves the application of techniques and sharing information for the purposes of promoting new products and services and engaging with customers through online platforms. So what does the Future of Digital Marketing look like?

The Future and Scope of Digital Marketing

At the pace at which Digital Marketing is growing, it is predicted that by 2025 there will be zero tolerance for poor Digital experiences. The Covid-19 pandemic really pushed the envelope for a better digital infrastructure – with Traditional Marketing out of the question, every company relied heavily on Digital Marketing.

But that’s not all. Read further to see what are the benefits of Digital Marketing.

Top 11 Benefits of Digital Marketing

Top 11 Benefits of Digital Marketing

By now you may have realised that digital marketing is vital for almost every company, industry, sector. You can no longer solely rely on traditional marketing to reach your audience – especially when you’re aiming for a global reach. If you’re not sold yet – let us show you the 11 best benefits of Digital Marketing.

Reaching a Global Audience

4.83 Billion people use some form of social media. That is more than half the world’s population.Throw in Content Marketing, Email Marketing and Search Engine Marketing and you can easily reach any corner of the world.

Marketing to a niche audience

Using tools like Search Engine Optimization and Search Engine Marketing, you can actually ensure that your Ad reaches the audience of your choice.

Increased ROI

ROI is calculated by measuring how much profit the company gained based on the initial investment. Running campaigns on digital platforms like Google Ads, Instagram, Facebook etc. are much more cost effective and ensure a higher view rate.

Trackable and Measurable Results

Using Digital Marketing and the tools that come with it – like Google Analytics – you can effectively track all your campaigns end to end.

Improved Conversion Rates

Since you can specifically target the audience that is interested in your brand, the chances of them actually purchasing your product is higher.

Increase Social Currency

Social media channels allow you to increase your influence as a brand and create a better reputation in the market.

Interactive Marketing

In Digital Marketing there is room for two-way communication between the brand and the consumer.

Scope for A/B Testing

Using Digital Marketing you can split your audience into different groups and test different Ads on these groups to check in one campaign itself – which Ad performs better.

Remarketing Opportunities

You can specifically market your products to the people who have already shown interest in your brand, using Digital Marketing. This technique is also called Rebranding.

Better Customer Experience

Digital Marketing gives you the opportunity to customise your marketing efforts to suit different groups of people. This calls for a better customer experience.

Higher Engagement

Digital mediums allow the brand to engage with the audience one on one.

Benefits of Digital Marketing for Students

Benefits of Digital Marketing for Students

Digital Marketing is one the most in-demand jobs right now making it the perfect time to start your Digital Marketing journey. upGrad Campus offers a holistic Digital Marketing course that can help you kick-start your career in this competitive field. Take a look at a few of the benefits of a Digital Marketing course with us and working in this field:

  • No Specific Educational Background is Required
  • Outrageously High Demand for Digital Marketers
  • High-Paying Jobs
  • Fast-Growing Industry
  • Get Better Job Security
  • Diverse Career Paths
  • Entrepreneurship Opportunities
  • Freelance Job Opportunities
  • You Can Explore Different Sectors
  • Work in a Diverse Environment

If you want a more comprehensive guide of what is the use of doing a Digital Marketing course you can check out our ‘Ultimate guide on Digital Marketing’.

Benefits of Digital Marketing in India

If you think you need to go abroad to flourish in Digital Marketing – you’re mistaken!
Digital Marketing is flourishing in India – here are the benefits of digital marketing in India:

  • India is one of the top 4 internet users in the world
  • More than 67% of Indians use Social Media
  • Lucrative Salary packages for Freshers, with an average of 6 LPAs
  • India’s has a stronger tech background compared to countries in the West
  • The estimated market value of Digital Marketing in India is 567 Billion INR

In India the field of Digital Marketing is only going to flourish, as the government itself has been increasing its efforts towards this field.

Indian Government’s push for a Digital India

Digital India is a campaign launched by the Indian government, to ensure a better online infrastructure and better online services to the citizens of India. This push for digital literacy is going to increase the demand and scope both for Digital Marketers in India.

Conclusion

Conclusion

We hoped this article helped you understand the importance of Digital Marketing both as a student and as a company. If this article has got you interested in Digital Marketing you can check out our Digital Marketing certification course and kickstart your career in this field.

upGrad Campus’s Ultimate Guide on Digital marketing

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Instagram reels, Facebook shares, Influencers. Do you think this is all there is to Digital Marketing? You’re in for a surprise, pal!

Luckily for you, we have the ultimate guide on Digital Marketing that will help you understand where you stand and where you need to go in the long and ever-changing field of Digital Marketing. This blog covers everything you need to know about Digital Marketing, starting with the most important question – what is Digital Marketing?

What is Digital Marketing?

In today’s world, it’s impossible to find a person who wouldn’t have been subjected to Digital Marketing at all. But while everyone has been exposed to it, not everyone understands the meaning of Digital Marketing.

Digital Marketing is an umbrella term covering a single or a combination of activities which allows brands to connect with their customers/target audience. Simply put, it covers any piece of online communication – email/social media ad/search engine result, etc. – that allows users to find and connect with a brand.

Sounds confusing? The best way to understand what Digital Marketing is is by exploring the different Digital Marketing channels.

What are the types of Digital Marketing?

What are the types of Digital Marketing?

There are many types of Digital Marketing channels. The most widely used ones are:

Social Media Marketing (SMM): A Digital Marketing type that is most recognizable is perhaps Social Media Marketing. Social Media Channels like Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Linkedin, Twitter, etc. are used to build brand awareness amongst your target audience and to interact with them, sometimes, in a one-to-one manner.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO): This type of Digital Marketing involves building searchable content on your website and other web pages. The end goal is that your brand name should appear on top of the Search Engine Results Page (SERP), when users search for particular keywords in Search Engines like Google, Bing, etc. Let’s face it – nobody really looks at any results beyond the third page. So the idea is that your brand should make an appearance as early as possible on the first page itself.

Pay Per Click Advertising (PPC): You must have seen several ads in the form of images, banners and sometimes occurring as search results when you search for a particular topic. These are all forms of PPC. In this Digital Marketing type, the brand pays the website/search engine where the ad is displayed, only if the viewer clicks on the ad. Hence, the name Pay Per Click.

Email Marketing: Email has been and continues to be one of the most powerful tools in Digital Marketing. It has widespread reach, is easy to design and versatile enough to include all types of content. That is why brands make use of email marketing to communicate with their audiences.

Affiliate Marketing: In affiliate marketing, brands pay a commission to affiliates to talk up the brand’s product or service on the affiliate’s website. The affiliate could be an individual or another company itself.

Although there are new channels that are evolving every other day, most of them fall under one of the above 5 types of Digital Marketing.

But, we still haven’t addressed a very important question yet – why is Digital Marketing important?

Importance of Digital Marketing

To understand the importance of Digital Marketing, one must understand what are the benefits of Digital Marketing. There are many benefits of Digital Marketing, for brands and individuals alike:

  1. Owing to the fact that the internet is accessible to everyone and is not restricted to locations, brands are able to reach a larger audience via Digital Marketing.
  2. One of the most important benefits of Digital Marketing is the ROI. With even a small budget, you can reach a larger audience.
  3. When it comes to traditional marketing vs. Digital Marketing, you can directly measure the results of a Digital Marketing campaign, which the former does not allow for.
  4. With Digital marketing, you can perform A/B testing. You can run two campaigns – campaign A and campaign B – each across a small set of audiences and see which one performs better. You can then scale up the campaign to a larger audience.
  5. Digital marketing allows consumers to find and connect with their brands on a one-on-one basis.
  6. Digital marketing employs a diverse set of skills – creativity, communication, design, technology, problem-solving, data analysis and more, thereby offering a range of job opportunities.

The benefits of Digital Marketing extend well and beyond the above list. We will expand them further in our subsequent blogs. But first, let’s understand what skills you need to become a Digital Marketer.

Digital Marketer Skills That Freshers Need

For every type of Digital Marketing channel, there is a range of skills to learn. It can be quite daunting for a fresher to understand which skills to pick up, especially considering that Digital Marketing trends change by the day.

As a general rule of thumb, you should familiarize yourself with:

  1. Data Analysis:
    As mentioned earlier, you can measure the performance of Digital Marketing campaigns. So data is something you will be constantly working with. You need to have the ability to clean data, analyze data (e.g. user demographics), derive meaningful insights and present them in a way that is easy to make marketing decisions.

    Tools & Platforms to know: Google Analytics, MS Excel, and more.

  2. SEO & SEM: In their own right, both Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Search Engine Marketing (SEM) help brands to rank higher on Search Engine Results Page (SERP). Whereas SEO focuses on doing so with free content like the brand’s own website, backlinks, etc. SEM achieves this objective with paid promotions.

    Tools & Platforms to know: Google Ads, SEMRush, Google Analytics, SEPSitecheckup.com, Serpstat and more.

  3. Social Media Marketing (SMM): In marketing there is a popular saying – be where your customers are. And that is exactly what social media allows brands to do. Social media initially began as a simple platform for people to connect with one another. But in the hands of Digital Marketers, it has expanded to so much more. Today, social media marketing includes regularly posting quality content on the various (and relevant) channels, running YouTube/Instagram/Facebook/Linkedin ads, collaborating with influencers, online reputation management by way of responding to comments and queries, and so much more.

    Tools & Platforms to know: Facebook Ads Manager, Twitter Analytics, Hootsuite, Mention,
    Tweetdeck and more.

  4. Content Creation: What is a digital marketing strategy that is more important than the others? In a word, content! There is a reason why they say Content is King. If your content doesn’t have the ability to attract your audience, then all other Digital Marketing efforts are pointless. As a Digital Marketer, you will be expected to understand various types of content (blogs/video scripts/ebooks/social media content, even email), and have a solid foundation in at least a couple of these.

    Tools & Platforms to know: WordPress, Mailchimp, Inshot, Canva, etc.

  5. Communication & Visualization skills: As a Digital Marketer, it is expected of you to have superior communications skills and the ability to visualize ideas. Your language skills need not be restricted to English alone. As marketing strategies are evolving in multiple languages, it helps to have a good grasp of one or more regional languages. Further, you must also have an eye for design aesthetics so that your campaigns perform well.

    Skills to know: Graphic Designing, Writing

Knowing all these skills will allow you to come up with a holistic strategy of Digital Marketing as you work for a brand.

Seems a lot? Take a deep breath and let go. Then rest assured that all these skills are easily learnable at upGrad Campus. Our Digital Marketing Certification course teaches all of the above and more!

Digital Marketer Skills That Freshers Need

Just some of the benefits of Digital Marketing course offered by upGrad Campus include:

✔ Designed and structured for beginners
✔ You can self-study at your own pace and get help from mentors when needed
✔ You get exposure to industry experts
✔ You can work on projects on SEO/SEM/SMM/Web Analytics/WordPress and more!
✔ You get lucrative placement and career opportunities in the field upon completing the course

Digital Marketing Career Opportunities

Digital Marketing Career Opportunities

As of 2020, the Digital Marketing sector was valued at a whopping 353 billion dollars. There is practically no brand today that doesn’t have an online presence. So the opportunities available to a Digital Marketer are as many as there are brands, organisations and marketing agencies today!

What is a Digital Marketer career path?

The skills you pick up and choose to specialize in determine your career path as a Digital Marketer. In general, the career path of a Digital Marketer looks as follows:

  • SEO Specialist → SEO Manager → Digital Marketing Director
  • Search Engine Marketing Specialist → Digital Marketing Specialist → Digital Marketing Manager
  • Social Media Specialist → Social Media Manager → Communications Director
  • Email Marketing Specialist → Marketing Research Analyst → Digital Marketing Lead
  • Copywriter → Content Strategist → Content Manager

At the starting level, whichever career path you choose, you can earn 4-5 LPA. At senior positions, managers today are earning 12~15 LPA.

You can learn more about the Digital Marketing Career Path from an experienced Digital Marketer herself. Check out our Masterclass recording by Archna Lalwani, a Marketing Consultant from IIM Indore as she covers the various opportunities available to you as a Digital Marketer.

Digital Marketing Job Trends in India

To know which skills you should be focussing on, you also need to be aware of the latest Digital Marketing trends in India. Some of the changes that are expected in this thriving field are:

  • Personalization will be key. Today more and more users are looking for a personalized experience as they connect with brands. To deliver this personalized experience, brands will heavily depend on AI for Chatbots, automation in email marketing and more.
  • NFTs and Cryptocurrency. Non-fungible tokens and cryptocurrency will find their application in digital marketing, with brands using these digital assets for accepting payments and as giveaways.
  • Metaverse will be bigger than ever. As more users start building their online presence in the Metaverse, brands will also try to occupy as much real estate as possible, and what will follow is Digital Marketing.
  • Voice assistants everywhere. Alexa, Siri and Google Assistant won’t be the only players on the field. Voice assistants may end up being the default way to search and interact with brands.
  • AR and VR. AR filters have already found their way into Instagram. Brands will explore new ways to engage audiences with both Augmented and Virtual Reality.

Digital Marketing Frequently Asked Questions

  1. How is Digital Marketing different from Inbound Marketing?
    It is easy to confuse Digital Marketing with Inbound Marketing as both are closely related. However, the objective of each of these types of marketing is different. This in turn makes the strategy of Digital Marketing very different from that of Inbound Marketing. Inbound marketing is all about building experiences and content that attracts customers to the brand. This may seem similar to Digital Marketing which also relies on content and experiences to attract customers to the various channels. However, where Digital Marketing works towards specific platform goals (e.g. getting impressions on social media channels), Inbound Marketing is a more holistic approach to getting qualified leads. Put this way, Inbound Marketing uses Digital Marketing tactics to meet its milestones across digital channels.
  2. What is the difference between B2B and B2C marketing?
    B2B marketing refers to Business-to-Business marketing, where one business’s client is another business. Examples include manufacturers of car parts with clients such as an automobile company or perhaps an IT company that sells its software to banks and other institutions. In B2C marketing, the client is always an individual. Many businesses, like restaurants, clothes brands, and even services like Ola and Zomato cater to individuals and are inherently B2C in nature.

    Until a few years ago, B2B relied more on interpersonal relationships than concentrated marketing efforts to get more clients. But with the explosion of Digital Marketing and technology, B2B brands rely equally on Digital Marketing to the same end.

    Because their audiences are drastically different, there is a lot of contrast between B2B versus B2C Digital Marketing. Since most B2C offerings are short-term buys, B2C messaging tends to be catchy and offer-based with an emotional connection to the consumers. B2B brands on the other hand expect a long-term relationship with their customers and hence, they tend to be more evidence-based offering long-term benefits to the consumers. Where B2C content has to be more “talkable/memorable” amongst the consumers to attract them, B2B content has to be more “downloadable/shareable” for executives to make decisions.
    So you have to design your marketing strategy, creatives and campaigns according to your audience – whether it is B2B or B2C.

  3. Will Digital Marketing thrive in the recession?
    This is a common question that occurs in the life of every marketer. Marketing for businesses is an expense, and come recession, cutting marketing budgets seems like a reasonable action. However, Digital Marketing has changed the game for businesses. Digital marketing allows you to perform many activities – generating new leads to bring in new business, remarketing to old leads, building revenue through easy shopping avenues and more. Each of these objectives are achieved with much smaller budgets and a well-defined target audience, making the marketing expenses very low compared to traditional marketing avenues. So Digital Marketing is definitely the need of the hour during a recession.

    Furthermore, considering that technology is not moving out of our day-to-day lives anytime soon, nor will Digital Marketing. This means that there is abundant scope for brands to employ Digital Marketing professionals to come up with new touchpoints for interacting with their consumers.

Conclusion

Conclusion

Digital Marketing is a thriving industry with abundant opportunities. It expects little from you in terms of background and gives you the chance to explore newer strategies, skills and audiences and flex your creative side too! If you’re interested in becoming a full-time Digital Marketer, then our Digital Marketing Certification Program is just the place to start. With marketing experts from popular brands, one-on-one mentoring, hands-on projects and more, this course is the perfect stepping stone for your career.

Was there something more you wanted to know about Digital Marketing? Let us know in the comments below.

Importance and Scope of Digital Marketing for Online Business

Ever wondered what the purpose of those bright flashy posts on Instagram are all about? Why do brands need a social media presence at all? And more importantly why do their marketing strategies work so well (in other words why do I end up spending $$$)?

Well we’ve got two (very straightforward) words for you – Digital Marketing.

What is Digital Marketing?

What is Digital Marketing?

Most of us don’t really need an introduction to digital marketing. We’re either consuming it or we’re the ones making it (or doing both?) But for those few who are probably on a digital hiatus, Digital Marketing is:

The act of promoting a company or its products/services digitally or using technology.

It’s as simple as that. If you use any digital means necessary to promote your products or services, you’re a Digital Marketer.

The significance of Digital Marketing has really kicked off in the last decade, because it helps companies reach a larger audience in a shorter amount of time. Smartphones are basically an extension of our hands at this point, making it the easiest way for brands to reach us.

But Digital Marketing on its own is just an umbrella term for a wide variety of marketing techniques. So what is Digital Marketing made up of?

The Main Types of Digital Marketing

The Main Types of Digital Marketing

Digital Marketing is not simply made up of Social Media posts and Google Ads. Let’s take a look at some prime examples of Digital Marketing:

  1. Search Engine Optimisation

    Also known as SEO, Search Engine Optimisation is very helpful in enhancing the reach and scope of a brand. Let’s say you’re looking to take care of your plants and you search for “Plant care tips” on a search engine like Google or Bing.

    While you’ll get pages and pages of results from different gardening brands, you are most likely to click on the first result. And that’s where all the brands want to be.

    The purpose of SEO is to rank first on the Search Engine Results Page, also known as SERP. The higher your website ranks, the more traffic it is bound to garner. And more traffic means better brand recognition.

    Using specific keywords on your website is one way you can push your webpage higher and make it more relevant. Backlinks, meta data, etc. are some of the other ways. It is important to keep in mind that SEO is a wholly organic process. One has to use specific keywords, elements like videos, photos or other hundreds of elements to be favoured by the algorithm of the search engine. You also have to keep up with the latest news and updates on the search engine and how their algorithm affects your ranking.

  2. Content Marketing

    Content Marketing is a marketing strategy used to attract, engage and retain one’s audience by making use of blogs, posts, articles, videos, podcasts etc. This form of marketing promotes brand awareness and shows expertise. In content marketing, the focus is applied to the actual content and using various tools like SEO or social media posts, the content is optimised and broadcasted.

  3. Email Marketing

    Confused? Do you believe that emails are outdated or that people don’t open them? Then we’re afraid you’re very wrong. Email marketing is still very much used and is still very very much effective. We’ll explain why.

    There is absolutely no limit on how many emails you send out, even SMS or messenger apps aren’t able to reach that large an audience, without getting flagged as spam or suspicious. What’s more, SMSs go through a stringent verification and approval process through their respective telecom operators when brands use them for promotions.

    In comparison with Social Media, the audience you can reach is hindered by many factors like the number of followers you have, whether or not the algorithm supports your posts or whether or not you boost (pay the platform to reach more people) your posts, etc.

    Emails are cost-effective, versatile, easy to build and can reach any number of audiences. These benefits make email marketing one of the most important digital marketing channels for brands today.

  4. Pay Per Click

    We know we said we Digital Marketing is more than Google Ads, but this article simply wouldn’t be complete without mentioning the internet’s best friend.

    So, PPC Advertising is a form of advertising where advertisers pay a fee each time their ads are clicked on. Search engine advertising is the most common form of PPC advertising, and the most popular example would be Google ads.

    If you’ve spent enough time on Google search, you would have definitely seen some form of PPC. It’s any search result with the word “Ad” on top of it. Now Google ads run on a pay per click model where brands bid for keywords and Google chooses “winners” from a large number of advertisers based on their campaigns, quality of work and more. Seems complicated? Let’s simplify this.

    Let’s say 3 competitor brands, like Swiggy, Zomato and UberEats want their name to occur first every time a user types “order food online”, and they all bid for this keyword. If Swiggy wins the bid, then Swiggy’s ad will occur first. So every time a user types the keyword and clicks on Swiggy’s sponsored Ad, Swiggy has to pay a fee to the search engine, in this case, Google.

    To put it simply, PPC is a way of buying visits instead of organically driving traffic to your channel.

  5. Affiliate marketing

    How about we use the word influencer instead? Bet you’ll understand this way faster.

    An influencer promotes products or services that aren’t theirs. Influencers are simply third party marketers that promote a company’s products for a fee in return. They usually host websites or blogs or accounts where they review products, post product links or ads about those products. All with the intention to drive traffic to the company’s website.

    Affiliate marketing is usually tied to Pay per click or SEO marketing. Since the influencer’s job is to drive traffic to a particular website or product web page, they get paid for every click made to that website, hence making it PPC. Along with this, they also have to make use of SEO and keywords to drive traffic to their website. At the end of the day, affiliate marketing is a win-win situation, giving customers, influencers and brands exactly what they each need.

These are the most important tools or techniques that people use to market their products, and these are the techniques that make digital marketing as successful as it is.

How is Digital Marketing taking over Traditional Marketing?

How is Digital Marketing taking over Traditional Marketing?

Traditional Marketing involves anything to do with print media, flyers, posters, billboards, newspaper advertisements, radio broadcasts, TVCs, etc.

So the main difference between the two is obviously the medium used. But what benefits of digital marketing is set apart from traditional marketing

  1. The reach

    Traditional Marketing has a lesser reach compared to Digital Marketing. Most forms of Traditional Marketing, such as print ads and hoardings are geographically restricted, limiting their reach. Whereas, digital content, unless specifically targeted, can be made available to audiences worldwide.

  2. The cost

    Printing is unfortunately costly in the long run. While you do need certain equipment to Digitally Market something, that cost comes under your capital and is not a recurring cost like printing would be. This factor allows for many more collaterals to be created under the umbrella of digital marketing branding as opposed to that in traditional branding.

  3. Versatility

    Traditional Marketing can come with a lot of restrictions. For example, consider print media. It is not as versatile, in the sense that on a digital platform you have the option to use videographic elements, you can play around with audio visual themes in a way that is just not possible on print. Versatility could also be about size. Digital media can be made and consumed in any size. Banners and standees have fixed sizes, colour tones, and material restrictions on the other hand. Also, it is possible to make edits, to an extent, digitally. Once something has been printed, it’s impossible to change anything there and the whole campaign can go for a toss.

  4. Interactivity

    A digital campaign can be interactive in nature. With social media providing many responsive capabilities to users, your followers or target audience can reach back to you at any time, via comments, direct messages, phone calls or even on email.

  5. Results

    In print media, there is a lack of real time results, whereas online, you can instantly know whether or not your digital campaign was successful. There is a way to quantify that success, in the form of likes, comments, reposts/ shares, etc.

That said, this is not to diminish the importance of Traditional Advertising, which is important in its own right. However, it’s clear how Digital Marketing benefits brands today.

Why is Digital Marketing Important for the Future?

Why is Digital Marketing Important for the Future?

If the above points aren’t reason enough for you to believe that the benefits of digital media are vital for all businesses in the future, we have a lot more advantages to give you.

Post the pandemic, the merits of e-marketing really paid off and there was a sharp rise in spend overall in Digital Marketing, with an increase of over 22% in budgets from 2020 to 2022. This goes to prove that even the largest and most established companies are restructuring their traditional Advertising budgets and giving Digital Media promotion more focus than before. Apart from the convenience of Digital Marketing and all it’s remote capabilities, these could be the other possible online advertising benefits, making it everyone’s hot pick:

  1. Digital Marketing helps you to effectively target your audience. Even if you don’t have the clearest idea of your target audience, you can use Digital Marketing tools to extract data and see what group of people work best for you, as an audience. You can then best align your marketing strategy with their needs, and going forward you can base all your marketing efforts around them, saving a lot of time and energy.

  2. Further, digital marketing benefits brands and allows them to choose from a wide range of content with ease. Using different content buckets you can build a solid digital media plan to effectively reach your target audience on multiple platforms, with each platform being optimised in different ways. This gives you the freedom to explore and experiment with various digital marketing trends.

  3. As new technologies constantly come into the market, the possibilities with Digital Marketing are just going to increase and people are just going to push the envelope of what is creatively possible. Digital Marketing may have come into the forefront because of the pandemic, however, now that people have started to realise its importance, its presence is only going to dominate the market more.

The Scope of Branding and Digital Marketing as a Career

The Scope of Branding and Digital Marketing as a Career

With the new and improved adaptation of our lives post pandemic, with Digital Marketing at the forefront of most businesses. Companies are now aggressively hiring Digital Marketing experts and freshers to take charge and handle the responsibilities that the profession calls for.

In terms of scope (which there is a lot of), these are the most in demand skills in the field of Digital Marketing

  • Video Production
  • Content Marketing
  • Data Analytics
  • Search Engine Optimization
  • Copywriting
  • Pay per click
  • Graphic Designing

Now that you have a fair idea of what skillsets are prioritised, you can work on them and get jobs in the following positions:

  • Digital Marketing Manager
  • Search Engine Optimizer
  • Social Media Marketer
  • Content Marketer
  • Email Marketer
  • SEM Specialist
  • SEO Specialists for Voice Assistants (Alexa, Siri etc.)
  • Video Producers
  • Data Analyst

Final Thoughts

Final Thoughts

With over 30% of the world’s population (too many zero’s to count) being connected online, reaching them there just makes sense from a brand’s perspective. Adding technology to age old web marketing strategies is the smart route to take for brands that want to stay relevant in the long run. The demand for Digital Marketing makes it a highly competitive field, starting your career earlier itself, in this field, is best. Check out our digital marketing course that is specially curated for freshers and makes use of blended learning for the most effective way to pick up new skills.

If you think this blog was helpful leave us a comment below and stay tuned for more such content.

Happy learning!

Breaking Brand: Identity, Ingredients & Importance

Hey future digital marketers! You might have noticed that the world of marketing has changed a lot in the last 5 years, and along with it, so has the notion of a brand.  

But what name comes to your mind when you hear the word ‘brand’? In a quick survey we did, the answers we heard included Nike, Audi, Apple, Zomato, McDonalds, among others. So what has made these names stand the test of time? What makes each one of them ‘a brand’?

The answer, in a nutshell, is brand identity.

First principles: Brand Identity

Before we delve deeper into the world of brand identity, here’s a quiz for you:

Quiz 1) Name the brand associated with each image.

Name the brand associated with each image.

From the quiz above, it’s clear that a brand need not be identified by one aspect alone. A brand can be recognized by its logo (#1) or by its tagline (#2), its outward packaging (also #2) or even the product it sells (#3). Sometimes, all it takes is a quirky message on an outdoor hoarding to evoke recognition among its consumers (#4).

Contrary to what many marketing freshers believe, brand identity is a lot more than the visual system developed by a team of designers in the marketing team. It is not restricted merely to colours, typography, imagery or icons. It is the sum of many parts – including tone of voice, personality type, content and customer experiences it generates.

From the iconic Ta-dum sound that Netflix makes on its opening screen to Apple’s Genius Bar of customer service representatives, a lot goes into a brand’s identity. 

Point to Ponder :
In a recent survey, people on the street were asked to tell what they thought of when they heard the word ‘Bose’, and unanimously, everyone responded ‘headphones’. So in this case, which element of the Bose brand became the identifier? The logo or the product itself?

To put it simply, any element that establishes recall among the consumers forms a part of the brand identity.

Branding vs Brand Identity

To understand the importance of brand identity, we must first understand the importance of branding. And as per customer psychology, people buy from their gut.

Surely there are many consumers who spend hours researching the best buy. But at the time of the final purchase, they react from their emotional side. And between two virtually indistinguishable products, emotions are the tipping point.

Branding vs Brand Identity

Marketing guru Seth Godin believes that for a brand to evoke any emotion from its consumer, it must at least attempt to stand out. There are too many businesses in the marketplace selling the same thing with little to no distinction. Hence, it falls upon branding to separate a product or service from the crowd. Become remarkable. Become the purple cow in the herd. 

While the objective of branding is to establish uniqueness and remarkableness, the objective of brand identity is to establish recall or “brand memorability”. Good branding creates a strong first impression. Brand identity retains and reinforces that impression, again and again in every interaction with the consumer.

In a nutshell, the only way to build a successful brand identity is to be consistent across all customer touchpoints.

The Cola Wars: A short case study

Consider the classic Cola Wars between Pepsi and Coke. Every consumer prefers one over the other. This has a lot to do with the demographic they belong to, and branding plays a key role in it. Coca Cola has always positioned itself as the “Family brand” – from the Santa Claus colours of red and white to international campaigns like Share A Coke.

Pepsi, on the other hand, focuses on a younger crowd that loves rebelling. By capitalising on India’s Cricket Fever and selecting youth icons like Virat Kohli, it strengthened its position amongst the youngsters. 

Both the beverages have enjoyed success and carved their own niche through branding. But these distinct brand identities didn’t come from one single campaign. It came from coordinated campaigns across various mediums, so that:

o   Contour bottle or red and white colours = Coca Cola

o   Team Blue = Pepsi

Quiz 2) To build a brand identity, we need to create a strong first impression on the consumer.
True | False | Too Vague

(Scroll to the end for answers)

Elements of Brand Identity

While there are many models to define brand identity, the most holistic one is Kapferer’s Brand Identity Prism or The Brand Identity Prism. Developed in 1996 by Jean-Noel Kapferer, the relevance of this model holds true to date.

The Brand Identity Prism divides the brand identity into six key elements. Let us analyse each of these elements with the example of Coca Cola.

1) Physique:  Physique refers to the physical characteristics of the brand which the consumers visually experience. This includes logo, style guide, packaging, website, etc. In Coca Cola’s case, the signature red and white colours with the stripe and the bottle’s contour define the brand’s physique.

2) Personality: Personality traits are those inherent features that permeate through various facets. For e.g., colours of red and white are associated with festivity, emphasised further by Coca Cola’s tagline “Open Happiness.”

3) Culture: Culture of a brand includes the values that the brand upholds, and can play a strong role in the brand’s campaign. This can include the brand’s mission statement, its commitment to the employees and the world outside. It is also rooted geographically, and hence, Coca Cola’s peppy, positive ethos found its way in the Indian campaign of Ummeed Vaali Dhoop.

4) Relationship: This refers to a direct connection with the consumer – be it in a customer service call or a social media campaign, and maintaining a positive relationship with them. Coca Cola, even before the rise of social media, practised this through on-ground campaigns like The Happiness Machine.

5) Reflection: This element talks about a brand’s ideal consumer. It is about how a brand mirrors its consumer and tailors the communication accordingly. For instance, Coca Cola’s brand ambassadors have always been family favourites, like Amir Khan and Aishwarya Rai, underscoring the theme of “Family Time”.

6) Self-image: Different from Reflection, Self-image refers to how the audience visualises themselves in relation to the brand. And every one of Coca Cola’s campaigns and ads has the element of happiness. The image in the consumer’s mind is simple. Make your moment happy with Coke.

Quiz 3)Which of these is NOT a part of the brand identity?
a)Tagline b)Hashtag c)Employee handbook d)All are a part of brand identity

(Scroll to the end for answers)

Impact on Consumer Behaviour 

Recognition begets more recognition – especially in today’s hyper-connected world. According to Nielsen, 92% of consumers trust recommendations from friends and family, above other forms of advertising. Think about it this way – don’t you end up following a page on Instagram that comes highly recommended by your friend? Brand recommendations work the same way.

This is why a strong brand identity is crucial to its success. By focussing on all the components of brand identity, a brand can:

  • Attract a larger audience.
    All of Coca Cola’s campaigns have led to it being recognized by 94% of the world’s population and a global brand value of over 71 billion U.S. dollars.
  • Build trust with their consumers.
    Despite being significantly pricier than its competitors, Apple has a large following, because of the trust people have in the brand.
  • Make a cultural impact.
    Cadbury’s premium luxury gift boxes have re-defined the tradition of Diwali sweets.
  • Affect purchasing norms.
    With awareness rising in social media, many consumers are shifting to brands that emphasise the values of sustainability and animal cruelty-free practices.

With these examples, it’s clear that a strong, recognisable and relatable brand identity can turn a business into a brand and can successfully convert its customers into ambassadors.

Now that you know all about brand identity, let’s take a look at the answers to the quiz:

Quiz 1) Netflix 2. Chai Point 3. Playstation 4. Hotstar
Quiz 2) False. Many brands today fail to create a first strong impression. But through several interactions and consistent messaging a brand can establish its identity.
Quiz 3) d) 

If you faced any issues in solving the quiz or are interested in diving deeper into the world of branding and marketing, sign up for our Digital Marketing course today.

WHY AIRBNB WORKS : INTEGRATING PSYCHOLOGY IN PRODUCT MANAGEMENT.

Anyone who ever even considered travelling, has heard of Airbnb and may have also used their facilities – their app in particular – multiple times. After seeing and using the app, you might’ve noticed how user friendly Airbnb is. This is because Airbnb has and continues to take user experience into account. It is the main driving force behind their app’s design. So let’s understand why Airbnb works through a psychological lens using the concepts of FLOW. 

Just go with the ~FLOW~

Before we talk about Airbnb, let’s first understand what Flow means briefly. Flow and its 8 concepts were developed by positive psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. Mihaly had always been interested in the positive aspects of human psychology. He wanted to find out which aspects of a person’s brain made life worth living and truly fulfilling. On his educational journey to fulfil his career’s purpose, Mihaly found that during a state of deep engagement with a product or activity, the Prefrontal Cortex of the brain recorded minimal activity. The Prefrontal Cortex is the part of the brain that deals with self-reflection and consciousness. Now lowered Prefrontal activity might sound potentially alarming, but I promise you it is actually a positive occurrence. 

With minimal activity in the prefrontal lobe, one can surrender themselves fully to the task at hand and let go of any self-consciousness or self-criticism. This, in turn, leads to heightened levels of creativity and concentration, which results in better performance overall.

How Airbnb ~FLOWS~

Coming back to the case at hand, Airbnb’s success is because of their insane retention rate they incur through their app. And Flow plays a big role in this. 

Let’s see how the 8 elements of Flow shape the user experience of the AirBnB app: 

Element 1

Clarity of goals and immediate feedback~

Airbnb makes it really simple to understand what a consumer needs to do in order to achieve “their goal” i.e to live locally. The start page itself guides me to the search bar, underneath which are other fields which will help the user live their authentic fantasy – be it “Islands” “Tiny houses” or “Tree houses”, they provide a complete 360 in every kind of accommodation possible. The latest update- called the biggest change in the last decade pushes it’s users to discover the most authentic and one of a kind experiences by adding categories like “Nature parks” “Castles” and many more.

Integrating Psychology In Product Management

 Element 2

A high level of concentration on a limited field~

Airbnb provides a higher state of flow by limiting or altogether eliminating distractions.

Air Bnb

There is no unnecessary clutter on their app that would provide for useless stimuli and distract the consumer from his/her goal. The app also provides for a clean and structured hierarchy of the content they offer. An example of their content appearing in a hierarchy would be:

  • Search for accommodations
  • Explore other travel types
  • Finish booking a trip
  • Become a host (in ten easy steps)

Element 3 

Balance between skills and challenge~

The difficulty of a task has to provide the right degree of challenge to a person’s ability. A very complicated recipe will leave an aspiring chef frustrated and disappointed, a very basic recipe leads to boredom of routine. So flow occurs in the range between ‘too much’ and ‘too little’.

Airbnb does this by not making their consumers fill out unnecessary details that would bore them or cause them to lose sight of their end goal. They only ask relevant details and information. Their app also provides an option of “popular filters” that comprise the popular needs of a common traveller, so one doesn’t have to go through the arduous task of reading a long checklist, only to tick two boxes.

UpGrad Campus
The different types of filters one can fill out on Airbnb

Element 4 

The feeling of control~

The feeling of ‘control’ in Flow refers to the feeling of security and relaxation, which can further translate to the feeling of control over a situation and its outcomes.

When it comes to mobile apps that deal with monetary transactions, they are often followed by a feeling of caution which in turn stresses the user since they would prefer to not make any accidental payments or mistakes that would literally cost them. Airbnb could easily be one of those apps, since they not only deal with online payments, but they also deal with information and a lot of steps or processes. However, they have an extremely consumer friendly cancellation policy that allows their users to make relaxed decisions that are reversible.

Element 5

Effortlessness ~

The lack of strain on your mind allows for a harmonious experience that retains Flow.
And Airbnb achieves this effortlessness through its user interface.

Airbnb is straightforward and easy to use for even the most non native tech user. The ease with which one can use the app is extremely rewarding; it provides a sense of accomplishment for those select few who otherwise struggle to manoeuvre around new age inventions. 

Element 6

An altered perception of time ~

When one is in the deep state of flow, their perception of time changes. Two hours can feel like ten minutes, or conversely, seconds can feel like hours. That is why, sometimes flow-mode is also referred to as ‘timeless’. 

Users of Airbnb experience this timelessness often. Since there are a lot of activities that engage and take up one’s time, it is easy to lose track of time. In an enjoyable way, of course.

From exploring different kinds of Vacation homes- and some of these rentals are crazy- to finalising your stay- it’s easy to occupy yourself on this app. For instance, don’t these properties make you go “Omg!”?

 

Air Bnb Using AI and ML
Some of the crazy rentals that grasp your attention on Airbnb

Element 7

The melting together of action and consciousness ~

Since complete involvement creates a state where there is no need for worry or self consciousness, performers become one with their performance. Airbnb creates involvement by reducing self consciousness. They reinforce the user’s choice on multiple occasions by providing reassurances in the form of statements such as “good location.” “ Friendly staff” etc. These statements boost  confidence in the choice the  user made.

Product Management In Air Bnb
An example of how Airbnb reinforces your choices

Element 8

The autotelic quality of flow-experiences ~

The word auto means self and telos means goal. The completion of a goal set by oneself for oneself is extremely rewarding. Completion of a task boosts Dopamine in the brain which is a neurotransmitter that translates to a feeling of satisfaction and happiness. At the end of your time on the Airbnb app, the user is made to feel “rewarded” since they got a good deal and completed the task of planning a ‘local’ experience.

~Final Learnings to take away from this study~

Flow is related to the engagement part of product management. It alone can not provide for an extremely wholesome experience, but its presence does elevate user experience and add on to an already good product, making a “good” experience “excellent”.

Lumosity – A Lesson in Effective Project Management

First rule of product management – understand what your product truly aims to accomplish. This may seem simplistic but as your product becomes more complex, it’s a hard rule to follow. In wanting to boost the popularity of their product, product managers often forget this rule and end up compromising on the very factor that made their product helpful. 

It is important to understand that every tried and tested product management method is not going to help your product specifically. Let’s take a look at a company that turned the tide and actually used unconventional means to boost meaningful product engagement.

Lumosity has always been about exercising the grey cells

Lumosity has always been about exercising the grey cells

If you were ever interested in “strengthening your brain”, you must’ve definitely come across Lumosity. Lumosity is an app that contains several games that are meant to test and improve your cognitive skills and abilities. They firmly believe that these games can improve cognitive functions such as Memory, Attention, Processing time/ speed and Problem solving.

Now the concept of using interactive games on a mobile app to improve one’s mind was quite a revolutionary concept at the time Lumosity was launched. However we’re not here to discuss or dissect the app or its concept. We’re here to talk about the sign up process that was not traditional, but actually helped them retain long term consumers.

Simpler the sign-up process, more the users, right? Not always.

Simpler the sign-up process, more the users, right? Not always.

Product management has always been about making the user journey easy, and it starts with sign-up. The rule has always been that simpler the sign-up process, the more users they’ll eventually get. 

Lumosity, in the start, believed this to be a good rule to follow. After all, their games, while fun,  are already complicated. Further, they also need to be played on a daily basis in order for the customer to actually reap their benefits. Therefore, they kept the sign-up sheet simple, so as to not drive away more customers. 

But that’s not what they ended up following eventually. Once they started complicating the sign-up process by adding survey questions along with questions about the person’s demographic, they learnt that the people that signed up actually wanted to be there, and would most likely stick to the programme and be regular at their daily tasks. 

Embracing complexity yielded results.

Embracing complexity yielded results.

This admission process wasn’t conducted in vain. With the information Lumosity obtained, they could make the games more personalised and further boost engagement with their consumers.

Their surveys were extremely extensive, detailed oriented and a whopping 5 pages long!

They collected information about the industry the user worked in, what they wanted to improve upon, or what they expected out of the app. 

Now their original concept of getting more people to sign up with a simpler admission process did test to be true. But the second process proved to be more useful, since it gave them a chance to explain their brand’s philosophy and science behind training one’s mind. The survey method also saw an increase in subscription rate – i.e the people willing to pay for their services.

Lumosity continues to experiment with their sign-up process, whether it is the flow of their questions or the amount of difficulty they provide in their sign up-sheet. But the core belief of adding friction and complexity to their brand remains undisputed. 

And it’s the reason they are still perceived as a product that makes people brainier by the day.

Finding Your Career Fit in Social Media

Once upon a time, in a far away kingdom there lived a student, grappling with the inevitable choices they would have to soon make in their career. After a disastrous pandemic took their kingdom by storm, all their plans lay foiled. The only silver lining of the pandemic was a team of knights, part of a group named Social Media, traveled from door to door delivering news and keeping the entire kingdom connected. The student, inspired by the reach of this team, wants to now join their quest and be a part of their team. There’s just one hurdle the student has to cross – knowing where to even begin. Can you relate to this story?

Luckily for you, we decided to put together a list of possibilities for somebody looking to get into social media. Social media is a much broader umbrella term that consists of all sorts of roles that you can fit into. First thing to keep in mind, are your strengths and which part of social media specifically interests you. Whether it is content creation or the cool graphics you come across. It is also vital to understand that to work in this field one has to take on multiple roles whether as a leader, a writer, a data analyst or a researcher, it all depends on the job you choose. 

Now to the main bit, which jobs are most commonly available in this stream?

social media manager

1.  Social Media Manager : As a Social Media Manager, you are responsible for curating your company’s brand online and making sure the company’s online presence reflects what it stands for.. The exact sites you will use will definitely depend on the company’s brand but they will mostly include Facebook, Instagram, Quora, Linkedin, Youtube, Snapchat and Twitter. But knowing your way around these sites alone will not help you. In order to manage all the content being put out on all the sites, you will likely need to work with a Data Analytics software to meet all your deadlines as well as analyse how your content is performing in real time.

Some important skills to work on in order to be a social media manager would be – time management, since you will have to juggle multiple projects in a go and they all need to be completed within the set deadline. Creativity in order to always be set apart from the crowd. Writing since you’ll either be writing captions or you will need to judge what is written. Communication, you need to communicate well because you will have an entire team, plus clients depending on you and any miscommunication can cause massive delays. You have to have a keen eye for trends and how they can be applied to your brand.

Challenges as a Social Media Manager look like, having no fixed hours and oftentimes having to work longer hours to meet deadlines or to complete a project. This is also why time management is important, so that you have time to yourself as well. 

Copywriter

2. Copywriter – A copywriter is responsible for coming up with all the writing material of a content piece. The writing can range from captions to blogs to emails to web page copies; it can include anything. As a copywriter, you are expected to be well versed with what the company stands for and what the company sells. Along with these, you also need to know the consumers well in order to write to them.

As a copywriter, you are expected to be a good communicator, creative thinker, interpersonally skilled, able to conduct thorough research apart from which you also need to have technical knowledge.

Copywriters often struggle with having to be creative constantly and not be too creative at times. Sometimes being overly creative can cause the copywriter to lose sight of what their company/ client originally asked for. So, as a copywriter, you need to balance your vision with your brand’s vision. Writing can sometimes be isolating, and therefore, having good interpersonal skills can help you avoid loneliness.

Talking about experience, copywriters usually need at least a bachelor’s degree in journalism or English. However, sometimes even a high school diploma with relevant experience and strong writing skills are enough to get you hired.

Creative Designer

3. Creative Designer– A Graphic Designer typically works with their intuition, while working commercially, to create art for brochures, logos or any other marketing material. Designers are also needed in the tech and advertising or publishing industries, so you could find yourself working in any of these fields that interest you.

Consider Creative Designing if you have an eye for aesthetics, art  and details. To become a creative designer, you need to be familiar with designing softwares and have an excellent portfolio. To increase your skills and knowledge, taking up a graphic designing course will help. Take up internships to gain experience in different fields and it will also reflect well on your resume.

Brand Ambassadors

4. Brand Ambassadors– Brand ambassadors are responsible for representing a company and their products. You need to be influential and have a strong online presence and at least some knowledge of Marketing. College students fit best into the role of a brand ambassador as they are young and energetic, plus they have access to their campus community. 

If you are a people’s person or someone who already has an established online presence, consider brand endorsement. You can endorse any brand that fits within your values and whose products you stand by. Brand endorsements can also take place in any sector. 

You don’t typically require any specific educational qualifications for becoming a brand ambassador. 

What else is there?

5. What else is there? Freelancing as anyone of the above job roles, is a great alternative to working for one corporation solely. Freelancing is great if you have good networking skills and can therefore find work easily. It also helps if you want to work remotely. You can also make use of websites and apps to find potential clients and increase your client base.

The term “Content Creator/ Influencers”, although vague, is actually an amalgamation of several of the above roles. As a content creator, you can either work for small brands as a brand ambassador or work on your brand itself. You also need to have knowledge of marketing and you need strong writing skills to write captions/ scripts etc.

There are many more career options out there that work within the social media arena whether directly or indirectly. You are bound to find something that fits your niche sooner or later, so don’t fret! In the meantime, check out our course on Digital Marketing to get the necessary skills, essential to your career in Social Media. Hope now you have a better picture of where you best fit in the vast and ever-changing universe that we call Social Media.

Becoming a Product Manager, aka, Jack of All Trades

Glassdoor, LinkedIn, Monster.com, or any other job portal that you have bookmarked; do a quick search on the most in-demand jobs and you will definitely find a listing for Product Management.

Product Management, in its loosest definition, is the process of translating customer needs into a great product experience. It is akin to minimising the difference in an ‘Expectations vs Reality’ meme.

And as you may have already guessed, it’s easier said than done. A lot of research, planning and liaising comes with the role. But trust us. If you have the skills to become a product manager, you are in for an exciting and rewarding career.

So how do you become a Product Manager? And most importantly, how do you explain this to your parents?

Here’s a quick guide to help you with most of these questions.

Do product managers create a product?

1. Do product managers create a product?

One could argue that other than actually building the product, a product manager is responsible for pretty much everything else. The product manager doesn’t develop the product – that’s the responsibility of the product development team. 

A product manager’s responsibility starts with understanding the customer, who they are, what their needs and pain points are. Next, the product manager articulates these needs to the research, design and development teams so that they can arrive at the right product that addresses those needs and pain points.

But the job doesn’t end with getting the product built. The product manager must further align the marketing, sales and customer success teams to ensure that they understand the functionalities and limitations correctly as they communicate with the customer. 

To sum it up, a product manager ensures that the company builds the right product and the product right, by:

✔ identifying the customer’s needs and problems

✔ liaising with all the stakeholders from across the company

✔ ensuring that the product meets the customer’s requirements and business objectives

Does a product manager do the same work as a project manager?

2. Does a product manager do the same work as a project manager?

Not really, although some of their responsibilities may overlap. 

A project manager is in charge of a single project and drives project success, breaks down initiatives into tasks, plans timelines, allocates resources, monitors progress and communicates the progress to all stakeholders.

A product manager is responsible for a single product, starting from its discovery or changes in an existing product. This involves researching the customer and the competition, setting a vision for the product, communicating this vision to all the stakeholders, developing a strategic plan, and creating and maintaining a product roadmap.

The role of the project manager is a tactical one, while the product manager plays a strategic role. However, since both the roles involve a certain degree of seeing through tasks and problem solving, a product manager sometimes works as a project manager and vice versa.

What skills should a product manager have?

3. What skills should a product manager have?

A product manager must have an innate ability to solve problems. Not Maths problems, but real-life challenges that call for thinking out-of-the-box. Only then will they be able to understand exactly how the product can meet the customer’s needs.

Other than this ability, a product manager is also expected to have a certain degree of technical skills (depending on the domain of the product) and soft skills.

Generally, it is preferred for a product manager to have:

  • A technical background (although this is not mandatory)
  • Understanding of business (through experience or degree)
  • Knowledge of domain and competition
  • Organisation skills to manage both high-level product information and details of the features
  • Listening and communication skills to understand information from various sources, articulate complex ideas, negotiate with stakeholders, etc. 

As the product manager has to work closely with multiple teams, they must have a basic understanding of the roles, responsibilities and challenges of each of these teams and ensure that the product roadmap is followed. It’s this prerequisite that makes the product manager a jack of all trades.

Can I become a product manager as a fresher?

4. Can I become a product manager as a fresher?

It’s clear that a product manager plays a key role in driving product, and subsequently, business success. That’s why most companies prefer a product manager with a few years of experience under their belt. Because of this, it can be challenging for freshers to start a career in product management. Moreover, most colleges and universities do not offer product management as a specialised discipline. 

However, as start-ups are mushrooming everywhere, the need for capable product managers is also rising. Even veteran companies like Google and Microsoft keep an eye out for promising individuals who can join as entry-level or Associate Product Managers.

As long as you can demonstrate domain knowledge, communication skills, innovative thinking and problem solving, you should be able to join a company without prior experience. Of course, it helps if you can showcase an understanding of product roadmaps, product lifecycle, go-to-market strategy and other product management related concepts. The best way to do so is by acquiring a specialised certification in product management.

What is the salary range of product managers in India?

5. What is the salary range of product managers in India?

A great, holistic customer experience today needs the active involvement of product managers. After all, a product manager must know the ins and outs of everything concerning a product. This is why companies are willing to offer product managers a promising package. 

In India, a product manager can start from earning Rs. 5 lakhs and even earn up to Rs. 35 lakhs after a few years of experience. The average salary of a product manager in India is around Rs. 15 lakhs.

The career path of a good product manager is quite fruitful. Product managers in India, upon gaining sufficient experience, can secure high paying jobs outside. Alternatively, they go on to build their own companies. Besides the monetary benefits, a typical day in the life of a product manager involves applying creativity, being curious and constant learning, all of which can be ultimately soul-satisfying for the right candidate.

Digital marketing: everything you need to know

Digital marketing is the method of marketing products or services using digital platforms and devices. Digital marketing involves the application of techniques and sharing information for the purposes of promoting new products and services and engaging with customers through online platforms. A career in digital marketing can be a good choice as there is an increased demand for digital marketing managers in companies.

Digital Marketer Skills

A career in Digital Marketing offers a lot of opportunities but one needs to acquire a range of skills and prove his competency to become a successful digital marketing professional. To be successful in getting a desired digital marketing job one has to be equipped with the following set of digital marketing skills. Let’s check out the most important digital marketer skills.

Data Analysis: Digital Marketers must have good knowledge to use analytical tools to process information from various online sources about customer profiles including their interests and preferences.

Content Creation: The success of digital marketing depends on suitable content creation that helps to pull the target audience to the brand. The goal is to make the information relevant to their needs and give a solution to their problems. It’s important to communicate your ideas clearly and in a manner compelling to the people.

Knowledge of SEO/SEM: As a digital marketer, driving traffic to online content is the most vital step in connecting with your audience. A digital marketer must have a solid knowledge of the dynamics of SEO along with the procedure to optimize all forms of content for better client engagement.

Social Media Expertise: Digital Marketing managers must have a clear idea of how to use social media platforms to reach out to different segments of the audience. The quality and relevancy of the content are major factors that marketers need to understand while creating social media strategies. Each social media platform is different so digital marketers have to design their content accordingly which helps to establish their brand.

The prime focus of business nowadays is gradually being shifted towards adopting digital technology for marketing products and services. Digital marketing managers are responsible for implementing, monitoring, and managing marketing strategies that help an organization to attain greater exposure and reach a broad audience. The results of their efforts include increased sales, revenue, and growth.

Digital Marketing Career Opportunities

To be a successful digital marketing professional you need to acquire a strong knowledge base and range of digital marketing skills as required. To get a digital marketing job, you need to be equipped with some basic skills like Search Engine Optimization, Email Marketing, Web Analytics, Content Marketing, and Conversion Optimization techniques. To cope with the changes happening in the digital marketing industry you have to put in a lot of effort to bring tangible results. If you can show some great work you will be rewarded with promising careers in digital marketing.

Digital Marketing Jobs in India

The scope of digital marketing has seen drastic growth in recent years. Huge multinational companies spend a significant proportion of their marketing budgets on digital marketing. India has the 2nd largest number of internet users in the world so the digital marketing career opportunities have been very impressive and showing an upward trend. Digital marketing agencies are now at the forefront of business and work with some of the best brands in the country. In the digital marketing field, you can also grow laterally and you can handle different job roles depending on your skill-set.

A digital marketing career also offers lucrative salaries. The average salary of a digital marketer at an executive-level position can be in the range of INR 2.50 lakhs to 5.0 lakhs per annum. A digital marketing manager’s salary varies between INR 8.0 lakhs to 10.0 lakhs per annum. The job demand in the digital marketing field is likely to increase by 10% in the next five years. This will increase the scope of digital marketing jobs in India and abroad. 

Some of the best digital marketing jobs in India not only offer a high salary package but also provide opportunities for career growth, job security, and reputation which make the career in digital marketing really attractive. With the ‘Digital India’ campaign, the entire job scenario in digital marketing is likely to experience a boost in future days. A brief idea about the job roles of a digital marketing manager is given below: 

Digital Media Managers: This managerial role is responsible for designing marketing campaigns in digital channels to create awareness about a brand, product, or service.

Pay-Per-Click Managers: These professionals are responsible to enhance PPC campaigns in organizations using keyword selection, copy improvement, and comprehensive search strategies.

SEM/SEO Specialists: Search Engine Marketing (SEM) and Search Engine Optimization (SEO) experts are required to evolve techniques to improve brand visibility in a digital platform. 

E-commerce Specialists: This role has emerged as a very important role in organizations that work for cost-effective E-commerce solutions for retail business. 

Brand marketing Managers: They have a very effective role in business as they apply brand positioning strategies that stimulate the emotions of target consumers and influence their purchasing decisions.

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