Internet Marketing in India - An Interview QA

In response to a journalist's questionnaire who was doing some market cover story on Online advertising we had an internal Interview/QA session and inputs are published as a press release story here. The study is published at http://expresscomputeronline.com/20090921/market01.shtml. We hope on-line marketers will find it useful, we also encourage expert comments and open discussions.

What is the market of online advertising in India?
While traditional media companies are facing the heat, in terms of attracting advertisers, online marketing firms are still booming. Yes, the search engine marketing (or SEM) and online advertising industry is growing with expanding Internet users and use of Online marketing techniques. Most Internet users now avail search services compared to that four years back and the popularity of SEM and SEO are growing in most business sectors. "Bloggers, citizen journalists, whatever you call these new media entities have now taken up much of the new media space. A lot of the established old media will not make this transition successfully unless they start thinking out-of-box..” (Ref. www.seotrends.in).

What makes online marketing and advertising so lucrative, even during a slowdown?
Slowdown is a temporary phenomena, long-term planning should not rely on it. In today's world, corporate barriers control customer experiences rendered through various departments from product marketing to customer service. Giving all stakeholders a real voice in that process — via phones, email, mail, participation and online media — has been the antithesis of many corporate cultures for decades. Use of online media as a marketing mix is better than hiring some urban-connected expensive individual for getting brand attention. Firms should craft a strategy and understand what their business objectives are. And it means never, ever taking eye off the customer and doing what matters - providing value to them. After all, isn't that what you're in business for?

Is the widespread reach & boom of Internet one of the major reasons why companies prefer to advertise online?
Yes that is a major reason. In addition, the proliferation of television and print is starting to give me pause for thought. The younger mass is more interested in self-validating the promises made by media campaigns and they know that Internet have all the resources for them to interact and invent, before reaching a decision. A nightmare for advertisers!

Mention the different online advertising options available. Does search engine advertising option outperform all other online advertising media?

Search engine advertising outperform as a pull strategy over other options. There are many forms of online advertising. Some other options are:

- E-mail sponsorship advertising
- Newsletter and E-zine advertising
- Rich media advertising (flash ads, Interstitials & Superstitials, streaming audio/video, etc)
- Pop-up/pop -under advertising
- Online banner advertising
- Sponsorship (web sites, e-mails, sweep stakes)
- Advertorial (Paid-for editorial) placements.

Activities involve Keyword Research and Analysis, Sitemap, Ranking Reports, Text and Content Optimization, Tags and Codes for Search Engine Optimization, Directory Submissions etc.

Why is search online advertising valuable to a company and how can the company be sure that online advertising works?
It is valuable for positioning a business web site and creating awareness for product and services to be represented properly to targeted visitors to a site. Not just plain SEO, you need search positioning, search marketing to make sure that people find your web site when they actually need it! Remember “a business website with great technology is worth far less than a website with high traffic with last generation technology”.

Do you know what really matters? – the number of right eyeballs, not just any passerby! Fundamental marketing concepts are the same regardless of whether it is for an online or off-line business. What differ are the marketing tactics, and the marketing strategies that drive those tactics. Remember – search engine optimization or SEO is only one element of a robust Internet marketing strategy. To achieve overall success on web you need an effective combination of SEO, website marketing strategy, web site promotion strategy, and internet marketing strategies for promoting your business online.

How can online advertising help small business?
When it comes to searching in the web jungle, Google rules! After all, Google claims to organize all the world's information, in all its diverse flavors. The best part is Google, Yahoo & MSN allow small businesses to flourish alongside the bigger ones. By the way, who needs big companies - business is all about creating value and distributing wealth, and bigger firms only help few privileged shareholders get richer, isn't it! The sad part is Google itself is getting bigger everyday, and might one day monopolize the on-line world. (Ref. http://www.seotrends.in/search-engine-advertising/google-adwords-adsense).

During recession are companies in the IT/ITEs sector looking at online advertising?
That is a logical move. We do not serve IT/ITEs sector at the moment.

Note: Most answers are provided by Mr. Sudhir Panda, Web Consultant, Solution Point. Click here to participate and submit blogs.