DIGITAL MARKETING OFFERS SIMPLE SOLUTION TO BUYERS DURING PANDEMIC

The current pandemic has hugely affected people’s shopping behaviour. It has seen a paradigm shift for both buyers and sellers. While the buyers have become very picky, it has forced the sellers to look for an intelligent platform to reach directly to the customers and cater to their needs.

Digital marketing has emerged as a helpful tool for almost all businesses to showcase their products among their prospective buyers and convince them to buy their products.

“It is a convenient tool for both. If the businesses are looking for ways to reach their audiences, the buyers also are looking for the right platforms to understand products and place orders at a time when need of the hour is social distancing and avoid crowding’’, said Shahid Ahmed, a marketing executive in a private firm.

According to him, digital marketing has developed manifold in recent years. It has seen an all-time boom during the current pandemic.

Kethki Ambekar, a digital marketing expert, provided a detailed description of the marketing trend driven by digital marketing, be it through website, email campaigns, content marketing, social media posts, clickable ads, affiliate marketing, or search engine optimisation (SEO).

A couple of years back, before the rise and craze of Internet, marketers all around the globe invested hugely into traditional mediums of marketing that included ATL (above the line) and BTL (below the line) activities. This included advertising in newspapers, magazines, billboards, television, direct mail etc.

“Digital Marketing, on the other hand, is a component of marketing that utilises the Internet and online-based technologies to connect with potential customers. It helps you reach out to the global audience, who can eventually be your target customers.

It is proven to be more cost-effective than traditional marketing in terms of audience reach. It also helps companies measure the cost-effectiveness with the help of the analytical tools available’’, she said.

Digital marketing has emerged as more beneficial and a crucial tool during the pandemic.

The statistics suggest its importance in the current time when consumers’ frequent usage of the Internet and mobile devices has gone very high. According to Statista, there are 4.54 billion active Internet users globally and 3.8 billion active social media users. With numbers that high, marketing online and through social media makes a lot of sense.

“With a lot of people working from home, including the kids doing online schooling, I believe the Internet is a space that businesses should not ignore. In the past year, people of all age groups have adapted to the use of Internet for various purposes that could be work, education, or even connecting with near and dear ones’’, Kethki Ambedkar said.

At a time when social and physical distancing is the mantra for staying safe, social media and e-commerce tools have only been a blessing. A lot of people are now ordering their groceries, food and other items online. It can be challenging with people not trusting the Internet. Still, with E-commerce companies offering a smooth customer interface, it surely can be very convenient, she said.

The benefits here, according to her, are: “Help understand customers’ needs, it can be hyper-personalised, advanced analytics, and the most important is, it integrates with mobile Phones.”

All businesses, small and big, can now easily reach out to their target audience thanks to the cost-effective social media tools. Facebook, Instagram, twitter, and Snapchat are some highly interactive platforms where companies can understand their customers’ needs. They could easily measure the effectiveness of each forum and deploy the resources accordingly.

“E-commerce platforms have made paying utility bills, banking transactions, grocery and lifestyle shopping very convenient and easily trackable. Some digital tools go one step ahead and analyse your spending behaviour pattern, helping you make better financial decisions’’, she said.