FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ANSWERED BY ENTREPRENEURS ON DIGITAL MARKETING

Digital Marketing has brought about a boom in the technological industry. It has been the backbone of most of the Indian startups which have raised almost around $3.5 Billion in the first 6 months of 2015! Companies like Wipro and Infosys have invested 100 Mn $ and 250 Mn $ on startups. There is almost a noticeable trend in all the development of all these startups, if one analyses it closely. The number of entrepreneurs andideapreneurs have also increased drastically in the last 2-3 years. Many of them have answered and helped us into forming solutions for the 7 frequently asked questions on digital marketing. Here are they-

1. Is a digital marketing strategy important?

   If your business objectives are highly dependent on your marketing plan, then you must have a digital marketing strategy. This hence completely depends on your overall marketing aims and objectives. Hence, you should spend time to understand and learn how digital marketing works. Therefore, approaching towards online learning courses or MOOC can help a lot. The most important thing is to understand the measurement of your return on investments that you put, for your successful business venture.

2. How do you differentiate between online, social and digital marketing?
   Online Marketingincludes marketing through Search Engine Optimization, SEM, email marketing, online websites, blogs etc.

   Social Media Marketing (SMM) includes marketing includes using social media platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and even Instagram for promoting their products.

   Offline Marketing includes printing advertisements, Direct Mail, telecommunication marketing etc.

3. Which one should come first? Digital Marketing or Social Media Marketing? Why?
   All of it depends on your business ventures and your background knowledge and understanding of social and digital marketing. It differs from one company to another. Both of them are closely linked to each other, hence, if you operate one, you pave the path for the other. However, in most of the cases, SMM is a subset of Digital Marketing.
4. Content Marketing- should this platform be touched upon?
   Before jumping directly to content marketing, you need to understand what is digital content. It includes digital notes, blogs, tweets, eBooks, case studies, presentation, testimonials, infomercials, etc. Content Marketing is using valuable content to market your products to your target audience.

   They range from brand awareness, to user/customer engagement to sales to social advocacy and professional networking.

   If you think this will help you achieve your goals, you can go ahead with content marketing.

5. Which social media platforms should be used? LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook?
   You should be where your potential customers are. Where your target audience is.Once you select the platform, start using the business tools and technology that they have to offer to gather information and insights in your target audience’ choices.
6. How does social media work?
   By following the words of the Karmic Ways, you get back what you give.
7. Can any marketer do digital marketing? What are the skills necessary?

The answer is both a yes and a no. Anyone can do digital marketing, but if you are originally a digital marketing professional, it will seem easier for you. But still, this busts the myth that people with an earlier experience of traditional marketing can do digital marketing better!

Skills required-

• Creative skills
• Articulation and Analyzing Skills
• Keen Learner
• Storytelling
• Visual designing
• Content Writing expert
• Emotional Intelligence

Digital Marketing is a field that will continue to evolve and grow in the coming years. The only way to succeed is to be open to learning, commit mistakes and learn from them.