by Aravinda S Shetty | Jul 13, 2021 | Blog, Digital marketing
Most industries took a major hit during the COVID-19 pandemic. Likewise, the digital marketing industry too could not escape its effects. When big businesses took a hit due to massive fluctuations in the market, they looked to cut their expenses and run the show keeping expenses minimal. In most industries, marketing and advertising are considered as a luxury and not a necessity. Thus, the major budget allocations for marketing expenses were cut down and survival expenses were concentrated on.
Project Inflow During the Pandemic
As we are a digital marketing agency in Mangalore, we have been seeing the ups and downs when it comes to clients’ approaches and the effectiveness of the Ads we run. When the pandemic just began in India, it was announced that there will be a lockdown for a week. Later, it was extended for several weeks.
For the first 15 days, all clients were in what we could call the “waiting mode”. Just trying to understand how long it would take to go back to normal — and then they slowly started adopting what we could call a “survival mode” of business operation. When the situation continued for more than 15 days, most small scale industries, small businesses and mid-range players were instructed to stop all marketing activities till further notice. This greatly impacted revenue figures for us. After another three months, with hopes of a vaccine and the decrease in the number of cases — most businesses and the economy started slowly picking up. Around September, the business graph began going up and come December, it was almost back to normal.
Changes in Digital Marketing Results
For a small number of clients who had high hopes and expectations, the journey began with cutting down more than 50% of service fees for them. The strategy changed to fit minimal costs and maximum gains, along with highly optimised campaigns. The cost of advertising has been reduced to almost 50% from the pre-pandemic days. In the auction insights, we do see fewer clients running ads. At the same time, there are issues with conversion and reasonable closing to show sustainable value. The main revenue source of advertisement for Tier-2 cities like Mangalore is via education, hospital and tourism industries which have been going through a lot of uncertainty. Even the end consumers are not sure about making buying decisions at that moment. Still, we continued on our journey and brought about note-worthy results. Metrics have hit the record level of optimisation.
What did businesses gain by marketing during the pandemic?
Even though many businesses had incurred losses and were functioning with a lot of uncertainty, some mid-range businesses with slightly deeper pockets took advantage of the situation.
- As we mentioned earlier, advertising costs were almost 50% lower than pre-pandemic days. So, businesses could gain extra mileage by spending less. They could also gain a better bargain in terms of service fees.
- As competition had fallen, marketing platforms were not stuffed with too many materials and ads.
- Many businesses used the little extra money they had to create brand awareness and leave a lasting impression on customers’ minds — which will yield results in the long run.
What changed in the advertising industry?
We strongly believe that the end users/consumers have changed their mode of engagement from hoardings and newspapers to digital platforms. The traditional media like Television, Newspapers and Hoardings require heavy one-time investments. Businesses are looking for cost effective, easy to start, and ROI-centric solutions to spend their marketing budgets. At the same time, users have also turned their interests towards digital marketing.
The industry is moving towards an exponential growth in demand for digital marketing. Especially with the Tier 2 cities, the marketing expenses have been moved to the digital space. As a large population of consumers are active on digital platforms, the effectiveness of digital marketing via various platforms has been increasing in this pandemic duration.
Now that you know what has been the journey, the effects and the current situation, you will have to make the choice of finding the right media for your business’ marketing. We at Alter Marketing Solutions, a digital marketing company in Mangalore, can consult you for digital marketing and take the responsibility as an extension of your marketing team. We handle end-to-end digital marketing solutions without any hassles. Contact [email protected] or call us at +91 99864 60086.
by Aravinda S Shetty | Jul 12, 2021 | Blog, Digital marketing
The world is facing a crisis that is unlike anything most of us have seen in our lifetimes. Most businesses are struggling to stay operational and many are facing a lot of uncertainties in terms of jobs, consumption, demand and supply. And the worst part is that we do not know how long this might go for. People who have been running businesses smoothly for ages are struggling now.
But does it have to be this difficult? Not really. We have to play our cards smarter and keep the game going. Before the pandemic, you might have been using one or more of the following methods to gain market share:
- TV ads
- Newspaper ads
- Paper insertion
- Pamphlets and flyers
- Hoardings
- Direct sales
- Referrals
It’s time for us to analyse how well these techniques are going to work in the current situation. Most of these techniques are either expensive, ineffective, not measurable, do not compel people to take action, or do not fulfill the needs of the customer.
Due to the lockdown and pandemic situation, we can see that people are slowly changing their lifestyle in terms of content consumption and buying behaviour. Don’t you think as a business, you also need to change the way you reach your customers and get them to consider your brand as part of their buying decision?
How To Market During A Pandemic
Focus on brand awareness
Most people are not ready to spend money until the uncertainty is over, except for items and products that are essential. But when things do get better, people will come back again to buy. Many brands make the mistake of completely stopping all the marketing thinking it won’t help at all at this time. But this is the best time to build brand awareness with your consumer. Moreover, advertising is cheaper now than ever before!
Go online – It’s now or never!
We all know people are spending a lot of time online for entertainment, learning, and many other activities. No matter how small or big you are, it is time for you to take your business online. This is the only option that you have to boost your business. Create your online store by building a website, an online catalogue site or just using WhatsApp business or Facebook marketplace with zero investment. But act now and go online!
Use digital marketing to make a mark
Traditional marketing approaches like hoardings, flyers, newspaper ads, have lost a lot of their reach and scope. At the same time, there has been a significant rise in engagement on social media platforms — an increase of 30% to 40%! This means that people are spending a lot of time on social media. As the rule of marketing, we need to put more effort and money where people are more active. Social media, digital content creation is cheap and the best way to market your product right now. If you have a good budget, consider running paid ads and create original content showcasing your product.
Take it one step at a time
If you are a small business trying to go online, it’s better not to burn your hand by putting a lot of money on advertising. Instead, start generating simple content about your business and start using the power of WhatsApp and other popular social media. This will be a good first step to taking your business online.
We definitely can’t generalize marketing approaches and strategies. But no matter what business you run, this will be a good starting point for you. Strategy can be finetuned and improved by taking into consideration the nature of the business, budget, resources availability and other factors. At any point of time if you think you need our help in improving your strategy reach us out at 099864 60086 or mail us at [email protected].
by Aravinda S Shetty | Jul 9, 2021 | Blog, Digital marketing
The real estate industry in India has evolved over time. Like in every other industry today, this industry’s organizations and properties also need an online presence. Thus, one thing that has surely revolutionised the sector, is digital marketing – and it can very well lead to the buying and selling of real estate properties!
An integrated digital marketing strategy can work wonders, with great return on investment.
The Catch
Often, real estate sellers directly jump into selling their property online. The cost for each lead in the industry is comparatively higher compared to other industries in the market. If you are the owner of a real estate business or trying to sell your property online, the clear setup of your property and online storefront is very important. Your digital marketing performance will also depend on the capabilities and competence of your online salesperson. He/she should refer to your website, media materials like photos, videos, online brochures and data points. Keeping them updated, attractive and presentable will definitely get better results in all your digital marketing efforts.
The Strategy
Let’s throw some light on the different platforms we can use to reach people over digital marketing. As an example, we will focus on Tier 2 cities and how people react to digital marketing efforts.
- Social Media Marketing (SMM)
This platform considerably delivers greater performance compared to all other media. I am talking about Facebook and Instagram, which are mainly targeted and precise in terms of delivery. Here are some areas to consider when it comes to SMM.
Be Specific, Be terrific. Social media Ads are highly targeted and communication can be directed towards the target audience. For example, if you are trying to sell a commercial property to the target market of Chartered Accountants, you should create an Ad addressing the focal points for Chartered Accountants. Don’t make the mistake of creating one single generic Ad about the property and showing it to Chartered Accountants, Doctors, Financial Advisers, etc. It could be confusing and not be as effective as it was intended to be. Talk about what kind of benefits a Chartered Accountant can get by investing in your commercial property.
Build a proper sales funnel. No one would buy any property or high end asset without having complete knowledge on what they are buying. It is a very conscious decision anyone would make. So instead of Direct Selling, you should have sales pitches with more information. And not bombard them with Ads
.
Try to communicate in local languages with the local audience. One of my strategies that has worked to reduce the cost per lead by about 60%, is using local languages. This local flavour could feel personalized and help you resonate with your target audience. Quality of the prospective leads might also be ensured by asking the right and specific questions in enquiry form, so we get filtered leads.
Keep updating and trying new methods of communication for the new set of target audience. Try out plenty of experimental ways to make sure that you are on the right track. Analyse each decision taken, before acting upon it.
Google sure is an essential and worthwhile platform giving fruitful results for the real estate industry. There are few important aspects to understand while entering into real estate selling digitally –
Use PPC ads for real estate. This is a technique through which you can reach people when they are researching properties similar to yours. This is the high potential audience, meaning the conversion rate of these audiences is very high compared to social media.
Go for long-tail keywords specific to the search query. Leverage these keywords for efficient use of Ads.
Try to compete for the first preposition. This helps you increase your click through rate by more than 35%. The conversion rate for click to lead can be anywhere between 20 to 30%, which is huge. It may not help you in collecting intended leads, but it helps you to directly reach people who are researching – creating more touch points.
Use Remarketing on Google. So you can reach back to the people who already know your property but have not bought from you yet. This is very cost effective and creates a good touch point for second level funnel audiences.
Explore Display Ads. You can have Ads run in the local newspapers and YouTube channels, and engage with the local audience better. It also helps in increasing brand awareness. These will definitely give you more credibility over the market, and create more digital touch points.
- SEO and directory listings.
Create specific online content. Generating enough relevant and trustworthy content helps to build visibility and trust in the digital space.
Submit your property listing in all possible free property listing sites, properties, hotels and local directories. Posting in the Facebook Marketplace also helps boost visibility. This not only helps you in building trust from the SEO perspective, but also creates multiple touch points with people who are researching properties online
Optimise your website and landing pages. And do so in such a way that Google recognises your website for organic ranking. This long-term strategy will bring you wonderful results, even after a certain amount of time. Focus more on long-tail keywords which will make it easier to rank the site higher locally.
Though it could seem like a high level strategy breakdown, the major technique is to leverage possible digital media for boosting your real estate sales. The strategy definitely needs systematic execution and trained professionals, to generate fruitful results. At Alter Marketing Solutions Private Limited, we have expert professionals who specialise in specific areas. For guaranteed real estate sales and lead generation, contact mangalore.alter@com.
by Aravinda S Shetty | Jul 8, 2021 | Blog
We all have bad days when we have a lot of work but don’t feel very productive. Sometimes it still feels like there is a lot of work, but you don’t know what to start with. And other times, you become an octopus and feel like you are doing a lot of work but there is not much output.
So let me share with you some ways in which I organise my day and increase my productivity so that you can also deliver your best every day.
First, let me tell you some of the reasons why you aren’t as productive as you want to be. Ask yourself these questions. Let’s see if you can get an answer and find out whether you are really busy:
- Are you overworking?
- How organized are you?
- Do you know what you are trying to do?
- Who do you have to work with?
- Is there dependency to finish your tasks?
- How efficient are you?
When you try to answer the above, you will definitely feel guilty about how your day is going and you will feel that you are not actually that busy and have more time and potential than you thought. So let’s go through 9 techniques that will help you improve your organizing skills and become more productive.
- Plan your day ahead
It’s important that you plan your whole day and know what you are doing that day. At Least 60% of your day has to be preplanned to make it more productive. Have a specific SMART goal for the day and avoid last-minute work which will disrupt your day. It’s important to know your task dependencies as this could lead to delays in execution. So plan accordingly. Last but not the least, learn how to say No, when someone approaches you for non-priority tasks.
- Use Your Calendar
I just want to say thanks to Google Calendar because… well, it just made my day. Literally! Schedule a day in advance or before the day begins. It’s a good practice to follow and also add people in advance to the task where they have been informed and dependency has been created. Let them know before adding them. Yes, it’s important that they too plan as per the schedule so that the whole team is productive.
- Let’s Not Squeeze In
We all hate it when people come to us at the last minute and ask to reschedule a task that was planned. That is why it is important to know your priorities and act accordingly. People can wait — the world is not ending today. So don’t try to squeeze in every request that is made to you. Don’t try to be helpful all the time. Make sure you don’t let anyone and everyone disrupt the work that you have planned.
- Stick To The Planned Time
This is important. Finish your meetings on schedule and avoid going off-topic. Come into the meeting with a clear agenda and don’t talk too much about things that are not relevant. Respect the other person’s time as well. Close the meeting with actionable steps that people can take so that the meeting itself is effective.
- Keep Enough Gaps And Break On Schedules
You need to take breaks because when you get tired, your brain doesn’t work as well. Chit chat with the people, get up and go for a walk. Go for a cup of chai, help someone else if possible. This will make your day more productive, happy, efficient and energetic.
- Prioritize Your Work
Everyone feels like their work should be on top of your list. Everything is important and everyone needs it right now. But how to get rid of this ‘RIGHT NOW’ problem? Here are some questions to help you prioritize your day-to-day tasks.
- How important is it?
- What is the effect of delivering it now and later?
- What are its implications and effects?
- Where to place the task in your to-do list?
- How long does it take to finish the task?
After analysing each task you need to give it a priority number. Everything is important, and so is your task. Have open communication with the person about where you are placing the task in your priority list and when you are delivering it.
- Use Good Old Pen & Paper
Sometimes it is very confusing where to start and what to start with. There are a lot of tasks on the sheet and you don’t know where to begin. It happens to all of us. Give your brain space to do something more productive than just remembering the list of tasks. Don’t think too much about the task, rather, put it down on paper. Trust me, it helps. You strike it off when it is done. It gives an enormous amount of satisfaction. This helps you get clarity on what to do and whether you are doing it right.
- Simplify/Automate Repetitive Tasks
I will tell you the truth about most of the work we do. More than 40% of it is repetitive, depending on your job role. We do the same thing, repeat the same pattern and we deliver the same output. We should find a smarter way to do it in a shorter period of time, where you don’t need to use your brain or give less importance to finish your tasks. Do it once, and make it simple the next time — look for tools that help you automate and create checklists to avoid repetitive mistakes. This will definitely reduce the time taken to do mundane tasks and you will be much more productive.
- Document Everything
This is the time for us to create documentation or a repository of the work or the process that we already found. Research to find answers, not to search for things that you already know. Create checklists and keep it very accessible whenever you need it. Make it a process and follow it the next time. Find opportunities to delegate the work to your teammates.
I hope these 9 points are going to make your life easier in terms of managing your tasks efficiently. Stop complaining that you’re busy and start putting these golden rules in practice. If you have any further confusion or you need some help managing your time or planning your work, or you need to train your team to become much more efficient, we can definitely help you out. Contact us on +91 99864 60086 or mail us at [email protected] and schedule a FREE audit and consultation of your/ your time management skills.
