Scope of Digital Marketing in India

Introduction 

Most of the enquiries we get at our Digital Market Academy Bangalore, ask this question in one way or the other “What is the Scope of digital marketing in India?” Digital Marketing is one of the industries which trends upward today. Following statistics point towards the digital revolution as well as the growth of digital marketing careers. The scope is Infinite.

The Economics Affairs Secretary Subhash Chandra Garg on July 5 2021, quoted that:

“Indian digital economy is expected to touch $1 trillion until the end of 2022 and the digital economy will also gradually increase instead of decreasing. Whereas it can also be said that the digital economy would be half of the total Indian economy by 2030. It is expected that India will soon become the 5th largest economy in the whole world until 2025”

By 2023 the number of Indian internet users will grow to 666 million approx. This specifies that a larger share of people is shifting online and hence it makes it completely logical to start marketing online. The country has one of the largest populations of internet users in the world. By 2025, India will have close to 974.86 million internet users.

The scope of digital marketing in India is very remarkable and is increasing day by day. It is the fastest mode of platform for promotions and branding or marketing. With the availability of economical mobile data and affordable smartphones, all age group peoples are active on digital interfaces. Digital marketing allows companies to reach large numbers of audiences globally.

COVID-19 pandemic forced tremendous changes in the lifestyles of people across the world—how they communicate, shop, travel, and almost every big and small facet of human life.  Businesses are relying on digital marketing now more than ever. According to GlobalData, the Indian e-commerce market is pushing to ₹7 trillion by 2023 due to the lockdowns. With every consumer protected in their homes, all traditional marketing efforts are unacceptable. Businesses that didn’t have a social media presence will now have to plan a digital strategy to connect with their target audiences. 

Post COVID-19, everything has become digital and we see the potential of digital adoption, the whole world become a digital village. The marketing scenario has been changed completely because digitization makes everything easy, comfortable and a mouse-click away. Society is adjusting to the new standard and in fact, are now very contented with running things online. Businesses are dependent on a digital platform for various activities; thus, the scope of digital marketing has grown further. Now every business runs online and has increased the digital marketer’s demand and more opportunities will keep coming. As a digital marketer be imaginative and updated with the latest trends.

Another valuable aspect of digital marketing is that professionals from almost any and every background can enrol in and start a digital marketing job. For instance, if anyone with a degree in arts, could be a content developer and writer. Individuals with science and engineering degrees can explore website development and interface development within Digital marketing.

In this blog, we intend to discuss digital marketing and the focus is on the scope, growth, future, and career of digital marketing in India. Also, the earning potential of a trained Digital marketing professional in India will be explored.

Nowadays, everything is online, or you can say become digital. Digital Marketing is a progressive way adapted by organizations to promote and trade products, goods, and services to a potential customer using digital channels such as social media, mobile apps, search engines, websites, email, etc. Any form of marketing that involves electronic devices is called digital marketing. The goals of digital marketing are the same as traditional marketing, only the platform to communicate the message has changed.

We all know that there is a common challenge that businesses must face these days are getting the attention of the audience and people to whom they want to appeal is not that easy. Hence, the importance of digital marketing is increasing day by day for sure. The future of digital marketing is all about mobile apps. This year, 30% of the world’s population will be connected online through a mobile device. So, mobile technology would be deeply unified into marketing strategies now more than ever before. This includes email marketing, blogging, online banner advertising, social media marketing, video marketing, etc. 

Instagram is a live example of digital marketing.  It is the most popular social media platform these days. Every company either big or small, from startups to popular brands is using Instagram for endorsing products.

Learn the fundamentals of Digital Marketing with Digital Market Academy, Bangalore.

The scope of digital marketing technology evolves every year as new technology emerges; more companies are trying to capture this space. Companies utilize various digital marketing strategies to target their audiences online and via mobile devices in the comfort of their home, without requiring them to go to the store — and many are seeing a substantial return on investment (ROI) because of these efforts.

As we know, during COVID-19, all businesses suffered due to lockdowns and other limitations in a different state.  The data consumption percentage is estimated to be 2GB to 4GB per month for an individual. By 2023, the usage of active internet users in India is expected to increase to 666 million and average data consumption is likely to go up by 13.5GB per month.

Marketing is the opportunity to manifest the first impression on potential customers and the way they get to know about the company’s products and services. If a product is marketed to the right target audience, then it will yield the result and attract the customers to buy it.

As the number of people accessing the internet is increasing exponentially across the globe. It is a great opportunity for the companies to connect with potential customers globally, this can be realized through digital marketing. Some of the practical examples of creating brand awareness are the use of social platforms such as Google and Facebook since they control more eyeballs.

Let us look at some trends that will shape this marketing space:

a. On-page SEO: On-page SEO is about building content to improve your rankings. This comes down to incorporating keywords into your pages and content, writing high-quality content regularly, making sure your metatags and titles are keyword-rich and well-written, among other factors.

b. Off-page SEO: Off-page SEO is the optimization happening off of your website itself, such as earning backlinks. This part of the equation involves building relationships and creating content people want to share. Though it takes a lot of legwork, it’s integral to SEO success. 

2. Search Engine Marketing (SEM)

Other times, the conflict is whether to invest in one marketing strategy more than the other or to only pursue one marketing strategy but not the other. There is one good reason you want to invest your time, money, and efforts into both search engine marketing and social media marketing. You simply don’t want to put all your eggs in one basket.

Content marketing is a long-term strategy that focuses on building a strong relationship with your target audience by giving them high-quality content that is very relevant to them consistently.

When you hear content marketing you think about blogs, Twitter, Facebook, and viral YouTube videos. But content marketing has been around far longer than the Internet. Because content marketing is all about storytelling and humans have told stories for as long as they could speak. Our attention will always go to those who tell great stories. 

Using content to market the product? It means that you need to understand your customers, prospects, and audience. Once you do, you can then create content that solves their problems and grows your business. The ultimate goal of content marketing, of course, is to grow your business.

Social Media Marketing has a huge influence on direct marketing campaigns in effective and innovative ways as social media keeps evolving. Some of the key social media leanings are – Live video streaming, the Massive development of Snapchat, Instagram stories, social slideshow ads, social chats, etc. would be the top components of social media marketing.

Pay-per-click is a common advertising model in digital marketing. It allows advertisers to place ads on search engines, social media platforms, and third-party websites. Advertisers will have to pay a fee whenever the ad is clicked.

The big takeaway from this is that it’s not just about how much you bid. The quality of ads plays a huge part as well. Whenever you invest in advertising, you want to know how much it’s going to cost you. With PPC, this is a little complicated. With PPC, you pay when you get results when someone clicks your ad.

Affiliate marketing is the process of earning money i.e., commissions every time you endorse a company’s products/services and drive a sale. You get paid every time you drive a sale, just like a commission-only sales representative.

Affiliate marketing is promoting other people’s products in return for a small commission for each sale. You’ve probably seen headings marked “affiliate link” or “sponsored post” on many of the websites you visit, or maybe you’ve already taken the first step and signed up to an affiliate network.

Email marketing is still ranked as the most effective marketing channel beating out social media, SEO, and affiliate marketing. Despite the rise of social media, people use email more than other platforms. After all, what’s the good of marketing to someone if they’re not there?

It may be one of the oldest forms of digital communication, but email still reigns supreme when it comes to usage. Sure, there are other newer methods of communicating with your audience and customers. Communication methods like social media, live chat, and many others. However, with a user base of over 4 billion people, email is the king of marketing channels.

According to PayScale, Digital Marketers working in cities such as Bangalore, Mumbai, and Delhi are likely to receive an average of 27% more than the national average. They earn higher than the national average salary in Chennai, Tamil Nadu (12.4% more) as well. The lowest salaries are reported in cities such as Jaipur and Haryana (7.0% less).

A survey conducted by a Digital Marketing company, PixelTrack, revealed that Delhi, Bengaluru, and Mumbai are the most preferred job locations for Digital Marketing students and professionals in India. This shows that metropolitan cities have a great scope of Digital Marketing in India.

Job Role	Average Annual Salary (INR)  Exp 0-3 year	Salary Range (INR) in Lakhs/Annum
Digital Marketing Manager	4.7 lakh	1.9 to 10
SEO Specialist	1.9 lakh	1.0 to 4.03
Search Engine Marketer	3.6 lakh	2.57 to 7.34
Social Media Marketing Manager	3.5 lakh	1.79 to 7.26
Web Analyst	3.6 lakh	1.8 to 6.66
Content Marketing Manager	6.4 lakh	3.7 to 10
Marketing Specialist	4.6 lakh	2.1 to 10
Email Marketer	5 lakh	2.2 to 10

The digital marketing industry has many career opportunities. The great thing about these careers is that they provide a wide spectrum of skills and capabilities, so you can choose from a wide variety of careers that suit you best.

Companies start relying on online advertising to target a wider audience, digital marketing jobs continue to grow. There are several digital marketing careers available, but you need to have a solid understanding of all techniques in the scope of digital marketing to succeed in 2022, especially considering the new challenges the pandemic has formed. 

To establish in the marketing field, apart from technical skills, you should have these basic soft skills. These 3C’s of soft skills are very important aspects of any marketing field.

Now, coming to the technical part of digital marketing. If you have the appropriate skills and you are technically sound, then you can start your career whenever you want. Here are the technical skills you need to know to become the best Digital Marketer:

2. Pay Per Click Analyst

PPC analysts are important for successful digital marketing campaigns. Pay-Per-Click analysts handle the marketing and advertising strategy for the search engine. They must create marketing strategies for products/services and must execute them as well. These analysts use paid and organic mediums to improve website ranking and run pay-per-click ads on the search engine by bidding for certain keywords.

3. Web Developer/Designer

A website is considered a primary salesman of a company in the digital marketing world. Most activities done on the digital platform are to bring the right users onto a website from where they can get information and make up their minds regarding the company’s products/services. Therefore, the website needs to be good, and this is possible through the services of an expert web developer.

To be a website developer, you need to be good with web development languages like HTML, CSS, Python, Java, JavaScript, Ruby, and PHP. You should also be good at using website-building platforms. Your main job will be to follow the web designers, design, and develop a technical sound, high-functioning website. Web developers are highly sought-after professionals who are paid well. With enough experience, web developers can move on to become UI/UX developers.

4. Social Media Marketing Specialist

Social media marketing has emerged as another strong digital marketing platform. Earlier, search engine marketing dominated this domain but now, social media marketing has caught up. A social media marketing specialist is the person who handles everything from strategy to execution of marketing and advertising on social media platforms.

If you have the technical knowledge, analytical skills, and a deep understanding of all social media platforms, you should consider this interesting career. Businesses are realizing that social media is another strong platform to engage their potential customers and market to sell to them. Therefore, there will be a huge demand for SMM professionals who can conduct excellent marketing over social media platforms.

5. Search Engine Marketing Specialist

Search Engine Marketing or SEM is an efficient way to reach out to new customers and eventually help drive revenue. It is verified to be one of the most effective ways to grow your brand and scale your business online.

This role is responsible to make sure that the company is rightly exposed to its potential customers on search engines. The goal of SEM is to promote the website’s visibility using paid search, contextual advertising, organic search rankings, and other methods. Developing and implementing paid search campaigns, ensuring maximum ROI on paid campaigns, in-depth competitor, and website analysis.

Even though the term SEM Specialist feels like it has a broad meaning, it has a very specific use; it has to do with search engines or paid search methods to be precise. Out of the many paid search tools, the most common one is Google Ads. An SEM Specialist makes full use of the power of a search engine (e.g., Google) to ensure that the marketing content reaches the customers at the right time of requirement will convert a prospect into a sale.

There are several benefits of SEM to build an effective marketing portfolio. Some of the ways SEM can benefit a brand are:

6. Data Analyst

Web Analysts and Data Analysts are part of the Web Development team. The main responsibilities of these professionals are data management, data analysis, web projects, data integrity, and web server security. 

A data analyst gathers and interprets data sets to solve a specific problem. They can work in many industries, including business, finance, criminal justice, science, medicine, and government. The role takes in plenty of time spent with data but requires communication too. 

Data analysts’ responsibilities are:

7. Paid Media Analyst

A paid media specialist is accountable for bringing in traffic to your website via online promotion on platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Google, etc. As a paid media specialist, need to have both a creative and analytical mind. You are expected to be fast in identifying which platforms would be best for reaching their audience. Paid Media Analyst responsibilities include:

8. Digital Marketing Manager

Digital marketing managers plan and implement a brand’s complete digital occurrence. They leverage every channel under digital marketing to promote a business’ product/services with the vital goal of increasing their sales cost-effectively. Digital Marketing Managers responsibilities include:

9. Marketing Automation Specialist

Marketing automation specialists are likely to develop promotion policies and improve advertising drives to leverage the company’s customer base and overall returns. Marketing Automation Specialist responsibilities include:

10. Content Marketing Manager

A content writer or a social media specialist gradually moves up to the position of a content manager. A Content Manager needs to have a good understanding of all the aspects of digital marketing. You also need to have good coordination skills. The content you create needs to be of excellent quality that can be used across all digital channels. Content play is a vital role in this job. The content manager is an amazing career to aim for, and its importance is only going to grow as digital marketing continues to grow in India.

Content Marketing Managers responsibilities include:

Digital marketing needs tools that will help marketing experts to do everything from placing strategies on products to scaling a brand to catering millions of audiences to fine-tuning the social presence. With the right tools, all of these will come at ease and ensure that Digital Marketing experts save a lot of time and put in the effort where it is truly needed.

Strategies can be easily implemented with the right marketing tools list and finding the right technology will help vastly in rising past the competition. There are many tools out there that are important for a Digital Marketing expert—including email marketing, social media marketing, data analytics, web forms, and more.

Top digital marketing tools you need to learn concerning to job role in a digital marketing career

1. Search Engine Marketer

In my opinion, the most valuable strategy ever added to a Digital Marketing channel would be Search Engine Optimization and this can be sometimes complex. Digital Marketing experts can surely use some help in finding out the right tools and techniques and see what works and what does not. There are a set of SEO tools available. Most used are:

2. Social Media Marketer

Facebook has over 2.5 billion active users monthly. Twitter has close to 400 million and Instagram has well over 800 million users. When such a large amount of people spend time on social media, it is like a massive treasure that’s waiting to be tapped into. Social media management tools are the most important tools in the world of digital marketing. Most used are:

3. Content Marketer

There are a set of tools that help users to create content for the digital marketing campaign, everything from videos and blogs to even infographics that have been on the trending side of the marketing content. Some of the tools used for creating attractive content in Digital Marketing are:

4. Web Analytics

Website analytics is the process that thrives the world of Digital Marketing. It is very important to track changes and perform competitive analysis, trend predictions for that matter. Analytics has shown results on paper and this makes it a key ingredient in the implementation of a good digital marketing campaign. Multiple tools have their unique features when it comes to catering toward analytics, and here are some of the top website analytics tools preferred by a lot of users across the globe.

5. Video Hosting (You Tube)

Can you imagine that video content has taken over 75% of the world’s web traffic? That is stunning, right? So, what this means is that making use of videos should be a must these days, rather than a secondary consideration. A lot goes into the curation of quality content for videos, and you should surely use all the help you could get.

Hosting videos on the top platforms will ensure you bring in viewers in larger numbers! Following are the top platforms that are providing the best services concerning video hosting and more:

6. Affiliate Marketer

Affiliate marketing involves other people selling your product for you. This creation of a channel, where people sell the product on your behalf, has been trending for a while, and people across the world have seen proven results when affiliate marketing is used. It is one of the most effective channels to drive traffic since it is trust-based and uses brand advocates to strengthen the trust the customers have for the company. Following are some of the widely used affiliate marketing tools out there:

7. E-mail Marketer

The very first email that was sent through the Internet was somewhere back in the 70s. That is almost 50 years ago! And then the growth of sending emails is rapid across the world. Active use of this channel is immensely satisfying with nothing but a high Return on Investment (ROI) for companies.

Here is a list of popular Digital Marketing Webinars

Here is a list of Digital Marketing Blogs

Credits for this blog post goes to our student Mrs. Varsha Sahu, here is her LinkedIn Profile.