The Future of Digital Marketing in India and How Retail Brands Can Benefit From It

Future of Digital Marketing in India

This is the era of digital marketing. With the rise of online shopping, every store requires an online marketing strategy to reach its audience and customers. From big organizations to small businesses and stores, everybody is venturing into the digital space to grow their business and reap the benefits of the online world in optimizing their reach, sales, and conversions. And with digitalization becoming more and more mainstream, the future of digital marketing in India is promising for brands and companies. Let us take a deeper dive into it!

In a country as densely populated as India and with millions of mobile phones and social media users, digital marketing is booming in the country. Everybody who wishes to scale their business and market their products and services far and wide needs to embrace digital marketing through the internet as this medium has no geographical barriers.
 
The future of digital marketing in India is bright and promising. Digital marketing, as compared to traditional marketing, offers some key benefits that make it an effective and affordable strategy for marketing the brand. 

Growth of Digital Marketing in India Through the Pandemic

In 2020 and 2021, the scope of digital marketing has seen a drastic level of growth. Despite the pandemic affecting our life in all ways for 2 years consecutively, the growth in the digital space has been strong and tremendously amazing. In 2022, it is projected to take an even higher leap.

India has the 2nd largest number of internet users in the world. The internet’s penetration has reached outstanding numbers in the country. By 2023, the number of active Indian internet users is expected to grow up to almost 666 million in India and higher than 5.3 billion on a global level. This indicates an online shift for a larger share of people, making it sensible and opportunistic for retail brands to venture into the digital marketing space.

There is a rise in the consumption of data. An increased number of people have started subscribing to various platforms for video consumption as well as for other dependencies on the internet such as online shopping. This is expected to rise even higher owing to the digital revolution that is going on. 

READ MORE: How to Boost E-commerce Sales with Digital Marketing?

Even through the pandemic, there has been an increase in the amount of money that has been channeled to marketing and advertising on digital channels. Today, even the biggest companies are restructuring their marketing budget to shift their focus to digital. According to statistics, the growth of the Indian e-commerce market is pushing to Rs 7 trillion by 2023 due to the pandemic and multiple lockdowns. This strongly suggests that the growth of digital marketing is on an upward trend and has positively impacted businesses as well as the lives of people. 

The future of digital marketing looks promisingly bright and secure. The basic principle right now for every business is to make a place for themselves in the digital world with the help of digital marketers that are creative, innovative and updated. This upward trend of growth in digital marketing is here to stay. More and more opportunities are expected to keep coming in and catering to the new-formed demands of the consumers will become extremely essential. The future generation will grow up in this digital era, accustomed to doing everything online. In order to be able to cater to these future customers, organizations and businesses need to make digital marketing efforts today.

Benefits of Digital Marketing for Retail Brands

Digital marketing is a great tool for companies if they want to connect with their potential customers on a global level, engage with them, create brand awareness, promote and sell products and services at affordable prices, and earn a higher ROI or return on investment. A well-planned and well-devised digital marketing strategy will influence the overall performance of retail businesses in so many ways. 

•    Enhances Customer Experience: It is vital for retailers to invest in digital marketing to ensure the best possible user experience for their buyers, irrespective of the size of their establishment. This involves everything from the pre-purchase experience to the post-purchase experience. Every interaction with the brand should be a pleasant and seamless experience for the consumer to maximize their convenience and efficiency.

•    Leverages New Opportunities: The dawn of digitalization and the advancement of technology has given retail marketers access to opportunities that were not available in the past. They can now attract leads beyond geographical boundaries, provide improved support while reducing their marketing costs, and much more. It is only fair for the retailers to take full advantage of this channel and maximize their potential. 

•    Improves Brand Metrics: Having a strong brand presence and awareness can help retail businesses in differentiating themselves from their competitors. This can allow companies to improve the knowledge and perception the customers have about their brand by investing in building brand reputation, brand awareness, and brand image.

•    Enhances Acquisition, Conversion, and Retention Rates: Digital platforms can help retailers reach the right prospects and clients to increase client acquisition, conversions, and retention. It can facilitate interaction and engagement with clients in order to encourage purchase. 

•    Helps Overcome Competition: Digital marketing is one of the greatest tools for small and medium-sized retailers. It allows them to effectively tackle stiff competition even with limited resources. Medium or small budget retailers can conveniently promote their brand globally and reach customers across the nation with ease by leveraging digital marketing. 

No business can stay ahead of the competition or completely flourish without a proper digital marketing strategy. While digital marketing is a boon for modern-day retailers, they must ensure the proper implementation of digital marketing tactics. Having a strong online presence using tools such as website design and development, search engine marketing, content marketing, email marketing, and social media marketing is crucial to make the most out of digital marketing and its various platforms and leverage the growth of your business or organization. 

With the world adopting digitalization in business, Indians in even the most far-flung corners of the country have access to the best products and services from the best brands. This is the right time to reimagine the way you do business and engage customers. It is the right time to go beyond the traditional retail formats of marketing and television advertising to reach the digitally savvy modern customers of today.

While digital marketing is at a very early stage, it is presently one of the most powerful ways to market your retail brand and shall remain so in the future. However, it is interesting to understand the dynamics of this channel and how it is changing every day. The industry is constantly changing and evolving and having a professional who focuses on understanding and analyzing trends such as Voice Searches, Virtual Reality, Artificial Intelligence, etc., and helps the brand make the most out of it will continue to be a game-changer in the near future.