The importance of Below the Line (BTL) activities in any rural marketing effort can never be underestimated. The need for focused communication aimed at specific target audiences, with varying traditions, cultures, languages and dialects.The traditional belief is that mass media does not reach everyone in rural India. Today, the rural market is a vast area with around 895 million people in over 664,000 villages. It is estimated that this population will increase by 1.7% by 2022. All BTL activities are aimed at generating word of mouth publicity for the product or service being promoted among the target audience, in a specific geographical location using specially developed communication packages. I would include any non-media activity or roadshow which takes the route of either one on one or group communication using different delivery mechanisms. For expensive consumer durables or services, where promotional efforts have to build in the ‘touch & feel’ or demonstration aspects,...

Experiential marketing is a surefire way to build brand awareness and brand affinity, boost brand recognition, attract new customers, and have current customers come back for more. It is the perfect catalyst for word-of-mouth since people love sharing their positive customer experiences.It is defined as live events where audiences interact with products or brand face-to-face. Experiential marketing works. In addition to helping brands differentiate themselves in a crowded market, experiential marketing is a marketing tactic which aligns precisely with what consumers today desire: experiences. Data has revealed that consumers are 4x more likely to invest in experiences and that the value attributed to an ‘experience purchase’ increases over time. Engagement marketing, sometimes called "experiential marketing", "event marketing", "on-ground marketing", "live marketing", "participation marketing", or "special events" is a marketing strategy that directly engages consumers and invites and encourages them to participate in the evolution of a brand or a brand experience. Engagement...

Email marketing is a powerful marketing channel, a form of direct marketing as well as digital marketing, that uses emails to promote your business’s products or services. It can help make your customers aware of your latest items or offers by integrating it into your marketing automation efforts. It can also play a pivotal role in your marketing strategy with lead generation, brand awareness, building relationships and keeping customers engaged between purchases through different types of marketing emails.    Anytime a company sends out an email, aside from order confirmations and direct responses to customer questions, it could be considered a form of email marketing. Email marketing is one segment of internet marketing, which encompasses online marketing via websites, social media, blogs, and more.    The very first email was sent in 1971 by a computer engineer named Ray Tomlinson. The message he sent was just a string of numbers and letters, but it...

How Video Marketing works?  If a photo’s worth a thousand words, then how much more valuable should a video be? Video marketing refers to the use of video to market or promote your brand or offering on digital channels. In simple terms, when you use video to market your brand, product or service, engage on social media channels, educate your target audience or customers, and interact with them, you’re said to be using video marketing. Additionally, video marketing can serve as a medium to present how-to’s, promote customer testimonials, live-stream events and deliver viral content.  Video marketing: The Numbers  76% of the businesses which use video marketing believe that it results in good ROI.  93% of businesses believe that it increases user understanding of their product or service.  72% of businesses believe that it has improved the conversion rate of their website. ● Email subject lines that include the...

Every marketing agency knows that Brand management is important, but not everyone agrees on the reasons. That’s because the strength of your brand is dependent on customer perception and influencing how you’re perceived by a market is extremely complicated. To build a brand that customers choose over competitors, you need to start with a clearly defined brand vision, organizational self-reflection, and company-wide discipline.  What is Brand management?  In marketing terms, brand management is a series of techniques used to increase the perceived value of a product or service. Effective brand management by marketing agencies builds loyal customers through positive brand association and has a positive effect on your bottom line. Additionally, strategic brand management can help companies improve brand recognition, boost revenue, and achieve long-term business goals. Brand management agencies encompasses more than just the aesthetics of a brand. It involves management of an organization’s brand identity, or “all elements that a...

Traditional marketing is becoming less and less effective nowadays and as a forward-thinking marketeer, you might wonder if there is a better way. Content marketing is a strategic marketing approach focused on creating and distributing valuable, relevant, and consistent content to attract and retain a clearly defined audience — and, ultimately, to drive profitable customer action.  Instead of pitching your products or services you are providing truly relevant and useful content to your prospects and customers to help them solve their issues. The key word here is “valuable.” It’s what changes this definition. You can tell if a piece of content is the sort that could be part of a content marketing campaign if people seek it out and if people want to consume it, rather than avoid it.    An annual research shows the vast majority of marketers are using content marketing. In fact, it is used by many prominent organizations in...

Change is never easy, but as businesses look towards a post-COVID-19 future, for many enterprises, their traditional business models, products, and services have to change in the very near future if their companies are to survive. It’s safe to say that COVID has had an enormous impact on every single industry. Even though we may have gotten used to the “new normal” by now, these changes are still tricky to navigate because at the end of the day that’s exactly what they are – changes. In India and around the world, the impact of the corona virus pandemic is not limited to a few sectors but is evident across all stakeholders of the economy. For instance, the venture capital activity in the Indian ecosystem has witnessed a slowdown as social distancing and self-isolation is hampering investor meetings. Similarly, a negative impact is evident across both the white-collar and the blue-collar sector. Needless...

Fathers are undoubtedly an integral part of the family, his love for his children is unmatched. A father is every son's first hero and every daughter's first love. The significance of a father in a child's life is huge.    Fathers, like mothers, are the biggest support in the development of a child's mental and emotional well- being. In simple words, a child learns from what he observes, explores and listens from his close ones and who else is more close to a child than his own father. Studies have shown that when fathers are affectionate and supportive, it greatly affects a child’s cognitive and social development. It also instills an overall sense of well-being and self confidence. The way a father treats his child will influence what he or she looks for in other people. Friends, lovers and how he/she sees their life, will all be based on how the child...

Over the past couple of years, Pinterest has become one of the most popular social networking sites and  a powerhouse social network for businesses in today’s world. When it comes to Social media marketing, Pinterest helps in expanding the reach of the business to its potential customers who might not see the brand otherwise.  Here are 6 reasons that will convince you to include Pinterest in your  Social Media Marketing Strategy.    1. Pinterest Converts More Browsers into Buyers The unique feature of Pinterest compared to most social media handles, is that it reduces the number of steps from discovery to conversion. This means that visitors from Pinterest convert into leads or sales faster than any other social media sources. Regardless of what you sell or offer, images are a provocative way of telling a story, and Pinterest gives brands a great opportunity to do so immediately.  2. Pinterest Drives Tons of Traffic Pinterest is a great...

Brand storytelling is an art of making a meaningful and strong connection with your customers by using a narrative story that conveys the message to the audience and adds more value to what the brand stands for. Storytelling helps you build relationships with your customers and a memorable story is exactly what people need, to know your business. Through Advertising, customers can effectively connect and humanize your brand and you can easily communicate things like who you are, what you do, and how you can help people. The more effectively this is done, the better you can stand out and stick to your position in the marketplace. It's important for a brand to create a story so it can connect with its customers emotionally, and more importantly connect with its target audience. A Brand story resonates on an emotional level with your audience.  A Brand story can have many elements to it: a...