Digital Marketing also popularly known as Internet Marketing or On-line Marketing is one of the fastest growing marketing  which is  also the most effective & economical.  Compared to the conventional marketing the internet marketing is quite inexpensive & also has  the best ROI; hence this should be must use marketing stream for SME/SMBs. 

Digital Marketing consists of the following : 

* Website Design & Development

Website is a digital face of the organization on the net which is accessible to everyone globally.  In this Internet marketing age a website design & development plays a very important role in the brand building and business development.  Every organization should have a good website which generates some decent business for the organization.

A basic website should have pages like Home, About us, Products/services offered and Contact us, this type of websites are also called brochureware.  Gone are the days when website just provided the info on your products & services. In today’s competitive environment website is a low cost business generating tool. In order to achieve this your website should contain pages  like online demo, videos, blog, downloads, case studies, news,….etc.  One also need to do SEM/SEO/PPC/SMM  to generate traffic to your website in order to convert this traffic into leads & eventually into business.  
To read more click here - Website Design & Development

* SEM – Search Engine Marketing

According to Wikipedia Search engine marketing (SEM) is a form of Internet marketing that involves the promotion of websites by increasing their visibility in search engine results pages (SERPs) through optimization and advertising. SEM may use search engine optimization (SEO) or use pay per click (PPC) methods. Some people use the term SEM  exclusively for pay per click advertising (PPC). Let us look at both these techniques in detail.

* SEO – Search Engine Optimization

Search Engine Optimization, is the process by which you can bring your website or page appear   higher in the first page or closer to the first page for the search results in various search engines.  SEO is the natural or organic way of optimizing the Website/pages. The techniques involved are on page & off page optimization which involves Keyword analysis, rewriting the website content & code, back link generation to achieve a higher ranking in search engine results pages. There are two types of techniques for the optimization White hat & black hat techniques.  One should make sure   that black hat techniques are not used (especially when SEO work is outsourced to a vendor) else your website can be blacklisted in some of the search engines.

* PPC – Pay Per Click

Pay Per Click is an one form of Online advertizing where the advertisers would pay the publisher or website owner or Search Engine Companies for inclusion of their ad which will drive traffic to their website/Landing pages. The good part of PPC is you only pay when someone clicks your ad. In order to have a successful PPC campaign one need to have a detailed strategy which includes the budget, proper keyword selection, managing the bidding process, competitive analysis & careful monitoring & continuously modifying several parameters. Well panned & executed PPC campaign is one of the quickest ways of getting the results (leads) with a minimum budget.  

* SMM - Social Media Marketing

Social Media Marketing is a process of marketing your product/service or brand using social media sites.   There are hundreds of Social Media sites where individuals can interact with each other and share info, news, photo, video, comment on all these media  or your products or services whether they like it or not & why? These comments on your products or services can be very valuable to the organization.

Considering the popularity & benefits (also the low costs) of the Social Media the corporate world also has joined the bandwagon and have started marketing their Products & Services  on Social Media  sites. Most popular Social Media sites are Facebook, Linkedin, Twitter & Youtube to name a few.  Social Media Marketing is one of the fastest growing & low cost marketing tool.

* Blog

A blog is a short form of web log. It is a information site on the net which includes all kind of information or updates (called Post/s) from mostly one individual in the reverse chronological order, where the most recent post appears first. The Blog originally started as Personal Online diaries, but with its success SMEs & Corporates have started  using  it for marketing their products & services, brand building, publishing whitepapers and more recently all kind of media like images, photos, infographics, podcasts  & videos along with the written contents. Blogs gained the moment because of its simplicity & low cost. Effective use of blog can get lot of traffic to your website & can also serve as a excellent tool to communicate & interact with your target audience.

* Youtube

YouTube is one of the most popular video-sharing website, on which users can upload, view and share videos.  After Google, Youtube has become second largest search engine. Youtube started as home made video sharing, talent showcasing site, however over period of time it has become one of the most powerful Internet marketing tool. Statistic shows that it will not only increase  your website’s chances of Google first page appearance but also increases some of the marketing results like  clicking rate & purchasing rate. Youtube marketing is embraced by MSMB/SME as well as MNCs because of its global reach at zero cost.

 

 
 
SME in India (also Globally) is one of the fastest growing market.  Information Technology (IT) plays an important role in growth of any  SME.  To improve the productivity & performance to cope up with the highly competitive global environment  , it is inevitable to have a right ERP for any SMEs. 

The ideal way to select and implement an ERP should be as follow:

* Set the expectations right.
* Do the due diligence.
* Do the planning.
* Select the right implementation - On Cloud or On Premise.
* Set aside the right Budget.
* Select the right software & the vendor

The last point " Select the right software & the vendor "   being the most important let us discuss this in detail.  
Deloitte and Touch surveyed hundreds of companies who had purchased a new ERP system; D&T separated out the respondents’ criteria into first time and second time purchasers to determine if experience changed purchasing criteria.    In this article Top ten criteria for selecting ERP software are mentioned. These criteria include : 

* Level of support from the solution provider 
* Vendor’s track record of performance 
* Software’s ability to fit the business 
* Growth potential of software 
* Price of the software 
* Quality of documentation 
* Functionality of the software 
* Ease of use
* Ease of implementation of the new system 
* Software works with existing hardware 

The full article is available at : http://www.erpsoftwareblog.com/2009/06/choosing-an-erp-system-so-many-things-to-think-about/

In my subsequent articles, I will cover this topic in detail - How to select an ERP? 

If you are in the process of selecting an ERP and need some Consultation or Advisory services please take advantage of our FREE Consultation  or Click Here.


 
 
In 1991, India embraced economic liberalization & opened up its markets to foreign investors.  Many MNCs  looked at Indian markets as a great opportunity & entered  these markets with the same products & services  which were super hit in their respective markets ( or with minor changes). Unfortunately, many companies including global giants like Coke, Sony, Kellogg’s,  Nike failed miserably (in their first attempt at least).

Why did they fail?  They failed because  they didn’t  understand the  Indian market.

India is one of the most complex countries in the world. With its financial & cultural diversity the complexity multi-folds.  Here are some of the mindboggling stats:

·         It is 2nd largest county in term of population
·         4th largest GDP in the world
·         500+million people under the age of 21
·         Economic disparity – 109 billionaire & 300 million people living under  a $1 a day.
·         28 states & 7 union territories, 23 languages,  62 socio-cultural  regions
·         400+million middle class with growing purchasing power.

Heterogeneity of India is so complex that it is some time difficult to find a common thread in likes & dislikes of Indian people.  With such diversity in the backdrop, one can understand why MNCs failed launching their existing product or services.  They have to custom tailor the products or even better have to completely innovate the products for the Indian market to be successful in this market.

In order to succeed in the Indian market, it is always advisable to  work with some India based marketing consultant/company who has understanding  of both Indian as well as western cultures/markets.  Having travelled to more than 20 countries & lived in US for more than 10 years, I appreciate & emphasize the need for thoroughly understanding both the cultures in order to succeed in the Indian market.

If you are planning to do business in India, or have already taken the plunge and are grappling with some the above mentioned challenges; need some Consultation or Advisory services please contact us or Click Here. 

 Some of the services offered by Vaidya Consulting:

·         Help you develop your India entry strategy
·         Can conduct all kinds of research & surveys, prepare reports
·         Help you with partner selection
·         Select the suitable city & state to do business & the rationale
·         Assist with the regulatory approvals
·         Selection/setting up the office
·         Running the office/ facility management
·         Help you with all the statutory requirements
·         Recruiting  from senior management  to  lower staff

Click here to read World Bank Article  on Doing Business in India
 
 
According to many leading research organizations, SME is the fastest growing sector in the world and same is true in India. This growth comes with lot of challenges. Most of the SMEs are able to solve these challenges on their own. However, many times solution is beyond their capability to solve.  e. g. financial, legal, technology, talent management or globalization related. A good consulting firm is one of the fastest and economical solutions.

Here are some of the reasons why companies hire a consulting firm:

1.      Advisory services

CXOs are always challenged with new ideas and problems. Taking any decision is easy but taking the right one is difficult. What stops the CXOs or the management from taking a quick decision? A fear of facing the consequences of the wrong decision. This is where an advisory service from a trusted and experienced consultant can be a savior. This is one of the most complex services as no consultant will own the responsibility of the consequence. Hence the CXO needs to understand “Why behind the What” of the recommendations. Also the reputation, experience and the track record of the consultant plays a very important role in selecting the right advisory service provider.

2.      Strategic Planning

 Most of the Organization has aggressive plan to grow. This growth can be achieved by organic routes like aggressive sales, creative marketing, state of the art technology adaptation and innovations or   inorganic routes like M&A (Merger and Acquisition), joint ventures and partnership. All these ideas cannot be implemented at once hence it is imperative that organization has a vision and mission which is broken down to short term and long term plans to guarantee success. An external consultant can play an important role in helping SMEs in strategic planning. A good and reliable strategic plan can be used as a guideline for many short term decisions. One of the tried and tested techniques to achieve this is SWOT analysis. Many SMEs failed to develop an accurate SWOT analysis because of inadequate info on competitor or market. The extensive research analytical capability of a consulting firm can make the difference. An external perspective of strength and weakness of the organization can be more realistic to build the SWOT analysis model and subsequently the right growth strategies.

3.      Operations/Execution Challenges

 “I‘d rather have first rated execution and second rated strategy than a brilliant idea and mediocre management”- Jamie Dimon, CEO and chairman of JP Morgan Chase and Co.
 
In spite of having great Strategic plan businesses can fail to achieve the targeted growth because of the lack of right execution strategy. Execution is where the rubber hits the road, where you can face maximum challenges.  These challenges can be financial like lack of funds, pricing, receivables; it can be technology related like software, hardware, storage, security, compatibility or people related like skill availability, attrition, recruiting or training. Inability to manage these challenges can have detrimental consequences including shutting down the business. Two most important ingredients in successfully executing the strategic plan are to have the right people & the right processes
 
Business management consultants can help companies in their end-to-end operational challenges. They can help you execute your growth strategies by hiring right talent, putting the right process in place, developing products, executing sales & marketing strategies and delivering projects.

4.      Non-core skills

 Every Organization has needs for skills different from the core skills available in their organization from time to time.  These skills include legal, accounting, testing & auditing to name a few. The need may be temporary, for few months or as little as few days per month. Hence the FTE is not justified. Professionals with qualification and lot of experience are hard to find. It is also difficult to assess their skills as there is no one in the company qualified to evaluate these skills. Eventually many SMEs waste lot time in finding these skills and end up engaging with wrong people & end up paying more than they deserve.  Even if they find the right person lot of time they are not available on part time basis or they are too expensive to fit their budget.

A good consulting firm may have such skills in house and may be available on as required basis. This gives SMEs one stop source to fulfill their entire skills requirement and can save lot of time and cost.

5.      Talent Management

 One of the biggest challenges most of the Organization faces is talent acquisition and talent management. The issues may be from recruiting freshers to CXOs, training technical and soft skills, performance management or appraisal, HR policy creation and execution, knowledge management or attrition. A reputed HR Consultant or Staff Augmentation partner can definitely help solve these challenges. With this approach organization can increase the efficiency and productivity of the organization and achieve the growth plans.

To sum it up, in the changing economic environment, the SMEs are challenged with lot of complex situations. They can partner with the right consulting firm who they trust & are comfortable working with and can solve the problem jointly and also improve the efficiency of their organization resulting in achieving the desired growth.

 
 
This is my first Blog. Hence I will try to keep it short & Sweet.

I plan to write on several topics like Management Consulting, Leadership, Innovation,  Sales & Marketing, SaaS ( Sales as a Service), MaaS (Marketing as a Service), Internet/Web Marketing, IMC ( Integrated Marketing Communication),  IT Consulting, ISM, RIM, Outsourcing, Doing Business in India, Globalization, HR Consulting, Payroll, Staff Augmentation, Training etc.

I also plan to write on topics like Health, Yoga,  Art, Spiritual and Stock markets & investing.
  
So, folks it will be worth revising this page in few days.

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