The Why-What-How & When of Digital Marketing in India

11 min readMar 7, 2020

This article is about my induction into the world of digital marketing and my understanding of it, so far.

Every successful problem-solving endeavour flows (and should) through a natural channel of Why-What-How-When.

Since a business, in its very essence, is centered around the supply of goods and services to solve the problems (demand) of the consumers/customers, it follows the same channel. Digital marketing is no different. Afterall, digital marketing, at its core, is effective communication through the digital medium.

Digital Marketing today has become a very generic term. With so much going on around in this field today, I think people have lost the sight of things with utmost clarity. I could feel the same for myself. We need someone who could share knowledge with a background of professional experience in this field.

I decided to go in for an internship program, last week. This article is the summary of what me and my fellow attendees were taught in the first session of the program.

Given below is my attempt at re-framing the gist of what digital marketing really is from the perspective of Why-What-How-When:

1. Why — Goal-Setting, Finding the Gold, Market Economics

2. What — Market Analysis, Niche Selection

3. How — Communication, Marketing, Sales

a. When — Digital Marketing, today and in future

The Why

“People don’t buy what you do; they buy why you do it. And what you do simply proves what you believe.”
- Simon Sinek

Knowing your Why will allow you to better connect with your pursuit at its core. It prevents you from getting distracted along the way. It will also help you stay focused with absolute determination.

Without the basic realisation and understanding of the Why of your endeavour, you wouldn’t know what to do, where to go, how to create something of your own.

Everything starts with the Why.

Goal-Setting

The first step to be able to know your Why is to set a goal.

The goal must be written down (with a pen, on a sheet of paper). No, typing doesn’t count. Typing doesn’t register an idea in your head as well as writing manually with a pen and paper would.

If it is in writing, it is a goal; else it is just wishful thinking.

Written goals are more likely to be followed-through with action. But S.M.A.R.T. Goals in writing are twice more likely to be accomplished.

S.M.A.R.T. Goals stands for Specific, Measureable, Attainable, Relevant, Time-bound Goals.

After some deep thought and careful insight, I was able to define a SMART goal for myself:

“Help 100 people (in their 30s) lose fat and gain strength and start earning 100,000 in monthly income by the end of July 2020.”

If you pay attention, the above goal contains all the key elements of a SMART goal. It is specific, measureable, attainable, relevant and time-bound.

Now that I have down it, I feel everyone should do it and feel the strange rush of enthusiasm with more clarity that I can feel for myself right now.

I urge you to take a new notebook and write down your unique SMART goal right away. You will thank yourself in the future for the clarity it will give you about your purpose in life.

Finding the Gold

The next step is to find where the gold is. Finding the gold means knowing whats at the top of the mountain for you if you take the right path by choosing the perfect place to start at.

“Knowing where to fight is half the battle won.”
- Sun Tzu (Art of War)

Often people make the mistake of starting at a point that seems most lucrative without paying close attention to the level of obstacles they might possibly face in their chosen path, when they have to fight for market-space with those who have already established themselves.

Contrary to popular ideas and beliefs, when there are a few major players dominating a certain segment of the market, it’s the better and wise decision to find a less competitive segment for yourself to dominate.

Having said, that competition can never be absolutely eliminated. Some level of competition is healthy and welcome in any market segment. It keeps the market players on their toes all the time by being completely focused on customer-satisfaction or user-experience.

The key is to be well-aware of market dynamics before one starts. A total awareness of market scenario by studying the opportunities and challenges within that market segment goes a long way in determining ones success.

Market Economics

A few key facts about the world economy should fill you up with a feeling of new-found zeal and enthusiasm.

a. When the average age of the country goes up, the economy sees a boom. (Average age of India is 27)

b. Debt creates money (As the young population of India will age, they will need more goods and services. This will create more demand. More loans will be given by the banks. More interests levied means more money created in the economy. This will cause more growth.)

c. During the recession only strong and trusted companies will survive. The weak ones die off and wither away. (People will continue to pay for value. If you are able to build trust and better connect with your customers by giving enough value, they will need you.)

Knowing these gave me a strange realisation of the opportunities-at-hand in the Indian market-space, today. Its mind-blowing to see the numbers when you do a basic calculation of whats in store for a small business in the Indian digital space; if it choose its market, niche, audience, story and mode of communication perfectly.

The What

Market Analysis and Niche Selection

One big issue that the newbie digital marketers face is that their line of thought with niche selection is the exact opposite of their target customers. Their attempt at point of customer-acquisition by targeting short-tail keywords for a broader niche is at the exact opposite end of where their target customer’s point of enquiry is, with long-tail keyword searches for experts in micro niches, related to his/her own specific issues or queries.

The newbie marketer targets a broad niche like “how to get fit” while the customer searches for “the best way to lose tummy fat for a 30 year old girl with PCOS”.

As evident, there is a lack of clear understanding of customer behaviour at the end of the suppliers. They somehow believe that by creating a product with lucrative offers and pushing it to the target audience, sales will occur, inevitably.

This cannot be further away from the truth and reality of market economics. Demand creates its own supply, not vice versa.

When it comes to niche-selection, there are four major broad niches covering pretty much all of the searches on Internet.

a. Health

b. Money

c. Career

d. Relationships

Within each of these niches are hundreds of sub-niches and micro-niches.

For example: within Health and Fitness, there can be:

a. fitness for busy professionals

b. weight loss with PCOS

c. gain weight with hyperthyroid, etc.

Targeting a micro-niche allows for better alignment of the content with the queries of the target customer.

One of the best ways to be able to select the appropriate niche for yourself is by listening to the customers and what they are asking for.

This can be done through the following ways:

Google Auto-Suggest

Answerthepublic.com

AHREFs

Ubersuggest

Moz

Google Keyword Explorer

Keywordtool.io

MindMaester

Amazon Reviews

The How

Communication, Marketing and Sales

“Leadership requires two things: a vision of the world that does not yet exist and the ability to communicate it.”
- Simon Sinek

A decent level of sales is achievable through good marketing. A sky-high level of sales is only possible when the product sells itself without much of an effort. An initial round of marketing for the product shall suffice. The product becomes saleable through the story narrated by the salesman. That is great marketing.

Marketing is simply refined and focused communication.

A great marketing strategy has a well-defined audience, with a clear goal backed by a well-crafted story and the promise of customer experience and satisfaction.

If you can communicate your ideas, thoughts and intentions well, the customer can find a reason to believe you and trust you. Then, and only then, can you propose to them an idea of how you can help solve their problems or needs through a product or service of your own.

“In a crowded marketplace, fitting in is failing. In a busy marketplace, not standing out is the same as being invisible.”
- Seth Godin, author of Purple Cow

In order to improve one’s communication, you can do the following:

a. Read more books, magazines, blogs. (a min. 30 mins per day)

b. Listen to podcasts (a min. 30 mins per day)

c. Write more (a minimum 500–1000 words per day.)

d. Watch English sitcoms and shows (like The Office, The Seinfeld, Silicon Valley, Mad Men, etc.)

e. Stand-up comedy shows (to learn the local dialect and understand culture and local slangs used).

Reading, if not a habit already, should be inculcated. It helps immensely in improving vocabulary, grammar and punctuation. At the end of this article, you can find a list of recommended reads.

Your communication improves with each post or blog you create. Blog, Guest post on other blogs. Write more. Share more.

The better you communicate and the more you share your message, the more of internet you own. It will allow you to increase your share of contribution in the arena of Internet. This will help you build social authority, brand recognition and identity.

This creates the path for building trust with your target customers.

The WHEN

Digital Marketing, today and in future

The most common question newbie digital marketers and enthusiasts have is about the possibility of the end of digital marketing in the future.

The answer to that may surprise you with its simplistic authenticity.

Digital (Medium of communication) + Marketing (Focused communication)

That is Digital Marketing in its simplest form.

Marketing (as a refined form of communication) has existed since the time humanity has existed and it will continue to exist as long as humans face problems, have the ability to create solutions and have the desire to sell.

Digital medium is simply one of the many ways of marketing and getting the message across.

This means that digital marketing is here to stay. It will not die.

It simply is a better way of marketing in today’s time since the digital medium is the most preferred and used medium of communication.

So considering the fact that India is going to see a boom in the economy as the average of the country goes up and more people will have access to the internet and more people will use the digital medium, its absolutely imperative that those interested in digital marketing should start now.

The Key takeaways:

a. Learn

Study various fields, learn new trends and practice new skills in different arenas (Marketing, Negotiation, Minimalism, Economics, Human Psychology, Photography, Human Behaviour, Warfare Tactics, Games and Strategy, etc.) everyday. It will enhance the quality of your content by increasing the width and depth of your writings.

You do not necessarily have to be expert in each one of these. No way! But you can read and get an insight into the complex dynamics of how the world operates. How trends form, how people react, how booms and recessions happen, how mind-games are played, how political battles are fought and so on.

b. Ask

Ask questions in various online forums. Send questions (with appropriate professional etiquette) to other experts in your niche, other micro-niches, and different broad niches. Ask, when you need help.

No point massaging your fear or your ego as hesitation does one no good. It only makes room for fear, regret and contempt.

Do not fear, do not hesitate.

“Ego is the enemy.”
- Ryan Holiday.

c. Create

Create more quality content. Do not create for the sake of it. Create to solve problems. Create to reach out to the ones who need you. Create because you must do greater good to the world. Create to leave your legacy.

Blog, Vlog, Podcast. Create something and Share! Every damn day!

You have a voice. Reach out and be heard!

Whats the point of being the luckiest generation in the history of mankind, (where the social media platforms like Facebook, Google, Twitter, Snapchat, Instagram, Medium, Quora, and their likes thrive on peoples attention and their desire to share their life and its contents) if you are not making the most of it?

Before the Internet arrived to the scene, the only people you could see on TV were the ones handpicked by the TV channels. You couldn’t have imagined having a channel of your own.

Today you can have multiple channels on multiple platforms with virtually unlimited reach and impact. All you have to do is plan good content and hit Publish!

Go! Share! NOW!

e. Listen

Read people’s comments on different posts on various public forums. Pay careful attention to the points they raise.

It will help you plan out better content for your target audience, regularly.

f. Improvise

Listen to your audience. Read the comments and reply to them. Ask questions about how can you help them. Note them down.

Now go back to the drawing board and chart out improvisations, additions and subtractions or modifications to your product/service.

It will help you better align your products and services to solve the problems of your target customer that your competitors are not able to cater to.

g. Help

Help others seeking solutions to the problems you once faced.

I think this is one of the best ways to find and get expert in one’s niche. Do not make the mistake of thinking that what you know now or how you think now is what others know and think now.

There are people where you once were. Help them!

To them you will be a saviour, you never had! This, in my opinion, is the best way to leave a legacy. You become a beloved authority. People rave about you.

“Gift someone a diamond-studded iPhone and he may forget you ten years from now.
Make someone feel incredibly special and he shall be your ardent admirer, for life.”
- Divya Kothari

There is positive side-effect to helping others. You are able to find add-on services, of value, to your existing products and services by being helping others and walking a mile with them in their shoes, thereby, identify pain-points and obstacles that they might have faced, had you not taken this extra step.

Now repeat the above.

No delays anymore!