The Hindu Business Line : It's clicking

A lot of action is happening on the Internet platform, be it entertainment, business or marketing. eWorld chatted with Vivek Bhargava, Founder and Managing Director, Communicate 2, for more on the scene. Excerpts

How does search engine marketing impact business?

The size of the search engine marketing space has grown from $100 million to the current $14 billion in four years.

There are two reasons why the return on investment is greater in this medium. On the Web, an advertisement is shown only to users searching for a specific product or service - the advertisement is shown based on the intent identification of the consumer. Second, the advertiser is charged only for advertisements that are clicked. Search Engine Marketing allows companies to reduce their cost of customer acquisition. Sometimes the bookings are done on one server while the closing is on another.

How does one keep track?

Search Marketing allows one to track return on investment up to the last cent. Multiple conversion tracking tools are available - such as Webtrends, Hitwise, Click tracks, Core Metrics and, of course, Google Analytics - that track the complete online sales lifecycle.

As long as the tracking codes are installed on the server where the click is made as well as the server where the booking is made, tracking is relatively easy. One can track sales even in an offline environment - for example, when we work with most banks, we assign a unique number to each lead, and then track the lead up to the disbursal of the loan.

Could you share other insights?

Search engine marketing can help you track performance based on the matrix decided by the organisation.

Generally one tracks clicks, leads or sales. Other than this, one can also track the time spent by the user on the Web site, the percentage of the exact target audience who generated the lead, etc Today, search has become the major customer acquisition medium for most financial institutions.

As search engine marketing allows banks to acquire customers looking for financial products at that exact moment of time, the conversion rates of these leads into customers is higher than other mediums.

What is the awareness level?

Over the last two years, search engine marketing has gained a lot of popularity and awareness. There is also the impact made by Google's initiatives.

However, the awareness is just the tip of the iceberg. Internet advertising in India is expected to grow to Rs 2,000 crore plus which may take the search market to about Rs 1,000 crore.

The industry is only five years old, and finding professionals with experience is dif- ficult. Communicate2, over the last four years, has framed training modules and has set up a training lab in Pune.

Which sectors are tapping search engine marketing?

Worldwide, most verticals have started using it. In India, it is being used mainly by BFSI (banking, financial services and insurance), Travel, Online Portals and the Education sector.

These sectors have increased their search engine marketing nearly 10 times in the last one year.

savitharin@gmail.com

More Stories on : Interview | Internet | Online Marketing

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page

Stories in this Section
Games companies play

Restricted access

‘ADDING value scorecard’ in IT

It's clicking

Quiz

Cartoon - I

Cartoon - II