Direct marketing has dropped by 50 per cent and digital marketing is now influencing the buyers by converting their wants into needs, according to Satya Prabhakar, CEO of Sulekha – a digital sell and buy platform. “Direct marketing has relatively dropped by 50 per cent while digital marketing is in the driver’s seat influencing buyers,” said Prabhakar, addressing a digital marketing conference held by Great Lakes Institute of Management at its Chennai campus, according to a press statement.
“Digital marketing has created a platform to understand specific needs of a consumer and connect those needs with specific business. This leads to more accurate selling and higher customer satisfaction,” he added.
The annual event saw various digital marketing experts discussing current trends and the future of digital marketing. Sunil Maheshwari, CEO and Co-Founder, Mango Technologies, was also present during the conference and spoke about social local mobile and location-based marketing. “We haven’t scratched the location-based marketing technique completely. We are still getting there and the increase in the volume of smart phone usage will widen the potential of location-based marketing which will further drive the sales.”
Bala V. Balachandran, the Founding Dean of Great Lakes also announced that the B-school is going to introduce a new course in IT and Management by joining hands with Georgia State University during the conference. “The digital advantage we have is going to create a big boon to businesses but that comes through effective maximisation,” said Balachandran. “We are planning to introduce a new course, M.Sc in IT and Management in association with Georgia State University.”
Other digital marketing experts who participated in the panel discussion include Sumit Jain, CEO of Commonfloor; Amit Bansal, CTO of Pearson India; and Anuj Jain, VP Marketing, Firstcry, among others.