Thank Heavens! Finally I get to start my blog – my own space to pour out all my excitement, expectations and experiences in this roller coaster ride of online marketing, especially in India. I have been planning to start up with this blog since i shifted my focus on the Indian online space; but it is only now that I have finally put my foot down and begun with what I was waiting for so long.
Ok. Let's get down to the brass tacks. The last week was really hectic. Client meetings and more client meetings – it's really tiring if you have a week full of such meetings, sometimes even back to back. But what is really satisfying, is the response that we are getting from most of them. It's really overwhelming to see that Indian businesses are looking forward to their online presence. Even those who are well known brands, are also showing keen interest in making themselves easily available online.
Actually it's not at all a surprise for us. The Indian trade and commerce is now welcoming online marketing and internet with arms wide open. More and more business houses, from large blue chip organizations to the SMBs, every body today, understands the importance of having their dominance in the virtual world as well. With an industry growing at a rate of 8% (where as others at 2-3%), India is soon to grow as a global hub for what the rest of the world wants and as Google CEO, Eric Schmidt predicts, India will be the country to watch.
Before I take you along with me in my journey in the Indian online industry, here are some interesting facts and predictions that I have dug up, and I would like to share with you:
- According to the I Cube report of 2007, (jointly published by Internet and Mobile Association of India and IMRB International), India is reported to have a whopping 46 million Internet users (with 32 million active users) in September of 2007. In September 2006, it was 32.2 million.
- Youth are the main users of Internet in India.
- Internet users is India are projected to rise much beyond 54 Million in the year 2008, with more than 45 million active users.
- The Internet boom is not just driven by the metros, but the small towns and non metros also have a big role to play. And the usage of Internet is on the rise for various reasons including email, information seeking and job search.
- E-commerce transactions, which are currently growing at the rate of 30% to 40% in India, are expected to reach $100 billion by the end of 2008.
Now that i've had a fair share of success in UK. We have served clients of different verticals and have established our presence there with the repertoire of our services. As an Internet prof, I understand that UK market is different from that we can expect in India. The consumer base, the lifestyle and therefore the consumer behaviour would be quite different.
Right now, I have shifted my focus on studying the Indian response to online marketing and the various target groups of Indian population; I am coming across some known and some unknown revelations which is truly enriching and enjoyable. It is based upon these findings, we plan to cover the Indian online world and in the end, of course, it is the experience that counts, I believe.
There is a whole new world waiting right there for us to explore and exploit... :) and the journey has just begun.
