StartupTalky

Tag: Digital Marketing Strategy

  • How to Launch an Effective Brand Activation Campaign

    This article has been contributed by Akanksha Sharma, Co-founder and CEO, CITTA.

    Embarking on the journey of launching a brand is undeniably thrilling, but the true test lies in sustaining its presence and achieving long-term success. One of the key components in this pursuit is the implementation of a well-thought-out brand activation campaign, a strategic initiative that not only introduces your brand to the world but also forges a lasting connection with your target audience. To ensure triumph in this competitive landscape, a clear vision, well-defined goals, and meticulous planning are imperative.

    Understanding Brand Activation
    The Foundation: Clear Goals and Objectives
    Solving Problems and Adding Value
    Understanding Your Audience
    Crafting a Compelling Brand Story
    Leveraging the Digital Landscape
    The Keys to Effective Brand Activation
    Offering Tangible Experiences
    Measure and Analyze Results
    Continuous Innovation and Evolution
    Seamless Integration with Overall Marketing Strategy

    Understanding Brand Activation

    Before diving into the intricacies of launching a brand activation campaign, it’s crucial to grasp the concept of brand activation itself. At its core, brand activation is the process of making a brand’s identity come to life. It involves creating memorable experiences that engage consumers and foster a genuine connection between the brand and its target audience. Successful brand activation campaigns go beyond traditional advertising; they seek to immerse consumers in a brand’s story, values, and ethos.

    Here are some easy steps to plan and execute a successful brand activation campaign.

    The Foundation: Clear Goals and Objectives

    The foundation of any successful brand activation campaign lies in setting clear goals and objectives. Before embarking on this transformative journey, take the time to define your brand’s values and mission. Ask yourself what you aim to achieve through your brand activation campaign. Whether your focus is on increasing brand awareness, introducing new products, or reshaping your brand image, having well-defined goals will guide your strategy and contribute to the overall success of the campaign.

    Solving Problems and Adding Value

    A brand activation campaign should go beyond showcasing products; it should address the pain points and needs of your target audience. By identifying and solving real issues, your brand can position itself as a problem solver, adding tangible value to the lives of consumers. This approach not only establishes a positive brand image but also fosters trust, a crucial factor in building long-lasting relationships with your audience.

    Budgeting for Impact

    Careful budget planning is essential for a brand activation campaign, especially for newcomers in the industry. Competing with established players may seem daunting, but a well-structured budget allows you to maximize your resources and make a significant impact. Consider allocating funds to various aspects such as marketing, promotions, events, and technology adoption, ensuring that each dollar spent contributes to the overall success of the campaign.

    Embracing Change and Staying Relevant

    Staying relevant in the ever-evolving business landscape requires a keen eye on emerging trends. Incorporating the latest industry trends into your brand activation strategy can set your brand apart and enhance engagement. Utilize emerging platforms and technology to reach a wider audience, staying adaptable to the rapid changes in consumer behavior. By doing so, your brand remains not only relevant but also attractive to consumers.

    Understanding Your Audience

    Understanding your target audience is paramount for the success of any brand activation campaign. Through research into their preferences, desires, and pain points provides invaluable insights. Tailor your messaging and activations to resonate with your ideal customers, creating a deeper connection with them. Personalization is key, and a targeted approach ensures that your brand resonates with the right demographic.

    Crafting a Compelling Brand Story

    People connect with stories, and your brand’s story has the power to evoke emotions and build strong relationships with your customers. Share your brand’s purpose and journey in a relatable and authentic way. This storytelling approach helps customers understand the essence of your brand, fostering a sense of connection and loyalty.

    Leveraging the Digital Landscape

    In the digital age, the internet and social media are invaluable tools for brand activation. Crafting engaging content, collaborating with influencers, and implementing social media campaigns are essential strategies to increase brand awareness and reach a larger audience. A well-executed online presence can significantly amplify the impact of your brand activation efforts.

    Offering Tangible Experiences

    Allowing potential customers to experience your products firsthand through sampling initiatives is a powerful strategy. Research platforms that enable cost-effective distribution of samples to a broader audience. Collaborate with influencers to endorse your products, extending your reach to more potential customers. By providing tangible experiences, you not only showcase your products but also create a memorable interaction that can influence purchasing decisions.

    Measure and Analyze Results

    Once your brand activation campaign concludes, it’s essential to conduct a thorough analysis of its impact. Measure key performance indicators (KPIs) against your initial objectives and assess the overall success of the campaign. Identify areas of improvement and gather feedback from consumers to inform future campaigns.

    Continuous Innovation and Evolution

    The business landscape is dynamic, and consumer preferences evolve over time. To stay relevant, embrace a culture of continuous innovation. Regularly assess industry trends, consumer behaviors, and technological advancements to adapt and refine your brand activation strategies. The ability to evolve ensures that your brand remains at the forefront of your audience’s.

    Seamless Integration with Overall Marketing Strategy

    A brand activation campaign should not operate in isolation; it should seamlessly integrate with your overall marketing strategy. Ensure consistency in messaging and visual elements across all channels to reinforce your brand identity. A cohesive approach enhances the effectiveness of your campaign and contributes to a unified brand image.

    The Keys to Effective Brand Activation

    Launching a brand activation campaign is a critical step toward success in today’s ever-evolving industry. Meticulous planning, a clear vision, and a customer-centric approach are the keys to effective brand activation. By understanding your target audience, embracing new trends, and leveraging technology, your brand can make a significant impact in the market.

    At CITTA, we have witnessed remarkable results through our well-executed brand activation campaigns. By following the strategies outlined in this guide and staying committed to your brand’s purpose, your brand can also achieve remarkable growth and create a lasting impact in the industry. Remember, the journey of brand activation is not just about launching a product; it’s about creating an enduring connection with your audience that transcends the initial excitement of a new brand.

    How to Launch an Effective Brand Activation Campaign
    Crafting a successful brand activation campaign requires marketers to navigate many choices and strategies. Discover how to launch an impactful campaign.
    StartupTalkyMuskaan Kapoor

  • Product Placement: Marketing Through Shows and Movies

    “We live in a world of advertisements”. This quote is aptly said as it constantly reminds us of advertisements everywhere. They are like gods, Omnipresent. You open a youtube video, an ad appears, you go to social media, an ad appears, you say “F you” to the online world and switch on the television and, yes you are guessing it right, an ad appears.

    They are so omnipresent that we now think that they are the reality. Guess, they’re not. Advertisements are all a marketing technique and the purpose is to make a product look like a blessing. It was cool and all until advertisements were manufactured claiming they were ads. In this digital hyper-connected world, we have arrived at a junction where we don’t know what is advertisement and what is not. This article is about marketing that is diffused within other forms of content, especially movies and TV shows. Let us read and see how cleverly we are made-to-believe products.

    Brand Marketing Over the Years
    Product Placement in Films
    Need for Product Placement
    Benefits of Product Placement
    Problems with Product Placement

    Brand Marketing Over the Years

    There are many forms and types of advertisements. We can see examples of ad print media, broadcast media, Online social media advertisements and many more. As technology evolves we tend to see it everywhere. We can see newspapers filled with advertisements, we can see our dish TV filled with all sorts of advertisements. Now, when the world is online, we can see ads everywhere online. They are on our social media timelines, on our Youtube account, on websites we travel and much much more.

    Except for every other factor, there is always one thing that is sure. We can immediately tell that we are watching an advertisement when we see one, but this surety is vanishing gradually. Now we can’t really be sure if we are watching an advertisement or an actual real thing that we would like to watch…

    Product Placement in Films

    What we are seeing is that brands are trying to diffuse brands even in the content we want to watch. Imagine watching your favourite actor Hrithik Roshan saying “I love coke” in a movie, how weird is that? This is a very common trick that brands apply to our favourite types of content. This feels like getting backstabbed. Whatever you can say about it, we can clearly see signs of it everywhere. However, it is a super-risky thing to do but can do very well wonders if done smoothly.

    Share of Product Placements 

    Welcome to the world of “Product Placement”. Where you cannot tell if something is real or it is an advertisement. Brands and movie directors do it so smoothly that it is often left behind in the scenes and no one notices them. In fact, your brain (That smart little organ) does notice that and subconsciously notes it down for future use. Like you see an actor drink ‘Coke’ in a film, you don’t really notice it but your brain does. You will then most probably and most likely order a coke when you go for lunch after that movie. Tweaks like these, here and there, are supposed to make a lot of difference in the long run. Brands are crazy about this and are paying huge sums of money to make this happen as smoothly as possible.

    Need for Product Placement

    We are going to see some examples to prove the fact that ‘Product placement’ is a real tactic of marketing. The reason for this is that normal people don’t really pay that much attention to these little “stranger things”. Let us see some unnoticed brand placements that only your subconscious mind notices,

    No matter your age, a Bollywood movie that almost everyone knows about is Koi Mil Gaya starring Hrithik Roshan and Preity Zinta. The movie is famous for the appearance of an alien named ‘Jaadoo’. Apart from this, the movie makes for a great example of the product placement of Bournvita. In this movie, it is shown that the young Rohit (Hritik’s character) loves to drink his milk with Bournvita in it. In some scenes, he even boasts about it to his friends and also offers some Bournvita to a winning kid in a game.

    Koe Mil Gya Movie Scene with Bournvita

    Another example from a movie starring Hritik is the Bollywood film “Yaadein”. It was a hit, like all other movies that star Hrithik Roshan. He is an all-time favourite actor in the business. But could you notice Coke’s ‘Product placement’ throughout the entire running time of the movie? This one rigid frame tells the same story, the “Coke in hand” almost everywhere. You might not remember but your brain must have noticed, “Cool people like Hrithik drink Coke”.

    The popular movie franchise “James Bond” did it all the time. Since the release of Dr No in 1962, the James Bond franchise has been associated with a number of brands. Many brands came in line to pay for promotions in future instalments for the famous cinema piece. The early films featured Pan-am Airlines and smith and Wesson firearms. The early films feature tie-ins with popular companies like Pan-Am Airlines and Smith and Wesson firearms. The iconic cigar that Bond fashioned is also a very popular brand placement. It is reported that Lark Cigarettes paid as much as $350,000 to feature their brand of cigarettes in Licence to Kill. Besides the aforementioned brands, some of the other popular brands to be associated with the franchise are Microsoft, Gillette, Playboy, Toblerone, 7Up, and KFC.

    James Bond with an Aston Martin

    Even after we have talked about so much brand placement in the movie, we can still remember the iconic ride of James Bond. It was the luxury car brand Aston Martin that was honoured with bond’s feet on their product. Aston Martin, the luxury car brand jumped at an opportunity to be associated with the British spy. Starting from Goldfinger in 1964, this partnership has endured the test of time.

    Benefits of Product Placement

    Why does this happen? Why do brands want to create a persona of a famous/popular actor using a brand product as an advertisement in product placement? This is a legit question and it has to be answered.

    Social Proof

    Social proof is a real thing in the marketing world. It is a social and psychological trick that business people use. Social proof means that people tend to believe whatever fellow people are using without a rationale. That clearly means that if you watch a crowd do a certain behaviour with a certain product, then you are most likely to follow the trend without asking for a reason or a why.

    For a quick example, we can take the case of Redbull. Redbull is a carbonated drink maker and the company sells by packaging it as a power drink. The company knew the phenomena of social proof and its drinks were not famous among the masses in India. So what they did was they threw empty cans of Redbull outside every club and pub. This little activity added a lot of value to the brand red bull and made its revenue very high. What the ‘little hack’ did was it took the value proposition of red bull and made it appear “cool” in society. Once it was established that people “who visit clubs and pubs drink red bull”, then everyone started mimicking the behaviour by actually drinking red bull. This small trick can do wonders without even letting people think about what they are actually doing.

    Indirect But Subconsciously Strong

    As we mentioned before in the article, these types of advertisements are silent and much more effective than regular ones. It is quite evident from the society that we live in. We are most probably a collectivist society and we love to have status to show off. If we see a movie star do something, we are most likely to mimic it. This raises questions about whether brands can pay movie makers to make them do certain activities.

    If code is something that scripts machines then it can be clearly said that media is something that scripts human beings. Balaji Srinivasan said in a report that he shared on Twitter that media is what scripts human beings. It is thus, whoever controls the media, controls the mind or can control the mind. Media here is any sort of media, it can be print media, a film, a piece of content on youtube, or anything that can hold attention for a significant amount of time.

    Wayne’s world super product placements.

    Problems with Product Placement

    Imagine being a trusted brand and then losing all the trust that you generated from all the years of hard work. That is so bad but most easy to happen. Imagine cinema and over-the-top content giants selling screen time to brands for product placements. This little rash on the smooth road to great revenues can derail the growth train. People could just boycott anything that feels like backstabbing.

    When we watch a movie we don’t think or expect that we will be interrupted by an advertisement or a brand showcasing their product. We go to theatres carefree as we pay for that sort of entertainment. If moviemakers dilute this excitement for us by including ads in the movie then it can most likely spoil the mood of many cinephiles.

    However, Netflix clearly mentions that it does not allow brands to show anything or any sort of advertisements on their show, there are many unnoticed instances of them being caught with product placement. Well, according to the reports, Netflix one hundred per cent refuses the question of “Product placement”, and they will never cheat the paying user base. As we know that Netflix is a paid or subscription-based platform and if its users find it selling advertisements to them, this can lead to a huge slowdown. The company always says that it supports and protects user rights and works with dignity, no brand has ever paid anything to Netflix for any sort of product placement.

    Conclusion

    We know that product placement is a very bumpy ride and can be a huge interruption for a movie or series fan. Moviemakers know it very well. However, if done smoothly and carefully, it will go unnoticed by the audience and it will also make revenue for the brand. Thus, product placement in movies or series can do wonders for a brand, if done correctly.

    FAQ

    Which TV show has the most product placement?

    A study conducted in early 2022 found that the U.S. version of “The Office” was the TV show with the highest number of product placements worldwide.

    Does Netflix use product placement?

    Since Netflix doesn’t sell advertising, the most common way that brands get into Netflix originals is through product placement. Brands and agencies work directly with the productions to place products in Netflix shows, similar to other streaming shows.

    Does Coca-Cola use product placement?

    Coca-Cola is one of the most visible brands in Movies and TV. Coca-Cola has a relatively long list of product placement appearances. One of its most obvious plugs is in American Idol, one of the most popular shows on American television that hosts a competition to find new solo singing talents.

    What are the 3 types of product placement?

    There are many ways of using product placement on TV: it can be physical, virtual, seen but not used, mentioned, contextual or even unbranded.

  • 8 Ways To Convert GEN Z Leads For eCommerce Store

    When one looks back in time, one will notice how different the marketing strategies were. But those strategies worked fine for the generation ruling then. However, if you try to apply the same marketing techniques today, they will not give you profitable results. It is because the needs and preferences of the generation leading the market have changed a lot. Therefore, the marketing strategies should also be changed accordingly.

    Nowadays, most businesses want to target Generation Z, popularly known as Gen Z. If you also have the same goal, we will help you with some of the best lead generation ways that work for this generation. But before we delve in, you must know what Gen Z means. Simply put, it is the current generation of people born between 1997 and 2012. The oldest people belonging to Gen Z are around 25 years old; some are also married and have kids. This is the generation most brands want to target because they are the present and the future market. Keep reading to know how to convert Gen Z leads for your eCommerce store!

    Gen Z Leads For eCommerce Store

    What is a Lead in the eCommerce market
    The ways to convert Gen Z leads

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    What is a Lead in the eCommerce market

    Lead In The eCommerce Market
    Lead In The eCommerce Market

    Some people think that leads are those who buy from you, but that’s not true. Those who buy from your store are your customers and leads come before that stage. Leads are those target audiences who have interacted with your brand somehow. It can be by liking one of your social media posts, clicking on your ad, visiting your website, adding your product to their cart, etc. Lead generation is the most important step for any business because these leads are your future potential customers. So higher the lead generation, the more the chances of gaining loyal customers for your eCommerce store will be.

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    The ways to convert Gen Z leads

    Ways To Convert Gen Z Leads
    Ways To Convert Gen Z Leads

    Content Marketing

    Gen Z people love consuming content of all kinds, be it blogs, vlogs, reels, etc. Not just for entertainment purposes, but they love content also when they want to find out more about a certain product. Hence, if you want to bring in more leads, you need to create more content around your products. For instance, if you are selling blenders, try creating product description blogs where the buyer can learn all about the blender. Besides product descriptions, you can also create other interesting blogs with helpful tips and hyperlink your website within the content.

    The more information you provide about the products you sell, the higher your customers’ trust in your brand will be. They will be certain about what you are selling and how to use it. Eventually, they will click on the link, visit your website and take action. To gain success via content marketing, make sure you hire people who know how to create the right content for your target audience. Consistent content creation will help you reach potential customers quite easily!

    Advertising through Vloggers

    GenZ people love watching vlogs (ask those who patiently wait for an entire week just for a vlog from their favorite YouTuber). Getting in touch with vloggers and giving them the paid responsibility of advertising your brand can really help. They will make convertible “aesthetic” videos for your brand to help you advertise your brand to their own followers. Almost all eCommerce brands starting from skincare to clothing are using this advertising method to attract the attention of GenZ customers and so can you!

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    Getting the GenZ Attention through Bloggers

    Besides vloggers, you can also advertise your brand through bloggers (people who write on their website instead of recording a video). You might think that people don’t read a lot but that’s not true for the GenZ community. They love reading, especially on web! The more they read, the more they get to know about your brand, and the better it sells. So make sure you use the efficiency of creative bloggers at its best!

    Email Marketing

    Email Marketing For Beginners

    Well, you cannot be certain that your visitors will buy from you the very first time they visit your store. In that case, you need to stay in touch with them via email. Every time someone visits your store or clicks on your ad, ask for their email id. Soon you will have a list of contacts you need to mail regularly. Make sure you are not spamming their mailbox because they might unsubscribe from your mailing list. So instead, send them interesting emails that contain helpful information, coupon codes, customer reviews, etc. Limit it to three emails a week because too much of anything can become irritating in no time. You can also use email marketing to remind your leads to buy the product lying in their cart!

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    SEO (Search Engine Optimization)

    SEO For Digital Marketing
    SEO For Digital Marketing

    SEO is the current ruler of the digital marketing globe. Without it, you will have a hard time targeting a specific customer base for your products. There are many SEO strategies, on-page, and off-page, which you need to follow. For instance, when you create content, it should contain enough keywords to get a higher ranking on Google. But that does not mean you need to spam keywords because otherwise, your content will be ranked poorly on any search engine. This is just one example; there are many more SEO technicalities that an SEO strategist can help you with. So if you are launching a new eCommerce store, make sure you hire a reputed SEO specialist to reach your audience without any hassle.

    Social Media

    This goes without saying that Gen Z people are obsessed with social media. Pick anyone in the crowd, and you will see they are on at least one social media platform. Hence, social media is a powerful tool that every brand uses these days. Your brand must have an account on all the social media platforms where you post regular updates about your products, discounts, etc. You can also use social media ads to promote your brand widely. The most popular ones are Facebook and Instagram ads.

    Besides running ads and posting content, you can also collaborate with budding influencers and promote your brand via their page. Social media marketing is evolving with each passing year. Social media platforms are also introducing new and better ways of promoting brands. So use it as the hype of these platforms can help you market your store quicker and better!

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    PPC (Pay-per-click) Advertising

    PPC For Beginners

    Even though SEO marketing works more effectively, in the long run, you can also introduce PPC (pay-per-click) advertising on Google ads for better promotion of your brand. PPC helps you stay ahead of the competition by giving you a range of competitive keywords. That means your ads will show when someone searches for a specific keyword. For example, if you sell women’s garments, your ad will show under the search results of ‘dresses for women,’ ‘gowns for women,’ and other such keywords. After setting the ad, you need to determine how much you are willing to pay Google for each ad. Google usually shows those ads for which the PPC rate is higher. Hence, you need to find the market average PPC rate and set something close to that.

    Customization

    Benefits Of Customization
    Benefits Of Customization

    The same ads won’t work for all the customers because each audience base is different. Well, that does not mean you need to create thousands of different ads for different customers. Instead, you need to create specific sets of customers and cater to them the ads that relate to their present condition. For example, if you are showing maternity wear ads to someone who isn’t even married, then it won’t work.

    This applies to email marketing as well. Before sending a mail, you should determine whether it will be relevant to the reader. The right approach will be to set their age, income, demographics, and relationship status and learn more about their interests. For example, if a customer is interested in wedding-related content and they are engaged, it might be that their wedding is approaching soon. In that case, showing them ads for wedding products would be a great idea.

    CRO (Conversion Rate Optimization)

    8 Tips For CRO

    To find out what works best for lead generation on your eCommerce store, you need to apply the test and trial method. First, you need to test a few website layouts, landing pages, website info, products, etc., and see what is bringing in more leads. This process is known as the conversion rate optimization or CRO process. It helps you make the lead generation process easier by understanding the exact choice of Gen Z people. You can also hire a professional marketer for this job as they know better about what works best for a particular eCommerce niche.

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    Free Bait

    When creating a Facebook ad, you need to provide free bait that stands out. If your bait is something too common, people will hardly click on your link. Do proper market research to see what kind of baits work the best for your eCommerce niche, and then create something unique for your potential customers. For instance, if you are selling diet products, you can offer a free CD that talks about health and nutrition; make sure it is free of shipping charges as well. This makes unique and attractive bait.

    Conclusion

    Now that you know the procedures to take, maybe your eCommerce store will receive more Gen Z leads. Keep in mind that finding leads takes a lot of time and patience. Without putting a lot of effort into your market research, you cannot expect to receive quality leads. As managing the lead-generating process alone can become a little tiresome, you might need to engage a team of professionals.

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  • Swaarm – Performance-Based Tracking Platform to Optimize Marketing Campaigns

    Company Profile is an initiative by StartupTalky to publish verified information on different startups and organizations. The content in this post has been approved by Swaarm.

    Accelerating the business growth to reach a new height is the consistent goal of every business. As the most popular business slogan says “Customer is the King”, every business desperately targets their customers to grow. Swaarm is a performance-based tracking platform that empowers digital marketing agencies, advertisers and partners across all geographies to manage, track, analyze, automate and optimize their marketing campaigns at scale.

    Read the startup story of Swaarm, its founders, Services, marketing, and growth.

    Swaarm – Company Highlights

    Startup Name Swaarm
    Headquarters Berlin
    Industry Performance Marketing Management
    Founder Yogeeta Chainani and Alexandru Dumitru
    Founded 2020
    Website swaarm.com

    Swaarm – About
    Swaarm – Founders and Team
    Swaarm – The Idea and Startup Story
    Swaarm – Mission & Vision
    Swaarm – Services and USP
    Swaarm – Growth
    Swaarm – Recognitions and Achievements

    Swaarm – About

    Swaarm is a performance-based tracking platform that empowers digital marketing agencies, advertisers and partners across all GEOs to manage, track, analyze, automate and optimize their marketing campaigns at scale. Its intuitive platform helps partner affiliate networks and agencies of all sizes benefit from the power of automation to grow their business at scale.

    Today’s business landscape is dynamic in nature, amidst which the performance marketing ecosystem has been constantly evolving. Against this backdrop, Swaarm continue to work towards building tools that simplify marketers’ day-to-day tasks. One such product is Explorer, which allows marketers to study data in real-time as they need and gain access to critical insights for daily advertising campaign operations faster than any other platform.

    To help Swaarm’s clients navigate the changes within the industry and its growing complexity with ease, it offers Privacy Enabled Attribution (PEA Chain)- a powerful tool that empowers marketers to continue capturing campaign and traffic sources throughout the whole advertising network chain in-line with Apple’s privacy regulations. Focusing on product innovations in line with important industry developments, especially those which involve regulatory changes, is its strong point. For example, Swaarm developed the PEA Chain soon after Apple revealed it would be restricting access to the IDFA on iOS 14.

    Swaarm – Founders and Team

    Alexandru Dumitru and Yogeeta Chainani are the co-founders of Swaarm. They have been working together for over six years.

    Yogeeta Chainani - Co-founder of Swaarm
    Yogeeta Chainani – Co-founder of Swaarm

    Yogeeta Chainani, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer in her current role drives product innovation, operations and Human Resources. Prior to establishing Swaarm, from 2019 onwards, Yogeeta held the position of the Chief Product Officer at WeQ Global, a leading mobile advertising company. Her other corporate roles include several product leadership roles, at both Ocono and Crobo GmbH (a mobile marketing and user acquisition company). In 2013, she worked as a Quality Assurance Engineer at HERE, a Nokia company. She started her career as an Assistant System Engineer at TCS in Mumbai. Yogeeta holds a Dual Masters in Business Administration and Engineering, Hochschule für Technik und Wirtschaft Berlin.

    Mircea Alexandru Dumitru - Co-founder of Swaarm
    Mircea Alexandru Dumitru – Co-founder of Swaarm

    As the Co-Founder & CTO at Swaarm, Mircea Alexandru Dumitru, focuses on distributed systems that handle billions of events per day and process tens of Terabytes of data. Previously, he was a Data & Delivery Leader Engineer at WeQ Global and a Senior Software Engineer at rasdaman GmbH. Until 2016, he was also a Managing Partner at Flanche Creative Labs. Additionally, Mircea is an open-source contributor and works with the European Space Agency and ECMWF. He holds Bachelors and Integrated PhD degree in Computer Science, Jacobs University Bremen, Germany.

    Yogeeta and Alexandru had a very clear idea about what kind of a company they wanted to build and what they wanted to achieve with their venture. They wanted their company to be an employer of choice, one which that empowers its people; the best performance marketing and tracking platform for their clients and wanted to build a sustainable business that will lead innovation within the marketing tech space from day one.

    Ultimately, Swaarm aims to provide an empowering and challenging environment where people who are driven to ask the hard questions, solve the toughest challenges, and be a part of a close-knit team can thrive.

    Swaarm – The Idea and Startup Story

    The biggest challenge for any marketer or a business often revolves around the complexity of advertising management especially when marketers are managing multiple channels and campaigns than ever before. For instance, managing 10,000 campaigns across 10 publishers and 10 sub-publishers would require analysis of million data points which are often spread across various spreadsheets/pivot tables.

    To offer clients a truly customer-centric approach, it is important to understand the intricate hurdles marketers face during their daily operations. The co-founders built Swaarm because they had to work with multiple tools, including tracking products, for years – and those tools were all tricky to use. They were never provided the full picture, it was never a simple process, and platforms didn’t innovate to solve specific issues and adapt to a rapidly changing ecosystem. To make matters worse, these tools that failed to provide for their needs were still extremely expensive. This inspired the co-founders of Swaarm to develop the most customer-centric platform that offers solutions to these industry-wide problems.

    From day one, Swaarm was created by listening to its client’s needs. They shadowed their clients to identify the pain points of day-to-day operations. This allowed the team to perfect the platform over time with an innovative approach to all features. This has helped Swaarm achieve a critical goal: to provide a solution that enables customers of sizes to automate repetitive tasks and make better decisions in a faster way based on the data insights.

    Swaarm’s co-founders understand that growth is critical and that the business can be scaled with the right tools. No two businesses are the same, so a one-size-fits-all approach won’t give you everything you need. The platform’s adaptability is its greatest strength, making Swaarm a more powerful solution for all clients.

    The founding team observed that many marketers were spending the majority of their time cleaning and analyzing data instead of focusing on important aspects of strategy, planning and creativity. This realization inspired them to build Swaarm – and by helping clients offload the routine, manual chores, they have managed to give them back the time and resources to focus on more business-critical work.

    Swaarm – Mission & Vision

    Its mission is to provide a technology, which will genuinely help its clients grow their business at scale by making each action faster, simpler and better. The company believes in co-creation and open innovative thinking to achieve customer value.

    Since entering the market, Swaarm has earned the trust of clients and their businesses around the world in a very short time. It achieved this by staying true to four core values:

    • Offering a premium solution at an affordable price thanks to its unique and hyper-efficient infrastructure
    • Ensuring data reliability with its comprehensive data display
    • Offering flexibility by constantly developing its products in line with client’s needs
    • Providing a solution that is easy to use, making actions faster and more efficient

    Swaarm – Services and USP

    Swaarm Platform
    Swaarm Platform

    Since inception, it has earned the trust of its clients such as Clearpier, Spyke Media and Apptrust amongst others, and their businesses around the world. Its strength and key differentiations lies in staying true to its four key values-

    • Ease of use – Swaarm’s extensive reporting features makes them a single source of performance marketing truth. With all the data in one place, they empower marketers to measure, optimize and automate the marketing efforts – all from one dashboard. Its intuitive, easy-to-use platform appeals to developers and marketers alike, and its automation rules makes campaign optimization accessible to everyone.
    • Affordability – It helps businesses ranging from leading global partners to boutique agencies optimize their campaigns- save time and money. Swaarm’s unique and hyper-efficient tech infrastructure allows them to offer clients a premium platform at a fraction of the cost, unlike other tracking platforms.
    • Data reliability – The platform empowers businesses to get ahead of the curve with its comprehensive data display, helping them discover patterns, trends, and business opportunities. It also offers the highest level of platform stability in the industry – all while upholding strict global data privacy protection laws to help businesses continuity. Swaarm caters to the needs of both individual marketers who can navigate through tons of data with a few clicks and data savvy enterprises that can use the integrated data science tools to deep dive into the granularities.
      Swaarm is also the only platform in the market that offers the capability for its clients to adapt its technology to the clients needs. Its customers can modify, filter, and enhance events in real-time using code-snippets in a Turing-complete language.
    Swaarm Product
    Swaarm Product

    Another powerful feature is the set up of automation rules which automates processes which otherwise would need manual intervention by account managers. By applying such automation rules, customers can free up to 40% of their working time and in return allow their account managers to focus on actual value creating tasks such as business development and relationship management.

    Right from onboarding to daily operations, Swaarm offers unparalleled customer support services at the highest standard that compliments the innovative tools and technology to help its clients scale up their business. All of Swaarm’s onboarding sessions are personalized to each of its client’s needs to ensure a smooth set up process.

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    Swaarm – Growth

    While headquartered out of Berlin (Germany), Swaarm has teams working out from India, Germany, Denmark and Lithuania. In fact, it caters globally in all time zones since its team is spread in such a manner.

    Businesses of all sizes from leading brands to boutique agencies in India including Vytomy, Aragma and ZinkAds as well as international players like Clearpier (Canada), Apptrust (Poland), Spyke Media (Germany), Luns.io (Israel) use Swaarm to simplify & optimize their campaigns and accelerate business growth.

    Its co-founders believe that Swaarm is steadily walking on a path to become the default platform of choice for performance marketers. Their aim is to run an open platform that offers superior support to their customers. They plan to do so by consistently channelising their energies towards developing and innovating ways to empower their customers.

    Swaarm will gradually expand its footprints in newer regions and keep educating the marketers on how a tracking platform should fuel their business by taking away complex data heavy tasks to make room for more strategic topics.

    Swaarm – Recognitions and Achievements

    • Swaarm was awarded “Best Ease of Use” and “Best Value” by Capterra (2021)– the world’s leading software discovery and review platform
    • Honored with a 4.9 Star Review Rating on Capterra
    • App Growth Awards 2021 – Finalist in the category App Analytics Platform

    FAQs

    When was Swaarm founded?

    Swaarm was founded in 2020.

    Who is the founder of Swaarm?

    Yogeeta Chainani and Alexandru Dumitru are the co-founders of Swaarm.

    What are the services offered by Swaarm?

    Swaarm offers Performance-based marketing solutions that include tracking, automating, and optimizing marketing decisions to help businesses grow and scale.

  • The Genius Marketing Strategy of Byju’s – How It Built a Billion-Dollar Business?

    If I ask you to name an e-learning app where students can attend live classes, watch pre-recorded videos and give tests, most of you will surely name Byju’s. And why not! Byju’s is India’s most famous edtech decacorn valued at $22 billion.

    Currently, the app has 10 Cr+ downloads on the Play Store with students spending 71 minutes on average time on a daily basis from 1700+ cities.

    The app has 6 million paying subscribers with an 85 per cent renewal rate. All these statistics show how much Byju’s has grown over the years. In India, the education system is majorly based on an offline learning model. Then how did this company popularise the e-learning concept?

    In a country like India where parents hate mobile phones and the internet in the hands of their children, how did this company make both students and parents understand the benefits of studying online?

    The answer to all of these questions lies in their marketing strategy. Let’s break down the brilliant marketing strategy of Byju’s in great detail.

    Target Audience of Byju’s
    Byju’s Marketing Strategy During COVID-19 Pandemic
    Roped in One of the Biggest Bollywood Superstar
    Busted Biggest Myth about Technology
    Sponsored Indian Cricket Jersey
    Launched Regional Campaigns
    Partnered with ICC to Become its Global Partner
    Byju’s Became the First Indian Edtech To Sponsor FIFA World Cup

    Target Audience of Byju’s

    Before we dive deep into Byju’s marketing strategy let’s first understand who exactly is their target audience.

    The target audience of this growing edtech company is millennials and gen z from grade 1 to the ones who are studying for competitive exams like CAT, IAS, JEE, NEET, GMAT, UPSC and banking exams.

    But, apart from the students, the parents are also the target audience of the company since they are the decision-makers and the ones who pay money for the classes. With that understood, let’s analyse our marketing strategy of Byju’s.

    Byju’s Marketing Strategy During COVID-19 Pandemic

    During the COVID-19 outbreak, while many of the brands were facing losses, Byju’s on the other hand substantially increased its user base and revenue.

    The Indian edtech company became a decacorn and crossed a $10.5 billion valuation during the pandemic after getting funding of $100 million from Silicon Valley investor and analyst Mary Meeker’s Bond Capital.

    But, how did the company become so successful during the outbreak? To find an answer to this question let’s see the marketing strategy of Byju’s from the start of the pandemic.

    In March 2020, when all the schools and colleges were shut the company provided free access to its complete app till the end of March.

    So, for 2 months students could attend live classes and watch interactive videos without spending any money. Students who were studying in classes 1-3 could learn Maths and English concepts and students in classes 4-12 could study Maths and Science concepts.

    Now, why did they give free access to the classes?

    See, people love free things. When we hear this four-letter word our behavioural pattern changes and the entry barrier is eliminated.

    The principle of reciprocity is also associated with this strategy. According to this principle, when someone helps us we get obligated to return the favour. So, if students use the app for 2 months and enjoy the learning process the chances of those students returning back and buying the subscription are much higher.

    This strategy was very successful and the company registered 6 million new students in the month of March and 7.5 million users in April.  

    The edtech company said that they witnessed a 150 per cent increase in student enrollment due to this free strategy.

    In August 2020, the company acquired WhiteHat Jr, an online coding school for $300 million.

    Later, in April 2021, Byju’s acquired Aakash Educational Services Ltd (AESL) for USD 1 billion which is the biggest acquisition of Byju’s to date. This partnership will help the company grow its presence in the test preparation segment.

    The company didn’t stop here, in July 2021, the company acquired Toppr, an online learning app for $150 million.

    Byju’s wants to create its own ecosystem and that’s why it is continuously acquiring a lot of companies. The edtech giant knows that if they want to stay in the market for a long time they need to either defeat their competitors or destroy the competition by acquiring them.

    Let’s see what marketing strategies Byju’s used before the pandemic.

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    Roped in One of the Biggest Bollywood Superstar

    Brand ambassadors are very important for any company since they give a more human touch to the brand and build authority and trust with the people.

    In 2017, Byju’s made a television advertisement with Shahrukh Khan to launch their official app. This advertisement was telecasted during the India-Pakistan cricket match. This is such an amazing marketing strategy, right? We all know that the India V/S Pakistan cricket match attracts maximum eyeballs.

    So, when lakhs of people were watching the match they see the King of Bollywood say ‘let your children fall in love with learning’. Due to the massive fanbase of Shahrukh Khan, a lot of students and parents started gaining interest in Byju’s app. The interesting thing about this advertisement was that it targeted both the children and parents. This campaign was very successful.

    To make better relationships with Gen-Z Byju’s also tied up with Disney. Since the popularity of Disney among kids is humongous it gave the brand an added boost.

    Educational games, digital worksheets and the trademark Disney stories made parents understand that their children can learn using fun activities and stories. This partnership helped in strengthening Byju’s K-12 (kindergarten to Class XII) space.

    Busted Biggest Myth about Technology

    Now, due to the pandemic, both parents and students have understood the importance of e-learning. But, in the past, many parents felt that mobile phones were the biggest problem in the lives of their children. Parents felt their children only use mobile phones and the internet to play games, chat with their friends and watch useless videos.

    They didn’t understand that technology can help their children in studying as well. To break this myth of parents Byju’s launched a video campaign ‘Come Fall in Love With Learning’. This campaign helped parents understand that there is nothing wrong with studying using mobile phones.

    In 2019, Byju’s sponsored the Indian cricket Jersey. The logo of Byju’s on the cricket jersey was unveiled in a video campaign named ‘Keep Learning’. In this TV commercial, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant walked onto the pitch wearing the cricket jersey with Byju’s logo on it.

    This shows that Byju’s has clearly understood how much Indians love cricket and are using this opportunity to grow this business. Imagine how much of a positive impact it would have created both on students and parents when they see their idols explaining the importance of learning while wearing the jersey with Byju’s logo on it.

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    Launched Regional Campaigns

    India is a nation of different cultures and languages. So, when any company is making its marketing strategy it is very important to target people using the language that they speak.

    In the early stage, Byju’s usually launched campaigns in Hindi. Although afterwards Byju’s realised that to connect with the people living in different parts of India they need to launch regional campaigns.

    In May 2019 the company roped in Mahesh Babu for a video campaign targeting Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. The new campaign highlighted the evolving learning habits of children and how Byju’s app makes learning fun for them. It also explained that technology can be a friend to students and can help them study more effectively.

    Later, in July 2020 the company partnered with Sudeep Sanjeev and launched two television ad-campaign in Kannada. They also launched two new television advertisements with their existing brand ambassador Mahesh Babu in Telugu.

    All the four ad films were of 50 seconds each. The advertisements highlighted how students are enjoying online learning and encourages parents to accept the new method of learning.

    Partnered with ICC to Become its Global Partner

    Byju's sponsoring ICC
    Byju’s sponsoring ICC

    Byju’s wasn’t just satisfied with sponsoring the Indian cricket Jersey. In February 2021, International Cricket Council (ICC) announced Byju’s as its global partner from 2021 to 2023. The three-year contract allows Byju’s to partner with all ICC events including the upcoming T20 World Cup in India and the women’s World Cup in New Zealand.

    Byju’s will get extensive in-venue, broadcast, and digital rights across all ICC events. Since the ‘Keep Learning’ campaign was very successful it made sense for the company to invest more money in cricket.

    Byju’s Became the First Indian Edtech To Sponsor FIFA World Cup

    Byjus Sponsoring FIFA
    Byjus Sponsoring FIFA

    After integrating cricket into its marketing strategy Byju’s is now leveraging the most famous sport in the world, football. On March 24, 2022, the company announced that it is sponsoring the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 which will take place from November 21 to December 18, 2022.

    Through this sponsorship, Byju’s will get the rights to the 2022 FIFA World Cup marks, emblem and assets and the ability to run promotions.

    Conclusion

    The major takeaway from Byju’s marketing strategy is that you should focus on your target audience and brand presence.

    If you see their marketing strategy from the beginning you will notice that they were directly speaking to students and parents. They made students understand that they can turn their boring studying patterns into exciting ones.

    The company also understood that even though students are their end consumers, parents are the ones who will spend money on their packages.

    Most parents feel that their children shouldn’t use mobile phones and the internet for studying. The company knew that if they didn’t break this myth they would never succeed. That is why they launched the ‘Keep Learning’ campaign where they explained the benefits of studying online.

    In India, people are in love with cricket and acting. That is why they made Shahrukh Khan their brand ambassador and sponsored Indian cricket Jersey and became ICC’S Global Partner. This made Byju’s a household name and people started trusting the brand.

    All these things show that they had studied the Indian market and the psychology of people carefully. So, next time when you are making a marketing strategy for your business first understand your target audience’s needs and behaviour patterns.

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    FAQs

    How much does Byju’s spend on advertising?

    Byju’s spent approximately 800 crores rupees on advertising in 2020.

    What are the strategies employed by Byju’s?

    Byju’s roped in Sharukh Khan as its brand ambassador, partnered with ICC, the Indian cricket team and sponsored Fifa.

    Why is Byju’s so successful?

    Byju’s provides a personalized learning experience that is different from any other edtech startup.

  • Performance Marketing: An Effective, Results-Driven Strategy for Your Brand

    The article is contributed by Vatsal Rajgor, Co-Founder & CEO, DigiMaze.

    Every brand today wants to establish a strong digital presence and engage with viewers. Given the fact that viewers today are spending more time than ever on social media, there is a very strong business case for brands to use the digital arena as a powerful marketing tool. Even those brands that have a decent digital presence are always aiming to extend their reach and be in contact with their target base.

    The important thing to note is that the digital medium is democratic. It offers a level playing field and is extremely effective once the correct strategies are applied. Appropriate and effective digital strategies, when used, are known to impact the behaviours of the consumers and the purchase decisions they finally make. In our day and age, performance marketing is the perfect digital strategy that can enable this.

    According to the IAMAI- Kantar ICUBE 2020 report, there will be an increase of 45% in active internet users by 2025, i.e., from 622 million in 2020 to 900 million in 2025. These numbers act as an indication of the scope of the profits that can be reaped by brands that have a strong online presence. Here is where performance marketing comes to the rescue. It’s not just a popular buzzword. Performance marketing is on the rise and it allows marketers to measure and optimize key performance indicators. It points out the areas where the marketing effort is lacking and closes those loopholes to help craft an effective digital marketing strategy.

    Performance Marketing – Helping Build Stronger, Goal-Oriented Campaigns

    Performance marketing, powered by data, is inherently goal-driven so brands can measure their ROI. With performance marketing, Once a brand has a clear set of goals that they want its campaign to achieve, can use performance marketing to not just achieve these goals but also measure the probability of success. This is not magic. It’s pure data science. A lot of the decisions made are based on the nuggets of insights from the customer journey and the behaviours displayed by the consumers to create a final plan for the brand.

    Performance marketing gives marketers the advantage of collecting and analysing real-time data to curate a framework to target the intended customers and get the desired results. Insights derived from data become critical because they lay the foundation for a brand’s campaign. This marketing approach is a win-win for both the business owner and the publisher as it allows them to focus and build up their campaigns in order to garner a high ROI that is calculable to an accurate degree.

    Forms of Performance Marketing

    Performance marketing uses various channels to produce the results, and they are:

    Native Advertising

    Native advertising is a channel of advertising which camouflages itself as regular content. Viewers don’t even get to know that it is a paid form of advertisement. It is usually opted for when one wants to combat the issue of advertisement blocking and banner blindness. As per the reports, 42.7% of the internet users in the world use an ad blocker. In such situations, native advertisements come to the rescue as consumers look at native ads 53% more than display ads and have purchase intent is 18% more for a native ad.

    Sponsored advertising is a type of native advertising. The difference between the two is that sponsored advertising is not an ad but is a piece of content that is usually long-form and is about a brand. It can be an article or a video on a media publisher’s site. Sponsored content aims to engage the audience by either entertaining them or educating them. The content needs to mention that it is sponsored or promoted so that people are aware and don’t think otherwise. Sponsored ads help brands reach new customers, grow their following, and increase their conversion rate among other things.

    Social Media Advertising

    Social media advertising is the bread and butter as some brands mainly use this form of advertising over others. In this form of advertising, paid ad campaigns are launched on social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and others to reach the intended audience. According to the CMO survey, brands will double their budgets for social media advertising by 2023. This is an important form of advertising because, as of January 2022, there were 467 million social media users in India. These numbers show us what kind of reach a brand can have if they were to use this form of marketing.

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    Search Engine Marketing (SEM)

    Search engine marketing is paid marketing, also known as pay-per-click (PPC). This strategy is majorly used to increase the visibility of a website on the search engine results page (SERP). In this, the advertisers only pay for impressions that result in visitors. This is an efficient form as one only pays for the results. The results are quicker with SEM, and it is non-intrusive in nature.

    Affiliate Marketing

    Affiliate marketing is a subset of performance marketing and includes techniques like email marketing, influencer marketing, and many more. In this form of marketing, the affiliate makes a commission when they promote another person’s products or a company’s products. Performance marketing is affiliate marketing with other additions in its mix at a larger scale.

    Conclusion

    Like any other form of marketing activity, performance marketing also has its pros and cons. Hence, brands need to have flexible targets as a business, because setting rigid goals could hamper outcomes. While performance marketing is undertaken to achieve desired goals and paying only when results are achieved, companies need to have a margin of error. If anything unexpected were to happen, it is all accounted for. Performance marketing can be an effective tool in the arsenal of brands and, if used to its full potential, it can do wonders. It is a cost-efficient marketing strategy, where the performance of a marketing campaign, on any digital platform, can be tracked. Performance marketing is transparent in nature, and this essential feature is not found in other forms of marketing.

    For any company, big, mid-sized or small, performance marketing is essential when you look at the digital frontier. It’s here to stay, and if used correctly, it can show results that are calculable, hence is a boon for any brand to make it a part of their digital strategy.