Why did you choose to proceed in Digital Marketing?

I started Digital Marketing when I didn’t even know what Digital Marketing was.

 At my first job, my role was as an IT administrator. It was a growing company, so I had ample amount of time.

 In the year 2011, the company ventured in the field of education. They were marketing educational courses.

Being inquisitive and a learner by nature,  got to work on software’s like Quicker, Click India, OLX and many other platforms.

We generated a good number of leads from running Free ads as the ads were ranking on Google SERP tool.

In 2012, I started freelancing. I replicated the same strategy for acquiring clients for my business. This was the time I realised that the Internet had a very good potential for doing business.

People were searching for Services providers. The catch here was to make your presence in the market and tell them you are there to provide the services.

This was my turning point, and I started to dive deeper into the Digital Ocean.

What struggles did you face while pursuing Digital Marketing at the start?

Struggle? 

This word doesn’t occur in my dictionary. When we use the word struggle, we add so much of weight in it, that “ woh khud b khud itna bhari lagne lag jata hai”

When you do work out of choice, you enjoy the work. Each day made me wake up with enthusiasm, energy as I was learning, experimenting the different avenues of Digital Marketing.

My journey was like making an Ice Cream- where, I learnt the process- put the ingredients with the right measurements –(Implementations), Churned it, Kept the right temperatures (Posting, adding new ADS) and then excitedly waited to see the end product – The RESULTS.
Sometimes, it was soft, but edible (Low profits but sustainable). With passage of time, I mastered the skill by experimenting and learning.

Will you call this struggle? I call it a process.

I did have constraints, constraints with resources, but I made the best use of resources available at hand (my office) and time. At times, I went to my friend’s place to try out his computers. It did feel a little awkward but I knew it was worth the time and effort. Enjoying the process kept me going ahead and it was” Karte Karte Sikhega India”

Why has Digital Marketing become important now? Is it possible that Digital Marketing can be learnt by anyone?

Let me make it simple, Digital Marketing comprises two words Digital and Marketing.

Marketing: I ask you, were we not doing marketing earlier?
Marketing is “telling your customers about your product. Telling them how it will resolve their problem.” In simple words, showcasing your product to your customer.

Next – It is showcasing the product or services to the right customer, i.e. the correct audience. You can’t market a movie to the visually impaired. 

Similarly, you need to understand whom to showcase your product.

Since the availability of mediums of marketing, like the television, Newspaper, Hoardings, Flexi etc. were the only mediums, the cost of marketing was based on where the marketing was being done.
Premium time slots on television cost high. First or second page ads cost more. Marketing was always there from the time evolution of humans existed.

Talking of the present scenario, the platform or the medium on which marketing is being done has changed.
The newspaper, the entertainment mode has changed from print to digital. Most of it is being done on social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Tik tok, Youtube and others. 

In fact it has found its way to every house since it is Instant. It is available anytime, anywhere. Besides it gives every individual the choice of reading, seeing what they want.

At the tap of a link, information is available. One does not have to watch, read, articles, content as per others choice.

Let’s look at the different social media platforms as the different channels of a television.

Another reason why people are on social media is, cost effective and there is no fight of prime time slots or pages (one or page two). It works on the simple rule of Darwin” Survival of the fittest”

Good value content, regular presence gives you an edge over the others.

Answer to your next question, ‘Is it possible for everyone to learn Digital Marketing?’

If someone can understand the principle of marketing as explained, then Anyone can Learn It.

You need to have a good understanding of the basic fundamentals of Marketing i.e. the psychology of marketing, the understanding of problem and solution. Based on it you need to know what kind of posts will attract which kind of audience, whom do we show the post to. Then anyone can master the skill of Digital Marketing.

The key ingredient here is understanding the psychology of need, the pain point of the audience. Thereafter cooking the solution will be easy. 

Most common mistake people make is, invest in the tools first, without knowing what has to be churned and for whom you are making the product.

My belief is before venturing, plan out the strategy and then execute it with the help of the digital tools.

Hope this answers your question. Only word of caution is, Fall In Love with Marketing.

What Marketing tools do you prefer for the people who are pursuing Digital Marketing?

Tools totally depend on what type of task you are executing.

Digital Marketing is too vast, here you have  the freedom to choose any form of digital Marketing like E-mail Marketing, Blogging, Social Media Organic growth, Social Media Paid Ads, Google Ads and so on.

The list is endless. Tools are being created based on the different Marketing methods.

Let me share with an example, someone who is focusing on SEO(Search engine Optimisation), there are a set of tools you can use to make your  content impactful and result oriented.

For email marketing, you have another set of tools which will help you to make work easy and put the process on automation.

I will mention a few tools  for beginners which are necessary and can be used for free.

1. Google Analytics (Track and analyse your traffic)

2. Google Search Console (How you get traffic on your site and identify the issues)

3. Google My Business (Makes your business available for local search)

4. Facebook Business Suite (manage your FB and Instagram)

5. Active campaign or Mail-chimp (Email marketing)

6. Keyword.io and Google Adwords, Google Trend (To understand demand in marketing)

Keyword research Facebook and Google ads to run ads. 

Can you please tell us more about your company?

IT Solutions and Services in an award-winning IT Company in New Delhi India, partnered with Microsoft, Google, Quick heal, Tally, Razor Pay and more brands to provide various IT and Digital Marketing Services to Small & Medium business. 

Our mission is to make the operations of our clients easy by setting up a robust IT infrastructure and suggesting the right technology to them. 

Our Web services and Digital Marketing helps them to become visible in front of millions of people by having an attention drawing & converting website that has a strong and meaningful marketing plan within their budget.   

You have your YouTube channel “Manoj Joshi Talks – The Manoj Joshi Show”, Can you please tell us more about this Channel?

Sure, I will be most delighted. Super Saturday – The Manoj Joshi Show is a talk show on my YouTube Channel Manoj Joshi Talks.

 I invite experts from the Digital industry who are really doing great in their niche. It is a chit chat show where they share their journey of success.

All the experiences of handling the hurdles, moving from one plan to another when the desired results weren’t received, strategies they used to get different results, the experimentation journey and learnings at different steps.

The objective of the show is to help others who are in the beginning phase or those who are in the stage of giving up.

It serves them as a source of inspiration to continue and keep going till they achieve results.

And Finally, what is your Long Term Vision?

My long-term vision is to create a huge community of practical entrepreneurs who Learn, Implement and Share practical things to make the world more meaningful.