Boom in Digital Marketing Jobs in India
Today, the Internet has totally transformed the way people buy products and companies sell their products. From mobile phones to computers, clothes to shoes, books to electronics, people are increasingly turning to Internet to purchase products and services. This has resulted in the evolution of innovative ‘dot-com’ companies and eventually creative jobs.
E-commerce popularity is not limited to developed countries. As with computer literacy rate, PC ownership and Internet users, the Indian market is witnessing significant growth in ecommerce similar to American or European markets.
This article analyzes and lists the factors that led to exponential e-commerce growth in India and discusses on how it is creating many new jobs.
Exponential growth in Internet usage in India
Few years back, using Internet in India was like using high-end technology; it was available only to those who can afford a personal computer and high Internet rates. Today, the scenario has completely changed. With the reduced prices and increased access, the number of Internet users has grown exponentially in the last 10 years. From just 1.4 million in 1998, the number of Internet users has grown to 121 million in 2011 and is expected to reach 376 million by 2015.
Online purchasing on rise
E-commerce in India is still in its budding stage. But if we look at the trends in consumer behavior, we can expect a lot to happen in online space in the coming years.
According to Zinnov report, shopping is the third most popular category of search on the Internet. While 77% of the respondents shopped online at least once in 3 months, over 50% shopped at least once in the last month.
E-commerce market in India
As more and more people are showing interest in online shopping, investors find it worth investing in India. According to Forrester report, the current e-commerce market in India is US $ 1.6 billion and it is expected to grow five times by 2016 to US $ 8.8 billion.
E-commerce success stories in India
Many companies in India have already entered online space and tasted success that they never imagined. Indian railways web portal – IRCTC; online bus booking services like Red Bus; online job portals like Naukri, Monster; movie booking, matrimonial services, etc., are a few portals that became big hit in India. IRCTC received 5.56 million bookings in April 2012 compared to 2.26 lakh in April 2011, achieving a growth rate of 146% in a year.
Growth in e-commerce and digital advertising
With as many as 121 million people using Internet, advertisers find Internet a worth pursuing space. According to IAMAI, as of March 2012, digital advertisement spend in India was 28.51 billion and by the end of 2012 it is expected to touch 43.91 billion. On an average the digital ad spends are growing at 25% year-on-year.
Digital marketing outsourcing
Further, in countries like US, UK, Canada, etc., e-commerce is an established market and the use of SEO and SEM techniques has been in practice from many years. Offshoring digital marketing needs to India have also started. As the demand increases the number of digital marketing companies will also increase. As the field has demand at both national and international levels, we can expect decent number of career opportunities in this field.
Recently, NASSCOM (The National Association of Software and Services Companies) made an announcement that it is going to promote Indian e-commerce and digital advertising companies in US and European markets. This shows the seriousness of the opportunity in the field of e-commerce.
With e-commerce emerging as a profitable market, companies are increasingly using Internet marketing strategies to gain competitive advantage. In order for them to stay on the top of the search engine results, adopting SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and SEM (Search Engine Marketing) techniques became highly essential.
Without a doubt, all the above point to a huge demand for digital marketing professionals. Since this field is highly specialized and requires fairly complex skills, it is likely that the digital marketing needs will be addressed by specialized service providers. Whether companies opt for outside digital marketing firms or in-house digital marketing professionals is difficult to predict now. Probably, it does not even matter, what is important is, there is a tremendous need for digital marketing professionals right now and in the immediate future.