Digital media marketing budgets rising sharply

Industry seems to be back on track after experiencing a brief dip in sales due to demonetisation

As digital media grows concurrently with technological advancements and the deepening penetration of smartphones, the digital marketing budget of consumer durable companies are also rising sharply.

To keep themselves abreast of the latest product lines and communication themes, companies are adapting to different social and digital media tools to reach out to their prospective consumers.

"Our digital marketing budget would comprise 15-10 per cent of our total marketing spend in 2017 compared to about 2 per cent last year," said Pankaj Gupta, the General Manager of the home appliances maker Inalsa.

Digital marketing budget would further rise to about 25 per cent in 2018, he added. Interestingly, the company was largely missing from social as well as digital media platforms two years ago.

Under the digital marketing initiative, Inalsa- a part of Spain-based Taurus Group- webcasts and uploads product demonstrations on YouTube and the company website to engage and update customers. 

Gupta was in Lucknow to announce Inalsa's expansion plans for Uttar Pradesh. The company plans to open four exclusive stores to strengthen its foothold and make its way to the top brands in the small appliances segment in the state.

According to the company, Inalsa grew by 20 per cent in 2016 with Uttar Pradesh emerging as the most significant and promising market. Gupta asserts further by stating that the small appliances segment in the state, which is estimated at Rs 1,500 crore, is expected to grow by 7 per cent.

There was a temporary dip in sales during November and December last year owing to demonetisation of high-value currency notes but the industry seems to be back on track now. "We are in fact seeing an upsurge in e-commerce and online transactions," said the Inalsa GM.