Micromax, Karbonn, Lava, and Microsoft have unleashed a marketing blitz in India!

Companies such as Micromax, Karbonn, Lava, and Microsoft have increased their spending on digital advertising, to target e-Commerce savvy buyers.

Micromax, the nation's No. 2 smartphone vendor, used to spend about 10% of its marketing budget on digital media till last year. But it has increased its budget. Now over a third of it goes to fund online ad campaigns, reported the Economic Times.

Not only that Karbonn, Lava and Microsoft have also increased their spending on digital advertising. The companies want to focus on the fast expanding clutch of buyers who first do the online research to zero in on a product and then buy it from one of the e-Commerce sites.

There are many benefits associated with the digital marketing. It is more personalised, which allows direct interaction between the brand and the consumer, and the response is easily measurable, unlike those on mass mediums like TV, radio or print.

Digital marketing also offers data that industry experts say put them in a better position to make informed decisions.

Chief Marketing Officer at Micromax Informatics, Shubhajit Sen, said: "We try to find out what people are talking today and if there is a scope or an insight to convert it into a marketing and advertising campaign."

The company spends about 2% of its sales on advertising and marketing. In 2014-15, it posted sales of over Rs 10,000 crore.

Handset vendors are among the biggest spenders on advertising in India. Homegrown Karbonn and Lava, as well as Microsoft Mobile Devices said they have all significantly boosted spending on digital marketing in line with changing market trends. Some others such as Xiaomi, OnePlus and Motorola, which sell products only through eCommerce sites, do most marketing through digital media.

According to experts, the handset vendors are tapping all the digital channels - search, display or social media. With India's increasing Internet usage, the spending on digital advertising will only grow. A surge in sales via eCommerce is becoming the main driver behind the increased digital spending of handset vendor, said Faisal Kawoosa, lead analyst at CyberMedia Research.

"Every brand try to establish its presence in online space, since a majority of sales in future is going to happen through online portals," he said.

According to Hong Kong-based market research firm Counterpoint, as much as 30% of the smartphones sold during the second quarter were through online channels and online-only smartphone sales contributed to more than 20% of the total sales. Companies can also fetch out insightful analytics from digital channels that help improve marketing strategy, Kawoosa said.

Karbonn Mobiles executive director Shashin Devsare said that the efficacy which can be measured on digital medium is pretty strong. A brand can do segment targeting far more accurately than any conventional medium, and this leads to enhanced return on investment and better planning of marketing campaigns, he said.

Solomon Wheeler, head of marketing and communication at Lava International, said content consumption of users has shifted from mass mediums to digital.

(Image: Indiatimes)