Content is the Magic that Can Create Resonance Between Audience and Brand

Understanding audience preferences and adapting to the diverse landscape of operating systems are key considerations for brands aiming to meet evolving customer expectations in India’s digital market, says Reena Jagtap, Lead Digital Marketing at Henkel. 

Reena leads the digital marketing efforts for Henkel’s adhesive technologies business. Her responsibilities include overseeing multiple agencies handling content, creatives, and media strategies. She focuses on exploring new avenues to reach the B2B audience and drive sales through ecommerce while generating leads, particularly targeting SMEs and MSMEs across India.

Her role involves managing the entire demand generation process, starting from the initial website form submission to validating leads and passing them to the inside sales team. Reena ensures that each touchpoint in the customer journey delivers relevant information tailored to the consumer’s needs, guiding the crafting of communication and digital marketing strategies.

Talking to Martechvibe, Reena also discusses the need for dynamism in digital marketing, cutting through clutter to reach potential consumers. She underscores the importance of thorough research to understand consumer behaviour and preferences, ensuring relevance in communication and content to avoid pitfalls. 

Excerpts from the interview:

How are Indian customer expectations changing?

Indian consumers are becoming more aware of how they interact and share data with brands. This makes it even more crucial for brand managers to focus on transparency and accountability while interacting with audiences online. 

A mere 10.6 % of Indians speak in English. Marketers and advertisers need to be cognizant of this fact and include region specific campaigns that provide an end to end user experience in the same language. If the banner ad creative is in Hindi, the redirection to the destination landing page should be such that the page should also have content in the same language.

As compared to other countries, digital transformation in India is on a trajectory of rapid growth. Whether it’s UPI payments, online education, online retail, distribution, real time assistance, Indians are leading digitally dominated lives where the answers they seek are just a click away.

Mobile marketing and creating communication and content that is tailored to a mobile experience is very crucial. Brands generally create websites that are not mobile responsive. Mostly, you see these kinds of challenges with startups, where there aren’t enough budgets to create a lot of content or create varied experiences on different devices. 

But it’s very crucial to understand your audience and the entire iOS and Android operating systems. You need to ensure that, based on these operating systems, you’re also present in that kind of user experience and interface. 

What types of content resonate best with its target audience?

In my experience, content is the magic that can create a resonance between the audience and the brand.

Every content strategy starts with keeping your target audience in mind. It’s the simple approach we study in marketing—how you segment, target, and position. A positioning statement is at the core of every communication or content strategy because everything revolves around that. Each campaign has a unique purpose that must align with the brand.

Integrating campaign purposes with brand identity is key to developing a content strategy for specific audiences. Understanding your target consumer persona is crucial. For instance, during my tenure at Audi India, understanding the luxury marketing landscape was essential for selling high-value cars.

Creating communications that resonate with audience needs and showcase luxury and comfort is vital. Partnering with influencers who speak about your product is crucial, especially in the manufacturing and industrial sectors.

Persona mapping is the first step, followed by devising communication strategies tailored to each persona. Lastly, implementing an evaluation program to measure ROI through methods like A/B testing or running multiple campaigns helps identify what resonates best with consumers and drives revenue and business growth. This three-pronged approach is essential in the journey towards content marketing and design.

Also read: Measuring Customer Satisfaction Needs to Evolve in the Digital Context

Can you discuss any specific tools or technologies that we use for data analysis and reporting in the digital marketing space?

Across my career in the Marketing and Digital industry, I have come across various tools and technologies that simplify the life of a brand manager and provide live insights to the ongoing campaigns.

I believe in investing in data and analytics to monitor the end to end campaign performance, right from the ad/post impressions served to mapping all the stages of conversion in the system. With UTM parameters in place, we can gain several performance insights like source, campaign, platform, medium which helps in future planning decisions.

Over the years across organisations, I have used Locobuzz, Sprinklr for Online Reputation Management and Social Listening, Salesforce and Marketo for Campaign Management, insights and CRM, Meta Business Manager, Google Analytics, Twitter (X) Analytics, VWO for AB testing of website functionalities, and LinkedIn Business Manager to name a few. There are also several AI tools that help agencies develop content for marketing. 

Personally, I have used Canva, Adobe Photoshop, ChatGPT, Microsoft Bing AI, ASK QX for design and content related work. I have also developed in house tools with my team, which have helped in creating customised dashboards for understanding the 360 customer journey.

What are some common pitfalls or misconceptions that marketers should avoid when executing digital campaigns in India?

One has to be ready to be dynamic, cut through the junk/clutter and explore new ways of reaching out to the potential consumer.

When it comes to pitfalls and concerns in digital marketing campaigns, research is crucial before launching any campaign. Lack of consumer research or understanding consumer behaviour can create challenges in reaching the right audience. Having the right research for any campaign is crucial.