Diary of a Marketer

Hi everyone!!!

“The Digital Marketing Revolution. Is Sri Lanka Ready?”

That was the question I asked in the very first post. Got lot of answers. (Actually 6 comments: p)Some said YES, some said NO. But on my point of view the answer is YES and NO both.

Before going to deep down of the topic it’s better to get basic idea about digital marketing , as per Wikipedia Digital marketing is marketing that makes use of electronic devices such as computers, tablets, smart phones, cell phones, digital billboards, and game consoles to engage with consumers and other business partners. Internet Marketing is a major component of digital marketing. And marketing process which leads to the development of any organization or brand by using a variety of digital channels such as email, social networks etc.

Now to get some idea about Sri Lanka and digital media we can look at following digital media fact sheet which issued by neo@ogilvy.

According to that fact sheet Sri Lanka has 15% of internet penetration rate. But digital media specialists are forecast within next 2 years Sri Lanka’s internet penetration rate will go around 40%. That means more than today, in the future Sri Lankan customers will be more active in internet and more concern about digital marketing. To that revolution Sri Lanka should have to be ready.

Currently in Sri Lanka almost all main brands has come online, they are maintain their web sites, facebook pages. Some business runs entirely online as for examples we can see anything.lk, wow.lk, tickets.lk, kapruka.lk. They do online operations and digital marketing things. Currently they are making profits and still growing.

Some of business such as Kellyfelder, kottuwilla do their promotions only through social media networks ( facebook & twitter).Most of public events such as parties & DJ festivals have chosen websites and social medias as their main marketing tool(sunburn Colombo, electro peacock festival) . So It’s proven Sri lanka is ready for digital marketing revaluation.

But those anything.lk, wow.lk, tickets.lk, kapruka.lk, ikman.lk mainly functions in Colombo and substations areas. Because most of Sri Lankans might not aware & facilities for access them. On other hand even though people have facilities such as smart phones, internet access they may not conferrable with online purchases. When looking at following chart we can understand that we are in bottom level of both Asia & world’s average internet penetration levels.