One thing that will shape the future of Digital Marketing?
After being familiar with increasing power of mobile apps and social media, marketers are already exploiting both of these things. Till today we can see that younger audiences are showing more positive attitudes towards online advertising. However, digital marketing is less popular among the older citizens as they are not much interested in electronic devices. The future of digital marketing will be in shape if more numbers of audience get more consistent understanding about how to navigate the details of web options, including security & privacy settings to online shopping and media utilization to social sharing of information. Younger age groups already have this inherent interest in the technology & marketing campaigns but we will have to expand this segment.
Design or Technology, What is the marketing driver of the future?
Definitely technology but we can’t deny the importance of design in marketing. If technology is the heart of marketing in future then design is its heartbeat. After all technological soundness, a brand can’t gain visibility unless it is not having good design and great content. Technology is very important for a company as various facets our life have gone online but a good design speaks volumes about the professionalism, quality and positioning of the company in the market. It is design that connects to our emotions with several aspects. So, both are important.
How would you define Customer Centricity?
For me, the key philosophy of customer centricity is to articulate few meaningful things with your customers and strengthen your commitment towards it. And the list of those meaningful things is understood, memorized, and internalized by each our employees in order to treat the customers with personal care. As a reliable travel agent of India, we make it easy for our customers to connect with us through social media, customer community and various other sources. Customer centricity is not all about companies saying that their customers are their priority but they have to be accessible, agile, compassionate, consistent, and responsive towards their customers.
What are the metrics you find useful in measuring customer engagement?
Customer engagement is a big objective today, because it can affect any business by increasing traffic, growing brand awareness, and talking with community members. For measuring customer engagement, you can check the conversation, applause and amplification rates on various social media & your blog. Based on the length of any conversation per post, their sharing & re-sharing and likes & comments, you can measure and track this record.
How have you been leveraging customer insights into bettering brand experience?
Yes and any entrepreneur with good vision will do it. After all, customer is the king and we have reached to this position due to their constant believe in us. We have a team in our office, which carefully looks after the feedbacks and suggestions coming from our customers. And some of the suggestions are really nice and thoughtful. We do our best to implement those suggestions for making their experience with EaseMyTrip.com better and delightful.
Profile: Rikant is the Co-founder and Chief Operation Officer of EaseMyTrip.com – one of the most popular travel portals of India. The company was co-founded by Nishant & Rikant Pitti in year 2008. At the age of 26 years, Rikant has proved that he has all the qualities of a natural industrialist. In few years of his experience as an entrepreneur, he has created a separate identity in online travel sector through his innovative ideas.
Rikant is a B.Tech from Kurukshetra University and possesses about 7 years of experience in travel sector. With his aggressive approach, technical ability and passion, he has contributed sincerely to EaseMyTrip and made it a great place to work at. His methodical knowledge about all the verticals of travel industry and its incorporation with e-commerce has made the company a brand name today. Recently, EaseMyTrip.com received “Best Online Travel Agency” – by India Travel Awards 2014. Rikant also ran Duke Travel Agency with his brother Nishant Pitti while continuing his graduation. He firmly believes in technical development of an organization and knows that a company can grow on employing skilled resources.
