“In marketing, the surname stays the same. Only the first name changes.” 📊
At 24ADP Pune 2015, I joined a closing panel with marketing strategy consultant Dr. Sachin Bhide on making digital marketing work for small and medium businesses. 🎙️
📊 In this episode, we unpacked:
- 🐜 A pest control ad case study
- 🗣️ Talk the client’s language
- 📝 Every client needs a marketing plan
- 🔍 How to vet a digital agency
- 🏢 Agency or in-house?
🎥 Watch the full episode:
🐜 A Pest Control Ad Case Study
Sachin opened with good news and bad news: making digital marketing effective will keep getting harder, but the industry is only going in one direction, growth. Since few attendees worked with large enterprises, we focused on small and medium businesses. 🐜
An agency attendee shared a case: a US pest control company with 13 or 14 offices and about $600 a year per customer. Google AdWords cost $100 to $150 per paying customer. Facebook leads were cheaper but low quality, since pest control isn’t an impulse buy. Their fix was free credits redeemable within two or three months, which brought acquisition down to $30 to $40. For more on paid ads, read how to make money with PropellerAds. 🔗
🗣️ Talk the Client’s Language
Sachin noted that marketing keeps inventing new terms (remarketing, inbound) for old ideas: SMS marketing, email marketing, now WhatsApp marketing. 🗣️
Often the person who signs the check isn’t digital. One consumer durables marketing director stopped attending agency meetings because he didn’t understand CTR and CPC and felt ashamed. Agencies should run a “digital marketing 101” for decision makers. Even a caterer at the event got the core point: market well online, but if your service is bad, you’re in trouble.
📝 Every Client Needs a Marketing Plan
From my side as a consultant: many clients have no clear goal. They want to spend, but don’t know what they want from me. Clear, transparent communication avoids most problems. 📝
Sachin’s fix: if the client has no plan, sit with them and ask simple questions. Who are your target customers? How do you reach them? Who decides? Then write a one-page marketing plan for them at no extra charge. Remember, there’s often more than one buyer: “wife will decide, husband will pay.” For more on digital marketing education, read Pradeep Chopra’s interview. 🔗
🔍 How to Vet a Digital Agency
Attendee Anita shared a painful story: an agency made a fancy pitch, she designed the site and wrote the content herself, they only coded it, charged a bomb, and then refused to hand over the source code because it was “their property”. 🔍
My advice: before hiring any agency or marketer, Google them. Check their social presence, online reputation and any negative reviews. Sachin added that books and fellow entrepreneurs help, and that India is roughly eight years behind developed markets in digital, so learn from how they fixed their mistakes. He also shared an agency’s SlideShare “trial” that just recolored his deck and split an author’s quote across two slides. For another panel of mine, read my Philippines digital marketing panel. 🔗
🏢 Agency or In-House?
One attendee preferred an in-house team because they live the brand 24×7, while agency staff juggle several brands a day. Switching agencies is also hard, since they hold your passwords, content and data. 🏢
Sachin’s view: as a client, use external help wisely. Bring in an expert for a specific, high-skill problem, like optimizing Google Ads, and ask your agency to educate you about where your leads come from. For a related read, see DSIM founder Kunal Choudhary’s interview. 🔗
📝 Key Takeaways From the 24ADP Pune Panel
- 🎁 Offers can fix low-quality ad leads
- 🗣️ Explain digital in the client’s language
- 📝 Write a one-page marketing plan with clients
- 🔍 Google an agency before hiring it
- 🏢 Use outside experts for specific problems
❓ FAQs About Dr. Sachin Bhide
Who was on the 24ADP Pune 2015 panel?
Jitendra Vaswani and marketing strategy consultant Dr. Sachin Bhide.
How did the pest control company cut acquisition costs?
By offering Facebook users free credits redeemable within two or three months, bringing cost per customer to $30 to $40.
How should I check a digital agency before hiring?
Google them, check their social presence and reviews, and talk to other entrepreneurs.
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Have you had a good or bad experience with a digital agency? Tell me in the comments. 💬
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Jitendra Vaswani is a well-known expert in SEO and AI-driven digital marketing. He has spoken at international events and founded Digiexe, a digital marketing agency, and AffiliateBooster, WordPress plugin designed specifically for affiliate marketers. With over 10 years of experience, Jitendra has helped many businesses succeed online. His bestselling book, Inside A Hustler’s Brain: In Pursuit of Financial Freedom, with over 20,000 copies sold globally, underscores his influence and commitment to empowering digital marketers.