The Click Asia MasterClasses that was held on the 25th April, 2011 at the Taj Mahal Hotel in Delhi was nearly a sold out event. The loaded 10 hrs couldn't have been utilized in a better way. There was also an increase on the count of speakers, the new list included Pradeep Chopra, CEO of Digital Vidya, India, Vivek Bhargava, Managing Director of Communicate2, Jitendra Arora, Director of Ryzeup Internet Marketing, India and Parul Mehta, COO of vCommission, India.
The Keynote Session
After the first hour of Registration and Networking, Neverblue's Vice President of Sales & Business Development, and the event's Keynote speaker, Eric J. Gerritsen took the floor. His topic for the Keynote was "Frontiers in Internet Marketing". Eric reminded the audience that India currently has 100 million population of Internet users and more than 800 million (and growing) mobile phone subscribers. It is one of the world's fastest growing industry and a key global Internet market. He covered three main points including:
- Trends in the Global Internet
- The India Opportunity
- Frontiers in digital marketing & affiliate marketing
Eric also cited and discussed 8 key trends in affiliate marketing which included:
- The role of affiliate networks in the Internet advertising ecosystem
- Industry consolidation
- Globalization of revenues
- Use of Social Media
- Mobile
- Regulatory Oversight
- More emphasis on content and value add from affiliates
- Advertiser awareness of affiliate marketing in India
Coffee Break & then Affiliate Marketing Arbitrage
The keynote session was followed by a short 15 minutes Coffee Break, after which a panel formed by the speakers from Walla Media, Leadcola and Neverblue led the Affiliate Marketing Arbitrage – Learnings from the West session. Sunil (Leadcola), Eric (Neverblue) and Walla Media's founders put in a good effort and was successful in communicating the valuable lesson that online marketers and business owners in India can listen to and learn.
Coffee Break & then Affiliate Marketing Opportunities with Search and Social Media in India
After the hour long session, another 15 minutes Coffee Break ensued. Affiliate Marketing Opportunities with Search and Social Media in India was the next session. It was paneled by speakers from various reputable Indian businesses including Communicate2, Ryzeup Internet Marketing, Times Internet Limited and vCommission. It had a relevant and interesting information on the current search engine and social media marketing scene in India, another appropriately devised and delivered session.
Lunch Break & then A to Z of Affiliate Marketing
By this time, half of the day had passed without much notice, and it was time for the lunch break. After 60 minutes and a considerable gobbling procedure, all were ready for the next half of the day. The following session was the A to Z of Affiliate Marketing for Merchants, delivered by the founders of Walla Media. Two hours seemed too short a time to cover a topic as that big but the speakers handled the slot much impressively.
Coffee and interaction
The next was a half hour of Coffee Break cum Get-to-talk-to-trainers. A cup of coffee and a brief and lively interaction did do good to the body and mind, not that the congregation seemed tired or uninterested for a minute – all day long.
PPC Marketing Mini-workshop
The Mini-workshop on PPC Marketing led by Digital Vidya's Co-founder and CEO, Pradeep Chopra was another brilliant and well executed part of the day. Pradeep offered the audience an additional insight into the Indian PPC and Affiliate marketing scene feeding them interesting facts. He said that according to SEMPO, 11% money is spent on SEO and 87% goes to PPC. SEO is responsible for over 75% of the overall search traffic but actually collects less than 15% of marketing budgets. On the other side, PPC draws a meager below 25% of the overall search traffic yet amasses a 80% of SEM campaign budgets. For a slide show presentation of the same subject, visit slidesshare.net. On stressing the importance of paid advertisements, he cited reasons including:
- Quick Start – PPC can instantly access global customers
- It can attract millions
- Negligible efforts
- It is easy, flexible and highly customizable
- Offers specific communication
- End-to-End measureability – allows ROI tracking
More coffee, more interaction and wrap up
With the conclusion of Pradeep's workshop, the day had more or less come to an end. The last Coffee Break and Get-to-talk-to-trainers saw another time of networking amongst the attendees and speakers alike, a similar scene as was at the hour of registration in the morning. However, the difference now was that people were going back to their homes with a head-full of new wisdom and ideas assimilated through the day.
