The Future of Festival Marketing: How Democratised Tools & Technologies Are Shaping Small Businesses
With the great festival season comes great opportunities for businesses. As the streets get vibrant, people’s spirits soar and wallets open, every business—big or small—wants a piece of the spend. But what if you’re a small business with no big budget to light up the entire market? With the democratisation of marketing tools and technology, smaller players can now make a big impact without a deep financial pocket.
The key is to think strategically, creatively, and use smart tools to achieve business goals. Let’s explore how five common business goals of small businesses during the festive season can be addressed effectively with free/ low-cost tools:
1. To Drive Brand Discovery/ Awareness Without Breaking the Bank
First step to any sales/ marketing campaign is being able to discover/ become aware. It is applicable both for B2C and B2B businesses
Tool: Google My Business (one of my favourite & free tools)
GMB is a free and incredibly effective tool for boosting local discovery. It allows businesses to list themselves with accurate location details, festive opening hours, and customer reviews. It works on the consumer psychology of social proof.
Example: We used GMB for a quick service restaurant. Ensured the right keywords were added in the description. Placed print out of the QR code and encouraged customers to rate us. This led to a whopping increase in footfall by 100% in less than 3 months!
Bonus Tip for Google My Business
You could ask your employees too to review your business stating how it is to work here!
2. To Create a Unique Festive Offer to Attract Consumers
Festival marketing is all about the right offer at the right time. But small businesses often struggle to figure out what type of offer will attract the most customers.
Tool: Google Trends + Typeform
Use Google Trends to determine what’s trending in your sector and understand consumer sentiment. To dive deeper, create quick surveys using Typeform to understand what offers would appeal most to your audience.
Example: A regional organic snack brand used Google Trends to identify “sugar-free sweets” as a rising keyword during Diwali. They created an online poll using Typeform, asking customers which flavors they’d prefer, and launched a limited-edition Diwali gift box accordingly. This data-driven approach helped them achieve a 20% increase in sales over the previous year.
Bonus Tip for Typeform
Share the Typeform survey link on your social channels to involve a broader audience in the decision-making process.
3. To Build Emotional Connect with Consumers
Festivals are about emotions, family, and joy. Crafting a campaign that touches these feelings can set a small business apart.
Tool: InShot + Instagram
InShot is a free video editing app that can help small businesses produce high-quality, engaging videos for platforms like Instagram. By creating short, authentic behind-the-scenes videos or customer testimonials, brands can forge genuine connections.
Example: For a D2C food brand, we used InShot to create a video montage of their creators (women across rural India) , adding a touch of the local community story. We posted it on Instagram which led to an uptick in traction from people who appreciated the vision and the personal touch.
Bonus Tip for Instagram Content
In absence of ideas/ time, shoot your office and team’s videos celebrating or gearing up the festival in ethnic outfits for the world to see the happy you! Don’t miss to add this as your WA status!
4. Increasing Sales Through Hyper-Targeted Marketing
Large corporations often leverage precise targeting to attract customers. Small businesses can now use similar strategies thanks to affordable advertising tools.
Tool: Meta Ads
With a small budget, small businesses can still tap into the power of hyper-targeted marketing. Meta Ads Manager allows for targeting specific locations, interests, behaviours, and demographics—allowing even niche brands to find their ideal customers during the festive rush.
Example: A neighbourhood bakery offering gluten-free goodies used Facebook Ads to target customers in their city who showed interest in “healthy eating” and “festivals.” The bakery spent just ₹1,500 over ten days but achieved over 1,000 clicks to their offer page.
Bonus Tip for Meta Ads
Try to run a unique campaign for each audience segment thereby making it at-least 3 to 4 campaigns with distinct imagery/ messaging.
5. Customer Retention & Activation
The festival rush is great, but what’s even better is retaining the customers. Small businesses need to think beyond discounts and make sure customers coming back to them.
Tool: Mailchimp
Email marketing isn’t dead; in fact, it’s thriving, especially with personalised content. Mailchimp, with its free tier, allows businesses to send personalised emails, festive thank-you notes, and follow-up discount offers.
Example: We used mail marketing for a stevia based brand to reactivate its customer base. This led to a 35% customer activation, building loyalty and driving repeat purchases. The brand was able to survive and even scale covid with this 1 simple activity.
Bonus Tip for Mailchimp
Don’t miss to add a CTA at the end of the mailer – it could be ‘buy now’ for B2C businesses and ‘schedule a call’ for B2B businesses!
Leveraging Creative Thinking as an Equaliser
The beauty of festival marketing today lies in the power of creative thinking combined with low-cost tools. The high cost of traditional advertising is no longer a barrier. Ultimately, success during the festival season is not about how much money you have to spend but how creatively you use the tools available to you. As these democratised technologies continue to evolve, they make the competitive landscape a little more even—allowing small players to shine brightly in the festive light.
Check the coverages here -
Logistics, A Great Career Choice for Next-Generation Women
Founder, Umanshi Marketing, Tamanna Gupta, reveals her journey to becoming a marketing leader, the challenges she had to overcome, and how other women can do it too.
Tamanna believes logistics is not the only industry that is primarily male-dominated. ”Unfortunately, gender inequality in the workforce starts from the beginning, with fewer women completing college degrees, particularly in STEM fields. Thankfully, with the rise of new-age tech-enabled start-ups and more globaliSed work culture, women are making their presence felt across various industries, including logistics.”
She has worked with inclusive companies like Allcargo Logistics and Emiza Supply Chain, whose founders were progressive enough to appoint her to senior positions. “However, I experienced gender discrimination while working at a regional distribution center in Delhi. A male junior resigned within a few weeks of joining because he did not want to
report to a woman senior. I chose to focus on being a competent, goaloriented professional. I earned the respect of my male colleagues and the clients and proved that gender should not affect anyone’s professional abilities.”
Tamanna thinks women don’t get any advantages while working in logistics. “Women have a disadvantage due to working conditions, such as the lack of separate bathrooms and safety concerns, especially in warehouses in desolate areas. I experienced safety concerns when working at a warehouse on the outskirts of Lucknow, where no transportation
was available after seven pm. I was forced to ride on the back of a warehouse in-charge’s bike through a dark, dangerous road.”
She shares that no genderrelated pros exist in any sector, specifically in Logistics. “Today, we are a marketing agency to 12+ logistics companies, including Liladhar Pasoo, Celcius Logistics, Alisped Logistics, Givven Logistics, and others. While we have only male clients and an all-women’s team strategizing and leading these accounts, none have made us feel
otherwise.” On assistance from business leaders, she shares, “As a marketing leader, I have seen that business owners, founding members, and leadership teams are more aware of the value that competent professionals can bring to their companies and are creating a gender-neutral work environment.”
Over the last decade in logistics, Tamanna has held diverse roles, from corporate sales to marketing communications. “As a marketing lead, my challenge was to educate the leadership teams on the importance of marketing and brandbuilding in the logistics industry. As sales head, I learned that good salespeople sell, but great ones show value.”
Ultimately, Tamanna is optimistic about the growth prospects in logistics, thus making it a great career choice for next-generation female professionals. “Don’t hesitate to roll up your sleeves and get your hands dirty because hard work is rewarded and respected across industries. I took on any task that needed to be done to achieve the company goals, whether it was visiting remote warehouses, personally meeting with customers in hot and crowded marketplaces, or even getting loading and unloading the trucks. At the end of the day, logistics is all about delivering, and who better than women to “deliver”?
First appeared on:- https://cargoinsights.co/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/CI_March_2023_Website.pdf
What is a Virtual CMO or Outsourced CMO or CMO Outsourced?
What is a Virtual CMO or Outsourced CMO or CMO Outsourced?
In simplest terms, a Virtual CMO or Outsourced CMO or CMO outsourced is a full-time CMO working part time and may work for multiple businesses at the same time.
Note: though the service nomenclature is generic, some businesses have patented the term Outsourced CMO (OS-CMO) and or CMO outsourced (CMO-OS).
Who usually hires a Virtual CMO?
Startups and small businesses may not be able to afford a full-time CMO and or may not have enough marketing and branding activities to justify a full-time CMO
How does the Virtual CMO arrangement work?
It works very much like any full-time employee working part time. V-CMO reports to the CEO who is also one of the co-founders in case of startups/ small businesses. V-CMO has a team of 1 to 3 marketing members that work full-time at the startup/ small business. This team reports to V-CMO.
A Virtual CMO for all practical purposes, for both internal and external world, a company employee. The V-CMO even has a company official email ID for all communication purposes.
What is a Virtual CMO or OS-CMO or part time CMO responsible for?
A virtual CMO (V-CMO) or outsourced CMO is responsible for all the functions and responsibility of a full-time CMO. These include:
- Identify challenges and aspirations of the organization
- Strategize the marketing and branding (M&B) plans in tune to the above
- Draw & implement M&B blueprint to resolve the above challenges and achieve aspirations
- Prepare budget in accordance with marketing activities envisaged
- Implement the marketing and branding activities as per the blueprint
- Evaluate and measure the activities on an on-going basis
- Report and update the management about the outcomes and plan for the future
Is V-CMO also responsible for execution and results?
Indeed, a V-CMO is responsible for drawing the strategy into the blueprint and converting the blueprint into actionables. These actionables show desired results over a period of time milestones set. The plans are monitored, evaluated and measured on an on-going basis. V-CMO works closely with the full-time marketing team to ensure flawless execution.
What tools/ media does a V-CMO use for strategic & blueprint dispensation?
A V-CMO is supposed to be well versed with all marketing and branding tools and media such as advertising, PR, media planning, internal communication, digital marketing, events & sponsorships, merchandising, brand positioning, market research, etc. S/he may not use all the tools but must know which one to use and how as and when required to deliver results.
How much time does a V-CMO dedicate and what is her/ his fees?
A Virtual CMO comes at a fraction of a cost as compared to that of a full-time CMO. The duration and fees of the V-CMO is dependent on the quantum and complexity of the work to be done. It is also impacted by the V-CMO’s work experience both in terms of number of years and profile of work. V-CMO visits client’s office for a fixed number of days in a month eg once in a week or once in 10 days or once a fortnight as per the quantum of work and pre-decided frequency of visit. Apart from these pre-decided dates of visit, a V-CMO is also in touch over phone/ emails with the team/ management as and when needed.
Does a V-CMO charge a fixed or variable remuneration?
The fees drawn by a V-CMO could be either fixed or a combination of fixed and variable. This is dependent on what has been agreed upon between the V-CMO and the management. Many-a-times, the V-CMO could be setting up basics in an organization hence may draw a fixed fee and when s/he is showing results (lead generation/ sales etc), the fee could be a combination of fixed and variable dependent on the performance
Are there any other additional charges to be borne by the organization?
As per the marketing strategy chalked and the action plan drawn, 3rd party agencies may be hired to do specific assignments. These agencies may constitute of digital marketing agencies, website design agency or creative agency. A Virtual CMO, just like a full-time CMO, presides over what kind of agency/ expert needs to be hire, evaluate the agencies, negotiate deliverables and fees and appoint the right agency/ expert. This agency/ expert is paid by the business directly. Similarly, there may be collaterals or merchandise printed/ produced, these costs are part of the marketing plan and borne by the organization directly.
What are the advantages or benefits of hiring a Virtual CMO?
- Fraction of a cost - You are able to hire a person of high caliber just at a 18-20% of the cost if you would have hired him/ her full time
- Your value of time – In most of the startups and small businesses, founders tend to don the multiple hats therefore diluting the value of his/ her time. You as a founder must focus on your core business and leave marketing and branding to an expert who tells you what to do and does it for you
- Unbiased and yet entrenched - Since V-CMO is an outsider and a consultant, you get an unbiased view of your organization and its activities. At the same time, V-CMO
- Consistency & speed – In absence of a person taking complete ownership of a task/ activity, the activity tends to fizzle out after a point of time. With a V-CMO, there is a consistency in the marketing and branding efforts. Moreover, a V-CMO’s network enables them to get the right partners on-board quickly to turn-around things faster
- Business edge - Your business gets an edge over your competitors by creating a distinct value proposition or retaining more customers
- Strategic resource - Your marketing team maybe junior hence equipped for transactional activities such as printing collaterals etc., a senior resource such as V-CMO looks at the larger picture, brings in strategic inputs, sets goals and then channelizes resources to achieve these goals for the organization
How to make better sales calls?
A good Sales Person actually a perfect matchmaker
A typical sales call –
Sales Person (SP) – Nice to meet you finally. I am XYZ from ABC organization. My product is Blah Blah specializing in something something. My 32 offices are across the country/ globe with round the clock customer service. I have the best product in this industry.
Client – That’s nice. We are already working with PQR Company for this product since a long time. What is the price of your product?
SP – Sir, it is USD/ INR #@*
Client – That’s too expensive. Our current spends are almost half of it plus 2 years maintenance/ service complimentary.
SP – No problem, sir. Just give me a chance. I can match those prices or even get you a better deal. Please allow me a few days’ time to revert to you.
[End of the sales call]
So what do you think was wrong in this sales call?
1. Entire Pitch was as ‘I’ –
a. It isn’t about YOU but your organization. At least in your introductory pitch, use words such as ‘we’, ‘us’, ‘our’, etc. This lends more credibility to your statements/ claims because it appears that an entire set-up backs you.
b. It isn’t about an individual - While a sales person’s charm can make or break deals, clients know that the onus of delivering will be on the organization. So it is eventually organisations and its set-up that will win the confidence of the client.
c. From a sales person’s perspective – Using ‘we’, ‘our’, makes SP look humble. Or else he may come across boastful. Using of words such as ‘I’, ‘me’ also may sound awkward and arrogant especially if a team has accompanied the sales person. It would make his team look redundant.
2. Concluded the Sales Call with Price –
a. More than 95% of the clients will ask you about the price in your very first few minutes of the meeting
b. Move away from quoting a price unless your product is positioned only on pricing. Jumping on to asking about the price is almost every client’s pet peeve
c. Smartly move away from that topic. If the client returns to it or keeps insisting on price, politely say that we will take up the topic in sometime. Or mention that you would like to have a few details about his set-up before sharing the price. This will help you extract details from the client so that you can sell better
3. Missed to bring out the Product Benefits and in a Measurable Way
a. The SP mentioned that his product is the best in the country/ globally but did not state why?
b. Many-a-times SP thinks that his/ her duty is only to share the product features. S/he assumes that the clients by themselves should be able to understand the rest of the story
c. You ought to mention how will each feature help the client do better. E.g.
Note – Not many service providing organisations have measurable results to boast of. You can come up with these numbers by picking up a sample of clients and analyzing how has your service/ product worked for them. This may take a few weeks but it is better than making statements that ‘Our product is the best in the industry’
4. Missed the Client’s Side of the Story –
a. Sales isn’t about I, Me, Myself – The SP completely missed to ask the client about HIM
b. The 3 most integral part of sales is
i. Know your product very well
ii. Understand the client’s challenges/ issues
iii. Marry the above two so that the client gets a great solution and he is hooked on to your product
c. You can begin with asking questions such as –
You maybe surprised that over 95% of the clients would share all the above information. They like people who take GENIUNE interest in their issues/ challenges and want to partner with them rather than just sell their wares.
Note - there may be some clients who may be cold and not share any of the information above but don’t let this dishearten you. Introspect how else you could have got them to open up, after all practice makes man perfect
5. Missed to Pose as an Expert
a. While clients are good at what they are doing, they aren’t the experts of that domain, but the sales person is.
b. Clients look forward for service providers who are experts and can add value to what they are currently doing. After all even the clients want to appear as heroes in their organization
c. Do share latest developments about a particular product/ practice. Talk about the changing trends and ways of doing the same thing better. It would be great if your produce/ service were able to incorporate the trends that you speak about. If not, then at least the client learnt something new and he will be thankful to you!
Be genuine in everything you do! And don’t forget that it is you, Mr. seller of a product/ service who many-a-times makes the clients the shining stars of their organization!
Happy Selling!
How to be a better boss?
2 simple steps and a giant leap for boss-kind
In our early days of career, we have been taught how to handle our clients, what works/ doesn’t work in an organization, the SOP for XYZ, the process for ABC but we have never been told how to manage people and lead teams. This, we are supposed to learn by OURSELVES on the job.
Growing up the ladder means more responsibilities and therefore more work to do. Subsequently we start to RECEIVE people as teams. Hence when we become bosses, people reporting to us become our tools of getting work done. We start delegating work and expecting/ commanding it to be done. That’s how we largely look at our team – tool to get work done.
1. Here is the first simple step to be a better boss:
a. MY team isn’t ME
One of our first mistakes is that we expect all of them to be mini replicas of us:
· If we are passionate about a process, we expect them to feel the same wave
· When we prioritize a certain task, we want them to place it on top of their checklist
As if all this isn’t enough, our certain personality traits are also expected to be followed. For instance, we work on our birthdays/ anniversaries, attend calls/ mails when on leave, etc. We expect the same from our team. If they don’t, then it seems they aren’t serious about their job leave aside their career!
Bosses don’t get that MY team isn’t ME. They are a different bunch of people. If we want them to experience the passion that we do in our work then we have to MAKE THEM FEEL it. We have to be in their shoes to first understand what drives them. Not everyone is you. You probably work for money or fame or passion or because you don’t know what else to do. But your team member may have altogether different set of reasons to work.
b. Understand your team member –
Over a cup of coffee/ casual conversations –
· Understand why does s/he work?
· What drives him/ her?
· What are his/ her priorities?
· Where does s/he see herself 1/ 3 years down the line? – don’t be surprised if they do not have the answer to these questions. Ask them to think and let you know
This little investment in understanding your team member will not only be able to connect more from him/ her professionally but also personally!
c. How to know thy team member –
· On Monday mornings – instead of asking them to see you with their checklist or an updated gant chart of XYZ project, begin with asking how was their weekend/ what did they do?
· On Friday afternoon/ long weekend – ask them what fun do they plan to have over the weekend?
· Take coffee breaks with them
o Ask them if they read a particular book or saw a recent movie
o Which city/ school do they come from; see if you have any connect
o Talk about some interests/ topics that you may have in common
Note –
1. Whatever you do, please be genuine. People can see through fake emotions easily
2. Do share your stories with them so that it looks like an equal conversation
3. Tough thing - You may not feel engaged with the person right away, it may take some time but yes do give it a shot
2. Marrying the departmental goals to that of an individual
Then comes the next step of identifying what does your organization expect from you and your team. You should be able to break it down and share the goals amongst your team members
1. Identify the goals and aspirations of your team members,
2. Know their likes/ dislikes and of course their strengths/ weaknesses
3. Divide the departmental goal into smaller goals
4. Provide the context and show them the larger picture that they are part of
5. Assign goals and tasks to team members basis their aspirations
6. These goals must be specific and measurable
Let me share my experience here: One of my organizations wanted 50% incremental revenue from my department in a particular year. I knew that this revenue could not be achieved from farming existing clients. We weren’t left with a choice but to go out and get new clients. The challenge was that being a leading brand, we always had clients lined up for us and had never gone out seeking business.
I knew that 3 out of my 5 team members were extroverts and could be groomed to acquire new clients. However the issue was with the rest of the 2 who were introverts and would never make cold calls. Their strength was in research and managing relationships. I mapped the introverts to extroverts to create mini teams. The introverts and extroverts were given revenue targets and broad possible approaches to achieve it. They were then asked to prepare a plan to achieve it. One of the parts of the plan they presented was: introverts were responsible for identifying and generating a database of prospective clients while extroverts were to make the sales call. Since sales calls are more time consuming, they realigned the existing account management between themselves so that they continue to leverage from them.
Net result:
1. Complete ownership and accountability coz it was their idea and I did not tell the team what to do/ how to do it
2. Each member capitalised on their strengths and passion
3. Better camaraderie amongst the team!
4. Departmental goals achieved
Summary:
First step to be a better boss is to understand your team members. Second is to be able to break down and assign the departmental goals into tasks that befit each team member. This is easier said than done coz there would be a void where you may not find any team member fitting in the bill and you will have step down to fill the void. Don’t think that this will bring down your status. Trust me, these things only lead to people admiring you that you are a boss that leads by example. And yes, simultaneously prepare your team to be able to fill that gap in the future or you may get stuck in execution.
Well this write-up covers only 15-20% of what it takes to be a better boss. Being a better boss is a full-time job and you have to work towards it. But believe me that it does repay in multiples. When even after a decade, your team members send you messages that they miss working with you – you tell yourself that it is an investment that was totally worth it!
