Pain Area
Our client, an IIT Bombay alumnus and gold medalist in Urban Sociology, had authored multiple books on this subject.
Despite being meritorious and the academic background necessary, the client was not recognized in the ecosystem and wanted to become a speaker/consultant in the domain of smart cities.
Reason for approaching TDF:
The client got to know of the kind of information deep dive The Digital Fellow does as a business consultant through a third-party influencer. Our client approached us for consultancy after following our content online.
TDF Research
Initial Observations
We realized that an author with significant domain knowledge can’t progress without marketing. The client needed a branding solution for ease of discovery not only by universities and governmental institutions but also peer authors and editors in reputed publication houses.
Industry Research & Findings
We studied the requirements and the industry the client belongs to. We arrived at the following observations about the industry.
There was no similar activity done in the client’s domain of expertise by anyone else. As a personal brand, the client didn’t have any competition in the industry. There were also no speakers or influencers who had made a mark in this category.
This gave our client the first-mover advantage in this industry. However, lack of competition also posed a challenge for industry research so that the client can learn from past errors in digital marketing.
Business challenges:
- Internal challenge: The client had familial commitments and a supporting job of a guest faculty member at an institute that took up all the time and energy in brand building.
- External challenge: Since there was no speaker or influencer in this subject of expertise whose work we could refer to, there was significant risk associated with the success of the business strategy.
Persona Reseach
We created buyer personas of four kinds for the client, based on the likelihood of those personas showing interest in our client’s expertise:
- Government officials: These people look for professionals who can help ideating smart city blueprints. However, they are seldom active online and mostly spend their leisure time with family members.
- College administrators & faculty: They are most interested in unique and knowledgeable guidance in the area of expertise. They are active on social media.
- College students: They can also refer speakers on the subject in their departments concerned. They are highly active on social media.
- Professionals in private sector: These people also show interest in the author’s subject and can use knowledge of speakers in this domain if they get to know them on social media.
TDF Execution
Based on the persona research, we executed the following steps to weed out strategic bottlenecks in the buyers’ journey of our client:
- Digital asset creation: To build a digital identity, we developed a basic website and activated the client’s accounts in all major social media platforms.
- Content repurposing & creation: Using crucial excerpts from the book our client wrote, we created informative and appealing content to engage traffic across digital domain.
- Content authenticity: We created original content and marketed it digitally with only search engine optimization to help the client achieve brand discovery organically.
- Brand awareness generation: To make our client be known, we regularly developed and distributed content on the subject and promoted the same across social media platforms.
- Event announcement: We also updated potential audience of the client approaching through the website or social media about events on the domain the client had attended and are to attend in future.
Immediate Results
- Within a year of consultation, the client got an offer for publishing a book by a reputed publishing house.
- The client conducted workshops for World Bank on the subject.
- The client was interviewed by a reputed national business magazine for over five times over insights from the books.
- The client was approached by reputed business universities for workshops and is regularly working as an influencer-cum-speaker in the subject of urban sociology.
Future Result Prediction
The client wants to become a domain authority and with this rate of success would easily achieve this target in 4-5 years from now.
TDF’s Process
- Audit: A thorough analysis of the client/ brand’s present assets, business growth stage and idea about digital marketing helps us assess the steps required for the brand to grow digitally.
- Recommendation: TDF advises about the merits of digital marketing while cautioning the brand about its past mistakes in digital marketing so that the brand owner is totally aware about their business journey and the reasons behind stagnation or growth alike.
- Execution: After recommendation, TDF works in close association with the brand to create a digital identity it was lacking. TDF also educates the brand strategically and technologically so that the brand owner is confident of the results of its business decisions.