“Pandemic is accelerating the rise of digital transformation”: Kaushal Thakkar

Kaushal Thakkar

Kaushal Thakkar is the founder of INFIDIGIT; a company focused on driving digital growth and generating higher ROI via Organic marketing. Kaushal believes in the sheer power of numbers with proficiency in creating solutions that drive long term growth. With more than 18 years of experience in the world of Digital Marketing, he leads a team of 80+ Digital Marketing Experts.

Tell us about Infidigit's journey?

Infidigit came into existence to fill a gap I observed in the SEO space ever since my 5 years' tenure at Myntra. There were no SEO focused companies in India back then and businesses were compelled to seek assistance from international agencies. However, upon founding Infidigit in April 2017, I realised that there was even a dearth of SEO-trained professionals in the market. Hence, the call to train young talent in SEO was taken. As they grew, so did the organization. Starting with Myntra, the team gradually became adept at churning out astounding success stories for brands using organic channels.

Today, four years down the road, we are a team of 80+ professionals that have scripted growth stories that won over 20+ clients as well as won numerous awards. In fact, Infidigit was the first Indian agency to win the Best Retail Marketing Initiative trophy at the Search Engine Land Awards in 2020. The experience was humbling.

Moving forward, we want to assist organizations with ASO (App Store Optimization) and

CRO (Conversion Rate Optimization) services. There are plans to further expand our clientele to more geographic locations, apart from the USA, South Africa, Australia where we already provide our consultancy services to various companies.

What makes infidigit a leading AdTech agency in India?

Infidigit has strived and successfully provided the best ROI for its clients by harnessing the potential of organic channels. That's why our clientele has only grown since the company's inception. Also, unlike most agencies, we assign a dedicated team to each project. Every project is unique in its own right with its own set of goals; scattered focus can be a deterrent in such circumstances.

Most importantly, the Infidigit team works as an extended part of the client's workforce. We are completely involved and in sync with the teams on the client side. This works beautifully in the smooth implementation of our strategies.

How has been the business so far in the last year? How do you see the business growing in the next five years?

The pandemic brought in sudden and wide scale changes in the market. Budgets were slashed across industries and, in most cases, marketing budgets lost the biggest chunk. In such times, the only way to make it work was with strategies that delivered more with less resources. SEO offered such opportunities to brands and they soon realized that. Hence, Infidigit has been getting a record number of leads since last year.

This sudden shift to online channels among consumers isn't a temporary phenomenon. The shift was already happening over the past few years; the pandemic just accelerated the transition. Therefore, brands will be aggressively competing for visibility online in the long run and the promise that SEO holds will definitely bring a regular influx of leads for marketers like us.

What are the key challenges the business has witnessed in the COVID times?

Despite the digital revolution that kicked in during the 2010s, most brands still relied on traditional mediums such as physical stores to drive sales/revenue. However, the several months of lockdown last year meant this approach wouldn't work anymore.

But then, those who already had an online presence had an edge. Take, for example, two of our clients - Mochi Shoes and Zivame. Both brands had an online presence and when the lockdown hit, we brainstormed and revamped our strategies to increase their visibility and also the visits to their sites exponentially. The move provided a major revenue channel for the brands at a time when the pandemic forced many brick-and-mortar stores across the country for an indefinite period.

What are the key digital trends keeping in mind the current situation?

I would say marketers must keep an eye on user behaviour and try to look for associated patterns within the data. In the current circumstances, the market is witnessing drastic changes in user preferences, with new trends emerging and record numbers of visits being reported. For example, the visits observed during online sales recently were much higher than the ones in pre-COVID years. The growing comfort of availing e-commerce services for a number of needs signifies a major change that brands must be prepared for.

Also, as compared to desktops, mobile devices are much more commonly used in India. Thus, they have become a major instrument for online activity. It is the future of computing and Internet accessibility. Brands that capitalize on it by entering the app/mobile site space shall reap massive benefits in the long run.

Which sectors are seeking digital adoption? How Infidigit is helping them grow?

E-commerce, BFSI, IT & Engineering, Healthcare & Medical, Education - these are some of the major sectors with businesses seeking digital adoption. At Infidigit, we develop customised solutions keeping their niche in mind to employ best SEO practices. Most of these businesses are all for long term growth and in return, they enjoy higher returns on their investments as a result of our data-backed strategies.

With another lockdown on the cards, how is Infidigit helping businesses sustain?

Brands have to rely on the most effective/efficient platforms to ensure sustainability and increase revenue in the coming days. Infidigit is prepared to help its clients in this endeavour by focusing on strategies that boost visibility on Google for generic as well as intent-driven keywords thereby capturing space for them at every stage of the buyer's journey.

Highlight some noteworthy campaign infidigit has executed in the recent past

I would take the example of Mochi. The brand has been around for two decades and has predominantly relied on its vast network of brick and mortar stores across India. They did build an online shopping site and partnered with us to optimise it; however, the pandemic changed priorities overnight.

The lockdown shut all stores in India and Mochi had to rely on their website to keep things running. At this time, Infidigit, too, had to think out of the box to find a solution that fit best in these circumstances. Soon enough, we did crack a solution and with the support of the Mochi team, implemented a campaign that achieved 18X ROI and drove an increase of 304.52% in new users within 12 months. This was one of many such success stories that Infidigit helped achieve over the past year and shall continue to do so, despite the market being more volatile than ever.