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by Rajen Kumar

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Running a magazine concentrating on issues of small and medium enterprises and managing with limited resources is a like living life on the edge. In this rush of meeting deadlines,...

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Apr 2012

EMRC, Brussels Associates with SME WORLD as its New Media Partner

EMRC has promoted business partnerships with the developing world and has organised dozens of business forums in key decision-making cities, such as Amsterdam, Rome,...

Interviews

Google's Initiative in Empowering Indian SMEs

SME WORLD Bureau
Mar 2010

In its unique endeavour in empowering India's small and medium sector, Google India announced the extension of its free advertising coupons offer for SMEs across India. As part of this initiative Google India also announced a new service called JumpStart wherein – Google will offer free expert support to help enterprises build an online advertising campaign to attract new customers.

The new service is likely to provide a quick-and-easy way to SMBs to get their Google advertising campaign off to a successful start. Googles specialists will work directly with SMBs to set up their AdWords account and build a customised campaign that suits their business and the budget. Introduced in Chandigarh as a pilot, this initiative has received immense appreciation by small-medium businesses across India. Responding to this popularity, Google India is extending this initiative to empower more and more SMBs.

The small and medium business (SMBs) sector which constitutes 80% of the total number of industrial enterprises in India often faces a challenge when it comes to advertising given the high costs involved. Recognizing this roadblock and the huge potential for SMBs to grow, Google India has taken a mix of offline and online initiatives to partner with SMBs and educate these businesses about the power of internet advertising. Organizing workshops and seminars in regions across India are some of the offline initiatives by Google.

Google's innovative search technologies connect millions of people around the world with information every day. Founded in 1998 by Stanford PhD. students Larry Page and Sergey Brin, Google today is a top web property in all major global markets. Google's targeted advertising program provides businesses of all sizes with measurable results, while enhancing the overall web experience for users. Google is headquartered in Silicon Valley with offices throughout the Americas, Europe and Asia.

“We were delighted with the response we got for our pilot initiative and today we are extending the offer to all SMBs who are looking for advertising options on internet but don't know how and where to start,” said Google India's Head-Online Sales Sridhar Seshadri.

Sridhar in conversation with SME WORLD.

SMEs is a very big sector and most of it is yet unorganised and lags behind on many fronts. Although Google's efforts to help SMEs with online advertising are appreciable. Has google done any survey or chalked out any programme as to how many SMEs it plans to generate in terms of on-line advertising and in how much time frame?

A significant portion of the business comes from the SMB sector and the investments of SMBs in digital are growing in leaps and bounds. Google has launched a Jumpstart Programme for SMBs in India. This includes 3 key components - a phone help desk 1860 266 6622 which an SMB can call for help on digital, digital account management help by the Google Partner and a FREE Google Adwords Voucher worth Rs 2,500 on their trial campaign. Google is confident that with these services, SMBs can grow their business significantly in India and Internationally. Aryan Florist is a case in point - a online florist for whom 90% of business in now acquired through Google Adwords.

Most of the SMEs are wanting in technical efficiency or not ntet savvy. As it is, Google's on-line advertising is a cumbersome process as most of the SMEs feel incapable to understand the procedures. Have you done anything to simplify online advertising?

The Adwords programme contains several tutorials (video, text) that explain in very simple terms how an SMB can start advertising and maximise his business from the Adwords programme.

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