Coimbatore has become a hot bed of e-marketing. The adoption of internet based marketing has resulted in rise of job orders from overseas customers. Coimbatore has more than 50,000 SMEs, and this initiative has reduced marketing costs and increased international job orders.
The Tamil Nadu Association of Cottage and Micro Enterprises (TACT) disclosed that 15 percent of units in Coimbatore are having their own websites. The major industry types that Coimbatore houses are engineering, automotive components, textile machinery and pumps. Industries in Coimbatore have recorded 10 -15 percent increase in job orders from abroad. J. James, president of TACT, says, “What we thought would be a cost-cutting measure — adoption of e-marketing — has yielded more profits.”
K Raja, in December 2009, started a website for his engineering unit in Coimbatore and for the first time secured a job order from a German customer this year. He comments that by building links and creating valuable content help to gain traffic. Then M Saravanakumar, the owner of a Coimbatore-based Auto Engineering Works company, has 40 % orders from overseas customers. He says that, ‘profit margins in the domestic market were a fraction of those on foreign orders’. He recently purchased five new machines worth Rs 26 lakh each for his unit.
E-marketing can help SMEs perform efficiently in the global market. The reason is it gives SMEs global reach, makes lower cost interactive campaigns that brings measurable results and improves upon organizations’ marketing goals.
