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| Mr: Sagar Chaudhuri Founder- HiFives , Mr.Suryanarayana Kodukullu-Head of SMB Sales,Google India, Mr.Vipul Jain- COO Zoffio.com, Mr.Arun Kumar-Senior VP Portea Medical, Mr.Gagan Singla, CMO-Simplilearn are the Bangalore Google SME Heroes. |
Google launches ‘Google My Business’ to help SMBs to create and manage their presence online
Introduces Google SME Heroes campaign with CII to encourage more SMBs to adopt the Internet
Bengaluru. Google today announced the launch of a simple and easy to use new product, ‘Google My Business’ to help Indian small medium businesses succeed online. The new product designed to work across both desktop and mobile devices (tablets and smart phones) will help small medium businesses to create and update their business info on Google Search, Maps and Google+ from one place for free in both Hindi and English. Google My Business makes it easier for businesses to create their online presence even when they don't have a website and manage it from their smartphones, making it easier for customers to get in touch with local businesses when they search for them online. Google will also offer free support through a toll free helpline number (18004190935) to businesses inBangalore, to help set up their presence online.
According to latest research conducted by Zinnov on behalf of Google, India has over 48 million small medium businesses and out of this over 8 to 10 million SMBs can immediately gain from adopting Internet technologies. India already has over 250 million plus Internet users and is set to overtake US in 2015 by reaching 350 million Internet users. But small medium businesses in India have been slow to adopt the Internet. Out of the 48 million SMBs in India only 5 to 6 percent businesses have a website. Majority of small medium businesses in India have ignored the potential of Internet to grow and expand their horizons. The challenge has been lack of awareness on the benefits of Internet and second has been the know-how required to succeed online.
Speaking about Google’s plans to overcome the challenges in India,SuryanarayanaKodukulla, Head of SMB sales, Google India said, “India is a strategic market for Google and we are committed to invest in solutions that cater to the needs of SMBs in India. Small businesses have been key to Google’s success from the very beginning. Globally over 2 million businesses use Google’s advertising platform to find potential buyers on Internet. We have set a very ambitious plan of bringing down the barriers that inhibits SMBs in India from embracing the Internet.”
“As part of our Digitising India mission, we are introducing this new mobile based product ‘Google My Business’ that will help Indian SMBs to create and manage their Internet presence and help them to connect with potential customers online. We are also investing in extending deeper support services through a local partner network and local language call centers. In addition to this, to tackle the challenge of lack of awareness around the benefits of Internet we are partnering with CII to help create awareness amongst SMBs to accelerate the adoption of Internet.” he added.
Launching the first of many initiatives with CII, Google India also announced the launch of Google SME Heroesinitiative in Bangalore. The initiative aims to showcase and celebrate local small medium businesses that have embraced the Internet to grow their business. The national campaign will shortlist 5 finalists in each major city of India, who will then be invited to the national capital for a mega SMB event where four regional and one national winner will be announced. The objective behind the campaign is to inspire small medium businesses by showcasing successful entrepreneurs who have excelled by using Internet innovatively.
Speaking about the association, SujithHaridas, Deputy Director General, CII said, “The Micro Small Medium Enterprises (MSME) segment will play a significant role in the emergence of the Indian economy. The development of this segment is extremely critical to meet the national imperatives of financial inclusion and generation of significant levels of employment across urban and rural areas across the country. Internet and cloud technologies can really help MSME stay competitive and compete with large national and International players. We are delighted to partner with Google to create better understanding amongst the businesses on the benefits of adopting Internet and will carry out joint initiatives to address the needs of MSME in India.”
The five finalists from Bangaluru, shortlisted by Google and CII were chosen on the basis of business model, impact of Internet on the business.
Simplilearn: Krishna Kumar, CEO
Simplilearn isa leading provider of suite of professional certification courses for professionals. To be able to address the key challenge of generating qualified leads, the company has been using Google AdWords platform. In the last 12 months, the contribution of Ad words towards lead generation has increased by 200% and the increase in revenue through Ad words leads have increased over 300%.
Portea:Ganesh Krishnan, Co-Founder &Chariman and Meena Ganesh, CEO & Co-Founder
Realizing the dearth of affordable yet quality medical care at home options in India, Portea was established.The company started online advertising in late 2013 and today 70% - 95% of their marketing budget is dedicated to online marketing. Google AdWords has helped them to get relevant audience to their website and create awareness about their services.Their revenue has grown over 18X since the beginning of 2014.
Zoffio:AbhishekKamani,Founder
Zoffio.comis a specialist online storethat is focused on office supplies, stationery and other office solutions. To get relevant audience to its e-commerce store and reaching out to them in a cost-effective way, the company started using Google AdWords in 2013. With the kind of traffic it has witnessed, the company is expecting 4x to 5x revenue in the year 2015 and will continue to evolve their digital advertising efforts.
HiFives: SagarChaudhuri, Founder
HiFivesis a cloud-based global platform for employee rewards and recognition that helps organizations to provide a rich and seamless experience to their employees with minimum administrative overheads.The company started using the online tool to create awareness among the consumers about their offerings and attract relevant target audience. Today 30%-40% of their queries come in through online channels and the probability of conversion of these leads is much higher than other tools such as cold calling.
Savaari:Gaurav Agarwal, Founder
Savaari.com provides local, outstation and airport cab in Bangalore, Delhi, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai. With the aim to get targeted traffic to expand its presence, the company started using online marketing 3 years back including usage of Google AdWords. Today online marketing accounts for 45% of Savaari.com’s total revenue.As a result of the recent engagement with Google to drive traffic on mobile searches, the company has witnessed an increase in absolute bookings by around 3X and mobile contributes 40% of its total traffic.
About Google Inc.
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. For more information, visitwww.google.com.
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