Ye

ar

Inter
net
User
s**

Penet
ration
(% of
Pop)

Total
Popul
ation

NonUsers
(Inter
net
less)

20
16
*
20
15
*
20
14

6,08
7,16
4
5,83
9,90
5
5,31
9,70
0
4,49
4,30
9
3,73
4,21
9
3,04
7,35
1
2,42
4,15
7
1,76
2,92
5
1,15
7,07
4
768,
776

29.3
%

20,81
0,816

14,72
3,652

1Y
Us
er
Ch
an
ge
4.2
%

28.2
%

20,71
5,010

14,87
5,105

9.8
%

25.8
%

20,61
8,991

15,29
9,291

21.9
%

20,52
1,959

16,02
7,650

18.3
%

20,42
1,862

16,68
7,643

15 %

20,31
5,673

17,26
8,322

18.
4
%
20.
4
%
22.
5
%
25.
7
%
37.
5
%
52.
4
%
50.
5
%
54
%

20
13
20
12
20
11
20
10
20
09
20
08
20
07
20
06
20
05
20
04
20
03
20
02
20
01

1
20
00

1Y
Use
r
Cha
nge

Popul
ation
Chan
ge

247
,25
9
520
,20
5
825
,39
1
760
,09
0
686
,86
8
623
,19
4
661
,23
2
605
,85
1
388
,29
8
269
,57
5
149
,27
8
69,
739

0.46
%

Answer
Sri Lanka Internet Users

0.47
%
0.47
%
0.49
%
0.52
%
0.57
%

Traditional marketing tactics

revolve around the 4 Ps of
12 %
20,20 17,77
0.61
1,312 7,155
%
marketing
Price,
Product,
Placement, and Promotion. In
8.8 % 20,07 18,31
0.65
traditional marketing, we use
8,873 5,948
%
tangibles like cards, print ads in
newspapers
or
magazines,
5.8 % 19,94 18,79
0.69
posters, commercials on TVs
9,553 2,479
%
and Radios and billboards plus
brochures. Printed media was
3.9 % 19,81 19,04
0.72
one of the primary sources
3,816 5,040
%
used
for
marketing
and
advertising. In Sri Lanka, from
499, 2.5 % 19,67 19,17 42.
0.75
the
beginning
we
used
201
2,418 3,217 7
%
tangibles like business cards,
%
newspapers,
magazines,
349, 1.8 % 19,52 19,17 24.
0.79
posters,
as
promotional
922
6,406 6,484 9
%
equipment. From early dates
%
newspapers were very famous
280, 1.4 % 19,37 19,09 -0
0.82
e.g.: Divaina, and it had the
183
4,281 4,098 %
113 %
big portion of customers. So the
280, 1.5 % 19,21 18,93 40
80,
0.82
marketers
focused
on
296
7,032 6,736 %
074 %
commercializing
their
products
200, 1.1 % 19,06 18,86 33. 50,
0.77
and
brands
through
222
1,066 0,844 3
071 %
newspapers,
also
in
magazines,
%
and brochures used during
150, 0.8 % 18,91 18,76 23. 28,
0.7
events like an exhibition and
150
4,866 4,716 5
542 %
huge banners are used on
%
121, NO:
0.6 %
18,78 18,66 86.4205
56, |ADVERTISING|
0.6
REG.
413292866|MCU
ASSIG. NO : 607|
608
3,745
2,137
9
556
%
BMS 2016/2017|LEVEL 6
%

empty lands to attract customers. After printed media, broadcasting or

telecasting the promotions became more famous. Marketers used the
celebrities, like cricketers, cinema stars and singers, etc., to promote their new
products. The number of TV watchers and radio listeners were very high at that
time. People used to spend more time on TV and radio especially during the
civil war on that time, program on a TV for 30 minutes, 10-15 minutes allocated
for advertisements for promoting brands and products. Also used coupon in
shopping malls, to get details of customers to use while new promotions. Use of
sales representatives also another method are used. But after the civil war, we
got introduced to the internet and social media. Which is the new trend called
Digital Marketing.
Digital marketing is the promotion of products or brands via one or more forms
of electronic media. Digital marketers monitor things like what is being viewed,
how often and for how long, sales conversions, what content works and doesnt
work, etc. While the Internet is, perhaps, the channel most closely associated
with digital marketing, others include wireless text messaging, mobile instant
messaging, mobile apps, podcasts, electronic billboards, digital television and
radio channels, etc.
Digital media is so pervasive that consumers have access to information any
time and any place they want it. People got about your products or services
came from you and consisted of only what you wanted them to know. Digital
media is an ever-growing source of entertainment, news, shopping and social
interaction, and consumers are now exposed not just to what your company
says about your brand, but what the media, friends, relatives, peers, etc., are
saying as well. And they are more likely to believe them than you. People want
brands they can trust, companies that know them, communications that are
personalized and relevant, and offers tailored to their needs and preferences.
There are lot of internet marketing techniques which became very effective
way to drag the users towards the Brand. The record of InternetLiveStats
shows that the internet penetration rate was 0.6% in 2000 and 8.8% in 2009.
So up to 2009 it grows very slowly But, the stats drove up after 2010 (after end
of civil war), and the recent report indicate that the penetration rate has
reached 29.3%. This improvement puts Sri Lanka in 57th place among the 201
countries in 2016, according to the InternetLiveStats. Sri Lanka is still a
developing in the field of e-commerce. But with the surge of internet
penetration, the digital marketing ecosystem is growing too
After the Civil War there were several chances available to the marketers.
Above table has shown about the internet penetration in Sri Lanka. How it rises,
marketers have started to take advantage of it. Online advertising started
parallel to the advertising and marketing through the simplex mode. Some
websites started rising, and marketers began to realize the worth of online
marketing. Still, only a very few people engaged in that new pattern, maybe
because it was the beginning of the era of digital marketing. For the start, the
companies have only been looking to posting Ad banners on the websites. It
was like posting an advertisement on newspaper or magazine. Actual matter
started to click as they began to get to know more about it. Then the
companies began to move on to other marketing stages accessible on the
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internet. Also, this new marketing world provided new businesspersons an idea.
So some individuals started digital marketing agencies also.
Digital marketing is wide open around the world, with the e-commerce sites like
Amazon and eBay, they have market them on online. People wouldnt bother
about getting to know it if such sites have been advertised or sold on the
traditional method of marketing like printed media or TV and radio. One-click
check-ins has made it very easier and simple. This feature of digital marketing
is quite supportive to the enterprises that are focusing on global market,
attracting international customers.
Digital Marketing is relatively cost effective. When compared to the cost of
traditional marketing methods, online marketing is pretty cheap. This online
marketing would more likely replace some of the traditional methods like cold
calling, advertising on television and radio. Although there is still some
consideration to the simplex mode of marketing, the number has reduced when
compared to the year 2009 stats. Although there are several methods like the
website, social media marketing, PPC, video marketing, email marketing,
remarketing, and the local marketers only managed to catch up with a few.
Mainly, the website, social media marketing, PPC, and SMS marketing. The
objective of the content and PPC marketing is to rank the companys site on the
top, or near the top lists while been searched. Since the companys site new, or
havent been in the required state for the search engine to display it while
being searched, the digital marketing companies would polish it up for it to be
ranked. According to the ranks, the companys brand and the product get
promoted. Also, PPC is another method where the companies buy visits
through the advertisements on search engines and on other sites.
With the landing of smartphones, Sri Lankans spend more time on the social
media. Readme and Loop Solution conducted a survey in 2013, in which 58% of
respondents access Facebook and Twitter through mobile. Now prices of
smartphones has reduced and any one can have a smart phone around
rs.10,000.Also the prices of internet packages also gone down and you can
have an internet package in less a price as you prefer. Almost 71% of the local
respondents answered that the marketing done through social media has been
quite effective than the traditional media marketing. Also, 49% of the
respondents said that they watch TV less than one hour daily, while only 28%
of them read the newspaper daily.it shows how Sri Lankans attitudes on year
2013.with the above mentioned advantaged when it comes to 2016, the
percentages has increased on social media users.
Over 80% if internet users have a Facebook account of which people spend at
least 50minitues a day. This is almost twice the amount the amount of time
taken to read a newspaper. There are more than 50000 people uses Facebook
who are over 55years of age. There are more than 500000 videos related to
YouTube. Twitter added 2-3 new accounts every second, while there are over
50million tweets every single day.
Radio takes 38 years to reach 50 million users, television takes 13 years to
reach 50 million users, but internet takes only 4 years to reach 50 million users.
Facebook adds over 200 million users in less than a year, google grew over
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50million users in less than 80 days, thats over 500,000 new users every day.
This is how the trend is developed. This is the main Reason digital marketing
became the most important. There are many other digital marketing activities
which our marketers need to focus. Digital Marketing trends like Remarketing,
Google Tag Manager, and email marketing and so on are not very actively used
among the local marketers. Since the industry is still developing one, we could
expect the marketers to get into this trend in future.
Within the short period, Sri Lanka has got adapted to the digital marketing
world. There is a long way to go because this digital world is changing day by
day. If focused on the newly turning up digital marketing environment as well,
the prospect of the domestic market to be a part of the global market would be
rising. If the marketers are already focusing on the global market, it is
advisable to concentrate on the broad range of social media. Social media
doesnt stop with Facebook and Twitter but extends to Snapchat, Instagram and
so on. So focus on the rest of the available global platforms that would attract
the global users. Because via electronic channels and by posting positive
comments, feedbacks about your company or product, you can attract new
customers and build long-lasting relationship. But, we have to be careful,
because it works on both ways. Happy customers can help you, but unhappy
customer can harm your business very seriously.

Reference
http://www.internetlivestats.com/internet-users/sri-lanka/

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