Curating brand-centric content instead of customer-centric content is biggest mistake by marketers, says Satish Kannan of DocsApp

In a conversation with BuzzInContent, Kannan, Co-Founder and CEO, says the brand is open to all kind of content partnerships if it increases engagement with consumers and helps them understand the concept of online doctor consultation

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Akansha Srivastava
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Satish Kannan

Bengaluru-based online doctor consultation platform DocsApp bets high on regional content and considers it to be the next big thing that will drive the content marketing space in India. The brand has already jumped into the bandwagon and creates content in five different languages to reach out to audiences in tier II cities and below.

“We believe that the next big thing in content marketing is a multilingual content strategy. As a brand that caters to the entire nation, especially tier II cities and below, we cannot ignore the importance of regional languages and the customers that communicate through them,” said Satish Kannan, Co-Founder and CEO, DocsApp.

The brand spends half of its marketing budget on content initiatives. The brand is open to content partnerships if such platforms offer the brand ideas and help increase brand engagement with consumers while raising awareness around online doctor consultation.

Kannan said, “Since the online doctor consultation market is still at a nascent stage, what we expect from these platforms is how effectively they can curate engaging content that helps users understand the concept of online doctor consultation while adding a factor of trust.”

The biggest challenge associated with healthcare content marketing is to create engaging content that is entertaining and relatable without confusing the audience, Kannan said.

DocsApp was founded by Kannan and Enbasekar Dinadayalane in 2015, and since then there has been no looking back in terms of growth.

Excerpts:

How much does the brand believe in content marketing and branded content in comparison to regular advertising?

People connect to stories and stories are told through rich and well-showcased content. It is always easier to explain new concepts to the market with a well thought-out campaign. The online healthcare market is still at a nascent stage. We believe it is essential for us as a brand to use content marketing to educate our audience about the benefits of online doctor consultation as a means of primary health care. At DocsApp, we strongly believe in content marketing for brand building, especially in tier II cities and below where there is a constant shortage of doctors.

Health and pharma is a serious category. Generally, content related to the category is serious because it's tough to add an entertainment and fun quotient to it. How difficult or challenging is it to keep the consumers hooked to the content and how do you do it?

Our content marketing strategy is built from the ground up by keeping our users in mind. A piece of serious content can be distributed to people in different ways. It only works if the content that is used to distribute the information is relatable and engaging. The content that we curate is completely consumer-centric and data-driven. The language used is simple and the information disseminated is developed based on the user's lifestyle. Of course, the creativity of our team helps us come up with engaging content ideas.

How much of the total brand's marketing budget is spent on content marketing?

We believe that content is king, and most of our brand marketing is done through content. About half of the brand's marketing budget is spent on content marketing. We are proud of our marketing initiatives and honestly believe that our content marketing efforts will help us in our bigger goal of making healthcare accessible to all.

According to you, what are the challenges related to content marketing and branded content?

Creating content that is both relevant and valuable to its target audience is at the very heart of effective content marketing. One of the significant challenges related to content marketing is to curate quirky content while maintaining the brand's values and principles. It is also essential that the content curated is aligned with the platform policies and regulations so that the distribution of content is hassle-free. With healthcare, it is also challenging to create engaging content that is entertaining and relatable without confusing the audience.

Which is the next big thing in content marketing and does your brand intend to utilise it?

India is a land of diversity; everyone dresses differently, celebrates different festivals and speaks their regional language. While regional languages are dominant in the country, English remains the language of the internet in India. Gradually, India has embraced the internet revolution, and the country's regional language users are coming online, so growth rates are indicative of the rise in internet users growing in regional languages. Hence, we believe that the next big thing in content marketing is a multilingual content strategy. As a brand that caters to the entire nation, especially tier II cities and below, we cannot ignore the importance of regional languages, and the customers that communicate through them.

What are the mistakes brands make while creating and distributing influencer-led content?

The most common mistakes made by brands, in general, is curating brand-centric content instead of customer-centric content. Regarding influencer-led content, the biggest challenge is to collaborate with influencers whose content/approach matches with brand value. Brands often collaborate with influencers and curate content that is off track with what the influencer does in general.

Why do marketers mostly limit themselves to engagement metrics when it comes to measuring the effectiveness of content? Engagement metrics can be deceptive at times.

At DocsApp, we don't only limit ourselves with engagement metrics. We sure do utilise the same to understand the kind of strategy/content is engaging; however, the final parameter is the North Star Metric. (The North Star Metric (NSM) is a specific metric that best captures the core value one's product delivers to customers). Focusing on and optimising company-wide efforts to improve your NSM is key to driving long-term sustainable growth in your company for the brand.

For products/services which rely on ads revenue, engagement metric is the right way. The more engaging the content, the more of the brand's content is consumed, bringing in more revenue for products/services.

What form of content works the most for the brand?

For any piece of content to be successful, it has to be personalised and must speak to a specific person with a particular need, at a specific point in his or her buyer journey. In another way, we have targeted content that helps us reflect a deep understanding of who our audience is and where they are on their way down the path to purchase. To make the content more target-centric, we also curate content in five other regional languages.

Are you open to partner content platforms like TVF, Pocket aces, Scoop Whoop, and what are your expectations from these creators and platforms when they approach you with pitches?

Yes, we are open to partnering with any platform which helps us in making quality healthcare accessible to millions. Since the online doctor consultation market is still in its nascent stage, what we expect from these platforms is how effectively they can curate engaging content, which helps users understand the concept of online doctor consultation, while adding a factor of trust towards it.

What are the brand's major content-based campaigns and initiatives?

Every brand starts small. We began with WhatsApp and social media campaigns to reach out to our initial users. Over the years, as we continued to educate the nascent online healthcare market, our campaigns started to take a fresh breath of air. In our aim to make healthcare accessible to all, we launched "#BaatTohKaro". #BaatTohKaro is our attempt at building a community, which welcomes free speech about matters of physical and mental health. It was aimed at promoting individuals to talk about their psychological and physical health problems instead of suffering in silence. We keep campaigning on important global dates such as World Mental Health Day, AIDS Day and more.

 Do you have an agency on board that helps the brand with its content initiatives, or is it done in-house?

Ideation of content/campaigns is done in-house. However, for production of the same, we do seek assistance from agencies to speed up the process.

Satish Kannan DocsApp