Google India on Wednesday launched a small and medium enterprise (SME) partner programme to maximize its reach to small businesses across the country and provide them with specialised services to grow through digital advertising. The SME programme will ha
Google India on Wednesday launched a small and medium enterprise (SME) partner programme to maximize its reach to small businesses across the country and provide them with specialised services to grow through digital advertising. The SME programme will have 30 channel partners for selling digital advertising solutions to SMEs across 100 cities in India.
"Google's premier SME partners will be trained to offer the highest level of expertise and proficiency in developing, launching and managing digital campaigns for small and medium sized businesses," the company said in a statement.
According to Rajan Anandan, Managing Director and Vice President-Sales, Google India, the firm wants to expand its reach by recruiting 30 new partners across India by the end of next year, so that more and more SMEs can benefit from a direct engagement with a Google-trained professional.
"We are launching this programme where the intent is to have 30 large-scale channel partners and these partners by the end of 2013 should cover top 100 cities in India and should have 10,000 people on the street selling Google products," Anandan told reporters.
The firm will invest in helping partners with dedicated marketing and sales support that includes direct access to Google, co-branded market collateral, market research, training, technical and operational support, assigned account manager and joint sales pitches.
Anandan also said India is a strategic market for Google and that the firm will continue to invest in other capacity-building initiatives through its existing Google Engage platform, focused on training and supporting businesses that specialise in helping other SMEs succeed online.
"Our SME business has seen phenomenal growth in India, making us the fastest growing SME market for Google globally," Anandan said.
Google India has already shortlisted six such premier partners and has been working with them to help them ramp up their sales force through training programme.
It is estimated that the SME advertising market in India is worth $1.2 billion, of which digital ads contribute $100 million.
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