[ad_1]
In Bangladesh, companies spend more than Tk1,000 crore every year on digital marketing just on Facebook and Google to reach their target audience. Inkam, a new startup, is offering an alternative to companies in Bangladesh and creating income opportunities for ‘digital entrepreneurs’ too
Currently, Inkam has onboarded six partners including Shikho, Bohubrihi, AmarLab, Bambinos Bangladesh, Shombhob App. Photo: Noor-A-Alam
“> 
Currently, Inkam has onboarded six partners including Shikho, Bohubrihi, AmarLab, Bambinos Bangladesh, Shombhob App. Photo: Noor-A-Alam
Residing in Barguna, Barishal, Meraz Ahmed is a freelance event organiser. He was actively looking for a second job until he stumbled upon Inkam on Facebook.
Inkam is a distribution company exclusively for digital products and services which has onboarded promising digital products (learning videos, skill development courses, health services, etc) in the market. The platform allows its users to distribute those products for sales commissions.
“The terms and policies of Inkam are quite easy to understand and accommodating. So I got myself registered the very same day and became an agent of Inkam,” said Meraz.
At Inkam, every agent/affiliate who earns a commission for marketing another person’s or company’s products is known as a ‘Digital Uddokta’ (Digital Entrepreneur).
“All we have to do is get new customers for the services [of different companies] they sell on this platform. For example, if I am assigned to sell digital course material, I keep looking for potential customers around me. When they agree to buy the course, I send them my customised link through which they can purchase,” explained Meraz, adding, “With every purchase made, I get 10%-15% commission in my account.”
Photo: Noor-A-Alam
“> 
Photo: Noor-A-Alam
Meraz now earns Tk2,000 to Tk2,500 in any given week. He leads the Digital Uddokta team of Barishal as well.
Since the world is moving towards digitalisation and the informal economy of Bangladesh is growing phenomenally. Inkam saw an opportunity to merge the two to create a service that benefits everyone in the ecosystem.
Inkam is open for business to any individual (who can work as an agent) or platform (who can work as a collaborator or partner). For instance, Go Global is an international admission and visa processing platform. They also provide career counselling to students going abroad for higher education.
Imtiaz Bin Habib, Assistant Manager, Business Development of Go Global, explained how their sales have increased after affiliating with Inkam.
“Career counselling is our popular service. Previously, we only did its marketing through Facebook and Google ads. These ads definitely gave us a sizable amount of reach, but not even 1% of those reaches made it to the real customer’s list. On the other hand, the reach we get through Inkam’s agents is almost 100% efficient, giving us good business,” Imtiaz told The Business Standard.
If Inkam remains consistent with its growth, Imtiaz plans to invest the lion’s share of his company’s marketing expenditure in Inkam in the upcoming years.
The void in the digital infrastructure
A research by Statistica.com reveals that ad spending in the Digital Advertising market of Bangladesh is projected to reach $305 million this year. Companies are spending more than Tk1,000 crore every year on digital marketing just on Facebook and Google to reach their target audience.
“All this money is our money, our people’s money. It is sad how we have to give it away to global tech giant companies for the sake of marketing. Acknowledging that, we wanted to build a platform that will enable efficient digital advertisements and will circulate the money within the country,” said Firoz Uddin Ahmed, COO, Inkam.
Firoz Uddin Ahmed.
“> 
Firoz Uddin Ahmed.
Besides, with the increased demand for digital products and the population shifting online, there is an absence of a digital distribution infrastructure for digital products.
“We have a plethora of reselling platforms for physical products (Daraz, Amazon, eBay etc.), but the digital distribution market is still untapped,” explained Firoz.
“Through Inkam, we are not only accelerating the access to digital products amongst the masses but also creating income opportunities for the people who have limited or no earnings,” said Khalid Hossain, Co-founder, Inkam.
Khalid Hossain.
Khalid Hossain.
[ad_2]
Source_ link
