Recently, digital marketing has become one of the most popular and successful marketing channels worldwide. It is becoming a vital tool for businesses due to its ease of use, precise targeting, reasonable cost, improved return on investment (ROI), and capacity to reach deep into potential customers' mobile devices. In addition to being a more effective and reasonably priced marketing tool, digital marketing platforms such as blogs, social media, search engines, e-commerce, and others have created new chances for young people to start their own home-based businesses. Affiliate marketing and content marketing through vlogging and blogging are examples of new opportunities that have surfaced. People now have the ability to work from anywhere at any time without having to go out and interact with others thanks to digital marketing. Anyone can start their own business from the comfort of their own home with just a computer or smartphone and reasonable internet access.

 In the modern world, where smart phones, computers, and the internet are so widely available and reasonably priced, the first thing that springs to mind is how simple it is to be an entrepreneur. The availability of funding is a significant barrier to starting your own business. Although marketing consumes the majority of the business's spending, office space and infrastructure expansion account for a sizeable portion.

Digital marketing has reduced the cost of infrastructure and marketing in an economy like India, where the tertiary sector accounts for the greatest portion of GDP. It will be fascinating to see how it affects young people's entrepreneurial inclinations in such a situation and whether understanding digital marketing alternatives has aided in the emergence of new business owners. Numerous elements that could restrict the intended result are also the subject of research in order to comprehend the causes of the gap and take appropriate action to maximise the potential and improve the outcome.

Dr. C. Kala (2020) in the paper “A Study on Use of Digital Marketing by Entrepreneurs” said that increased use of internet platforms and social media has led entrepreneurs in using them as a medium for converting ideas into brands. He observed the expected increase in the online sales market from $2.5 billion in 2009 to $56 billion in 2023. He also concluded that Digital Marketing has opened up new opportunities and options for entrepreneurs to connect and retain their customers during the pandemic period.

Cliff Wymbs (2011) in his paper “Digital Marketing: The Time for a New ‘’Academic Major’’ Has Arrived “said that the rapid digitalization of the economy and fast-changing world has created the need for evolution of the academic architecture of business and marketing curriculum. He claimed that the use of the internet and social media platforms has changed the way marketing & business is done. He emphasized the start of a new digital marketing major in business and marketing education identifying the challenges and the ways of implementation of the curriculum.

JinHyo Joseph Yun et al (2017) in their paper “Growth of a Platform Business Model as an Entrepreneurial Ecosystem and its Effects on Regional Development” analyzed what affects the platform business model dynamics and how this can be described. They also identified the impact of this business model on regional growth.

Kenzhegul Bizhanova et al (2019) in their paper “Impact of digital marketing development on entrepreneurship” concluded that digital marketing helps in attracting a large audience with better precision and with fewer resources, helping in increasing sales and managing competition.

Wanamina Bostan Ali and Sumana Laparojkit (2019) in their paper “The Main Factors Influencing E-Business Technology Adoption of Entrepreneurs in WOW Project Songkhla, Thailand” found that various factors are responsible for the acceptance of the E-Business model, out of which performance expectancy has the highest influence followed by perceived credibility and effort expectancy respectively.

Ashish Gupta et al (2020) in their paper “Impact of digitization on entrepreneurial ecosystems: an Indian perspective” analyzed the impact of Digitisation on the Indian entrepreneurial ecosystem. They identified the role of government and public policy in fostering the growth of sustainable ventures and the need for study of the impact of digitization on not only the new but also the existing organizations.

Jahid Syaifullah et al (2021) in their paper “Social Media Marketing and Business Performance of MSMEs During the COVID-19 Pandemic” noted that MSMEs can improve their performance through better management of social media. The study was done on the use of social media by MSMEs in Indonesia especially during the COVID – 19 Pandemic. They found that the use of social media depends on various factors like perceived use of ease, Cost involved, Compatibility, and other facilitating conditions.

Rukanda, Kaniati & Samsudin (2021) in their paper “Efforts to Strengthen Mental Entrepreneurs Through Online Based Digital Marketing Training for Youth of Productive Age” used descriptive method and qualitative approach to identify the level of use of social media by youth and to determine the process of online digital marketing training for youth. They identified that the training program has helped in improving the standard of living of the people.

Abdul Rashid et al. (2021) in their paper “The Role of Digital Marketing in Assisting Small Rural Entrepreneurs Amidst Covid-19 Movement Control Order (MCO): A Case Study in Peninsular Malaysia” observed that it is very important to understand the role played by digital marketing in forming new business norms for small businesses during the pandemic. They did a quantitative study using the snowball sampling method including 158 small rural entrepreneurs from Penang-Malaysia. They concluded that the small business persons have understood and realized the importance of the use of digital platforms in business activities.

Ukpere, Celestine Lugaye; Slabbert, Andre D.; Ukpere, Wilfred I. (2014) in their paper titled “Rising Trend in Social Media Usage by Women Entrepreneurs across the Globe to Unlock Their Potentials for Business Success” observed that marketers now understand the power and importance of the internet as a tool of communication. They concluded in their study that the use of social media platforms by women entrepreneurs at any level has boosted their financial success and has helped them in various ways to develop and effectively manage their business.

Ratten, V. and Rashid, S. (2021), in their paper “Entrepreneurship Education and Digital Marketing: What Does the Future Hold?” discussed the need for embedding more digital marketing techniques in entrepreneurship education. They argued that both Digital Marketing and digital entrepreneurship have a lot in common and teaching digital marketing as a part of entrepreneurship education has become more important during the COVID-19 pandemic where most of the entrepreneurship programs are running in online or digital mode.

Neetu Jalan, Vijayendra Gupta (2020) in their paper “Scope, Opportunity and Challenges to Digital Entrepreneurship” observe that because of the growing competition Digital marketing is no more a trend but a necessity to survive in the market and beat competition.

Christina, I. D., Fenni, F., & Roselina, D. (2019) in their paper “Digital marketing strategy in promoting the product” studied the strategies and roles related to various channels of digital marketing in promoting products. They discussed the uniqueness of the strategy and its importance in Product promotion.

RESEARCH GAP

Many studies on the usage of digital marketing by current business owners, its motivations, and its effects demonstrate the effectiveness of digital marketing as a top marketing technique with a number of benefits. Its function in encouraging young people to pursue careers in entrepreneurship by resolving their main concerns is yet unclear. Knowledge of digital marketing in rural regions of Telangana State.

RESEARCH OBJECTIVES.

• To ascertain how digital marketing influences the decision to pursue entrepreneurship as a vocation.
• To learn about the trend of selecting new business ventures made possible by digital marketing (such as blogging or YouTube).
• To determine the cause, if any, of the discrepancy between the expected and actual results.

Primary data is gathered through questionnaire distribution, in-person interviews, and social interaction as part of research methodology. In order to identify patterns regarding the perceived influence of digital marketing on business, an analysis was conducted on around 451 replies.

Aspiring business owners can launch their enterprises in a variety of methods with the help of digital marketing. Below is a categorical discussion of these: -

1.1. Lowering the minimum marketing budget: Digital marketing has the largest influence on the bare minimum of marketing expenditures. With just INR 1000 per month for marketing, an entrepreneur may now launch a product both domestically and abroad. Previously, it required a significant financial expenditure to introduce a product locally in his town or city.

1.2. Encouraging remote work: Unlike traditional marketing, digital marketing does not necessitate door-to-door or counter-to-counter activity. Since everything is done online, it can be done effectively at any time and from any location. The procedure may also be remotely supervised. As a result, it has encouraged the work-from-home culture and decreased the need for office reporting, which has resulted in significant savings on infrastructure and office space rent.

 1.3. Offering a variety of platforms and opportunities: In addition to boosting standard business operations by offering more precise and reasonably priced marketing options, digital marketing offers a variety of revenue-generating opportunities, such as affiliate marketing, blogging, YouTube, content marketing, e-commerce, and social media influencer work. The fact that these possibilities may be pursued from home and need very little cost is their most crucial feature.

1.4. Additional chances for solopreneurs: All of the previously described additional opportunities that have arisen as a result of digital marketing have the benefit of being able to be explored from home by an individual without the need for a large workforce. This has given young people a fantastic chance to become self-sufficient without having to spend a lot of money on employing a team for their firm.

1.5. Offering nearly no investment options: Every option listed in the first two points requires no investment. With just a smartphone and the internet which are often fairly prevalent these days you can begin your work using a variety of free online resources.

1.6. Digital marketing itself: In the modern era, being a digital marketer is a fantastic and extremely promising economic prospect, aside from all the choices covered above. All businesses, regardless of size, require internet marketing. It would be accurate to state that it is quite challenging to survive in the cutthroat world of today without digital marketing. Therefore, becoming a digital marketer in and of itself gives you a great chance to close the gap between the market's supply and demand for digital marketing services. Either a team or a solopreneur can accomplish this.

On collection and analysis of data we were able to derive the following results:-

Out of the 451 responses received 174 entrepreneurs use digital marketing to promote their business while 187 of them are still in the planning phase for the same

In their responses, 112 entrepreneurs said that they are using digital marketing since the beginning. Around 86 of them admitted that they started a business with the help of digital marketing as it lowered the cost of start-up. Around 69 of them have started using digital marketing recently and some 86 of them have started using it after 1 year of establishment of their business. Out of those who started using it recently are mostly those who were hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. Still, 184 out of 451 are not using Digital marketing till today.

When asked about the essentiality of digital marketing for business success 345 out of 451 admitted that it is an essential tool today while 21 still consider it to be a dispensable tool. 77 respondents were not very sure about it.

When asked how digital marketing has affected their company, 153 respondents who use digital marketing tools acknowledged that it is a useful tool that has enhanced their company's success, while 12 respondents had the opposite impression. According to the remaining respondents, they are unsure of how digital marketing would affect their company.

Table -5. Number of entrepreneurs involved in various digital marketing options

132 of the 174 entrepreneurs utilising digital marketing are involved in the industries that have grown as a result of digital marketing. However, the distribution pattern among the several possibilities is displayed in the bar chart above. The number of responders in each field is shown in the table below.

The above table and the Bar chart mention that Digital Marketing has fostered an entrepreneurial mindset among the people and has promoted entrepreneurship in society.

According to the study's findings, digital marketing has encouraged consumers to think like entrepreneurs. With the use of digital marketing, people have been able to enter the new world of entrepreneurship at a minimal cost thanks to readily available cellphones and the internet. However, a sizable portion of the populace is still unaware of the advantages of digital marketing solutions. In such a situation, it becomes crucial for policymakers to make sure that appropriate awareness and training programs about digital marketing are implemented in society so that more and more people can benefit from it and a new entrepreneurial culture can emerge that leads to people becoming self-reliant and prosperous as well as the national economy growing.

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