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DigiLantern is growing in the digital solutions space in India, more so during the the pandemic. Tanay Tulsaney, Co-Founder and CEO and Vaibhav Sharma, Co-Founder and Director, DigiLantern spoke to BE's Kuntala Sarkar. 

Q. How has been the market response to DigiLantern as a digital solutions provider in healthcare ?

A. The Indian healthcare industry is still growing and has a lot of potential. Digitalisation of the healthcare industry is beneficial for the Indian economy in more ways than we can count. In the last five years, we have experienced exponential growth - nearly 100% on a year-on-year basis. Initially, the market did not understand the value of technological implementation in the healthcare sector or the importance of social media marketing. It required us to go door-to-door, meet the doctors, educate and convince them that the ‘future is digital’. After much hard work in the last five years, we are getting a good response from doctors and their associates.

Q. What are the challenges in this sphere in the Indian market and how is the competition?

A. Building a brand digitally is, of course, a faster process as compared to traditional marketing methods but consistency and reputation management are the two key factors that cannot be ignored. We have to constantly keep innovating to stay at the top of the game. 

Many digital marketing companies only create websites, mobile applications, and make short videos without having any domain knowledge. On the other hand, we at DigiLantern have a team that understands what goes on inside a clinic or a hospital. So, it's not just about creating a website for us. We provide customised solutions that represent a medical practice digitally in its true sense. Some prospective clients do not understand this difference initially but they realise it later.

Q. What are the other sectors that you operate in? Who are your major clients for digital solutions? 

A. We are catering to healthcare practices especially in aesthetics for both surgical and non-surgical and travel companies. We offer customised solutions ranging from creating brand awareness to lead generation in travel and healthcare. We develop digital solutions for doctors, hospitals and diagnostic centres to help them reach their audience. Healthcare in India is going through an evolution and we are trying to accommodate all relatable solutions under one roof that include strategic planning as well as training, web solutions and mobile applications, search engine optimisation (SEO) and pay per click advertising, social media management, video creation and marketing, email and SMS marketing, content writing and offline marketing.  

Q. How do you observe the post-Covid period in regard to your business?

A. Well, it is said that every situation has both positive and negative aspects. It depends on how we look at it. Undoubtedly, 2020 has been a tough year. But I would like to highlight that even while we were all trapped inside our houses, we were still connected and in it together through technology. 

Concerning healthcare digital marketing, I feel more and more people are now realising the power of digitalisation - both patients as well as the healthcare community. We are already witnessing the change from personal consultations to video consultations, manual prescriptions to e-forms and the list goes on. More healthcare facilities are now demanding for Patient Management Solution (PMS) for safe record-keeping and to make their operations smooth.  

Q. How is upgradation of technology helping your company? 

A. Keeping up with the new technologies is a must for good web presence. Consistent technology upgrades help our clients to stay visible in the eyes of the search engines as well as their prospective clients or patients. Also, it goes without saying that new technology updates mean an improved version of the existing technology. So, one can expect the ease of use and better functionality with every upgrade. Many of our clients have international patients and actively promote medical tourism. So, in terms of technologies we follow international standards and trends in the IT market.  

Q. What makes your company exclusive?

A. For the longest time in our country, 'word of mouth' was the main marketing tool for the healthcare industry. Exposure to the international market as a consultant made us realise the potential of digital marketing in the healthcare industry in India. We are a team of more than 150 talented experts working on the latest technology stacks and providing solutions to a wide range of customers. We use our in-depth industry knowledge to understand the business complexities and combine creative and technical expertise. Our fundamental key metrics are built on investigating, understanding, brainstorming, creating, and optimising.

Q. How are you planning to expand?

A. We have been working with clients across India. Currently, we have around 200+ clients. We were planning to target the UAE healthcare market in 2020 but at that time, the pandemic started. We have also delivered some international projects previously. We are developing a customised patient management solution that is milestone-based and has been already installed in three multi-specialty practices. We are about to launch a plug-in-play for another chain of clinics in Hyderabad shortly.

The solution will have various patient management data blocks that will be used for business intelligence purposes by these practices. Our large focus is on data security and easy patient management by offering tailor-made solutions to these clinics. Apart from this, on the services side of the business, the company aims to create a larger base for angular development resources. We are also recruiting more under social media management and SEO services to strengthen the base in both healthcare and travel solutions. 

Q. Are you hopeful about the future?

A. Covid-19 has affected businesses around the world. It has been a challenging time for us as well. However, we have sailed through. We are expecting to close at approximately $3 million by the end of this year. We are now settled and up for a bigger round of funds to tap into the international healthcare market. As of now, it is only a few major metropolitan cities that lead the Indian healthcare industry in terms of medical tourism. So, we simply cannot ignore the scope for immense growth and are eager to seize this opportunity. Medical technology and digitalisation in both private and public healthcare sectors will pave the way forward. We hope to capture the market in the upcoming three years. We are looking for international investors.