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  • 31st Jan, 2026

Why Kochi Startups Are Struggling With Traditional Marketing

In Kerala's Startups are growing fast, especially in Kochi. However, traditional marketing is no longer the same as before. Because of high costs with uncertain ROI (Return on Investment), shifting consumer interests, patience, increased business competition, and difficult to keep up-to-date with current trends, and weak local brand visibility are all quietly consume market budgets, without bringing in new customers.

So, what’s really happening in Kochi’s startup ecosystem right now?  And, more importantly, how can businesses address this issue before spending additional time and money?

In this article, we'll look at the real difficulties that Kochi startups experience while examining better, performance-driven solutions that actually work. Let’s look at the Shift Happening in Kochi Startups:


The Shift Happening in Kochi Startup


Startups in Kochi are rethinking marketing as traditional methods become less effective and more difficult to measure results. Also, the competition is forcing businesses to look for smarter, result-driven approaches. Let's look at what’s driving this shift:

  • High cost, low ROI
  • Changing consumer interests
  • Shorter customer attention
  • Rising market competition
  • Weak local brand visibility
  • Falling behind digital trends

The following challenges highlight where traditional marketing begins to fall short.

High cost, low ROI: Operation costs in the main location, like Infopark (Kakkanad) or any other business hub is high. Traditional marketing adds to these costs without delivering enough returns.

Changing consumer interests: Customers' preferences change quickly, making permanent advertisements less effective. Businesses that don't change their advertising strategy chance to lose relevancy and engagement.

Shorter customer attention: Customers make quick choices and move on if a message does not connect immediately. Brands now have only a few seconds to attract attention and make an impression.

Rising market competition: Startup Mission Kerala suggests that there are 6,200+ registered startups in Kerala, many of them based in Kochi. It is even hard to stand out in such a saturated market without a targeted marketing strategy.

Weak local brand visibility: Sometimes, startups fail not because of your service, but the visibility of the business. Customers frequently prefer familiar or better-positioned brands.

Falling behind digital trends: AI and changing social media trends influence how people find businesses online. Startups that fail to adapt can lose attention and customers.
Below is the importance of Performance-Driven Digital Marketing in Kochi startups:


Why Performance-Driven Digital Marketing Is the Better Option for Kochi Startups


Performance-driven digital marketing doesn't depend on guesswork. Learn customer behaviour, competitor analysis, and improve visibility using information-based tactics. It helps you to stay present by following current and successful trends and addressing the right audience at the right time. Let's find the key reasons that are ideal for the startup:

1. Measurable ROI and performance monitoring
Every online advertisement may be tracked to figure out what works and what doesn't. This helps your budget to be used efficiently.

2. Customer behaviour and interests
This helps to understand what customers like, how customers search, and what they do to take action. It makes it easier to show the right message to the right customer.

3. Competitor and market analysis
Identify your competitors and understand what strategies they are using. It helps your business to plan better and stay ahead in the market.

4. Local and digital brand visibility
To ensure your brand is easily recognisable to the target audience through Google Business Profile (GMB), search results, and online ads. 

5. Trend-aligned campaigns (AI and social media)
Using AI techniques and social media trends to create relevant content that customers notice and engage with.

6. Right audience targeting
Reaching out to the people becoming your customers. Using digital ads and online platforms helps improve visibility and ensures your business is seen by the right audience.
Here’s what to look for when selecting a digital marketing agency in Kochi.

 

How to Find a Digital Marketing Agency in Kochi That Truly Fits Your Business

Choosing the right digital marketing agency in Kochi can improve your business growth through visibility and more sales. The right agency should understand the local startup ecosystem, the right audience, and the knowledge of building a brand from the ground up.
Here’s what Kochi startups should look for:

Experience with startups or related businesses: An agency that has experience in startups knows small budgets and high turnover requirements. They understand the way to develop visibility and growth at the initial levels.

  • Proven portfolio of successful work: Related past projects show the quality of results delivery by the agency. A good portfolio builds trust and confidence in one's work.
  • Better ROI for the budget spent: Focus should be oriented towards better returns rather than spending money. Better tactics can make startups grow without the waste of budget.
  • Clear reporting and communication: Regular updates help you understand what works and what doesn't. Good communication ensures that your goals are consistently in touch.
  • Quality of leads and customers generated: The goal aimed at getting the right customers and not increasing traffic. The quality leads will be more likely to convert and grow your business.
  • Knowledge sharing and guidance: The best digital marketing agency simply communicates the strategies. This will assist you to learn and making effective marketing decisions.
  • Quality content creation: The information must be clear about your brand and reach your audience. Effective content increases the feeling of trust and brings better engagement. 

 

How can Clickthrown help you build your startup and grow


Clickthrown supports you with real experience and proven results. With over 100 completed projects and a strong portfolio, Clickthrown understands what it takes to grow a startup in a competitive market like Kochi or anywhere glabally. Below are key points how Clickthrown supports startup growth:

Brand strategy: Defines how your brand looks, sounds, and communicates with customers. A strong strategy builds trust and makes your startup easy to recognise.

Social media marketing: Social media marketing helps your startup stay active on platforms like Instagram, Facebook, Youtube and other mainstream platforms. It builds awareness and connects your brand with the right audience.

Online advertising: Uses Online advertising to reach people who are already interested in your product or service. This helps bring more leads and sales in a short time.

AI marketing automation: AI marketing automation uses smart tools to automate marketing tasks like emails and follow-ups. This saves time and helps improve results without extra effort.

Influencer marketing: Works with trusted influencers to promote your brand to their audience. This builds credibility and helps reach more potential customers faster.

Let’s take the next step and grow your startup with confidence.


Grow your startup with confidence.


Startup in Kochi is an exciting part, but it is also a challenging part. Marketing can start to be costly, unpredictable and immeasurable, and its growth can begin to fall at a fast rate. It is where an approach that is smarter and performance-oriented works. With knowledge of customer behaviour, appearing where they already exist, and concentrating only on what works, startups will be able to abandon guessing about their actions and instead grow clearly.

Marketing with the right strategy and right guidance is not as stressful and becomes significant. You achieve visibility, get the right crowd and develop a brand that the customer trusts and recalls. Should all of this be sensible and every choice be supported by wisdom, then you will feel that you can accomplish it, and you can grow your startup with certainty.


FAQ’S


1. What makes startups in Kochi have problems with traditional marketing?

Most of the Kochi startups spend money on traditional marketing without well-defined outcomes. Such approaches are difficult to monitor and miss the right audience in the modern market.

2. Is digital marketing really important for startups in Kochi?

Yes. The majority of the customers in Kochi search for products and services online. Digital marketing helps startups to remain visible, target the right audience and grow consistently.

3. What is performance-driven digital marketing?

Digital marketing that is performance-based is concerned with results, rather than guesswork. All activities are also traced, hence startups understand what is working and what isn't.

4. What should Kochi startups do to increase brand visibility?

Using Google Business Profile (GMB), local search optimisation, social media, and targeted advertisements can make startups more noticeable to the right customers.

5. How long does it take for digital marketing to show results?

Certain outputs, such as advertisements and visibility, will be reported soon. Other ones, such as SEO and brand trust, are long-term but provide long-term development.

6. Is social media marketing a must in startups?

Yes. Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube are some of the platforms that can assist startups to reach their customers, gain trust and remain relevant in the competitive market of Kochi.

7. What would make Kochi startups find in a digital marketing agency?

They need to seek out previous experience, effective communication, better performance, familiarity with the local market, and a good portfolio.

8. What is the significance of local market knowledge among Kochi startups?

The Kochi customer behaviour is not the same as that of other cities. A local agency will be able to develop better strategies.

9. Will digital marketing make my startup different?

Yes. Startups can find the right audience, communicate with them, and create a powerful brand even in a market saturated with the appropriate strategy.

10. Is Clickthrown agency suitable to startup's in Kochi?

Yes. Clickthrown Digital Private Limited operates with startups, is aware of constraints on the budget, and is interested in realistic growth strategies.

11. What is the value of Clickthrown in enabling Kochi startups to become confident?

The strategy, creativity, and performance-based marketing integrated in Clickthrown are meant to enhance the visibility, attract the correct customers and facilitate the long-term growth of the startup.
 

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The Behaviors And Mindset Of Marketers Who Win With Performance Max

Performance Max campaigns in Google Ads require marketers to shift from traditional control-heavy tactics to algorithm-trusting strategies. Success comes from surrendering granular operations while excelling in data inputs, creatives, and broader marketing skills. In this blog, explore the core truths, traits of winners versus strugglers, essential skills, and why Performance Max points to PPC's future.  So now let's get into the topic.


Understanding Performance Max Basics


Performance Max operates differently from Search or Shopping campaigns by prioritising algorithms over manual inputs. Marketers provide audience signals and assets, but Google handles targeting, creative combinations, and placements autonomously.
Core truths include no direct targeting control, automated ad mixing, limited query visibility, data as the main driver, and improving but imperfect reporting features like asset groups and negative keywords. Controllable elements focus on strategy: positioning, product feeds, audience signals, first-party data, ad relevance, bidding, and high-level structure.


Signs of Struggling Marketers


Marketers who underperform demand excessive control, distrust machine learning, and cling to outdated methods like exact-match keywords or manual bidding. They rely on past experience without updating skills, specialise narrowly in account management, panic during the 3-6 week learning phase, adopt set-it-and-forget-it automation, and fail to secure client data.
Certain industries, like pharmaceuticals or legal services, need more control due to regulations or low volume, making Performance Max less ideal.


Signs of Winning Marketers


Top marketers focus on high-impact areas like creatives, strategy, and data ecosystems rather than daily operations. They treat each campaign as a learning opportunity, build data inputs for faster optimisation, maintain discipline through volatility, and communicate effectively for client buy-in.
They recommend alternatives like Search when Performance Max doesn't suit the business.


What are the Essential Skills to Develop for Modern PPC Success?


Modern PPC demands holistic expertise beyond ad accounts :

  • Marketing fundamentals and theory.
  • Google automations and their functions.
  • Online/offline conversion tracking.
  • Clear goal alignment with clients.
  • Knowledge of Google's ad inventories and user interactions.

Performance Max suits most businesses today, evolving from e-commerce limits with better reporting and controls.
You can also check this out to understand how Performance Max channel reporting helps analyse performance across Google’s inventory.


Why Performance Max Signals the Future


Google's shift toward algorithmic campaigns like Performance Max represents PPC's evolving landscape. Below are the key points that explain why:

  • Balanced Automation and Input: Machine learning handles daily tactics, while humans excel in high-level strategy, creatives, and data inputs, urging marketers to adapt their mindset now.
  • Key Feature Enhancements: Recent updates like negative keywords at the campaign level, detailed asset group reporting, and improved placement insights add control without losing cross-channel scale.
  • Avoid Common Pitfalls: Errors such as prematurely pausing underperforming assets during the 3-6 week learning phase disrupt optimisation; discipline and quality feeds are essential.
  • Upskilling Imperative: Master Google automations, conversion tracking (online/offline), and client goal alignment to thrive as manual bidding and controls fade.

Final Word 

Marketers who win with Performance Max embrace an algorithm-first mindset, prioritising strategic inputs like superior creatives, robust data feeds, and audience signals over micromanagement. With Clickthrown, by developing holistic skills in automation, conversion tracking, and client communication, we navigate learning phases with discipline and deliver scalable results across industries. This evolution signals PPC's future: human strategy fuelling machine intelligence. Adapt today, focus on what you control, trust the system, and outpace competitors clinging to the past.
 

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Google Redesigns How Search Ads Are Labeled

Have you heard about Google Ads new updates? As part of this, Google has recently redesigned how search ads are labeled. This update reflects Google’s ongoing effort to make advertising more transparent, user-friendly, and aligned with evolving search behaviour. Google wants to make it easier for visitors to discern between sponsored results and organic results by improving ad labels and visual clues. It also provides advertisers with a more transparent framework for how their ads show up on the search results page.

Now, let us take a deep dive into these Google Ads updates, explain what’s changed, and discover what they mean for both users and advertisers.


Understanding the New Sponsored Labels on Google Search


The Google Ads benefits​ in this redesign are that grouping all text ads under a single "Sponsored results" label, which is larger and remains visible as users scroll. Previously, individual ads had their own "Ad" labels. This new labeling system is designed to make the difference between ads and organic search results clearer for users. The update also includes a "Hide" option for sponsored results, giving users more control over their search experience. This detailed redesign is being rolled out globally.


How the Update Affects Google Ads and Advertisers


These Google search updates significantly reshape how ads appear and perform on Google Search. From enhanced transparency to AI-driven optimisation, advertisers must understand how these changes influence visibility, user behaviour, and campaign strategy. Below are the points that break down the key impacts of the Google Ads latest updates:


How Google’s Search Update Improves Transparency


The new Google sponsored links label is intended to provide greater transparency, helping users more easily navigate the top of results pages and distinguish commercial content. Google's goal is to uphold industry-leading standards by making it clear which results are sponsored.


Impact of the New Sponsored Results on Ad Visibility & CTR


While the new design aims for clarity, it could also influence user behaviour. The larger, persistent "Sponsored results" label may draw more attention to paid listings, potentially impacting clickAds for click-through rates. However, with the addition of a "Hide" button, users have the option to remove sponsored results, which could affect overall ad visibility.


Updating Your Google Ads Strategy for the Latest Changes


Advertisers need to adjust their strategies to align with these changes. Google Ads continues to emphasise precision targeting and AI-powered automation to maximise return on investment (ROI). Leveraging AI-powered ad campaigns and automation in bidding strategies will be crucial in 2025. For instance, Performance Max campaigns utilise AI to deliver ads across various Google networks, including Search, Display, YouTube, Gmail, Maps, and Discover, optimising in real-time to achieve specific goals.


The Evolving Role of AI in Google Ads


AI continues to transform Google Ads, making it more automated and data-driven. In 2025, AI enhancements will further streamline how products are listed, displayed, and optimised for sales in Google Shopping ads. Google's AI tools require proper guidance from advertisers to fit business objectives.

Other Key Google Search Updates

According to Google Search Central, Google has made several other noteworthy changes in addition to ad labelling.  The second official core update of the year, the June 2025 Core Update, was released between June 30 and July 17.  Additionally, Google introduced a nearly infinite scroll in mid-September 2025 after disabling the previous pagination of search results.  In its search rankings for 2025, Google is also giving the Google Ads blog that is human-written, reliable content, precedence over content produced by artificial intelligence.


How Do Google Sponsored Ads Work?


Are you curious about how Google sponsored search results in the ads work? Here are the key points that explain the benefits of Google Ads this process:

  • Advertisers place bids on keywords, audiences, or placements using Google Ads’ bidding system.
  • When a user performs a search, an auction is triggered if ads target the related keywords.
  • In many cases, no ads appear, and only the most relevant ads are selected for display.
  • Google Ads provides a self-serve tool that helps advertisers create, manage, and monitor their campaigns.
  • By appearing in front of people actively searching for specific products or services, Google Ads helps businesses increase sales, generate leads, and boost website traffic.


Summing Up


With the Google Ads new updates, the redesigned “Sponsored results” label marks a major shift in how ads are displayed, understood, and engaged with on Search. Google wants to make the search experience more transparent and user-friendly by implementing user-controlled ad visibility, a persistent "Sponsored results" header, and clearer labelling. For advertisers and businesses, these changes highlight the need for smarter strategies, especially those that leverage AI-driven optimisation, Performance Max campaigns, and precise audience targeting. 
Staying aligned with these updates will ensure better visibility, stronger CTRs (Click Through Rates), and higher ROI (Return on Investment) across Google’s ad ecosystem. With Clickthrown, remain competitive in 2026 and beyond and maintain your Google Ads strategy as Google continues to change the way sponsored search results operate.


FAQs About Google’s New Sponsored Ads Update


1. What changed in Google’s new ad labelling update? 
Google replaced individual “Ad” labels with a single, larger “Sponsored results” label that stays fixed as users scroll. This increases transparency and aids in separating advertisements from organic results.


2. Will CTR be impacted by the new sponsored label?
Yes, the persistent label may impact click behaviour. Some users may skip ads more often, while others may find ads clearer and more trustworthy.


3. Can users hide Google sponsored ads now? 
Yes. Users can now remove sponsored results from their view using a new "Hide" button, which could impact the ad visibility.


4. How should advertisers adjust their strategy? 
Advertisers adjust their ad strategies through implementing AI-driven campaigns, enhancing ad quality, fine-tuning keyword targeting, and utilising Performance Max for multi-network optimisation.


5. How do Google sponsored ads work? 
Google Ads runs an Ad auction every time a user searches. Ads are shown based on bids, keyword relevance, and ad quality. Only the most relevant ads will appear.
 

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