Marketing in the Information Age for Specialty Record Music Store - Research Paper Example

Introduction With rise in technology the digital medium has become an integral part of marketing. Internet is by far the most popular medium for theusers to get relevant and correct information quickly. Therefore it is important for businesses to have digital footprint. If there is a business, then customers expect the business to be online. Lack of online presence can be suicidal. The importance of digital has been taken to the next level due to the rise of the social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, etc. Social media allows the marketers to get personal with the users and increase user engagement. This is also a platform to promote products in a subtle yet effective manner. The fortune five hundred companies are present on social media. Social media marketing can also help the products offered go viral. Small businesses can actually use digital marketing to compete with larger firms at a relatively low cost. The study provides a great platform to analyze the importance of digital marketing, especially for small businesses. However, that is not all. The study also provides the scope to analyze the importance of shop branding to generate consumer demand and increase sales. Background of the study There exists a music store on Queen Street West in Toronto containing theme based CD's, records and DVD's. The collections are based on the cultural interests of the shop owners. The store does not have any online presence. Store enjoys reasonable amount of foot fall. But, due to the unorganized nature of the shop very few people actually buy the collection. As a matter of fact many people fail to locate the desired music collection due to unorganized nature of the shop. Due to the lack of online presence and hence losses customers to larger firms like HMV. The store owner also has 50% ownership of a local bar that specializes in in-house music. Methodology Based on the above the background thee study looks to provide a proposed marketing diagnostic plan. The plan includes the used of strategic and marketing concepts like AIDA model and SWOT analysis. The study also focuses on social media and viral marketing concepts. SWOT Analysis of the Music Store Strengths The store enjoys reasonable amount of foot fall Weakness Lack of Digital Presence Lack of shop branding Product line offered is relatively narrow Opportunities The store owner has 50% ownership in a local bar that specializes in- house music. This provides an opportunity to promote the offerings of the store Reasonable demand of the offerings as the store enjoys relatively good foot fall Threats Presence of larger firms like HMV Customers are switching to the bigger firms trough online medium. Store Diagnosis Based on the back ground of the study and the SWOT analysis it can be understood that the shop has entered in to a viscous circle. Customers are visiting the shop; but due to the organized nature of the shop, people are losing interests, People are switching to other firms like HMV through the online medium. Add to that the firm has no online presence. Creating Digital Presence The first step towards making the digital presence is to have a website. As mentioned earlier having a business without a website is like having a business without face. If the store owner does not have the expertise, then it can be outsourced to any SEO company. The website must have product sections clearly mentioning the products offered by the store. It must be made sure that the website visitors have the opportunity to buy the products online. Once the website is created the next step would be to make people aware of the web presence. Again that can be achieved by using SEO techniques. Online medium can also be used to promote the store location by using advertisement on Google Maps. Web presence should be complemented by presence on Social Media; especially on Facebook and Twitter. Social Media is a great place to engage people and get personal with the users. Studies have revealed that small firms can use social media effectively to compete with the larger ones. Product/ services and also offers can be promoted by using social media. It also provides opportunity to make the offerings of the store go viral. Shop Branding As discussed before, the store sales are down despite of reasonable store foot fall. The key reason identified for low sales is the unorganized and untidy approach of the store. Many customers left the store without buying as the customers were not able to locate the desired product. Therefore the store needs to streamline the approach. Each and every store has a standard format. The store needs to organize the products based on certain parameters. Those parameters could be price, song title, type of music, year of music, etc. But standardization is required. Another factor to be considered is store ambience. Studies have shown that store ambience plays a significant role in influencing buying behavior. Ambience also helps in influencing impulse buying. Store lighting, piped music, etc. are all are parts of store ambience. The store should also have well trained staffs who are capable provide the right kind of services to the customers. The store should have couple of phones workings so that the customers can place orders over the phone or even get valuable info. Also Point of purchase signage should be used by the store to communicate about the product features. It could be about the product type, product price, especial offers, etc. In simple the store should follow the AIDA model. That is they must create awareness among the people about the store, once the people come to the store the store ambience and streamlined approach of the store should create interest. Such interest is likely to generate demand among the customers leading them to take final action in the form of purchase decision (Chattopadhyay, 2009, p. 153). Using the Bar as a platform for promotion It is known that the owner of the store has 50% ownership of a local bar that specializes in local music. It is presumed that the bar gets reasonable amount of traffic. It is likely that people are going to bump in to the bar to have a few drinks and listen to some cool music. It also likely that some of the visitors of the bar may be passionate about cultural music. Hence any kind promotional activities in the form of posters, signages or even little announcements can help the store owner to generate awareness about the store. Broadening the Product Line At this point of time the store only has cultural music CDs and DVDs based on the demand of the store owner. There is certain amount of demand for such products. However, the store should seriously think about adding some new products in the form other styles of music. This would help the store to target new customer segments. Conclusions Due to the rise of digital technology internet has become the most popular medium to get information for the customers. There just like any other business the music store should also have digital presence in the form of website as well as presence on social media. This will provide the store stop the leaking of customers. Add to this the store needs to get the act together when it comes to store operations which is pretty unorganized to say the least. Store ambience, standard operating procedure in the form of organizing the products based on certain parameters, knowledge of the store staff is going to be the key to success. Also the bar can be used to promote and generate awareness about the store. The thin looking product line can be also being broadened adding new products to target new customer segments. References . Chattopadhyay. A. (2009), Marketing Management. India: Matrix Educare Publications. Read More