Industry Consultancy and Online Presence - Report Example

Table of Contents Cover page 2 Executive Summary 3 Introduction 4 Analysis of the Online Presence 5 Overall Marketing Analysis 6 Poor online attendance, poor sales 6 Poor design and layout of the website online newsletters 6 Poor integration of marketing platforms 7 The online marketing media need to work harmoniously with each especially considering the fact Gypsea is registered with more than one. Posts made in one at any single time should be similar to those made in all others. These online media for Gypsea are so not integrated with each other. A post on Facebook, for instance, wouldn’t reflect that on the Instragram, Tumblr, website and the newsletter. The postings are often so unrelated, you would wonder if they are even managed by the same individual. 7 Incompetence 7 Recommendations 7 a)Web Page and Newsletter aesthetics 8 i.Content positioning 8 ii.Increasing the web content 8 iii.Professionally designed content 9 b)Increasing twitter followers and use 9 c)Creative use of social media 9 d)Shareable online content 10 e)More use of Facebook and Instragram 10 f)Social media attendance and sales 11 Conclusion 11 Bibliography 13 Appendix 15 Cover page Industry consultancy report Name Lecturer Course Date Executive Summary The digital age has led to a lot of changes in the way that businesses conduct their operations when it comes to areas such as promotion/advertisement, marketing and even conducting the actual sales. It has helped broaden business networks for a lot of companies, and has become the surest way to establish clientele beyond borders (Steel, E. and Angwin, J 2010). Competition wars have gone digital, with many companies in different industries increasingly embracing the digital marketing techniques that have a wider reach. Some of the digital platforms that are currently used for marketing include Facebook, Tumblr, Instragram, twitter and more. They are associated more with the youthful segment of any market. Gypsea is a company in the fashion/design industry, dealing with stylish swimwear and lingerie clothing for middle aged women. Its target market is the middle aged women who use the social media a lot. Being a relatively newer company in the industry, with only about two years of existence, it needs to have a concerted online marketing strategy, especially the various social media where over 52% of the ‘middle aged women’ have signed up to venture into the global space for fun and other reasons (Ryan, D. and Jones, C. 2012). A survey was conducted to investigate the ways that our client, Gypsea, conducts marketing and other issues; there was a realization that although it has an amount of online presence, this medium has not been put to its utmost use. There is not much going on in the online medium. Online marketing techniques are not topnotch. Despite having signed up with the social media tools presumably for marketing and PR purposes, there hasn’t been a lot of activity in there. There is some level of dormancy in all these online media, and they are not used in ways that could give maximum reward to the business in terms of the amount of sales that can be done and how many overseas customers it can get. An array of recommendations have been made, which include refurbishing the internet media and improving their designs. They need to be redesigned and their contents rethought. This report has recommendation on what Gypsea needs to do to expand sales through intensive and immense online presence. Introduction Gypsea is a retail company established in 2012 based in Perth, Western Australia with collection of stylish swimwear and lingerie clothing for women in middle age group. It’s specializing in fusion where competition is known to be high and the demand changeable. While the business is new it has a great opportunity to grow in terms of size and sales with the products they offer today (Kotler, P. 2009: 92). The company developed their business in online by creating Website linked it with social media aiming to attract more customers to the Website. Swimwear and fashion business is growing in Australia and represent change over time in terms of customers demand and tastes (Carter, Ben, et al 2011). As in Australia the beach and sport culture is common which influences the fashion industry growth especially on swimwear design. More companies already dominant in the market include Speedo, Quicksilver, and Billabong. Fashion industry being one of the fastest growing industries, there are likely to be more competitors coming up in the foreseeable future. This would result in the competition for the consumer’s gains and measures should be taken to ensure Gypsea is enabled to present valuable products competition level. An all out online approach is required because this is where much of the marketing wars have been taken. It would be clear to assess the company exist through the amount of customers following the company in the online media such as twitter, Instragram, Facebook, Tumblr and Pinterest. Gypsea also has a website and a newsletter (see appendix). Gypsea website appear to be as standard for online business with leak of creativity, smart design, eases of use .The five social media are linked to the website but do not have the latest postings on the activities and products of Gypsea. Some of the links do not take you directly to the social media pages, and you are likely to get responses such as ‘oops, the page you requested does not exist, as is the case with the link for Instragram. Many successful companies have registered immense success in using the social media as a marketing platform (Capozzi, L.2009). Much as Gypsea recognizes the power of the social media tools, which is why they have signed up to them, it hasn’t done much to make sure that they are used as effective marketing tools. Analysis of the Online Presence Gypsea’s online presence can be looked at in terms of the website, the social media and the online newsletters. The social media includes the Facebook, Instragram, the Pinterest and the Tumblr pages, and the twitter handle. As at the start of the consultancy period, Gypsea had a Facebook page with slightly over 10000 likes, a website, a Twitter handle, an Instragram page, a Pinterest page and a Tumblr page. The last update on Facebook was done on May 3rd 2014. The page has barely been used ten times in 2014, and was scarcely used in 2013. The over 10000 people liking the page are not engaged as you would expect. The links to twitter handle and Instragram page tell you ‘wrong page’ and ‘does not exist’ exist respectively. The Tumblr and Pinterest pages, like the Facebook page, are inactive. Tumblr was posted on last on November 28th, 2013. Considering we are in May 2014, that is such a long time. The online newsletters are regular though, but the design and layout are not very attractive and appealing. One can only be glued to a newsletter that is eye-catching at the first impression. The design should contain inviting colors, because that alone would ensure that client is enticed to read, and the attraction to the cover design will give the impetus to read the content with high morale. The website is doesn’t contain any recent information that anybody visiting it would read. What’s more, just like the newsletter, its design and layout are not eye-catching, not many would be attracted to it even if there was to be the most recent news to read. The website is no more than a landing page. An inviting homepage builds brand loyalty and this is something Gypsea badly needs to match market strength of its competitors like Speedo, Quicksilver, and Billabong (Laudon, K. and Guercio C. 2014: 30,31). (The screenshots of the webpage, Facebook page, Instragram page, twitter handle, Pinterest page and Tumblr page are shown in the appendix section of this work) Overall Marketing Analysis A number of areas have been identified as those in which Gypsea score badly as far as the use of the online tools for marketing is concerned. There is need to work on the areas thoroughly if the online avenues are to gift the company with expanded sales. Many companies in the industry and many other industry attest to the effectiveness of the social media use as tools for marketing. The problems identified have hampered Gypsea’s online market exploits, and its competitors continue to run the show, reporting more bikini sales for instance, attributable to the effective use of the online media for marketing of their products. Some of the weakness areas so identified include the following: Poor online attendance, poor sales The inactivity going on in the online media means an equal measure of inactivity in the sales attributable to use of such media. Many companies in this digital age have taken the marketing wars to the internet media, and are reaping so much from it, so can Gypsea. Poor design and layout of the website online newsletters The general outlook of the web page and that of the newsletter is not very attractive. The layout and design need rethinking in order to give the aesthetic feeling. Poor integration of marketing platforms The online marketing media need to work harmoniously with each especially considering the fact Gypsea is registered with more than one. Posts made in one at any single time should be similar to those made in all others. These online media for Gypsea are so not integrated with each other. A post on Facebook, for instance, wouldn’t reflect that on the Instragram, Tumblr, website and the newsletter. The postings are often so unrelated, you would wonder if they are even managed by the same individual. Incompetence Those mandated to market Gypsea in the internet media either do not have the required marketing competence or are just out to let the company down/sleeping on the job. The adverts are not exquisitely done. The packaging of the marketing content is wanting and do not meet the professional marketing standards. Advert and promotion copies on the newsletter and the web page need to be improved greatly. Recommendations In the face of the prevailing competition in the fashion and design business, and in bikini/swimming products particularly, Gypsea needs to make adjustments/improvements on a number of issues if the competitors are to be given a run for their money. Competition in this field is so high, knowing the online marketing techniques have distorted what a company would have called its traditional clientele base. This has given the consumers varieties to choose from. The competition for the customers’ dollar has gone really high and Gypsea hasn’t been able to match the pace because it constantly gets the online game wrong. Even within Australia alone where Gypsea is found, competitors have so risen in the game that Gypsea can no longer attract the number of customers it used to. Records show it half year sales record is not a reflection of what it used to be two years ago. On this front, a number of recommendations have been made on what Gypsea needs to do differently. They suggest the adjustments that Gypsea needs to make to turn things around and ensure marketing success that it had been enjoying at the start. a) Web Page and Newsletter aesthetics The design and the layout of the newsletter and the web page needs to be made attractive to ensure they attract attention of the online clientele. The general outlook needs upgrading, so that they are more visually appealing, keeping the readers glued even if the content is not so up to date. The appeal of the web page and the newsletter would convert into appeal of the company itself. That is a way to communicate silently. Aesthetics can be improved through the following: i. Content positioning The important contents need on the website and the company newsletters to be positioned in the most visible manner. They should be placed in the viewable areas of the website and newsletter to make sure they are not hidden from the reader’s eye. They should be highlighted in the best ways position. ii. Increasing the web content As it stands, Gypsea only has a website to link you to its Instragram, Facebook, twitter, Pinterest and Tumblr pages. One would have no reason to stay on it or visit again because even these pages it links you to are not as active and engaging as you would want. Basically, one would not feel the essence of having a website so dormant. A dormant website gives the impression of a lackluster company that is either dying or dead already. Constant/regular updating of the website indicates that the company is still alive and active. People want to know what’s going on and what’s new, all as they are seated in front of their computers or using their phone. However, that the Gypsea website already has social media links which makes it possible to share content is commendable. It means that the improvement wouldn’t start from zero. There is just the need to know the importance of using these avenues as important marketing tools, and the benefits will be there for everyone to see. These digital avenues need to engage more than they are presently. iii. Professionally designed content The content on the web page and the newsletter needs to be done by a marketing professional to ensure it invites and retains the attention of the reading client, both prospective and already existing. Writing of web copies shouldn’t be done for the sake of it, but in a way that communicates strongly. Only marketing professionals would know how to design the content in the face of the prevailing competition in the fashion and design business. b) Increasing twitter followers and use This can be done by following twitter users that would most likely be interested in the products and activities of the company. Inactive users who are not following back should be unfollowed. You need genuine and active following because you need it to assess the online client base. An image needs to be created of Gypsea that would ensure that as many twitter users as possible follow it. Contents can be automatically shareable across the social media, e.g. there are settings for Facebook that make it possible to automatically share its contents with twitter. c) Creative use of social media There are many ways to be creative on the social media. It could be done by posting of the visual media such as photos and videos. Videos are posted as links and could carry demonstrations and a lot of other things related to Gypsea and the products it offers. d) Shareable online content It is of immense importance to post some shareable content. Sharing of contents is important in marketing when there is need to expand the market. It ensures that other users of the social media are encouraged to share some of the content that are either humorous/interesting or is an appealing product that one finds necessary to share with other friends who might be interested in it. The means to share if should be provided to make it shareable. e) More use of Facebook and Instragram Facebook is the most popular of all the social media that we have presently. Its increased use will ensure that the market base is expanded, and hopefully, the likes on the Gypsea’s Facebook page are converted into a market (Ramsaran-fowdar, R. 2011: 67-93). That would be such a big online market. Instragram on the hand would show the positive and human side of Gypsea. Instragram users would be enabled to engage directly with Gypsea. The company would be able to mix shareable, social and fun content with the promotional content. Consumers would trust Instragram more because of the distrust associated with social media use presently (Chaudhury, A. and Jean-Pierre, K. 2011: 72,74). Linking website to social media makes it easy to access them simply by clicking the links on the website. One doesn’t need to open many sites on his computer to access the social media platforms. Some clients are very impatient and might not have the time to do all that; they would think that wastes their time. There should be payment links on the new website to make it easy for the overseas customers to purchase the products which are then sent through any one of the many ways available today, including shipping and via the post or other courier means. It would be necessary to keep with the pace of the digital revolution. f) Social media attendance and sales Social media can only be useful if the amount of engagement of the company activities with them translates into commensurate sales and commitments to buy. Such active incorporation of social media into Gypsea’s marketing techniques should be concerted and conducted professionally. There should be a department to do this and other marketing measures. This would make sure that there is the required concentration that this work calls for. What this suggests is that Gypsea should employ people who have studied marketing and who probably know the right content to post on the social media. They should not be mandated to do any other work, to ensure undivided attention (Rapp, A. and Grewal, D. 2010:548-555). Conclusion Gypsea is a strong brand which has earned good reputation in the fashion and design industry for the two years it has lasted in the industry. The product quality is no doubt at the top. It has expanded highly over time, but faces competition from newer companies in the industry who have a more modern touch on digital marketing issues. Even some of the older companies have matched the digital pace. Gypsea doesn’t score so highly in this field though, and this accounts to the loss of the traditional clientele base to rival companies in the industry, both within Australia and overseas. It has fallen behind where one would expect it to be in the industry, chiefly because of the bad score in the digital marketing operations. This report has identified the issues in this front that need to be improved on if the sales are to go higher. All the facets of the social media should be engaged with a view to reaching a wider market and regaining the lost customers. People love to identify with modernity, and social media revolution is one of the aspects of modernity. A lot more effort needs to be put to ensure that marketing is more of an outreach program. If the recommendations of this report are all to be implemented, then Gypsea will succeed in honing in on their target market, improving the perception of their product and also differentiating their products from those that their competitors have to offer. Additionally, the implementation will ensure that the bikini sales are boosted and this will go a long way in ensuring that the company goals and objectives are met. Not much ground has been lost however. But some of it has been lost, and this loss is attributable to lack of the most modern marketing techniques, and of course, whenever modernity is to be mentioned, we will always have the digital issues to think around. They have benefited many companies in limitless number of ways (Steel, E. and Angwin, J 2010). 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