The Role of Digital Platforms in Marketing a Product - Essay Example

The role of digital platforms (websites and social media) in marketing a product service Introduction The revolution taken place digitally in the global market has made companies to rethink on their marketing strategies to communicate with their customers. Technology gone digital has made customers access to the wide range of product and service in one click of a button. A wide range of quantity and quality of information are now available to the consumers due to the advent of digital technology. Digital Marketing The birth of internet has given rise to a number of marketing platforms to the organisation like the social media, websites and other communication technologies. Digital customers have the advantage of accessing the online data and information to compare product price and technicalities. The companies does not have the monopoly on the integrated marketing communication mix and therefore, cannot dominate on a particular communication like television, bill boards or newspaper which gives them the advantage of suppressing other brands from getting communicated. Internet is a platform where all brands and products or services are equally promoted and communicated to the customers. Therefore, all information is available globally hence, giving the customers an edge to compare and communicate before going for a venture. It is mainly the buyers and the communicated integration which is shaping the customer perception on brand building. Hence, there is no way in which a company can cheat its customers with fake promises and brand image (Chaffey, 2012). Figure 1: Going Digital (Source: Adamson, 2008) Digital Marketing Strategies Proper use of search engine optimisation (SEO) A digital marketing strategy is not only about appearing in the key search engines like Google or Yahoo but is also about making a point in being included in the first search list and as the top keywords searches. Therefore, SEO means being at the top most rank in the search engines with successful strategies and methods (Chaffey, 2012). Digital marketing mix The advent of digital marketing has changed the complete overview of the marketing mix which is the 4Ps of marketing. It has also included the other 3Ps which are the people, process and physical evidence. Hence, 7Ps of digital marketing mix. Product innovation and upgradation is essential since the customer knowledge, awareness increases with the help of digital marketing. Buyers become more alert on the range of brands available in the global market and what their features are. Hence, companies match up their research and development with product or services with the growing customer needs leading to mass customisation (Weber, 2009). Pricing is not constant at a particular market in a given period of time due to greater customer options and knowledge. For example, the airline industry continuously changes its pricing depending on the number of seats available and the emergency of booking. Therefore, if a ticket is booked a month prior to the travelling date, it’s cheaper since the availability is high whereas if it is an emergency and booking need to be done a day before travelling, the price increases (Adamson, 2008). Digital marketing place is common for all products and services. Therefore, the outbound logistics such as the distributors, retailer and wholesalers come together at a common platform giving rise to a unified place for buying and selling globally. A product which has not yet been launched in a particular country might be available for purchase there through a unified online market place which is the internet. For example, if an individual living in India needs to buy a product which is available in the United States, does not need to travel there to a store but can purchase it from eBay or Amazon which are open 24/7 and get a home delivery free of cost which saves time, money and energy (Adamson, 2008). Promotional techniques have achieved its new height through digital marketing. The promotional reach, avenues has increased at a greater pace. Social media like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube is one of the most successful promotional platforms which have connected millions of customers all around the world through one medium (Adamson, 2008). Figure 2: Promotional tools (Source: Adamson, 2008) Figure 2 above explains the different types of digital promotional tools used for marketing. Advertising is the most common way of digital promotion. Organisations or brands promote their website in internet through Google Adwords ( Adamson, 2008). Displaying contact number of companies on web pages is a common way of selling a product or a service through internet. Sales promotion like offers and discounts are advertised either in the company websites (e.g. discounts on sports gears by Nike) or social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter. Public relations are maintained through promotional e-books and magazines like Femina or interstitial web-pages. Digital marketing space also helps in viral marketing by creating a sudden hype on a particular brand or helping in celebrity brand building and increasing it’s worth through social media (Adamson, 2008). People are referred to as the consumers availing the digital market. A balance is created between the buyers and the sellers through automation and providing a common market place globally open 24/7 and delivery of product at your home. Communication with clients through auto responders, email notification, call back facilities, real time live chats and virtual assistance are the other way of increasing customer awareness and satisfaction. Hence, customer satisfaction level increases through digital marketing, giving higher value proposition to buyers as well as sellers (Adamson, 2008). Process has been made automated which has decreased operational cost for sellers. No expense on stores, electricity bills, set up cost etc and lesser recruitment of staff. Physical evidence is the last P of digital marketing which is the merging of the online and the offline world. Website design, awards and endorsements, 3rd party reviews and refund policies are some of the ways in which customers can be connected more to the digital world (Ryan, 2014). Quality content It is very important for a company to continuously upscale the quality of contents in its website to stay brand new, produce passage, connect audience and play a significant part in achieving a higher level through the guidance of suitable SEO techniques and keywords. For example, a blogging site needs to upload regular blogs in its website to remain updated and help them in order to get more viewers (Ryan, 2014). Conclusion Digital marketing is at its growth phase which is due to the enormous increase in the growth of the online customer base. To get the best out of the global digital market, there should be a recurring analysis of the results received from the promotional campaigns and customer preferences to successfully implement new strategies for growth and higher yield. Efforts should be taken to attract customer and lead generation in order to survive in the higher competitive market arena. Digital marketing strategy of Coca-Cola Introduction Coca-Cola is among the most popular brands in the beverage market segment and has brought together a major community of social media around the world. Coca-Cola fan page in the social networking sites have approximately 89 million Facebook fans in the year 2015 and 125 million YouTube viewers in the year 2013 (Coca-Cola, 2015). It tops the chart as the most viewed brand page in YouTube and Facebook and has secured its position as number one competing with other giants like Disney, RedBull and Starbucks (Coca-Cola, 2015). Coca-Cola and social media Coca-Cola is the most popular brand in the social networking world and ranks the first place in Facebook as the most liked brand page. This Facebook page was once created by some Coca-Cola fans and when new policies were introduced in this networking site, the company had the power to delete the page but instead decided to keep it under their administration and the rest is history. Very less amount of post are regularly done on the page but inspite of that, thousands of fans visit the page daily and communicates their satisfaction towards the brand. This has enabled more customer interaction which has created this brand value of Coca-Cola (Schlosser, 1999). Coca-Cola Blogs The company publishes short articles in its corporate website on a vast range of topics like health issues, tours, food, amusements, music and management tips which address the key essentials of personal needs and contentment. Coca-Cola has an activity in Twitter named high five which has a feel good factor as it spreads a message of cherishing happiness and sharing through its post mainly written by its employees or upcoming writers to assure engagement at a closer level and high commitment towards its consumers and fans (Coca-Cola, 2015). Coca-Cola’s digital marketing success The companies target is all about building relationship, sharing love and creating peace and harmony among individual and uplifting the society. The target market audience of Coca-Cola has a mix of older and younger generation segmented under a common platform of need, love and joy. It speaks very less about the brand itself but the society at large. Coca-Cola is coming up with product innovation like beverages for health conscious as well as diabetic consumer and names it Coca-Cola Zero. Hence, it caters the need of both young and older generation (Stone, 2007). Share a coke campaign: This digital marketing promotion is one of the companys greatest successes in terms of brand building, customer acquisitions and connecting to the world. This campaign has started in the year 2011 and is still growing. It has not only resulted in sales growth but also increased social media views of its brand page. The campaign allows consumers to order tailored coke bottles and in some countries the tagging of the bottle was also changed with special messages or names (Coca-Cola, 2015). The happiness machine: The campaign was about rewarding consumers with beverages, pizzas, sandwiches and flowers in return of a cuddle with the vending machine or a dance in front of it which counted as a reward point. It resulted in huge success. Coke zone: An incentive program was launched in the year 2008 by Coca-Cola to motivate consumers globally to join and help in the customer relationship management program. It was a remarkable program as it sent personalized messages through mails or SMS on offers and rewards to its customers worldwide based on their anniversaries, reference and birthdays (Coca-Cola, 2015). King of the recycle: The brand motivated consumers based in Israel to recycle the plastic bottles hence creating places for 10000 recycle bins all around the country with the help of Facebook. Check-in pages were created for the campaign to encourage consumers to upload their photos after recycling a bottle. This campaign was a huge success and Coca-Cola made it a fun and entertaining task, yet spreading awareness throughout the country (Coca-Cola, 2015). Tweet your Christmas wish: In the year 2011, the company tried to make people feel very special by posting their tweets in a huge neon sign board in Piccadilly Circus. A coke zone was created through which the messages were displayed on the board (Coca-Cola, 2015). The friendship experiment: In the state of Guangzhou in China, this campaign was initiated by Coca-Cola which was called as the friendship experiment. A photographer clicked friends travelling together to keep the memories alive (Coca-Cola, 2015). The Ahh effect: This was a promotional event to target teenagers who loved playing mobile games. The initiative was to create enjoyable digital games for Smartphone users and was the first All-Digital promotion by Coca-Cola (Coca-Cola, 2015). Recommendation on the use of digital marketing platform by Apple TV Firstly, Apple Inc may target its existing customers for the digital promotional activities of the Apple TV. Apple TV should synchronise its operating system which the other Apple devices like the iPod and the iPhone which operates under the same iOS software. It may offer a television service which is internet based to cater the need of their valuable Apple users which would digitally link all the Apple products under the same platform. Viewing online channels would be easier and paid channels would come with much cheaper package as compared to channel service through cables and other sources (Schlosser, 1999). Secondly, by customising digital advertisements according to consumer preferences and online searches a greater customer reach can be availed building the brand equity of the company. Application based ads through social networking sites like Facebook where customers can learn about the product through interactive marketing would help in promoting Apple TV. The potential Apple TV customers would view online channels through their phones or laptops which could be utilised as a digital marketing platform for the products promotion (Sweeney, 2007). Conclusion The online age has shaped an amount of openings for small and medium scale firms to develop new digital television applications and utilise them to increase customer proximity. The main problem faced by smart television manufactures is the usage of remote control which would limit the access of internet usage and would intervene in the online application strategies (Weber, 2009). Reference list Adamson, A. P., 2008. Brand Digital. 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Survey of Internet users’ attitudes toward Internet advertising. Journal of interactive marketing, 13(3), pp. 34-54. Stone, M. A. and Desmond, J., 2007. The Fundamentals of Marketing. Oxford: Routledge. Sweeney, C. A., MacLellan, A. and Dorey, E., 2007. 3G Marketing on the Internet. UK: Maximum Press. Weber, L., 2009. Marketing to the social web: how digital customer communities build your business. New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons. Read More