What Benefits Are There for Internet Marketers Using Google Plus - Literature review Example

What benefits are there for Internet Marketers using Google Plus? Issue 3: What benefits are there for Internet Marketers using Google Plus? Marketing has been perceived as being part of everyday life. This is based on the fact that each and every commercial enterprise and majority of non-commercial activities undertake some form of marketing. This is aimed at achieving a competitive niche and promote their products and services or to disseminate some information concerning some public or environmental good towards transforming the people’s behavior (Victoria University of Wellington, 2008, p. 1). Internet marketing has achieved extensive popularity among marketers in the recent decades, mostly with the advent of social networks. This popularity is founded on diverse benefits that online marketers derive from the E-marketing platform, most of which will be explored in the subsequent analysis. Against this background, this paper is a profound effort to analyze the benefits that the internet marketers derive from using Google Plus, a form of social network. Ability to reach increasingly fragmented market It is an apparent fact that the use of the internet has heightened among diverse populations around the globe, mostly with the advent of new technological knowhow. This fact is supported by Garrison (2003, p. 2) who cited a recent report which revealed that 34% of the overall households in the world have a web connection which translates to approximately above 1/3 and this trend is heightening every day. On a more imperative dimension, an even larger percentage of businesses are now online. This means that people have a greater accessibility to social networks like Google Plus which can be robust platforms for marketing. One of the chief benefits for internet marketers in using Google plus is founded on its functionality. Pegoraro (2011, p 1) noted that the new Google+ is aimed at offering heightened choices to share what is on the marketer’s mind and at the same time see what is on everybody’s else. But perhaps the most fascinating feature of this site is the ability to group friends into ‘circles’. The Marketing Zen Group (2011, p. 3) supported this fact by citing that one of the most well-executed feature in Google+ is Circles, a mechanism which permits users to organize all the contacts into particular categories or groups, for instance, work colleagues, family, friends and acquaintances among others. The major tenet behind the circles is that social networks should not be founded on the necessity of sharing information with a mass quantity of people, but instead, should focus and target particular social groups for different topics (The Marketing Zen Group, 2011, p. 3). Against this backdrop, internet marketers are endowed with the ability to conveniently and effectively reach a market which is highly fragmented in terms of age, culture and social class among other characterizations through disseminating the right products information to the right sub-group. In addition, the marketer can get regular responses from these groups through the updates feature. Nonetheless, it is imperative to be cognizant of the fact that this necessitates a high degree of decision making in regard to the grouping criteria in order to get the right outcomes from the internet marketing venture. Klein, Moon and Hoofman (2006, p. 71) determined that when experienced decision makers are confronted by non-routine and complex problems, they engage collection and critical evaluation of the available evidence, seek the consistency, and test the assumptions underlying their assessment of the problem. In this regard, the internet marketers can greatly benefit from Google plus if they make the right decision in their grouping processes aimed at reaching out to a highly fragmented market. Subsiding the barriers of time and space It is evident that time and space are two fundamentals in the marketing process. This is whereby a marketer needs to save as much time as he/she can aimed at ensuring that a wide target market is reached within the shortest time possible regardless of space, and with utmost convenience. The use of internet marketing achieves both of the above objectives due to its recent heightened popularity mentioned in the preceding section as well as having the capacity to interact with different clients across the globe with a click of a button. This is mostly profound when the marketer is confronted by time and financial constraints and internet marketing comes in handy to solve this problem. This necessitates the internet marketers to consult a wide alley of information and networks in order to narrow down to specific market targets and make decisions aimed at addressing the problems of time and space. Endsley, Hoffman, Kaber and Roth (2007, p. 2) depicted that studies focusing on skillful decision makers and their decision strategies, for instance, in crisis management, controls and military command have revealed that these individual are not endowed with only a wide scope of knowledge but also they apply problem solving mechanisms which are deliberate and this have significant variance with those engaged by beginners. Against this background, Google plus offers an ideal platform for addressing the impediments of space and time among the internet marketers. This emanates from diverse features, for instance, video chatting which can facilitate communication and feedback between the marketer and the clients from different parts of the globe within the shortest time possible. According to The Marketing Zen Group (2011, p. 5), another interesting aspect about Google plus is the ‘Hangout’ feature. The rudimentary concept behind this feature is a virtual chat room where an individual can video chat with people in his/her circles. In addition, ‘Hangouts’ also permits an individual to watch YouTube videos collaboratively with other people who are in a particular group as well as text chatting alongside the video window (The Marketing Zen Group, 2011, p. 5). Both of these features can be extremely beneficial to the internet marketers since they can advertise and demonstrate their products to the consumers and at the same time, type usage directions to the consumers in the text chat box next to the video window. Thus, the usage of Google plus among the internet marketers is greatly beneficial in their attempts to reduce the cost and time taken in their ventures as well as collapsing the space between them and their consumers. This can to a great extent help in solving the problems of cutting down the overhead costs, mostly in a time when most corporate bodies and individual marketers are still trying to recover from the financial hardships triggered by the recent global financial slump. Information sharing which is central to creativity and innovation Services innovation is one key aspect which has been associated with internet marketing. This is mostly paramount in the market which is characterized by enormous consumer dynamics as a result of consumer diversity and consumer polarization. Burleson (2005, p. 38) noted that one of the important tenets of convincing the prospective consumers is through keeping oneself well-informed about the recent developments in one’s field. This can be done through sharing information with people in similar fields, checking for new trends in the market as well as checking what the competitors are doing. Consequently, keeping a keen eye on will enable one to attain a favorable niche which has not yet been well covered by the competitors.According to the Google website (2012, p. 1), Google plus plays an integral role in helping people to share something new, whether a link, video or anything that is in their minds. This is applicable in internet marketing whereby it is fundamental for them to stay up-to-date with the latest trends in the highly dynamic market. The Marketing Zen Group (2011, p. 6) revealed that Google plus is endowed with a feature commonly referred to as ‘Sparks’ which is a ‘Recommendation Engine’ for Google Plus users which enables them to find interesting and relevant materials which they specifically request for. Thus, in a generic sense, ‘Sparks’ is an algorithmic mechanism which efficiently collects user-specific subjects, for instance, journals, videos, photos and articles which are aimed towards a particular interest that is defined by the user. This can be important to internet marketers whereby they can be able to request for the latest consumer purchasing trends of the particular products which they are marketing, reports on latest innovations on these products, new entrants in the market as well as reports on the market dynamics confronting their specific products. Against this background, they are endowed with the capacity to make informed decisions in regard to their target markets, new opportunities as well as potential partners, all of which when critically evaluated can culminate in decisive action which will result to sustained competitive advantage in the market as well as innovation of more robust marketing strategies. On the other hand, Google plus offers them an ideal platform for sharing this information with other internet marketers in the aim of capturing what they might have missed in their critical analysis. This free flow of information between members in different ‘Circles’ in Google Plus is greatly beneficial to internet marketers using Google plus. Scalability In a generic sense, scalability can be perceived as the ability of a system to handle an enlarging quantity of work in an efficient and capable manner, or its potential to be expanded to accommodate that particular growth. A marketing platform being utilized by any corporate body or individual ought to have this particular capability to effectively adapt to the heightening amount of workload which comes along with expanding market share. This is based on the presumption that the longer the time an online marketer is in business, the wider and expansive the market will become necessitating a marketing platform which accommodate this growth. In regard to Google plus, there is a feature of very beneficial to the internet marketers of importing new contacts into the ‘Circles’ as well as updates on the people who want to add him/her in their circles. Against this backdrop, internet marketers can invite their colleagues, and promoters in their circles aimed at expanding their networks as well as clients towards expanding their market share. Google plus is endowed with an almost infinitive contacts capacity, and can thus accommodate growth which makes it ideal for the internet promoters who endeavor to expand their consumer bases as well as their networks. From the above discourse, it is evident that there are diverse benefits which internet marketers can derive from being Google plus users. Nonetheless, there are several recommendations which can be forwarded aimed at optimizing this business model. Recommendations One of the criticisms which has been hulled upon the utility of Google plus in internet marketing , and perhaps a reason for its slowed growth when juxtaposed with other social networks like Facebook and Twitter among other is related to privacy. It is worth noting that there has been elevated sensitivity in regard to discloser of personal information, mostly with increasing trends of breach of this information. Pegoraro (2011, p 1) posed the paradox whereby if Google is in possession of searches, contacts, calendars and even email contents, it is worth considering whether one is ready to hand over this much of their life to it. Against this backdrop, Google ought to reconsider some of its personal information prerequisites when one is signing up for an account. This will reduce the paranoia among internet marketers of uncertainties in breach of personal information. Secondly, Google ought to make profound adjustments to some of the malfunctions in some of the features in Google plus, mostly with incoming threats from competitors, for instance, Apple who has announced to launch iCloud with more efficient web sharing (Pegoraro, 2011, p 1). Some of these malfunctions have been pointed out by Pegoraro(2011) who pointed out that some parts of Google plus seem ill-though, for instance, the mobile app has a deficit of a check-in function, despite the fact that the Google plus’ mobile website has one. Rectification of these discrepancies will be key in retaining the trust of internet marketers despite the looming competition (1). Thirdly, Google ought to take up the challenge of undertaking more efforts to popularize this social network, mostly among internet marketers who perceive other social networks like Facebook overgrown and desire channels which are more private for closer friends and moreserious corporate interrelations. This will prove integral in the future growth of Google plus despite the anticipated competition. Finally, Pegoraro (2011, p 1) revealed that the primary weakness confronting Google plus is not something that can be fixed with a software update, but rather the absence of approximately 750 million users in Facebook, many of whom were lured there by factors like peer pressure, and are reluctant to switch cautious of losing touch with their friends in it. Against this backdrop, Google ought to consider some features of importing friends from other social networks, as well as setting up incentives like vouchers to lure users into Google plus. This will be key in attracting prospective internet marketers into Google plus who will enjoy the benefits previously discussed in preceding sections. In conclusion, it is apparent from the above discourse that there are diverse benefits for internet marketers using Google plus. These include but not limited to collapsing the impediments time and space, ability to reach increasingly fragmented market, scalability as well as information sharing which is central to creativity and innovation. Nonetheless, Google ought to address contradictions related to privacy, unpopularity of Google plus when compared with other social networks like Facebook, malfunctioning features among others. References Burleson, L, 2005, ‘The Untold Secrets of Internet Marketing’, retrieved 09 August, 2012, < http://www.game4all.com/Untold-Secrets%20of%20Internet%20Marketing.pdf> Endsley, M. R., Hoffman, R., Kaber, D. B., & Roth, E. (2007). Cognitive engineering and decision making: An overview and future course. Journal of Cognitive Engineering and Decision Making, 1, 1-21. Garrison, D., 2003, ‘Internet Marketing and Other Techniques for taking advantage of the World Wide Web’ retrieved 09 August, 2012, Google Website, 2012, retrieved 09 August, 2012, Klein, G. A., Moon, B. A., & Hoffman, R. R. (2006). Making sense of Sensemaking 1: Alternative perspectives. IEEE Intelligent Systems, 21, 70-73. Pegoraro, R., 2011, ‘Google Plus: Just What does it add?’ Discovery News, 1st July, retrieved 09 August, 2012, The Marketing Zen Group, 2011, ‘Google Plus: A How-To Guide’, retrieved 09 August, 2012, < http://www.marketingzen.com/Articles/GooglePlusGuide.pdf> Victoria University of Wellington, 2008, ‘ Marketing’, Career View, No. 48, pp. 1-8. Read More