Digital Marketing Presents Opportunities and Challenges to Organisations - Coursework Example

Digital Marketing Presents Opportunities and Challenges to Organisations Name: Course: Tutor: Date: Digital Marketing Presents Opportunities and Challenges to Organisations The onset of digital marketing has been a commendable advancement in the field of marketing. Companies use marketing tools to reach their consumers and make sales. The current digital era has made marketing processes easy than it was prior to electronic integration. Concisely, digital marketing extends the realm of using electronic technology to drive sales. The sales volumes of international companies in the world today require massive sales incentives. It is much cheaper than traditional methods of marketing. Companies embracing digital marketing reap satisfactory benefits from their efforts. It is advisable to address the need for digital marketing in a firm to enhance the relevance. The current market place has shifted the virtual world where the internet drives everything. Online transactions are taking over from physical markets. The ability to harness these resources to build a formidable marketing campaign gives an edge to establishments that learn the process. Marketing can be a daunting task because it requires the identification of a number of factors. It is hard to come up with an effective marketing strategy with high precision (Rowley, 2004, pp24-25). Online marketing bridges the gap because the internet reaches virtually everyone. Other forms of digital marketing exist and present diverse challenges and threats to companies. Thus, paper has been prepared to establish the nature, application, effectiveness, and details of digital marketing. The paper examines the use of digital marketing in reputable firms and effects of its absence. It reflects on the need to understand the marketing filed and digital technology to reap maximum benefit from the application of appropriate technology. In light of this, some organisations have been analysed relating to their marketing practises to establish the link between digital marketing the effectiveness business (Donnelly, Simmons, Armstrong, & Fearne, 2012, pp516). According Chaffey and Smith (2005), Digital marketing can be viewed as a contemporary tool of making a successful business. The approach of small and middle-sized companies towards this phenomenon has turned some of them into successful businesses. It is a fact that the yesteryear of business was riddled with difficult situations, and a long time was taken to break even. In today’s internet market, digital marketing enables companies to market their products without having to cover geographical distances. This has been termed as achieving marketing objectives through digital means (Chaffey & Smith, 2005, pp41). According to the author, marketing can be simplified by use of techniques that help the firms identify, exploit, and maintain new markets for their products. These methods were tedious and costly in the past. The advancements made in technology and marketing fields enables companies to make work easier. While most companies prefer to use the least cost to achieve the maximum impact, digital marketing is all a matter of tact. The companies succeed when they adapt and utilise new resources appropriately (Rowley, 2004, pp.27). Digital marketing is not as much an issue of cost as production. The ability to identify the nest medium and form of digital marketing is the primary driver of success. Marketing need not be a tedious exercise if a company can embrace reasonable technology to propel its agenda. In respect of this state of affairs, companies need to identify what matters in their priority list. The aggressive marketing of a product relies on the medium. According to El-Gohary (2010), businesses embrace digital marketing from three broad perspectives. These perspectives are e-business, e-commerce, and e marketing. The approach ensures that businesses have a proper structure to reap maximum benefits from digital (El-Gohary, 2010, pp57). According to Riyad (2005), the internet is a crucial tool in marketing because it reaps benefits for businesses if well managed. Companies willing to tap into digital marketing have to understand the concepts behind it. The basic motive behind most digital marketing investments is the ability to target a given user group from the population (Damian & Jones, 2012, pp23). Companies engaging in marketing without the digital aspect often tend to incur large costs due to misplaced marketing strategies and concerns. Mass advertising is effective because it reaches all people, but digital marketing is effective because one can choose the target audience. Companies must address this form of marketing strategy. In digital marketing, companies can opt to use either push or pull marketing (Kolsaker & Payne, 2002, pp207). In push marketing, companies feed their prospective consumers with information through the digital media at their disposal. This method is effective because the firm decides the content of the marketing message. The company can fine-tune the mode to capture an identified target market. In the push model, companies may incur considerable costs especially if they decide to use text based messaged (Kotler & Armstrong, 2012, pp24-25). The pull model, on the other hand, uses the consumer approach. Consumers seek for information on the web and other places. The information they seek helps to market the firms that are in charge. The pull marketing is effective to consumers because they prefer such a view. The content of the pull marketing depends on consumer’s discretion. Companies have to unfreeze the status quo in order to pave the way for digital marketing (Donnelly, Simmons, Armstrong, & Fearne, 2012, pp519). Once the status quo has been broken, test runs are carried out. These enable a company to gauge the best method to utilise. After testing models, companies establish the height of achievement that can be achieved from the foray into marketing. Once the testing is through, a prototype model is run. At this stage, the company has identified the primary mode of digital marketing that suits it best. Verification of the prototype model gives way to fine-tuning. This involves making minor changes to the approach to enable it fit the market. The final model is subsequently implemented to take over from the traditional marketing format (Kolsaker & Payne, 2002, pp208). Several companies have decided to take the plunge as shown by Melewar and Smith (2003). Google, as expected of a technology company, was one of the pioneers. It has innovatively developed an approach to digital marketing (Melewar &Smith, 2003, pp.363). The company decided to implement a hybrid model for its digital marketing approach. Their dashboard approach utilises a tool. The analysis the take enables them to stay ahead of the competition. The company uses browsing analysis to enable it understand the needs of the market (Riyad, 2005, pp 269). Google sought to implement search engine optimisation approaches; the company knows exactly how to market itself. The primary marketing strategy that Google uses is the association with results. The company brand has become synonymous with results. People talk of searching for something on Google as the ultimate solution. This word of mouth advertising contributes to marketing efforts (Damian & Jones, 2012, pp22). The company has products that are tailor-made to offer solutions to every niche of the digital world. That way, Google itself is the platform of digital marketing. Efficiency is one of the company’s main policies. The creative atmosphere maintained at the company premises enables the staff to come up with ever-innovative approaches. These are crucial to sustain marketing efforts. At the same time, Apple uses digital marketing at an unheralded level. The former CEO brought the digital world to the doorstep of quality. The Apple brand is synonymous with reliable communication (El-Gohary, 2010, pp62). Apple’s approach is more user-oriented than Google’s. The company hosts forums to display the advances it has made in its products. The company makes sufficient innovative efforts to make sure that their products fit the needs of a reliable market (Kotler & Armstrong, 2012, pp32). Apple avails software to users to utilise on all platforms. This allows their consumers to get seamless connectivity. The resources availed in this respect enable the company to build a brand on the digital platform. Digital marketing on Apple’s terms is service provision to consumers. Clients and competitors alike seek after Apple products. Digital marketing at Apple includes release of periodic update journals and releases. The company evolved from a market member to a market leader in its segment due to embracing digital marketing and quality. The company has invested relentless efforts to build its digital world: a gamble that has paid off handsomely (Kolsaker & Payne, 2002, pp211-2). In contrast to Google’s push marketing approach, Apple prefers the pull technique. Google lays out information for consumers to use and learn, but clientele seek after Apple. Google has a hybrid system of combining the old marketing strategies with a twist of digital marketing techniques. This approach works well for the company. Apple promises to convey superior products and services to its clients. The high quality keeps the consumers coming back for their product. Having an online brochure for products has moved sales for Apple. The Company ensures that the product details are easily accessible to the mass market. Pricing strategies enable the company to fund its digital marketing. Google has a Search Engine Optimization approach instead of the direct consumer address. The two companies have risen out of oblivion exclusively on the strength of digital marketing (Melewar & Smith, 2003, pp366). In the interest of public satisfaction and goodwill, both companies ensure that their staff embrace and learn digital marketing with creativity as the central column. Both companies also face fierce criticism over their use of technology and marketing from competitive quarters. Competition is stiff on the internet (Damian & Jones, 2012, pp43). With the nature of the digital world, recognition of a company is more valuable than sales because it guarantees loyalty. Both firms approach digital marketing with a view to exploit new frontiers not considered by the rest. This approach increases risk and subsequently, returns (Donnelly, Simmons, Armstrong, & Fearne, 2012, pp526). In conclusion, digital marketing is anew and effective tool that eases marketing. It requires skill and creativity to identify the best approach to use. The upside of the process is the fact that most companies that embrace it realise considerable returns. There are two principal models in the digital marketing field. Push and pull approaches depend on the nature of business that a firm engages its focus. Identifying the perfect blend of digital marketing techniques enables a firm to reap benefits. Effectiveness and efficiency succeed singlehandedly and companies must decide on what to prioritize. Once the company implements the strategy, benefits can accrue to it in perpetuity. Digital marketing can be utilized effectively with other methods of marketing notably broadcast marketing. Bibliography Chaffey, D. & Smith, P R, 2008, e-Marketing Excellence: Planning and Optimizing Your Digital Marketing. Amsterdam: Butterworth-Heinemann Damian, R. & Jones, C., 2012, Understanding Digital Marketing: Marketing Strategies for Engaging the Digital Generation. Philadelphia, PA: Kogan Page Donnelly, C., Simmons, G., Armstrong, G. & Fearne, A. 2012, Marketing Planning and Digital Customer Loyalty Data in Small Business. Journal of Marketing Intelligence & Planning, vol. 30(5): 515-534 El-Gohary, H, 2010, Expanding TAM and IDT to understand the adoption of E-Marketing by small business enterprises. International Journal of Customer Relationship Marketing and Management (IJCRMM), vol. 1 (3): 56-75. Kolsaker, A. & Payne, D, 2002, Engendering Trust in e-Commerce: A Study of Gender- Based Concerns. Journal of Marketing Intelligence & Planning, vol. 20(4): 206- 214 Kotler, P & Armstrong, G, 2012, Principles of Marketing. Boston: Pearson Prentice Hall Melewar, T.C. & Smith, N., 2003, The Internet Revolution: Some Global Marketing Implications. Journal of Marketing Intelligence & Planning, vol. 21(6): 363-369 Riyad, E, 2005, International internet marketing: A Triangulation Study of Drivers and Barriers in the Business-To-Business Context in the United Kingdom. Journal of Marketing Intelligence & Planning, vol. 23(3): 266 – 280 Rowley, J., 2004, Just another channel? Marketing communications in e-business. Journal of Marketing Intelligence & Planning, vol. 22(1): 24-41 Read More