Virtual Word as a Marketing Method - Essay Example

Virtual word of mouth Students name: Institution: Instructors name: Date: Introduction Marketing is a wide aspect that encompasses different mediums of communicating and influencing customers on the existence of certain products. Companies spend money in identifying appropriate mode of communicating the products to the target market. Customers need to be convinced on the importance of the product or service before they make decisions to purchase it. It is therefore important for a company to develop appropriate strategies on how to introduce products and service into the market and how to market their existing products. Integrating the four marketing mix tool has been one of the strategy in marketing that has enabled companies to make better decisions in creating awareness. It is important to note that marketing forms an important part of nay business because it forms the basis of buying and selling the products. Therefore customers are sensitive on information they get from marketers especially for the new product or service. Virtual word of mouth(2000-2500 words) The term virtual comes from viewing something indirectly without having to view it physically. Face to face involves a situation whereby interaction occurs between two or more people physically. When it comes to virtual; the viewer does not have to meet face to face, but they can hear and see through different mediums. For the past years companies have identified the most important tool in marketing and this is the use of word of mouth. This is a form of marketing whereby the marketer tries to convince a customer through face to face interaction. It is obvious that customers believe what they see and not what they hear, therefore using word of mouth while marketing products or service has been a successful strategy for most companies in the past years. Word of mouth is an activity that involves the marketer explaining or passing information about the product or service through face to face interaction. In this case, the marketer books an appointment with the customers in order to find time to explain about the product or service. The customer on the other hand will have all the opportunity to ask all questions about the products and service. Customers will clear their doubts because they have a chance to test on how the product or service is used. When a customer has cleared their doubts, they are convinced and hence they end up making a choice on purchasing the product or service (Brown,et al,2007). Word of mouth form of marketing has made most companies experience profits through making more sales. This is because it is a form of marketing that is considered more influential and it convinces the customer. However, with the evolving use of other means of marketing, word of mouth continues to diminish since it has been replaced by other forms for example virtual word of mouth whereby social media is considered the best platform in modern marketing. With advancing technology, there are new innovations on how to handle sales especially when dealing with global companies. Competition has propelled companies to go an extra mile in using creative means to incase their sales. This is the use of a marketing medium that covers wide area. Also companies are seeking to attain a competitive advantage and hence they are innovating more appropriate means of carrying out its marketing strategies. There are different forms of using virtual word of mouth these are; TV, Radio, Newspaper and Social media. Virtual word of mouth has replaced the old term used in marketing whereby companies still appreciate the use of face to face convincing power to target customers. With the emergence on the use of social media, virtual word of mouth involves the use of social media to communicate to target customers and to pass information globally. One example on the virtual word of mouth is the use of you- Tube to market products by posting a video of a marketer demonstrating on how to use certain product or service. Virtual word of mouth is slowly replacing the face to face interaction since marketing survey depicts that most people have channeled their attention towards the use of internet. Therefore the advertising through the use of internet is estimated to attract more attention and increase sales. However, companies do not experience a more improved rate of return by adopting the use of internet in marketing. This is whereby most companies invest on using social media to market their products and service but they experience normal returns in terms of sales they make (Buttle, 1998). The fact that companies are embracing the use of social media to spread information about their products or services, it goes without say that there are the advantages and disadvantages on using social media as the current word of mouth. This is because information passé across social media could either lower down the image of the company or strengthen it. Social media has been used to express opinions from one topic to the other. Companies have faced tough situations whereby customers have expressed the negative attributes about their products or service. Companies need to track any information being passed through social media because it can either reap profits or loss depending on the weight of the information. It is obvious that social media covers a wide area in terms of reach and hence most companies have preferred internet marketing for the sake of wide coverage and low cost of advertising. Tracking down information in social media is important for the purpose of maintaining the reputation of a company. There are ways in which companies can tackle the menace that result from inappropriate information passed through social media; Understanding personality of the business; it is obvious that each business has its own way of handling its customers and all operations taking place in the business. A company that understands the persona of its business is likely to encounter les challenges when it comes to virtual word of mouth marketing. This is because they will set strategies on how to tackle customers both virtually and face to face. Appropriate knowledge on target market; it is important for companies to know their target market. This is achieved after carrying out a market research that will result to finding appropriate target customers. There are aspects that will lead to appropriate target market for example demographic segmentation, geographic, behavioral and psychological. Once the target market is identified, the business can be able to develop a strong relation with its customers. When it comes to social media virtual word of mouth can be easily managed especially with appropriate knowledge on target customers. This will therefore prevent challenges encountered through virtual word of mouth. Regular interaction; when it comes to social media, companies should have a representative who will keep the adverts in social media lively. This is where the business has to ensure there is smooth flow of information from target customers to the business. This should be considered for the purpose of enhancing response and building trust with customers. Interactions are essential so that customers can be able to learn more about the product and service. When there is no interaction, customers will divert their attention and hence the marketing strategy will not be fully implemented. Watching the business reputation; in the event to promote and to market products or services virtually; it is important to observe the reputation status of the business as well. This is because most businesses tend to concentrate on the number of sales they make and forget to observe its reputation. Reputation comes through proper handling of customers and being responsive to their needs. Watching reputation will help the company to have a strong relation with customers and this will boost the level of marketing virtually. Relevance of virtual word of mouth to business Virtual word of mouth has replaced the old system of looking for customers physically and passing information face to face. The changes occur as a result of shift towards technologically advanced environment of conducting business. Companies have experienced a great shift in the way target audience handle their purchasing power, such that they spend most of their time in the internet looking for products and service to consume (Jansen et al 2009). Companies have therefore ventured into the use of internet to reach more target customers and to capture their attention. Companies have benefited in the following ways; Wide coverage; virtual word of mouth has resulted to wide coverage especially through the use of social media. Businesses have saved the cost of travelling globally in order to inform customers of an existing company. Take for example customer who wants to visit United Kingdom; the customer will look for best places to visit and hotels to spend their nights through internet. Businesses have developed websites where they can post information about their products and service and therefore customers get a chance to view them. Time saving; use of virtual word of mouth has proved to save the time used to travel globally to pass information. It is easier to use internet whereby the marketer will create a website or a page where information about the product or service could be shared. Take for example advertising through television, you find that the advert is short but carries a lot o weight in terms of information being communicated. This saves time and hence cost. The new form of social media; the new form of social media has enabled sharing of information from one medium to another. Take for example, face book that allows sharing of information on you tube and WhatsApp. This form of sharing has expanded the manner in which a message could be transferred from one person to another. A customer is now able to share information about certain product of service to another customer through WhatsApp or you tube. This has resulted to a revolution in the use of internet to pass information. Sharing also contributes to the wide coverage of information which enhances sharing of information globally. Competitive advantage; companies are aiming at attaining competitive advantage and therefore they are taking up the use of social media to make more sales through influence. It is important to note that each business has its own unique way of designing and passing information to customers on the products and service. Therefore there is competition that has compelled companies to advance more on their ways of social media advertising. When this occurs, there will be a competitive advantage that will boost more company sales and improve on profits. Enhances consistency of the message; using virtual word of mouth through has enhanced consistency of information. This is because the message is constant and it reminds the customer of that particular product or service. When there is consistency in the form of advertising, the customer will develop trust and will influence their purchasing decision as well. Critics on the use of virtual word of mouth According to Goldenberg, et al (2001) virtual word of mouth has not been fully embraced by most business for the obvious reasons such as lack of infrastructures and knowledge by staff. Therefore the virtual word of mouth is experiencing critics in terms of; response, this is where customers are complaining on the efficiency of responding to a message. It is obvious that customers need attention and one of the ways of giving attention is through responding to their views and compliments. When there is slow rate of response, customers will tend to lose interest in the product or service. This being a critic has resulted to most companies experiencing unstable sales. Convincing power; this is one of the critics that have evolved as result of using internet as a marketing tool. It is obvious that use of face to face marketing has more convincing power compared to virtual word of mouth. This is because customers get the chance to interact with the marketer face to face and hence there will be mutual understanding. Using virtual word of mouth has created suspicion especially to the illiterate customers who do not have knowledge on the use of internet. This pulls down the rate at which companies have adapted to the use of internet. It is important to note that not all people can use internet and hence some are illiterate when it comes to conducting transactions online. It is therefore important for companies and business develop its virtual word of mouth that can be understood by all people globally. Cyber crime effects; when it comes to using internet, there are challenges associated with internet usage; cybercrime has been one of the challenges in handling online information. This is where most companies experience hacking of their information systems and altering the contents of the message. This has been under critic because when there is alteration of the message it could portray a negative impact to the affected company. Also customers who do not understand cybercrimes will tend to withdraw from searching information about a product or service from the internet. Cybercrimes can result to misleading information which may not be pleasing to the consumers and this could result to lose in the company. This often occurs when there is not enough internet security in companies. It is therefore important to ensure that there is enough security when using internet to conduct marketing and transactions. Industry application on use of virtual word of mouth (1000-1500 words) Industrial application on the use of virtual word of mouth focuses on how industries have thrived in the competitive market by applying various aspects of marketing to create awareness and improve sales. The product and service to be offered depends on how customers will get information about their existence in the market. Virtual word of mouth has been rated the most effective way of communicating the existence of certain products and service in the market. There are different products and services in the market according to market demand. Therefore each product and service requires a specific medium that will ensures that customers have full information about them. The choice of medium will depend on factors such as; cost, nature of product or service, accessibility and demand. We are going to have an insight on two companies in Australia that have embraced the use of virtual word of mouth in marketing and are experiencing profits, the two companies deal with cosmetics and hotel and tourism and therefore they use internet to advertise their products and services (Stelzner, 2011).these companies have embraced the use of virtual word of mouth through internet whereby they have used social media in communicating to their potential customers. Use of virtual word of mouth in product Mary Kay Australia is a cosmetics company that deals with body product, skin care, fragrances and color cosmetics. The company is well known to have customers globally because of the products they sell. The company uses virtual word of mouth in the sense that it targets women who use cosmetic regularly. A website was developed by the company to enhance the process of advertising and passing information to potential customers. The impact of virtual marketing has been seen through the sales the company makes. This is because the company has posted all the information about the products they sale. Taking a look at the website, you find that each product has been lapelled and its functions and how to use the product has been indicated. Also the company has posted some testimonials from those customers who have consumed the products. This is way of convincing customers through online on the positive impact of using the products. Mary Kay cosmetics have also invested in good relations with customers in the sense that their rate of response is swift. This has been made easier through the use of internet whereby the company has trained its employees to handle customer online. Customer relations management is one of the aspects that result to attracting and retaining customers. When there is no customer relation in online business, it will lead to misleading information and lack of trust by customers. The cosmetic company has invested in ensuing that its customer gets response that they use these responses to improve on their services. The company has also uploaded videos on you tube on how to apply cosmetics and other products. This is a virtual word of mouth that has attracted potential customers because they have an opportunity to watch on how to use the products. Using you tube to market products is important because viewers will have the opportunity to replay the video until they have the full information. This is therefore important in making profits became it enables customer to decide on whether to purchase the products or not. Delivery is also another aspect that eh company has ensured throughout the process of selling its products. The company through virtual word of mouth has ensured that products are delivered on time and has provided the best means of delivery. Use of virtual word of mouth in service provision Hotel Windsor is among the five star hotels in Australia, the hotel has invested in the use of technology to enhance its business performance. This is because the hotel does not use any other form of advertising and promotion apart from internet. Looking at the performance it is evident that the Hotel is gaining popularity very fast. The reason as to why it is gaining popularity is due to positive reviews being expressed by customers through internet. The Hotel has trained its employees on how to handle customers. It is obvious that due to the nature of service they offer, the hotel is being appreciated by customers. However, this does not happen because of popularity, it is because of virtual word of mouth whereby the company has invested in quality of information about the services they offer. The Windsor ensures that the message being passed across through internet caries a lot of weight in terms of service provision and the quality of service provided. The fact that virtual word of mouth can be presented in different forms, the Windsor has focused on using three social media platforms which are face book, twitter and you tube. On face book, there is a page where the Hotel has created for the purpose of reaching to potential customers globally. The page has location and direction of the Hotel. This page allows customers to post reviews about service and products being offered in the Hotel. It also provides and opportunity for customers to ask questions and get immediate response. When it comes to twitter, the Hotel has a twitter handle where potential customers could twit and get immediate response as well. Videos and customer testimonials are posted on you tube for customers to view the service being offered. These videos are taken for the purpose of marketing the hotel, the video shows all the corners of the hotel ranging from restaurant, guest rooms, kitchen, rest rooms, swimming pool and resting shades. The purpose of posting a video is to convince travelers that the best destination in Australia will be complete with Hotel Windsor. Virtual word of mouth requires quality information that is being passed across target customers. The Hotel ensures that information is of good quality and it is consistent. When there is consistency in information, customers will tend to build trust with the company and hence there will be more customers. Also customers can forward information to other customers and this has been made easier through other medium of social media such as linkedn and WhatsApp.the fact that there is quick response to customers through a well managed customer relation unit is also another advantage that has enabled the Windsor to gain more customers. It is evident that most companies have abandoned the old system of using word of mouth when marketing by visiting potential customers and meeting them face to face. Advancing technology has propelled many companies to embrace it and move on with what technology offers. Competitive advantage is also another aspect that companies are aiming at when it comes to setting strategies on marketing. Virtual word of mouth has become the most used from of marketing and advertisement whereby information is passed through advertising platforms. Customers rely on companies they serve to provide the best quality in terms of products and service. They therefore expect the quality of information to be best as well. It is important to note that when there is poor management in terms of service and product delivery, customers will spread the message to other customers and company will eventually lose its customers. In conclusion, virtual word of mouth is the best and easiest way of passing information especially when targeting a wide cover. It is timely and affordable for companies and also it enables the company or business to gain popularity, however, it can encounter some challenges such as inconsistency of information passed, inadequate rate of response which discourages the customers and lack of strong internet connection. Also virtual word of mouth has its segment when it comes to segmentation, this is because old people are not well knowledgeable with the use of internet and hence it is important for companies to choose the type of product and service to advertise through virtual word of mouth (Tuten,& Solomon,2014).. References Brown, J., Broderick, A. J., & Lee, N. (2007). Word of mouth communication within online communities: Conceptualizing the online social network. Journal of interactive marketing, 21(3), 2-20. Buttle, F. A. (1998). Word of mouth: understanding and managing referral marketing. Journal of strategic marketing, 6(3), 241-254. Goldenberg, J., Libai, B., & Muller, E. (2001). Talk of the network: A complex systems look at the underlying process of word-of-mouth. Marketing letters, 12(3), 211-223. Jansen, B. J., Zhang, M., Sobel, K., & Chowdury, A. (2009). Twitter power: Tweets as electronic word of mouth. Journal of the American society for information science and technology, 60(11), 2169-2188. Tuten, T. L., & Solomon, M. R. (2014). Social media marketing. Sage. Stelzner, M. A. (2011). Social media marketing industry report. Social Media Examiner, 41. Read More