‘Marketing’, what is there in this 9 letter word that forms the crux of any prudent business plan? Why do all sagacious firms and organizations go hysterical when it comes to marketing? The answer to such questions can be given if we dive into the depths of the true meaning of marketing, in terms of profitability, and its impact on the growth of an organization. Merriam-Webster dictionary defines marketing as equivalent to “expose for sale in a market”, and this definition pretty much sums up the underlying motive of any marketing campaign.
Marketing as a major subject is taught extensively in various top notch Business schools, and the obvious reason for this is the high demand for creative marketers who could bring in innovative ideas and eventually contribute to the growth in sales, the ultimate target of any organization looking to make profit. Marketing is a very effective tool to get the word across to potential customers, and in this highly competitive era the firm having a marketing edge over the rival firm wins hands down.
However, this is not as easy a job as it sounds, had it been, then it would be very difficult to distinguish between the efficiencies of various marketing strategies. The traditional approach towards marketing involves creating awareness amongst people by means of communication media such as television, radio or newspaper. But with the growth of the World Wide Web, new horizons have been discovered for marketing in a more convenient and effective manner. Online or Internet marketing is the term used for marketing campaigns carried out over the web.
Such campaigns are identical to the conventional ones and adhere to the basic 4Ps, namely, Product; detailed specification of the product or service offered Pricing; judiciously deciding the price, Promotion; Advertising and branding efforts and Placement; Mode of distribution. Online marketing is refreshingly different from the regular marketing on lots of fronts and scores over the conventional strategies by utilizing the core power of Internet.
Online marketing is a mutual beneficial strategy wherein the customer enjoys the convenient, interactive & immediate interface offered by online purchase, and the marketers bask in the flexibility, global market access, reduced cost and common platform that online marketing provides. There are mainly two business models associated with marketing in general, Business-to-Business (B2B) and Business-to-Consumer (B2C). B2B model copes with business between two companies whereas B2C model covers business conducted directly between the customer and the company.
As per Thomas Freidman, with millions of websites and enhanced modes of communication, the world has become ‘flat’ and all the information in the world is just a mouse click away, this ‘flat’ world allows the flow of information to any corner of the world, rather seamlessly. It is this aspect of Internet that online marketing exploits; potential consumer irrespective of his geographic location can gain ample information on the product and can make purchases round the clock, 24/7. Moreover, online marketing greatly reduces the cost incurred as it doesn’t involve physical aspects such as a sales force, for instance.
There are various ways for a company to carry out online marketing campaigns but the most trusted and tried are creating an electronic storefront and placing ads online. Both these efforts usually engage the potential customer in an interaction that would eventually lead to purchase or other marketing outcome. So, in a nutshell, online marketing provides exposure to national and international markets at a relatively cheaper rate and at an efficiency which is times higher than any of its counterpart.
No surprise the importance of online marketing has been increasingly growing ever since its inception. Recent global research by Forrester and B2B Magazine has shown that 72% of all marketers (both B2C and B2B) said they were going to increase their online marketing spend and B2B businesses have already shifted 25% from offline to online media. On the branding side, Forrester reports that 40% of B2B marketers consider online marketing to be extremely effective for building a brand image. What can be conclusively derived from this report is that both B2B and B2C businesses are coming to terms with the fact that internet offers an abundance of marketing opportunities. Be it a company in any part of the world, the main focus is on two things- First & foremost, generating leads or information regarding (or provided by) a consumer that may be interested in making a purchase and secondly achieving branding goals for acquiring new customers and retaining the older ones. Online marketing provides solution to both these aspects and as a result it is fast becoming one of the most sought after and in demand form of marketing.
The idea of the success of online marketing can be conjured if we have a look on the various firms that have exclusively used web as a medium of marketing and have gained uncharted success. One of the path breaking companies that realized the potential of Internet earlier than its rivals was Dell Corp. which followed an internet based retail model. So the only medium of sale for Dell computers is via Internet, yet they are amongst the leaders as far as number of sales is considered, hence reaffirming the power of online marketing. To further strengthen my view point I would like to bring to notice the phenomenal success that online retail firms such as ebay and amazon have enjoyed, they hardly have any other marketing medium apart from the Internet but still manage to sell as much, if not more, than any of their offline counterparts.
These are just a few examples that go on to demonstrate the effect online marketing has on businesses around the world. Online marketing is on a steep upward path towards creating unparalleled success and now, with the advent of Web 2.0, the second generation of web based communities and hosted services has arrived and those organizations which are too adamant to accept the very fact that online marketing holds the key to the future, will be left behind.
No comments:
Post a Comment