As time progresses, so do techniques. Naturally the definition of marketing remains the same; promote your product/brand, build consumer attraction, sales increased. But the methods we use to market our services have substantially developed.
Using the ‘Four Ps’ formulated by Jerome McCarthy in 1960, Future Blogging explore the ways web has changed the face of marketing today.
Product – It is fair to say that not many brands can truly call their product unique anymore. Where one is created, a similar one is born. The internet exposes products worldwide and gives consumers a prominence of choice. Which brings us onto the next factor – price.
Price – Consumers know their rights. With a range of choice conveniently at their disposal online, price can be an influential factor in which brand a customer pursues initial interest. Comparison sites have made shopping easy for customers. Rather than marketing the product, many brands are subject to marketing their price.
Promotion – Exposing services or products comes in all shapes and sizes today. The internet offers multiple channels in which to pursue consumer engagement. The functionality of the web means that most methods that brands use interlink. Campaigns can be easily tracked and altered to ensue that maximum ROI is achieved. That is a defining motive explaining why advertising budget is spent more online over any other.
Place – The web provides a simple platform for geo-targeting. Whether it is via PPC, social media or affiliate marketing, companies can easily structure a campaign towards a specific area. What’s more, customers can just as easily find you. The mass use of search engines means that with efficient SEO techniques installed, consumers could stumble across a brand without even knowing they existed.
Other marketing objectives such as brand-building, improving awareness and reputation can all be achieved with great execution online. The web is a quick method too. Brands have the ability to expose products immediately to accelerate sells and at a cost-effective expense.
Marketing doesn’t just stop at the acquisition of customers. Customers need to be preserved. Email marketing, blogging and social media are all highly productive ways of achieving this. People check their emails everyday, just like people receive post. If the mail is appealing enough then it may just receive the desired response.
We have only just started to touch upon additional benefits of the digital world for marketing. With so many paths online to pursue and so many consumers in which to target, marketing requires detailed planning and maintenance.
