Introduction
Digital economy refers to a global network of economic and social activities enabled by information and communication technologies such as the internet as well as mobile and sensor networks. For any organization to develop an efficient digital economy, it is essential to consider buyers, sellers, intermediaries, or Information Systems staff and the management (Turban 2006). These factors determine the success of the online marketing strategy a business decides to use.
Main body
Online sales: This is mostly from a manufacturer to a customer/ consumer, eliminating any intermediaries such as retailers or middle agents (Kalakota et al. 2010). This is an example of a Business-to-Consumer model. The company can use this model to make the distribution more efficient and quick. Some types of direct marketing could be used to this end, such as e-mail marketing, direct mail, or telemarketing. A good quality mailing list, with the correct selection and from a reliable source, which updates information frequently, can help to connect with people who are more likely to be interested in the company’s products or services (Turban et al. 2010; Xia 2012, p48).
Using e-markets, the company can market its products to customers worldwide with the help of a website. People log in, view the products, and can use a credit card for transactions rather than going to the company itself or the various branches it has in a specific locality. For suppliers, e-markets lower sales costs and help to reach new customers. Another technology offered among e-marketing techniques is a catalog: This refers to online documenting that will have the list of products the firm sells. Credit and debit cards have replaced the use of cash when purchasing items and services online (Miremadi, Aminilari & Hassanian-esfahani 2013).
An organization may create a product according to the consumerâs specifications or demand. The organization tries and modifies or customizes the product according to how the consumer requires it. Customization of products is likely to attract more customers that make uniform products. The company can opt for this strategy, as it is convenient and preferred by many customers (Courtland 2006).
Here is where businesses link up with the social networking sites such as Facebook, Linkedin, and Twitter. This is to be able to find customers online as the mentioned social networks have so many people online at one time, hence truly a nice business opportunity. The company then pays the social networks to advertise its products, and when users click on the link, it redirects them to either the business or companyâs page or the group page in the social networks. The company, therefore, needs to create a group page in the social networks where its representatives can interact with their customers directly (Turban 2010).
The company can form advertisements through websites such as Google, Yahoo, and social networks, such as Facebook and Twitter. The advertisement will target informing the new customers and reminding the existing clients of the available services and products. A business can do this using mass e-mails or search engines such as Google, Yahoo, and Bing. It is also possible to use Pay-per-click advertising. This is a model businesses use to direct traffic to websites, and they pay when a person clicks their advertisement. The company can use this strategy to increase traffic and online customers or clients for their website and their company correspondingly (Cubitt 2012; Ossowski 2013).
SMS or mobile marketing: This is an online marketing that will target a large consumer database as many people own mobile phones and are in frequent use of mobile phones. It works through the shortcodes whereby an organization or business will send shortcodes to its customers through a bulk SMS gateway when a customer requires a product from the organization. He/ she just send the product code and receive the information about the specific product. This will help attract a large customer target in the mobile industry.
Affiliate marketing is the method of marketing where the company will get a partner to refer customers to their website by placing a banner advertisement on the logo of the affiliate website. Whenever a customer makes a purchase, the affiliate website gets a commission from the sales made ranging from 3 to 15% of the purchase price. This helps the company to get more customers and thus higher incomes as well as profits (MPC 2012).
Some companies have implemented the above-mentioned strategies in the past. Examples of these include Wal-Mart, Compaq, and Yahoo. Wal-Mart sells its products directly to customers through the internet, and they pay through online transactions using debit or credit cards; afterward, the product is delivered to the customer. This has been useful to consumers as they have been able to get products fast and in a more efficient method. Compaq also uses e retailing to sell its products. It has been able to sell its products through the internet and get good profits, as well as increased revenues. Finally, Yahoo has used alliances and achieved success because many people will have to use internet searches at one time or another, and partnerships with firms that advertise themselves on its pages are mutually beneficial (Boone 2012).
Cornetto Ice cream has used the technique whereby they have created a game that is cheap and easily playable on almost all smartphones. Upon successful completion of the game, one would get a code to free ice cream.
Most people have liked the technique and hence purchased more of those games. It has helped in increasing the target market for their customers. However, some people may not be interested in the games or downloading the application; hence it becomes a loss to the organization.
However, there are disadvantages of using these strategies; some of the customers have complained of the products getting lost along the way because some of the fraudulent companies will try imitating the existing online ones (Cubitt 2012). To avert this, a business needs to protect its name online and help its clients to identify swindling firms that might be operating under a name almost similar to its own.
The company could ally with the search engine companies such as Google, Bing, or even Yahoo. This would help in the boosting of their sales, as those companies are well known online. The company can also ally with affiliate company websites such as www. shopping bargains.com. This will help in the increasing of their sales and popularity. The organization may also ally with a sales website such as e-bay, amazon.com, or olx.com. This will help the company boost its sales as well as increase revenue.
Conclusion
In conclusion, there are various internet-marketing strategies to increase the number of clients. A firm that makes good use of these strategies increases its market and achieves its objectives in e-commerce. Other firms fail to reach their potential in online businesses because they do not take advantage of the opportunities available online. This shows the importance of online marketing tools to a business.
References
Alan D & Evans, K 2013, Technology in Action, Complete, Prentice Hall.
Boone, L 2012, Contemporary marketing, Cengage Learning.
Chaffey, D 2011, E-Business and E-Commerce Management, Prentice Hall.
Courtland, L 2006, Business in Action, Canada: Pearson.
Cubit, N 2012, âHow to Overcome the challenges of moving an offline business onlineâ, Marketing & PR blog.
Graham, D 2012, Security Analysis, McGraw Hill.
Kalakota R et al. 2010, E-Business 2.0 Roadmap for Success, Addison Wesley ISBN 13: 9780201721652.
Laudon, K. 2011, E-Commerce, Pearson.
Miremadi, A, Aminilari, M, & Hassanian-esfahani, R, 2013, âA New Trust Model for B2C E-Commerce Based on 3D User Interfacesâ, Gjset.
MPC 2012, âMoving Successfully to Online Businessâ, New Releases Blog.
Ossowski, S 2013, Agreement Technologies (Vol. 8), Springer.
Turban E 2006, Electronic Commerce: A managerial Perspective, California: Prentice Hall.
Turban E et al. 2010, Electronic Commerce; A managerial perspective, Prentice Hall ISBN 10: 0136100368.
Turban, E 2010, Electronic Commerce: Managerial and Social Networks Perspectives/7E, Prentice Hall.
Xia, C 2012, âThe Study of Return Reverse Logistics in B2C E-commerce Transactionsâ, Logistics Engineering and Management, vol 4, p. 48.
Appendix 1
From this task, I have learnt different aspects, tools and factors of online business success. I have also learnt the importance of social media to organizations/ businesses. This has made me appreciate the business opportunities online. There are various online marketing techniques and it depends on the organization’s management to make the correct choice. As the technology is digital, it is therefore, important for organizations to put their businesses online as well to attract a larger customer target. Companies that put their businesses online, should also know the marketing strategies to be able to attract target customers and hence more profit. It is also extremely advisable for one to form alliances with other companies to increase their sales and revenue as well as profit in the market.
However, from my own reflection of the disadvantages of the online marketing, I have learnt the dangers that exist to a firmâs products and services because of imitations and counterfeits. There is also the risk of clients and businesses losing money if cyber criminals hack their online banking and payment systems and accounts. This makes it essential to invest in the best available online payment security systems. This way cyber crime involving money remains minimal.