Introduction
The internet has become a global phenomenon in the whole world with those benefiting from it declaring it the greatest inventions of the 20th century. The internet has made the world a global village by creating a network of connections that has so far made communication become very fast and cheap by instantly connecting places that are thousands of miles apart by bringing them closer through a touch of the button. Through fast communication, other activities have been made possible by eliminating the need for people to travel to different destinations to conduct their businesses. Schooling has been made virtual through the internet by bringing classrooms and lectures to the living room. Business transactions too have been made easier through the internet. So far, large volumes of transactions can be conducted over the internet without the need for someone appearing in person (Yannopoulos, 2011 p. 6). The internet has opened up the global market besides increasing competition among players by introducing new players thus making the global market very competitive. Thus, as the paper reveals in the following literature review section, the internet has had a great impact on global marketing strategies.
Literature Review
Opening up of markets
Global marketing involves trading by agencies on an international scale beyond their borders. This involves marketing goods in a foreign market away from the countries from where the goods were manufactured. It therefore needs a very different approach from what happens at home (Edward, 2008, p. 86). Penetrating the global market can be a very challenging venture, which can either go through or fail. The internet has created a great window of opportunity for many global companies to exploit. Through this, they can approach the global market with enough information and winning approach. When the internet was invented, it was hailed as a breakthrough in information and communication. It has so far lived to its expectation.
The internet has opened up new markets for goods and services by enabling sellers advertise their goods on the internet while at the same time enabling buyers find out goods on the internet, their prices, as well as where they can be found (Malyvanova, 2010, p.147). In this way, the internet has opened up the global market by allowing potential sellers of goods and services to market their goods online without the need to go to the specific commission commercials. Previously, marketing goods abroad was a very expensive affair that would involve a company spending lot money to prepare commercials that would attract potential buyers. This challenge has changed with the advent of the internet whereby all sellers need to do is to prepare an advert in a way that it would capture the audience and then post it on sites they think will be visited by potential buyers.
This qualifies as a revolution on its own as it has delimited limitations that were previously faced by radio, televisions, and newsprint as media for advertising of goods and services. Valnali and Bilgi (2010) confirm this revelation by asserting, “the Web combines elements from a variety of traditional media, yet it is more than the sum of the parts” (p. 39). The writer finds that the internet in its single form is able to combine all forms of communication in a single entity thus making it a great marketing tool. It has therefore enabled many marketers of goods and services to access the market with ease to commercialise their goods and services at a much cheaper price than how it used to cost thus making them a penny wiser. Previously, the greatest barrier to the global trade was the availability of information.
The information was then so scarce. It qualified as an advantage for a few who had the right information about specific markets abroad therefore making them have monopoly. This has so far been changed by the internet that has made it free for all with regard to trading on the global market thus proving the previous researchers right who predicted that the internet would have a great impact on the main forces that control market strategies on the global arena (Varnali & Bilgi, 2010, p.38). The opening up of the market has been accompanied by the need for very new approaches towards the new markets thus calling for new marketing strategies. One advantage that the internet has offered marketers of goods and services is the availability of websites in different languages that are spoken all over the world.
This allows natives to advertise their goods and services in a language that they understand best in a way that allows them to do it selectively. An Arab item understood only by Arabs in Arabic can be placed in an Arabic website that at the end of the day will be accessed by the target group. Therefore, an Arab in America is able to find out what unique items are available on the market back at home together with their prices.
Rapid Rise of Small Firms
The internet has provided a perfect platform for competition on the international market that allows different business entities with different financial powers to compete on almost the same level. It cuts a niche for them. The advantage that the internet provides is that information on the net can instantly go viral thus spreading at a very fast pace on a global basis thus giving the sellers of an item or invention a wide marketing opportunity that does not need a lot of their input. The advantage of the internet is that it has attracted both the young and the old based on its simplicity to use. Thus, all a person needs to do is to browse with relevant terms. Once an advertisement has been placed, it will be there for a longer period compared to use of radios and televisions, which charge for an advertisement clip based on the number of times it appears. Therefore, advertisement on radio, television, and newsprint is expensive in nature. It is limited in scope compared to advertisement on the internet. One cannot move around with the radio and television as much as one can do using a laptop or a mobile phone.
This has given new developers of products without a strong financial base an opportunity to market their goods due to the low rates that are charged for using the internet. This is confirmed by Malyvanova (2010) when she writes, “Development of the internet has opened new opportunities for international marketers in many areas such as new innovative product developments, reaching greater numbers of potential clients, and creating new values to consumers”( p.147). Innovators from cottage industries have been able to break into the international market using the internet to achieve success with lots of ease. Marketing of goods over the internet in this way has led to so many young innovators coming up with ideas from the comfort of their rooms and placing them on the web with the hope that web browsers with interest in the same will stumble on it, show an interest, and then go ahead to purchase it. This is purely speculative.
It has so far proved that it works. Internet marketing has thus led to the big corporations, which usually enjoyed financial powers to re-strategise the way they do their marketing to compete on the international market (Fuerst, 2010 p. 6). Internet marketing on its own is unique. Thus, it needs proper strategising to package the advertisement in a way that would make it convey the required message with immediate impact. Such social sites like Facebook that were initially an attraction of the youth mostly have been able to attract almost the same amount of traffic from large corporations and the upcoming innovators. Their advertisements take almost the same amount of space thus enabling the minor innovators to get the same expositions as the major corporations. Previously, it would take ages for a good to be marketed after it has been developed.
If it were to be spread on a large scale, huge sums of money would have to be spent. However, with the internet now available, marketing of goods can be achieved on a large scale over a very short period. Javadiani and Samin et al. explain the phenomenon that has come with the rise in E-marketing, web marketing, and other internet-enhanced marketing strategies showing how they have been able to propel small firms into the international arena using the internet (p.117). Simplified advertisements with loaded messages have been created to capture the interest of potential buyers online. With such advertisements being easy to produce, they have enabled the upcoming players to afford to create them and put them on the market thus giving them a great opportunity to market their goods on the global arena.
Simplified Services
The internet has led to a total simplification of delivery of services and goods into a virtual reality. It has eliminated the need for one to go to different places in person to find out what products are available on the market as well as their prices. When marketers place their goods on the net, it is in a form of a catalogue with paths to different related goods also appearing. In this way, a customer is able to access a lot of information in one package and more so in a soft copy thus eliminating the need to carry around bulky book catalogues or pamphlets showing goods that are available and their prices. This also saves marketers of goods and services a lot of money that would be used to prepare these marketing tools.
The reader finds that, through the internet, one is able to get an instant update of prices of items in a far away store. In the same breath, one is able to place an order for items and have the items send over to his/her addresses. This has simplified marketing of goods and services. At the same time, has seen a great deal in the international growth of firms on the global market (Shane, 2009, p.217). As a core part of information technology and innovativeness, some services and goods like software can be purchased over the internet without the need for personalised services such as packaging and sorting.
All one needs to do is to browse the internet, find the services he/she needs, do the payments over the internet, and finally receive the goods or services instantly. This form of simplification of services has enabled many firms enjoy a form of automated marketing service that does not need too much supervision. The internet-driven service covers a global scope to a level greater than the firms could achieve. Thus, organisations have had to grow their marketing strategies every day with the continuous growth of the internet to fashion them in the best possible latest trend to make their services more simplified (Phapruke & Phaithun 2010, p. 48).
In places where there is a lot of information being generated, and thus a lot of documentation, the internet has simplified it all by enabling online transfer of documents and information without the risk of moving around bulky documents that might be confidential. The internet has enabled firms to share information on their databases thus assuring clients of safety of their information. This, as a marketing strategy, has enabled firms such as healthcare providers to convince potential clients to join their schemes as they have eliminated their fears. With the adverse spread of technology, many firms have been forced to adopt ways of joining the fray in internet advertising.
This is confirmed by Javadian et.al (2012) when they explain that the internet has “the vital features of the internet’s innovation and its usage for all business units” (p. 811). Any business wishing to market its goods using the internet has had its work made easy due to the availability of search engines like Google, which have simplified the process of searching for anything on the web. Nhat and Craig (2008) find that where the internet was used for marketing, it gave the firm a competitive edge besides enhancing the firms export marketing performance (p. 232). This therefore makes the marketing of goods and services much easier and more enhanced for local and global markets. The simplification of trading as provided for by the internet has also simplified the marketing process of goods. In a way, it has eliminated many processes that one needs to undertake to make an advertisement. With this, the reader can describe the internet as a one-stop shop for marketing his/her goods.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the internet has proved to be a great game changer for businesses in their global marketing strategies. Any business wishing to compete favourably on the international scale has to factor the internet as part of its marketing strategies failure to which they will be trading from a disadvantaged position. As the reader finds out, “the dynamic global marketing strategy has a positive influence on firms’ survival, customer participation efficiency, marketing advantage sustainability, market acceptance quality, marketing excellence, and marketing performance” (Kittichai & Phapruke, 2011, p. 98). On the other hand, technology is dynamic in nature. Everyday has new a technology to be embraced and old technology to be discarded. With this, marketing too has to be dynamic enough to change with the technological trends especially concerning the internet and internet marketing on a global basis (Yannoupoulos, 2011, p. 6). The biggest challenge in internet marketing will be to package an advertisement in such a way that it will be able to stand out among billions and billions of advertisements in a way that would make it trustworthy to check.
References
Edward, T. (2008). Internet Marketing In the International Arena: A Cross-Cultural Comparison. Journal of International Business Strategy, 8(3), 84-98.
Fuerst, S. (2010).Global Marketing Strategy: The Case of a Born Global Software Firms in Colombia. International journal of marketing, 18(24), 271-286.
Javadian, D., Samin, R., Mehrdad, S., Sanaz, E., & Ali, H. (2012). A Conceptual Analysis of the Key Success of Business in Terms Of Internet Marketing. Interdisciplinary Journal of Contemporary Research in Business, 4(1), 811-816.
Kittichai, A., & Phapruke, U. (2011). Dynamic Global Marketing Strategy and Firm Survival: Evidence from Exporting Jewelry Businesses in Thailand. International Journal of Business Strategy, 11(2), 77-102.
Malyvanova, E. (2010). Impact of the internet on international Marketing. Journal of business Publications, 12(5), 147-155.
Nhat, I., & Craig, J. (2008).The Internet, Strategy and Performance: A Study of Australian Export Market Ventures. Journal of Global Marketing, 21(3), 231-240.
Phapruke, U., & Phaithun, I. (2010). Internet Strategy, Marketing Effectiveness and Firm Performance: Evidence from Electronics Commerce Businesses in Thailand. International Journal of Business Strategy, 10(3), 48-61.
Shane, M. (2009). Internationalisation: The Internet’s Influence on International Market Growth in the Firm’s Outward Internationalisation Process. Journal of international marketing, 3(2), 211-219.
Varnali, K., & Bilgi, I. (2010). The Impact of the Internet on Marketing Strategy: revisiting Early Predictions. International Journal of E-Business Research, 6(4), 38-51.
Yannopoulos, P. (2011). Impact of the Internet on Marketing Strategy Formulation. International Journal of Business and Social Science, 2(18), 1-7.