Not a social media user? It wastes time right; it is a hindrance in your success. Yes right, but wait what distance from social media can be a reason for you to not grow, really? Is it so, I would say yes, it is. You must have heard people who are not on social media are mentioned as uncool, it’s okay for that too but what if the reason for which you kept away from social media and now guess what not being on social media can be a reason to not be successful enough you want yourselves to be. Yes, it is proved that if you are not on social media your success can be an obstacle for you to not succeed.
The Internet and social media revolution are some things people talked about years ago but the real penetration and explosion is happening now in India with easy access to data almost all over the country and sometimes even in cabs, proliferation of smartphones and speedy connectivity. Any company that excludes the Internet from its media plans will be essentially out of the consumers’ minds today. Whether it is social media like Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn, you need to have some presence depending on your target audience and value proposition in order to succeed in your business.
Tomes have been written on the effective and efficient use of the Internet media but many are still contemplating the optimum use of the same. Google is indeed a pioneer in helping to propagate the reach and awareness among smaller companies. FB is doing a catching up job now but privacy issues loom large. Google also made it fashionable to have the key words concept in every marketer’s Lexicon. Amazon is using its cloud and AI features effectively to help SMEs in a big way and that is a big disruption for the giants in the IT industry including Microsoft, IBM and EMC/VMWare.
Effective Internet marketing requires a well-thought-out holistic approach that integrates every point of customer contact, be it print, online, or direct interaction. As such, marketing executives increasingly are being asked by their management to integrate traditional media and the Internet to produce an interactive marketing campaign with customised messages to various global audiences, both online and offline. In fact, we are all fast moving into creating customer experiences seamlessly in the digital medium.
This approach, however, needs deeper questioning: “What is the best way to leverage the innovative capabilities of the Internet as a marketing medium without Increasing the burden on our IT department for every technical component of an Internet marketing initiative?” Many a time the marketing executive will be very enthusiastic about doing a campaign in the social media or YouTube that will bring in increased traffic to the company website but without the adequate warning to the IT or sales department, this can cause slow or no adequate response to customers. We must all have experienced this in the past as consumers when say an airline announced a low fare package.
The foundation for successful Internet marketing is to have IT and marketing departments collaborate as a cross functional team. A robust, flexible Internet infrastructure that supports complex integrated marketing initiatives serves the needs of both marketing and IT. Such an infrastructure offers the marketing department the freedom to implement sophisticated, integrated marketing campaigns quickly and cost-effectively while receiving timely, accurate and in-depth insight into the success of the campaign. In doing so, it enables the marketing department to focus on the creation of the content without having to worry about the underlying technology.
Key characteristics of Internet marketing include the ability to extend brand reach, customisation of content, unlimited scalability, and geographical targeting. This must also provide access to a global marketplace for customers and suppliers, and enable companies to optimise business systems around the globe. The solution should also provide key competitive advantages: an enhanced user experience, delivery of relevant content to the customer, and access to data collection and feedback. Whether your company is introducing a new product, promoting a contest, or enhancing an offline advertising campaign, you need an Internet foundation to efficiently manage, deliver and track your online marketing initiatives. If you are not ready yet, this economic downturn is the best time to embrace it whole-heartedly.
Written by: Aadya Rani