Page 276 - Foundations of Marketing

Digital Marketing and Social Networking | Chapter 9 243

marketers need to know the best ways to reach their target market. In markets where spectators
make up the majority of the online population, companies should post their own corporate
messages through blogs and websites promoting their organizations. In a population of join-
ers, companies could connect with their target audience by creating profile pages and inviting
consumers to post their thoughts. In areas where a significant portion of the online community
consists of creators, marketers should continually monitor what other consumers are saying
and incorporate bloggers into their public relations strategies. By knowing how to segment the
online population, marketers can tailor their messages to their target markets.

E-MARKETING STRATEGY LO 4 . Understand and identify
how digital media can be used
in an e-marketing strategy.
More than one-fourth of the world’s population uses the Internet, and this number is growing
at a high rate. These trends display a growing need for businesses to use the Internet to reach
an increasingly Web-savvy population. As more shoppers go online for purchases, the power
of traditional brick-and-mortar businesses is lessening.
This makes it essential for businesses, small and large alike, to learn how to effectively
use new social media. Most businesses are finding it necessary to use digital marketing
to gain or maintain market share. When Amazon.com first became popular as an online
bookstore in the 1990s, the brick-and-mortar bookseller chain Barnes & Noble quickly
made online shopping possible through its website, but did not abandon its physical stores.
This “bricks-and-clicks” model is now standard for businesses from neighborhood family-
owned restaurants to national chain retailers. The following sections will examine how
businesses are using these social media forums to create effective marketing strategies on
the Web.

Product Considerations

In traditional marketing, marketers must anticipate consumer needs and preferences and then
tailor their products to meet these needs. The same is true with marketing products using
digital media. Digital media provide an opportunity to add a service dimension to traditional
products and create new products only accessible on the Internet. The applications available
on the iPad, for instance, provide examples of products that are only available in the digital
world. The ability to access product information for any product can have a major impact on
buyer decision making. However, with larger companies now launching their own extensive
marketing campaigns, and with the constant sophistication of digital technology, many busi-
nesses are finding it necessary to upgrade their product offerings to meet consumer needs. As
has been discussed throughout this chapter, the Internet represents a large resource to market-
ers for learning more about consumer wants and needs.
Some companies now use online advertising campaigns and contests to help develop better
products. Procter & Gamble used Facebook to launch marketing campaigns for both Pepto-
Bismol (which resulted in an 11 percent increase in market share) and a Crest Whitestrips
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contest geared toward college students. Other companies have also begun selling their prod-
ucts through social networking sites. With social media e-commerce applications, shoppers
can add a company’s products into a cart through Facebook and then transfer back to the
company website to complete the transaction. Some newer applications, such as Off the Wall
and Payvment, are now allowing shoppers to purchase a company’s products directly from
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Facebook.
Distribution Considerations

The role of distribution is to make products available at the right time, at the right place, and
in the right quantities. Digital marketing can be viewed as a new distribution channel that
helps businesses increase efficiency. The ability to process orders electronically and increase

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