Functions and tools of marketing. How companies can effectively capture the attention of a mass audience
Marketing tools are a system of means and methods for the implementation of marketing activities at any stage of the enterprise.
All marketing tools are classified into 4 strategic areas:
- pricing policy (price);
- commodity policy (products);
- marketing policy (implementation);
- marketing policy (advertising).
Why marketing tools are so important
The activity of the enterprise is built taking into account profit forecasts, technical capabilities, human resources, etc. Marketing tools are directly involved in the formation of the company's work processes. They help manage the business.
The importance of marketing tools lies in their constant modernization and improvement. With the development of Internet technologies, not only advertising, but also all other areas of the company's activities that need constant monitoring have received wide opportunities.
Tasks at the stage of choosing marketing tools
- Delivering information about the product to the consumer, taking into account production experience, test activities, properties and benefits of products.
- Maintaining regular contact with the consumer in order to remind about the product, related services or special offers.
- Informing the client about new promotions and discounts in order to arouse interest in the product.
- Collection of information about consumers and the most popular products.
Types of marketing tools for offline business
Advertising
Products are promoted to the market through digital and traditional advertising. The first has a more efficient and faster mechanism of action. The second occupies a leading position in branding and image creation.
To promote specialized products, a digital format is used, since the consumer is not mobile in choosing, needs to receive additional information in the context of optima "price-functionality/quality".
Price
When determining the price of products, many factors are taken into account: production and sales costs, government policy, product category, psychological factors of the consumer. Often the level of demand and competition are decisive in determining prices. In this case, the manufacturer follows an intra-company plan to make a profit.
Package
The packaging of goods performs various functions: recognition, labeling, informing, safety during transportation. On the shelves in the store, the familiar packaging is a "silent" seller. To increase sales, the “shell” of the product is distinguished by a design that reflects company logos.
Exhibitions and fairs
Fairs and exhibitions are organized to stimulate sales. With the help of test samples, forms, forms and exhibition copies, the consumer receives real information about the product, supplemented by answers to questions of interest.
Discounts
A discount in the scientific sense is to reward a customer for a perfect purchase. The effectiveness of the discount system (discount, bonus) depends on the purchasing power of consumers. Effectively used in both online and offline environments.
Basic Internet Marketing Tools
SEO
SEO (website optimization for search engines) is used by large stable companies. With the help of indexing content, increasing the rating due to the most common search phrases, the company's website rises in the browser's search results. With the constant use of this method, website traffic and sales increase. Along with SEO, SEM, SEA, SMO, etc. are used.
contextual advertising
Contextual advertising is the most common on the Internet. The display of advertising materials (text, animation, video) is based on individual interests and browsing history in the browser. Such thematic advertising also uses data about the location of the network user. Search advertising is displayed at the top of the browser page with each request.
SMM
SMM (promotion in social services) is carried out by creating interesting publications about the company. Most often, an account or group is opened under the name of the company, where information about products, discounts and news is posted. The user subscribed to the blog receives "unobtrusive" advertising.
Targeted advertising
Targeting is the selection of the target audience using special mechanisms. In this regard, geotargeting, demographic, temporal, behavioral, thematic and retargeting (through cookies) are distinguished.
Targeted advertising is considered the second most effective after contextual advertising. By setting filters, the necessary advertising appears on Internet resources (forums, clubs, social networks, etc.). The search for the target audience is based on the personal data of network users and communication devices.
E-mail marketing
Mobile applications
Mobile applications on phones and tablets have unlimited access to customer data. For advertising purposes, they help build a buyer persona using location data, browser history, contact list (pre-installation permissions).
Banner and teaser advertising
It is the cheapest way to promote with pay per click. The buyer, seeing an interesting offer on various thematic sites, follows the link and makes a purchase. Teasers and banners are seen as a quick opportunity to increase revenue through unique and interested users.
Viral advertising
Viral advertising is distributed by ordinary users and the companies themselves. The process takes place in social networks and on popular services. Videos and pictures are laid out for a wide audience, so the effect of its use is the same - the creation of a recognizable brand.
Content Marketing
Content marketing is a hidden way to promote products. For this, paid reviews, recommendations, tips and stories about personal experience are used. Articles of useful content are also published so that the buyer can learn more about the product.
Video Marketing
Filling sites with video content is effective if there is not enough information about the product to make a confident purchase. Thus, it is useless to advertise well-known brands and expensive goods. The material is laid out according to the type of video reviews or video instructions. The tool is suitable for advertising both for personal and corporate purposes.
Retargeting
Retargeting prevents the user from leaving the purchase in cases where he was personally interested in it. The tool creates a kind of reminder on any of the Internet services (partners). Retargeting advertising helps to return the buyer to the Internet resource that he was interested in. Advertising customer submits to filters special requirements, such as time spent on the site or frequent visits.
Aggregators
Aggregators (marketplace) are a platform where a lot of offers for purchase from various suppliers and companies are collected. There is a lot of competition on these sites. Examples are Yandex-market, Goods mail.ru. Any interested company registers on such a platform and integrates into common system through a commercial offer.
Online Games
Game mode marketing activity is driven by the multi-million audience of online entertainment. Developers collaborate with various manufacturers and offer bonuses, coupons, promo codes, as well as viewing embedded ads. Also, programmers have access to information about traffic, purchases made in the game, time spent online, etc.
In Western countries, game developers cooperate with large fast food chains, watch stores, sporting goods stores, etc.
Affiliate programs and CPA networks
Most sites have affiliate programs. The essence of their action is to invite a regular user of new customers (referrals) of the service to receive discounts or income. A new user receives positive feedback about the company and becomes the next participant in the program. If necessary, he buys goods or services from the site. Such a tool does not require additional time spent on clients. Interested in the proposal take "work" on themselves.
crowd marketing
Crowd marketing is effective on a variety of active forums and reviews. It involves placing reviews (with links) in the most natural form so that the written text blends harmoniously with the general topic of discussion. Such a promotion is quite time-consuming and is suitable for certain groups of goods (promotional, luxury, "middling" with a twist)
Push Notifications
Push messages reach the consumer instantly. Their advantage is that the user agrees to receive them (SMS, pop-up windows in the browser, on the monitor) when filling out the questionnaire (signature), or by subscribing in the browser (no spam). To date, only firms that are actively implementing a marketing system use this tool.
Native advertising
Native advertising is otherwise known as natural advertising. It works on the principle of conscious creation of content that is interesting and useful for the consumer and the publisher at the same time. Distributed in the media, specialized Internet sites, educational and entertainment TV channels. Sometimes it is used to fill the site in order to provide the consumer with shareware information that will prompt him to make a decision to purchase or order services.
Messengers
Messenger options are varied. In fact, they are closed social networks with the possibility of advertising promotion. Mass mailings are carried out through them, support chats and various channels are created, such as in Telegram. This group includes all kinds of chatbots designed specifically to help customers. In addition, if the buyer has one of the messengers configured, they are contacted again. Contacts from the application are used to send special offers or reminders.
Marketing Tools Books
- Marketing without a budget. 50 working tools (Mann I.B.). The book offers a detailed guide to building a business from the ground up at minimal cost. Suitable for those who try themselves in the profession of a marketer.
- Internet Marketing. A complete collection of practical tools (Virin F.Yu.). The publication is a step-by-step guide to promoting products on the Internet using modern methods and channels. The book is necessary for those working in the field of online advertising and managers of Internet projects due to the author's research into promotion schemes in the largest Russian companies.
- Marketing tools for the sales department (Mann I., Turusina A., Ukolova E.). The publication is positioned as an effective way to increase sales at all stages of marketing, including direct work with the buyer. The advantages of the book include the described process of using a particular tool: budget, time-consuming, complexity and features of use, key guidelines and subtleties of implementation. The manual will be useful to sales managers, commercial directors and marketers.
- Exhibition as a marketing tool (Nazarenko L.F.). The mechanism of holding exhibitions is illustrated in the book by systematizing the types of exhibitions, their features and capabilities. The author also analyzes the activities Russian companies, often organizing exhibition events. The publication is suitable for entrepreneurs, executives and managers and becomes a step-by-step guide to exposure.
- Internet Marketing. Best Free Tools (Jim Cockrum). The book talks about revolutionary ways of marketing both in the online environment and in the conditions of "close" competition. The guide is suitable for absolutely any person involved in advertising, with any budget and with high performance.
This scheme was first proposed by Professor Jerome McCarthy in the first edition of the book "Marketing" ("Marketing"), published around 1960. McCarthy did his PhD at Northwestern University under Professor Richard Cluitt, who used the product, price, distribution, and promotion methodology. McCarthy replaced "distribution" with "place" - we've been talking about 4Ps ever since. It is generally accepted that the 4P concept owes its popularity to my books, but I see my contribution in the assertion that the 4P is a tactical scheme and must be preceded by strategic decisions: segmentation, targeting and positioning (STP marketing).
How useful is the 4P in marketing decision making?
Undoubtedly, the concept of 4Ps is still usefully applied in the course of marketing planning. However, this scheme reflects the thinking process of the seller, rather than the consumer, to a greater extent. The interests of the buyer can be represented in a concentrated form by the concept of 4C, where the product is comparable to the value for the consumer (customer value), the price - with the costs of the consumer (customer costs), the place - with the availability of the goods for the consumer (customer convenience), and promotion - with consumer awareness (customer communication).
The 4C concept reminds us that buyers want value, low total cost, convenience, and communication, not promotion.
Professor Jagdish Sheth proposed an alternative scheme, which he called 4A. The purchase of a product is preceded by awareness (awareness), acceptability (acceptability), availability (affordability) and ease of acquisition (accessibility).
Other researchers suggest adding new P components to the existing four - packaging (packaging), sales through sales representatives (personal selling), even enthusiasm (passion), and so on. But, strictly speaking, packaging can be considered an element of the "product" or "promotion", and sales through sales representatives and enthusiasm - components of the "promotion".
In addition, three additional P's were proposed for the service industry. First, the "personnel" (personnel), which is necessary to work with in order to make a favorable impression on the client. Secondly, the process (process). Services can be provided by different ways(for example, in various cafes or restaurants, food can be ordered in different ways: from the waiter, at the buffet counter, by phone at home). Thirdly, "physical evidence". Marketers strive to make their offers tangible with the help of all sorts of certificates, tickets, logos and more.
I advocated the introduction of the same range of politics (politics) and public opinion (public opinion), which I called the tools of global marketing. This is because the success of marketing depends to a large extent on the "receptivity" of official institutions and the public. For example, if government circles practice discrimination against the goods of multinational corporations, the activities of the latter will be less effective. In turn, multinational corporations must very convincingly demonstrate the benefits of their products and the potential contribution to the country's economy, using lobbying and public opinion.
What do you think about the claims about the need to develop a new marketing mix?
Initially, the marketing mix consisted of 14 components, not four, a list used many years ago by Neil Borden. There is always an opportunity to add to this list. So the question is not which tools make up the marketing mix, but rather which tools are most important. For example, in my opinion, it is customary to underestimate the effectiveness of advertising and the importance of public relations. Al and Laura Rice write about this in their new book, The Fall of Advertising and the Rise of PR. The role of direct marketing in the marketing mix is also growing.
What new tools are currently available to marketers?
Marketers in their activities often depend on information. You can manage information with the help of new software. Many salespeople these days use sales automation software to better answer their customers' questions.
New software will help rationalize other marketing decisions. For example, airlines, using special forecasting and optimization computer programs, daily adjust the price of tickets depending on the load of a particular flight.
Some companies are trying to computerize their core marketing processes so that every product or brand manager has them at hand. In this case, it is enough to turn on the computer and go through all the stages of the process step by step, whether it is proof of concept, marketing research of a new product or selection of a new advertising agency. The computer in this case performs the functions of a "marketing consultant".
Software for managing various marketing processes is being developed by several companies. The most notable among them are Emmperative, E.piphany and Unica.
Who will benefit most from the development of the Internet - companies or consumers?
Consumers will benefit the most. Prices will become more transparent. Consumers will be able to order a personal version of the product, such as when purchasing a Dell computer online. Large format advertisements will be a thing of the past. On the business side, companies that embrace new technologies will reap big benefits (like Yahoo!, Amazon, and others), while others are threatened with oblivion by e-commerce.
What are the future prospects for using marketing models?
Large companies gain competitive advantage through the use of certain marketing models and statistical tools. For example, collaborative analysis allows them to identify the optimal set of market offering characteristics. Models have been developed to help determine the required number of staff of sales agents and the optimal size of the territory that they will serve. Companies use sophisticated techniques to extract information from customer databases to uncover hidden patterns. Many such examples are discussed in my (co-authored) book Marketing Models.
Product
Brands and branding
What are the reasons for the increased attention to the problem of branding in the last decade?
Brands are used as a hedge against price competition. Strong brands inspire more confidence, promise more comfort, and give the impression of better quality than lesser-known brands. People are willing to pay more for well-known brands. But you need to understand that advertising costs alone do not make a brand strong. The strength of the brand is determined by the characteristics and quality of the product, and not by promotion in the market. We argue that brands are born with advertising but survive on product features.
Companies are beginning to realize that brands are their only hope of gaining attention and respect in an increasingly competitive marketplace. Any brand is a promise of value to the consumer.
The brand becomes the organizing concept for all related activities of the company. Thus, if Motorola claims to have achieved six sigma quality (that is, three defects per million), all of its activities should be aimed at realizing this promise. Since brand is considered by marketers to be synonymous with the highest reputation in any area of consumer preferences, the need to expand the 4P concept has become obvious. The brand has become a strategic lever and an organizing force for the company's activities in the market. A successful brand shifts the demand curve to the left, allowing the company to increase sales or raise the price of the product.
Is a strong brand image enough to sell the product?
Usually not enough. Adherents of a different point of view believe that a successful brand image can cause consumer preference even in the absence of other differences. What else can explain the success of Marlboro cigarettes, if not to the well-known image of a cowboy? Others believe that the image alone is not enough, as its value is leveled and does not provide a high markup for the brand.
The key is to create a visible consumer proposition, not just a good image. The offer can be made noticeable due to the characteristics of the product, design, range or quality of services, warranty service and many other factors. I am a supporter of creating higher value for the consumer, and not just exploiting the image.
What types of brands will succeed in the future?
I would distinguish between mass and niche brands. The first are designed to deliver customer value that corresponds to the ideas of the majority. If consumers become more price sensitive, brands with good value for money will be the most successful. Examples include wholesalers' or retailers' own brands (private brands), economy class airline brands, low-cost furniture brands (IKEA), and so on. If consumers begin to prefer companies that demonstrate greater social and environmental responsibility, then brands that reflect social values will be in the highest demand.
Niche brands succeed by meeting the needs of narrow groups ignored by mass producers. In my opinion, the future belongs to niche brands, especially in connection with the growing fragmentation of the market and the discriminating consumers.
What do you mean by "moving from brands to managing brands as business assets"? Why do you attach so much importance to this process?
Brands are marketing assets with real market value. The market value of leading global brands is assessed by specialized companies such as Interbrand. A buyer of the Coca-Cola brand would have to pay more than $70 billion, many times more than the residual value of the company's capital stock. This means that it is the market value of intangible assets that makes up the lion's share of the value of the Coca-Cola company.
Each successful brand becomes the basis for further expansion. Look at Disney - today the brand spans films, videotapes, toys, theme parks, hotels, pleasure craft and shops.
Not surprisingly, companies with strong brands have to manage them very carefully, especially if they are looking to expand them into new areas. Brand management should not be left to brand managers. Firstly, staff turnover is high among specialists in this profession, and secondly, in pursuit of short-term results, a brand manager can damage the brand by reducing its maintenance costs.
How is a brand created?
Many books have been devoted to answering this question. Each author, based on his knowledge and professional experience, offers a methodology and a system of principles for creating brands. I enjoy the books of David Aaker, Jean Noel Koepferer, and Scott M. Davies, although some of the other authors may be very helpful.
Is it possible for companies from small countries to create global brands?
In a small country like Switzerland with a population of 9 million, many very famous brands have been created, such as Nestle, Swatch, Rolex, ABB, Hoffman, LaRoche, Bauer. The same can be said about Sweden (population - 5 million) - Volvo, Saab, Electrolux, Ericsson, Sandvik. Large countries such as Russia, India, China and Brazil, ironically, have almost no global brands. Therefore, the size of the country is not critical.
How can a local brand become global?
A local brand will remain so if it cannot outperform products in the same category offered in other markets. Before a local brand becomes global, it will have a difficult journey through a number of countries and / or regions. Mexican beer "Corona" successfully entered the US market, but only after gaining a foothold in American cities with strong Mexican communities. Then his popularity slowly spread to major cities in the northern United States. Today, Corona is in first place among imported beer brands, but it is practically not noticeable on the European market. A local brand will need a 10-20 year strategy to really take its place in the global market.
Do you think that global companies that tailor their offerings and communications to local conditions are more successful than those that adhere to rigid standards?
In general, yes. In the Philippines, McDonald's lost its lead to local fast food chain Jollibees, whose offerings were more in line with Filipino tastes. For the same reason, the local fast food chain Goodies managed to outperform McDonald's in Greece.
Global companies make the same mistake with standard offerings and communications. So they manage to save in the short term, but in the long run they inevitably suffer losses. A company must tailor its products, value propositions, advertising messages, communication media and distribution channels to the conditions of each particular country.
Quite often, international companies acquire local brands. Do you think this is the best way to enter specific country markets?
An international company about to enter the market of a country may bring its own brand with it, buy a local one, or develop a new one specifically for that country. It only makes sense to bring your brand to the market if it is respected and considered to be of higher quality and value than local brands. Buying a local brand is worthwhile if it has won the favor of local consumers and has high growth potential. The development of a new brand is not cheap, but may be necessary if neither foreign nor local brands fully meet the needs of the local market.
Should an international corporation using different brands in different countries for the same product combine them into one global brand?
Large international corporations eventually replace some of their local brands with global ones. Mars has been the most aggressive in this direction. In the UK, the former British name of the Marathon chocolate bar was changed to the American one - Snickers, and the Treets sweets were renamed, again in the American way, to M&M's. By creating a global or at least a European brand, a company can save on advertising and product packaging. In addition, people traveling different countries, easily recognize the global brand.
But at the same time, the company is abandoning the local brand, in which a lot has already been invested. Therefore, Procter & Gamble (P&G), for example, sells the same shampoo under three different names: "Pert" in the US, "Vidal Sasson" in France and "Rejoy" in Japan. If the national trademark "Pert" had to be made global, it would cost a lot to inform users about the name change and to convince them of the need for change. In addition, not every name is free from negative connotations, easy to pronounce and remember in different languages.
Brand reputation is hard to earn and easy to lose. How do brands keep their lead?
Brands have their own life cycle. As soon as they are born, some brands, with a certain amount of luck, generate enthusiasm and experience a phase of rapid growth. So it was with McDonald's, Levi's jeans, Nike sneakers or Swatch watches. But over time, brands gradually lose their appeal, people begin to take them for granted, some consumers prefer new offerings or they have other interests. It's a critical period for the brand. At this moment, it needs to be rejuvenated, and the task of the brand manager is to fill it with new content.
How can national and global brands counter the growing threat of private label retailers?
The biggest threat to national and global brands is retail chains. I admit that the time will come when half of the grocery assortment of supermarkets will be represented by their own brands. This practice originated many years ago: chains offered consumers with low incomes a more affordable alternative to national brands. But then the Canadian retail chain Loblaws began to sell soft drinks, cookies and other products under its own brand “President’s Choice”, the quality level of which was not lower, and sometimes even higher, than that of national brands. Even later, the chains realized that it was possible to create two or even three own brands - in the economy, mid-range and high price categories. Today's shoppers are increasingly relying on private labels that cost them 10% to 50% less. For example, Walgreen's, a large American pharmacy chain, offers consumers a wide range of products at much lower prices (up to 50%) than for similar products of national brands. Giant retail chains such as Wal-Mart are beginning to realize that their customer loyalty is very high and the company may well sell soft drinks, detergents, diapers and other mass products under its own brand.
National brands have the following strategic options in the fight against retail chain brands:
Which brand would you prefer to work with if you had a choice?
With Microsoft. This company managed to take almost a monopoly position in the market and made Bill Gates the richest man in the world. In addition, marketing in the field of high technologies is very difficult and therefore interesting.
What distinguishes great brands?
There are five hallmarks of a strong brand.
First, the brand must point to certain attributes of the product, such as its characteristics, style, and so on. Second, the brand must be associated with one or more key benefits. So, for Volvo cars it is safety, and for Apple computers it is ease of use. Thirdly, the brand must create visual image: let's say "Apple" can be imagined as a person in his twenties, and "IBM" as a person in his sixties. Fourthly, the brand should remind of the company's values - innovation, attentiveness to customers, social responsibility. Finally, a strong brand should be associated with its fans - young and enthusiastic or more mature and conservative. Any strong brand should have these five attributes.
So, great brands evoke images, create expectations, and deliver on promises. They have a personality - think of the many associations that come with McDonald's, Apple, Club Med, Swatch and Harley-Davidson.
What should not be allowed in the process of working with a brand?
Never stop improving your brand. Competitors will not stop encroaching on him. Therefore, it is necessary to constantly develop new features and new services. Your company must continue to lead the way in brand development, expansion into new markets, and expansion into new product categories. As Andy Grove said, "only the paranoid survive." Unfortunately, many companies are limited to reminders and hackneyed advertising. But messages that do not contain new information about the brand are a waste of money.
Many brands strive to win their place in the hearts of consumers. What types of brands do this best?
Consumer attitudes towards a brand range from antipathy and indifference to benevolence, strong preference and loyalty. Everyone has their favorite brands, but few brands have loyal fans. These brands include Harley-Davidson, Porsche, Apple, Bang & Olufsen and several others. Only certain vehicles, large household appliances, software and music bands achieve audience loyalty. Most mainstream brands, however, have to make do with little or enduring preference. The most successful are those that promise the most articulated value and consistently meet consumer expectations.
How true is the claim that the Internet will weaken the position of well-known brands, as buyers will be guided solely by price?
Brands will continue to be important in the era of e-commerce. Many customers still prefer Dell computers, although other manufacturers' computers can be purchased online at a lower price. But online merchants will never be able to sell a particular product, such as the Palm Pilot V, for significantly more than their competitors. Using simon.com, I compared prices for the Palm Pilot V from various online retailers - they ranged from $449 to $389. Conclusion: we will still have our favorite brands, and thanks to the Internet, we will be able to purchase them at the lowest price on the market.
Will the Internet deepen the image of brands?
Managers have realized the possibility of using websites as an additional means to strengthen the brand of the company or its individual products. A website visitor forms an opinion about a company or its brands based on their impressions and feelings - whether the site is easy to download and use, whether it provides complete and clear information. Companies often create separate websites for each brand. One of the best examples is Procter & Gamble's site for the Tide brand (www.tide.com). The site explains the principle of action of synthetic detergents and shows where the high consumer qualities of Tide washing powder come from.
Service
So much has been written about service as a key differentiator, yet service levels continue to decline in many places. Why?
These days, companies strive to get the best customer experience possible, but at the same time they have to cut costs. And these two forces act in opposite directions. In talking to customers at a large bank that was refocusing on retail services, I learned that they thought customer service had gotten worse! How can this be explained? Simultaneously with the training of employees in increased attention to customers, the number of cashiers was reduced, and the queues became longer. When you finally get to the cashier, he is quite friendly, but just the cashiers themselves are not enough. This explains the paradox of simultaneously improving and deteriorating service.
Once in this situation, the company must distinguish between groups of its customers. Not all of them are profitable. Therefore, it is necessary to understand from which category of customers the company receives the greatest benefit, and take care of this particular category.
Companies are less likely to sell pure goods and more often - combinations of goods and services. What is the role of service in this case?
The service component acquires even greater value than a product component, since there are a lot of identical products on the market. Service is much harder to copy by competitors.
A competent marketer creates a unique "service support" for his product, which is almost impossible to imitate. But too many companies focus on the product and don't pay enough attention to service when designing their offering. They worry about relatively high costs, but they forget about the impact of quality service on the consumer.
Can the Internet and e-commerce reduce the need for personalized service?
Different clients have very different personal service needs. Someone wants to make a deal in the simplest way with a minimum of empty talk. Others need personal contact with the seller. Interestingly, some of the most successful companies run all or most of their business over the phone or the Internet. Examples of such companies are the USAA insurance company, L. L. Bean, Dell, or Schwab. Many of their customers comment on the excellent level of service.
Price
How much markup can a company with a very strong brand afford?
Before the advent of hypercompetition, globalization and the Internet, the best brands sold for 20-50% more than the average brands. Today we can consider that a company is lucky if the markup for a brand reaches 10-20%.
How does the Internet affect pricing?
On one website, priceline.com, customers bid for certain flights, tours, or hotel rooms, leaving sellers to decide whether they want to trade at that price or not. This method may eventually spread to the sale of cars, collectibles and other goods. I am convinced that the Internet will lead to lower prices and markups for many products. The Internet makes pricing transparent. Using sites such as buy.com or compare.com, buyers can compare offers from different online sellers. And with a comparable level of service, they will purchase the product from the seller offering it at the lowest price.
It is said that consumers are becoming more price sensitive and therefore sellers have to make concessions. Do you agree with such statements?
I think that consumers have become sensitive not so much to price as to customer value. When price becomes the determining factor in a purchase, it means that buyers do not see the difference between expensive and cheap goods. Companies that can create and deliver higher customer value through novelty, product features, value-added services, and other ways of differentiating themselves can charge a higher price for their product. This requires the right choice of the target segment and a deep understanding of the needs of buyers in it.
In fact, buyers can be divided into three groups:
The firm must target one of the groups and create a product and / or service offer that is attractive to this particular target group.
What can manufacturers oppose to competitors offering cheaper products?
Manufacturers are justifiably concerned about competition from countries and companies that produce goods at a lower cost. I know a European manufacturer of high quality chandelier crystal that competes with an Egyptian manufacturer that can offer half the price. To survive, a European manufacturer will have to lobby for higher tariff rates in order to protect its company from cheap imported products or to cut costs sharply. In the latter case, new technical solutions, decentralization of production, additional automation, reduction of the tax burden, and so on, may be needed. Or the company needs to add new benefits that a competitor's offering lacks. Another way is for a company to buy out the business of a competitor who is knocking down the price.
What advice would you give to a marketer who is developing a strategy to compete with Chinese companies whose costs are much lower?
The first thing companies that suffer losses because of cheap Chinese goods resort to is lobbying for protectionist measures. Protectionism can be of two types: 1) an increase in import duties on cheaper imported goods; 2) measures that block attempts by local companies to take advantage of less expensive production abroad.
But such measures are short-lived and likely to be counterproductive. A viable solution for any company is to look for real opportunities to offer superior customer value to a specific target group of customers. If your costs are higher than those of your competitors, you still won't be able to retain buyers for whom price is the deciding factor. But there are always consumers who want added value in the form of product quality, different services, reliable delivery, customization, consulting assistance or other benefits. Each division of the company must think about how to create a high-quality brand for target customers who want the highest value for their money.
How common is price competition?
The art of marketing lies in the ability to create a brand. If you do not own a brand that has different characteristics, you will inevitably face price competition and price wars. And the only winners will be the firms with the lowest costs and prices.
In the United States, we don't often see price wars. Sometimes it breaks out in the commodity market and affects sales of gasoline, air passenger fares, some chemical products and steel. Minor gasoline brands can afford to lower their price per gallon by two cents, but if their gasoline costs four cents less than their major competitors, they will retaliate. In many markets, such as detergents, toothpaste and shampoos, there is little or no price competition. There is the usual competition in the field of sales promotion, which is not accompanied by "fighting".
In many countries, sales are secured through bribes. How should a marketer feel about corruption and what should be his actions?
Corruption perverts the normal process of competition, when the buyer has the opportunity to choose among the suppliers of the one who sells the product with the highest consumer value. For example, a company wishing to purchase a delivery truck would need to purchase a vehicle of the make and price that best suits its purpose. If a product of inadequate quality is selected because the sales agent was bribed, then the company may suffer losses due to a truck malfunction. Thus, corruption is categorically incompatible with the philosophy of the market, that is, the work of the highest quality in order to maximize the satisfaction of consumer needs. When faced with corruption, companies should try to identify and expose it, rather than use it to their advantage.
Distribution channels
(distribution)
Are companies thinking about distribution well enough?
Most companies will do well to carefully explore all possible distribution channels for their products. The more distribution channels a company uses, the greater its market coverage. However, there are two problems with this.
The first is the problem of control. The more channels involved, the more difficult it is to control them. Therefore, it is very important that the company develops processes for tracking key indicators in various distribution channels.
The second problem is the conflict of different channels. For example, a company that traditionally sells through dealers will antagonize them if it starts using direct distribution channels such as e-commerce. Dealers will not want to compete with their supplier's new sales channel and may refuse to cooperate.
What if the manufacturer does not understand the basic principles of trade and does not try to adapt to the needs of the seller?
Distributors and retailers are becoming increasingly powerful, and they control the flow of goods from the manufacturer to the consumer. Manufacturers must build mutually beneficial relationships with their trading partners. In the recent past, sellers had little choice, and strong manufacturers often took advantage of their position and inflated prices. But now the situation has changed, the trading companies have a choice and their influence has increased. They demand better conditions from manufacturers and may even refuse to promote the products of the most uncompromising of them. Therefore, the most enlightened producers seek to end the competition and enter into partnerships with trade groups. Some go further and establish individual trading relationships with each major distributor.
How many distribution channels should a company use?
The number of possible ways to purchase any product is growing rapidly. You can make a purchase in stores, kiosks, by phone, using catalogs or via the Internet. A company using only one distribution channel will inevitably face competition from all other channels. In addition, the price of a product varies quite a lot depending on the type of distribution channel. Therefore, companies should carefully choose which channel (or channels) to use to ensure their presence in the market. The more distribution channels a company has, the more management resources it needs and the greater the chance of channel conflict and confusion. Under these conditions, the company is obliged to ensure the consistency of perceptions about its brands and to fulfill all brand "promises" in all distribution channels used.
Can a company sell its products directly to consumers and still retain the support of intermediaries?
The company has three options.
1. Select large customers and serve them directly, while entrusting work with smaller consumers to intermediaries.
2. Develop a product for direct sales that is different from that which is distributed through intermediaries (for example, a company may commission the sale personal computers middle class to intermediaries, and the most powerful ones to sell directly on their own).
3. Completely abandon intermediaries and switch to direct sales.
One of the main problems for companies using traditional distribution channels is competition from online merchants. What can traditional companies do to counter this threat?
Enterprises with advanced physical infrastructure were initially seriously concerned about the threat posed by Internet companies. But time has shown that many managed to use their fame and significant financial resources and turned into mixed companies. For example, the Barnes & Noble bookstore chain has gone online and has given its customers the choice to either buy a book in the store or order it online.
Another problem faced companies like Compaq, which was ceding market share in the personal computer market to a well-known direct dealer, Dell. If Compaq went into direct sales itself, it would risk losing its retail partners. However, a solution was found. When a customer purchased computers through Compaq's website, the company paid a commission to the retailer where the customer resided. In other words, companies should seek various ways harmonization of retail and Internet sales.
Sales promotion
(promotion)
There are many indications that television advertising is losing its effectiveness. What are alternative ways to grab consumer attention?
The average American is exposed to several hundred advertisements a day and therefore tries to avoid them in every possible way. TV advertising is losing its effectiveness due to more noise, more TV channels, the habit of changing channels during an ad block, and a decrease in interest in TV programs for some groups of the population. Marketers need to explore alternative methods of capturing consumer attention. Here is some of them.
What do you see as the main problem of modern means of communication?
The main problem is to attract the attention of consumers. People experience an acute shortage of time, and many diligently avoid advertising messages. Companies have to find new ways to capture the attention of consumers and encourage them to remember a particular brand. Therefore, to create brands, marketers are increasingly turning to tools such as PR (public relations) and word-of-mouth marketing.
There has been a lot of talk lately about integrated marketing communications. What is the state of this direction today?
In the past, we have taught separate courses on advertising, product promotion, public relations and other communication tools. Each student became a specialist in one of these disciplines. At the same time, he could know almost nothing about other tools and, moreover, often defended the superiority of his specialization. Inside the companies, the advertising manager received the lion's share of the marketing budget, while other specialists were forced to fight for the remaining crumbs.
This situation is not very favorable, especially considering that the effectiveness of various communication tools changes over time. Deciding how much money to allocate to certain communication tools cannot be made dependent on hardware games. Better to entrust them to one person. Let's call him the chief communication officer (CCO). He is responsible for everything that somehow reveals any information about the company - not only for standard communication tools, but also for corporate clothing, office interior and even design appearance trucks companies.
Today, a growing number of business schools are teaching textbook marketing courses focused on the concept of integrated marketing communications (IMC). Thanks to it, students will begin to understand the role of various means of communication and will better understand that messages about the brand of the company, conveyed to the client through different channels of information, should not be contradictory. For example, a company seeking to establish itself as a quality manufacturer must not only produce a high quality product, but also insist on quality in all of its advertising and corporate messages.
How to determine the optimal size of the communication budget?
Over time, each marketer develops a particular approach to the choice of communication tools and persistently uses the same set of tools, even if the evidence suggests that its effectiveness is declining. Thus, the proportions of the budget distribution remain unchanged, and the CMO does not seek to revise them, since this may change the balance of power of various communications managers working in the company. In addition, any change is associated with risk.
Advertising
Companies are spending more and more money on TV advertising, even as the number of channels grows and with it the ability to jump from channel to channel. Aren't companies too slow to respond to the decline in the effectiveness of TV advertising?
Companies continue to turn a blind eye to the drastic changes in the communications market. The days of mass advertising, with its inherent overhead and intrusiveness, are numbered. I would advise my clients to cut their TV advertising budgets, especially mass advertising. Fewer people are watching TV, many are turning off ads, and commercial ad units are too short to be effective.
Mass advertising can be effective, but only in countries that still have only a few television channels, radio stations and newspapers. When the number of television channels and radio stations is measured in the hundreds and thousands, as in the United States, reaching a mass audience with advertising is very expensive. There are very few means of access to a mass audience, such as the Super Bowl or the Olympics. The growing fragmentation of media audiences requires marketers to move towards targeted or even personalized marketing. It is possible that this will lead to a reduction in costs. What is the point of advertising cat food on national television if only 20% of families have cats...
What measures should advertising agencies take in response to the decline in the effectiveness of mass advertising?
Today, advertising agencies can't succeed just by creating ads and choosing how they're presented. There are so many new methods of communication emerging now. The best advertising agencies are transformed into full-cycle communication agencies. They will work closely with their clients to find the best form of communication and the best effective means its distribution, whether through advertisements, press releases, sales promotions, sponsorships, direct mail, email or television sales.
Some agencies are already working in this direction, creating or acquiring new communication opportunities through partnerships with companies specializing in public relations, sales promotion and direct marketing. Their goal is to become full-service communications companies. Ogilvy, for example, has created a communications system called "Ogilvy Orchestration" and promises integrated marketing communications to its customers.
However, in practice, even in progressive agencies, advertising divisions still have a decisive voice, since they are the ones that bring in the most revenue. Can they be absolutely objective at the same time, recommending the “optimal” set of advertising tools to the customer?
However, advertisers are demanding greater communication efficiency. They want to invest their promotional money, mainly in direct marketing, public relations, and innovative advertising solutions. Forward-thinking advertising agencies are transforming from narrowly specialized to generalist communications agencies.
Will the Internet become an effective advertising tool?
Several years ago CEO Procter & Gamble said that if it could find effective ways to advertise online, it would be happy to invest most of the company's huge advertising budget on the Internet. On the this moment The Internet has not yet become a full-fledged advertising tool, unlike television, radio, newspapers and magazines. Yes, the Internet is used banner advertising, but site visitors spend less than 1% of their total time viewing banner content. Advertisers are pushing for popular websites to use "skyscrapers" or "pop-up" ads, but website owners don't want to take the risk. In addition, users have the option to block pop-up ads. Google has developed a system to "link" paid advertisements to the subject of the search - for example, if I type "BMW" in the search field of the Google Internet system, a BMW advertisement will appear on the right side of the screen. BMW will be able to quickly see if this advertisement has contributed to sales or not. With that said, it is still too early to tell how widespread or effective online advertising will be.
How can companies effectively capture the attention of a mass audience?
Advertisers are never destined to go back to those glorious days when they could reach millions of people at night with just one TV show or one issue of a mainstream magazine. Today, there are three ways to "reach out" to a mass audience: 1) show ads on several channels at the same time; 2) to advertise during the broadcast of the Super Bowl, the Olympic Games and other events of a global scale that attract a wide audience; 3) create a huge database that would contain information about consumers who are most interested in the company's offerings.
What is the main limitation of advertising?
Public relations
Do you agree with the opinion of the experts calling for more spending on public relations?
Yes, I agree. In the past, companies were too fond of advertising, especially mass advertising, acting “at random”, and did not pay due attention to public relations (PR). There are many PR tools, I call them "PENCILS of PR" (by the first letters of English words) - this includes publications (publications), events (events), news (news), participation in public initiatives (community involvement), means of identification ( identity tools), lobbying and social investments. Viewers instantly recognize commercials and switch attention. PR tools are more likely to convey information to the consumer. In addition, this information can be presented in a more original and believable way. PR tools are much better suited to create “rumors” about new products or services. Interest in them is steadily growing - it is not without reason that the recently published book by Al and Laura Rice is called The Rise of PR and the Decline of Advertising.
Sales promotion
My company used to spend about 70% of its budget on advertising and 30% on sales promotion, but now it's the other way around. Are we getting too motivated?
Your company is not alone—many are experiencing sales promotion "inflation." Most companies in recent times increase the share of customer incentives and distribution channel incentives in their budgets. There are several reasons for this. First of all, advertising "works" much more slowly than promotions that encourage urgent purchases ("Half price XYZ laptops - this week only!"). Managers who are desperate to meet quarterly targets are willing to resort to sales promotion methods. They can be understood. They prefer tools that bring returns much faster. In addition, television advertising is becoming less effective: the number of television commercials has increased significantly, and their duration has decreased. New technologies, such as TIVO (a special video recorder capable of recording real-time TV programs to a hard drive and skipping ad blocks), have appeared, and viewers are tired of advertising. There are other factors as well.
The problem is that most sales promotion methods adversely affect brand image—they make it cheaper, not stronger. When a company constantly offers discounts, gifts, rebates, and other incentives, it all detracts from the uniqueness of the brand. Listening to the advertisements of automobile companies today, one can easily believe that cars of almost all brands are being sold in a fire order. We are constantly urged to buy a car not for its merits, but because the price has been reduced ...
I remember the manager of the Leo Burnett Advertising Agency asking me if promotional spending was not exorbitant if it reached 30% of the total advertising and promotional budget. He certainly expected to get confirmation that the companies were damaging their brand. With up to 70% of the budget now spent on this, I would recommend that companies change their minds, cut their spending on sales promotion and invest money more usefully in other forms of promotion. In addition, these funds can improve the quality of services, develop new products or improve existing ones, or simply reduce list prices.
How should the budget allocated for product promotion be divided between promotion of distribution channels and stimulation of buyers?
Distribution channel incentives (retailer discounts, giveaways, extra copies, etc.) are used to gain more and better store space, better display space, and build relationships with the retailer. Commerce not only expects but demands such privileges. Retailers make a significant profit from manufacturers' money allocated to promote the product. Attempts to cut back on this item of expenditure often end up with retailer support drastically reduced. In any case, more funds are spent on stimulating trade, and not on stimulating buyers.
Companies have more control over their incentive budgets. However, even here they need to evaluate the effectiveness of their own actions. The worst case of customer incentivization is when only existing customers respond. This leads to the fact that regular customers receive unnecessary subsidies. Another bad scenario is when incentivizing customers creates a number of new customers who are less likely to buy the product at the regular market price. The benefit from the sale is a one-time benefit, and promoting the product is likely to incur losses, especially when you consider the costs of promotion activities. The most favorable and most rare scenario is when the promotion attracts new customers who like the product they have tried and start buying it. This happens mainly when the company's product is actually better than the competitor's product. Given this set of problems, it is not surprising that, in most cases, demand stimulation measures are unprofitable for the company.
What is the best way to improve the effectiveness of sales promotion?
Don't do it yourself. Hire a promotional agency. Good agencies have been involved in many sales promotion campaigns and know better what works and what doesn't. We use outsourcing of marketing research and advertising. So why not outsource your sales promotion campaign to the experts?
Sales management
What is the relationship between marketing and sales departments?
In theory, the sales department should report to the VP of Marketing, since he is the one responsible for the company's marketing strategy. Sales is one of several marketing tools. In practice, however, the sales department reports to the VP of Sales, who is independent of the VP of Marketing and usually sets and enforces the budget for their own department. In many cases, the sales department's budget exceeds the marketing budget, and salespeople's short-term sales activities are more important to the company's success. In fact, marketing departments were often created to help salespeople reach the right customers at the right time with the right customer value proposition.
But for the overall success of the company, mutual understanding and mutual support of the marketing and sales departments are crucial. Their views on the optimal allocation of the budget may differ, but they must work together on strategic and tactical issues.
The marketing department is called upon to find new opportunities, develop brands and generate demand. The task of the sales department is to convert demand into customer orders. The sales department should be involved in the development of the strategy, otherwise it will be difficult for him to implement it. The marketing department must treat sales representatives as their "inside" customers and do their best to meet their needs.
Should salespeople be taught the basics of marketing?
A salesperson will be able to work more efficiently if they have a better understanding of marketing and understand how marketing plans are made. Salespeople must understand how marketers research the market, make forecasts, test products, and plan advertising. This training can take the form of training courses and individual marketing assignments. As a result, the two divisions will better understand each other's roles and tasks.
In my opinion, sales people need to be fully involved in the process of compiling marketing plans. They must be sure that these plans are meaningful. In fact, the first task of the marketing department is to "sell" the marketing plan to the sales department, and this is much easier to do if the "buyer" was involved in the planning process.
What is the best remuneration system for sales representatives?
Such a system does not exist. Sales personnel may be remunerated in the form of regular wages, commissions, bonuses, or a combination of both. The form of compensation in the form of a fixed salary is justified when the sales staff is mainly engaged in the routine work of collecting information about the market, receiving, processing and transferring orders to their destination. The commission system is applicable when the task is to find and attract new customers. Such a system attracts people who are more aggressive and independent, who love risk and will work harder to get more. Companies can pay bonuses for excellent performance. Most compensation schemes for sales representatives are based on a combination of salary and commission.
The best salespeople are far superior to their peers. What should be their reward?
I insist that the biggest "earners" be paid higher rewards. If a sales agent sells four times more than the average for the company, she will still be profitable to pay him even three times more. I remember a wonderful IBM sales agent who, just starting out, met his annual sales quota in a few months. Selling even more did not make sense - it did not affect his compensation. But he wanted to earn more and demanded that his quota be increased. Company executives ignored the requests, arguing that a sales agent could not get more than a CEO. How stupid it was! The more the sales agent earns, the more the CEO gets. As a result, this sales agent left the company and started his own business. His name was Ross Perot, and the company he founded was called EDS (Electronic Data Systems).
What is the future of B2B salespeople?
The development of e-commerce threatens to reduce the number of sales jobs, especially in B2B. Purchasing agents say that the Internet provides them with fairly complete and detailed information about the goods of various sellers. Buyers can turn to price review sites that compare prices and product features instead of wasting time listening to presentations. They don't need visits from sales reps who simply repeat product information available online.
Sales representatives are indispensable in the case of complex equipment and projects. But such specialists need more serious skills than just communication skills and the ability to convince. Their success will depend on how well they understand each individual client's business and what value they can offer by advising a potential buyer. Such sales are called advisory.
Sponsorship
Shouldn't companies reallocate their budget towards sponsorship by reducing their advertising spend?
If a company feels that the advertising it pays for is not very effective, it should seriously consider reallocating the budget in favor of alternative methods of promotion, in particular PR. Sponsorship, one of the PR tools, can take several forms - financial support for events, geographic regions, people, ideas, or specific charitable actions that would attract the attention of the target audience. Typically, a company can find one or more positions that offer the opportunity to attract special attention. One of the problems with sponsorship is that it is difficult to determine the return on investment. In addition, in some cases it is not easy to stop providing sponsorship - the target audience may not understand the motives of the company.
Rumor Marketing
How do you feel about so-called rumor marketing?
Rumor marketing, that is, an attempt to expand a business by transmitting information orally, is conquering all great popularity. Specialists have learned to identify influential people in society, to identify opinion leaders and experts, to establish contact with them at the initial stage of product promotion in the hope that they will contribute to the dissemination of information.
Media
How has media innovation affected consumer behavior?
New media are coming to the aid of time-strapped shoppers. Now you can shop from the comfort of your home through catalogues, direct mail, phone orders, TV programs "shop on the couch" and via the Internet. From home, you can manage bank accounts and even order food delivery.
Industrial companies are increasingly using local corporate networks (intranet), the Internet and extranets (extranet) in their activities. At the same time, local networks of the company are used for internal communications, the Internet - for informing consumers, sales and purchases, and extranets - for transactions with their own suppliers and dealers. Thanks to electronic markets, we have moved from the industrial age to the information age.
Which media will take precedence over the next ten years?
Here are my predictions.
Note that marketing creates an opportunity for the exchange of information between business and customers. To do this, companies use various marketing tools to communicate important information, stimulate customer interest and motivate follow-up actions. To attract the target audience and build a successful business, you will need to apply several tactics at once.
The key to success lies in understanding what marketing tools you need to achieve your goals.
Why are marketing tools so important?
The answer to the question is extremely simple and obvious - to increase your sales and increase brand popularity. But in order to choose the best toolkit, it will be necessary to take into account the current business goals, the marketing strategy adopted by the company, the behavior of the target market, and the limitation of the advertising budget.
Practical tasks at the stage of choosing marketing tools:
- Traditional media: such as billboards, banners, newspapers, magazines, television, radio and directories, as well as related processes for the creation of print advertising, commercials and press releases. The main focus is to reach a large number of people to ensure success. The advertising message should encourage people to think about the need to purchase. It is an expensive marketing tool, but traditional media remains the most reliable source of information.
- Digital media. Modern computer technology and software allows you to purposefully address potential customers. And what is very important, this type of communication is measurable and gives you the opportunity to quickly receive data for analysis. Digital marketing tools include: search engine optimization, contextual advertising, mobile marketing, interactive banner advertising, email campaigns, and so on. One of the key components of success is the availability of web analytics, which provides information about the online activity and interests of your visitors, geography potential consumers and lists of queries (keywords). This is the most effective tool if you have the appropriate experience.
- Social media. Social networks, forums and blogs are a separate subset of digital media. At the same time, the main goal of social media is to establish trusting relationships with the target audience, which allows increasing the involvement of potential customers and identifying their preferences and interests. This type of communication offers inexpensive tools with potentially high profits.
- promotional elements: Promotional items such as brochures, business cards, press kits, business card websites. They are also equally important marketing tools. Some of these elements include a lot of detailed information and make your business stand out. This is how you provide consumers with contact information about yourself. Promotional elements contribute to brand awareness, but when using them, you must first of all consider the cost.
Conclusion
The proposed classification can be easily extended using other criteria. For example, on the direction in which information should flow - to the outside world or within the company itself. Internal marketing is also an important aspect of a marketing strategy. You may need to send various messages or detailed information to employees, shareholders and partners. The goals vary, but usually, internal marketing is an attempt to incentivize within a company to market new products to the outside world.
Internet Marketing. It's not even a trend anymore. This is some kind of confusion. “Business must be transferred to the Internet! All clients and money are now there!”.
Partly, yes. But this is said by people who have 100% offline businesses and who believe that Internet marketing will be their salvation.
Remember Jesus had 12 apostles? And if Internet marketing can be associated with it (well, they still see him as a messiah), then the 12 apostles are Internet marketing tools.
What, where and...
It is useless to deny that the Internet has irrevocably merged into our lives. We endlessly sit on social networks, communicating with other people, watching movies and TV shows in it, looking for the necessary information on websites, forums, blogs.
And no matter what site we go to, no matter what picture or link we click on, everywhere we meet ads. The same notorious Internet marketing that we will talk about today.
But as usual, let's see what it is. I won’t write “smart” versions from Wikipedia, just simply and briefly:
Internet Marketing- this is the promotion of a product or service on the Internet and using the Internet.
Why on and not off?
Everyone compares online and offline space. And they come to the conclusion that the Internet has become stronger in every sense.
Yes, yes, I am
And there's definitely some truth in that, but let's start by looking at what "stronger" means.
measurability
Remember that saying about half the money going down the drain? So, Internet marketing, unlike offline marketing, will be able to tell exactly where your money is going.
Because everything is very clear here. At correct setting and using analytics you can see a lot.
By the way. If you are interested in analytics, then Roistat will become your faithful assistant. And in addition to free 14 days, you will receive another 5,000 rubles. (by promo code “INSCALE”) as a gift..
For example, when a client who came to your site bought, where he is, what computer he uses and what kind of ad he was interested in (trust me, these are still very rough settings, usually they are deeper).
In offline marketing, you will never get this. All you can do is find out that the person came from the radio from the leaflet. And then, obtaining such knowledge will be more luck than a pattern.
Purposefulness 1.0
Remember the most famous, after “Expensive”, objection - “I need to think!”. And people just go to the Internet to think. Especially if it's a little-known product.
That is, the mechanics are as follows: people saw offline advertising and went online to look for information about the product or service they saw. This is where they make the targeted buying decision. In other words, offline creates demand, online satisfies it. That's it, and nothing else.
Everyone, I'm going to buy Purposefulness 2.0
Not so long ago, we wanted to launch an advertisement on the radio for one of our clients. And all that they could provide me was audience research for this radio a year ago.
“Mostly, we are listening to men from 30 to 40 years of average income.” There is no such thing on the Internet. Such an ugly non-targeted approach.
Do you need clients who are located in the center of Moscow and access the Internet from Apple computers? This is easy to arrange.
Remember, I wrote a little higher about the settings? So, not rough settings - this is when you see that a person visiting your site is in Moscow and does it from an Apple computer, then the price of goods or services automatically rises by 10-15%.
Do you need travelers who fly abroad 2-3 times a year and at the same time hold senior positions in companies? This is also easy to arrange.
For example, on Facebook, when setting up targeted advertising, this is done by ticking 2 checkboxes. And that's it! Agree, offline cannot even dream of such a thing.
And you're right... A wish
Do you want customers who will buy tomorrow and at the same time do not know your company at all? It is quite possible. This is how contextual advertising works in conjunction with a one-page site.
In short, this is the creation and placement of information that, first of all, is useful for the client, and only then sells. Our blog is an example.
Pros :
- The content that users are looking for and which is useful to them is not perceived as advertising, respectively, it practically does not cause irritation;
- It has a great effect on the issuance of your blog / site in the search results. Especially if the content is rare and unique;
- Increases your awareness and expertise. Especially if you create content in a highly specialized direction.
Minuses :
If approached professionally, then the work of a whole team is necessary (copywriters, editors, seo-specialists, etc.);- It takes a lot of time from an idea to at least the first result.
SEO (search engine) website promotion
This is when the owners say: “But I drive in “buy wallpaper Moscow” and my site is in the first place.” This is what is usually meant. Read more about what it is and how it works in this article.
But again, I have prepared for you a brief excerpt of the pros and cons of this method.
Pros :
- Greatly increases traffic to the site;
- Once you need to bring to the TOP, then periodically support;
- Potential customers already come to the site who are looking for either a product or a solution to their problem, in connection with this, the conversion from potential buyers to real ones is very high.
Minuses :
- Long term for obtaining results;
- You need to have specific knowledge or hire professionals (which, by the way, you cannot control too carefully).
A question may arise. What is the difference between content marketing and SEO marketing? They are so similar. Yes and no.
Both tools work with information, but content marketing is a communication approach, and SEO marketing is a communication tool.
contextual advertising
- A very lively and interactive audience that, with attention and care, can become very loyal;
- If this is just group management, and not targeted advertising, then management can be done on your own. Accordingly, it is free, but not very effective.
- The cost of social networks pays off on a global scale, it is difficult to pay back immediately;
- Social media is not suitable for all businesses. Of course, there are examples when factories maintain a Facebook page and successfully get clients from them, but in order to come to this, they have invested a lot of effort and a large amount of money;
- They require a lot of attention, as users in the social. networks are accustomed to a lot of attention and are not so easy to catch on.
Display advertising
These are the most standard banners that are placed on a more or less decent site with .
Display advertising Probably one of the oldest, most annoying and failing advertising tools on the Internet.
Pros :
- Good effect on memorability and recognition;
- Large audience coverage, thus there is an opportunity to get random buyers.
Minuses :
- Expensive;
- Low clickability.
teaser advertising
Pugacheva lost 30 kg! Putin married Kabaeva! $10 billion was found at the dacha of the Minister of Economy.
teaser advertising In short, I just described to you what teaser advertising is, i.e. a provocative and catchy picture with a shocking headline that makes a potential client click and go to the site.
Pros :
- Scale coverage;
- Minimum settings.
Minuses :
- Perceived as advertising, and very aggressive;
- As a rule, traffic to the site is driven through a gasket (a blog that imitates useful information about a product), thereby significantly reducing the conversion.
Viral Marketing
One example about instead of a thousand words. Because it is better to see once than to read a thousand times.
https://youtu.be/Is0E5aNot4U
And now, according to the classics of the genre, the pros and cons of this method. Read and enjoy.
Pros :
- Very high audience loyalty. People love to share content that makes them laugh or shock;
- Loyalty to a product or service is increased, so purchases will be made with increased confidence;
- Viral content is easily shared (sometimes even hosted for free).
Minuses :
- It's not easy to create a video that goes viral. Knowledge and skill are needed (especially if we are talking about a viral video for business now);
- In order to make a video viral, you need to “push” it, that is, financially invest in its placement;
Short-term effect.
Email Marketing
You leave your name on some page and email to get some useful material (in professional language, this is called a “magnet”). By tradition, to understand this, it is better to read the article.
Sales GeneratorWe will send the material to you:
The number of users is growing year by year World Wide Web. The Internet is turning into the main source of information, which, as a result, leads to the dynamic development of advertising in it. New Internet marketing tools are constantly emerging, both paid and free. We will talk about the best of them today in this article.
What unites the main tools of online advertising
Information about the product is placed in all types of media: in paper publications, on radio, television and, of course, on the Internet. Advertising on the Web is working more and more efficiently, so each company seeks to create an official website, pages on social networks, and its own blog.
But simply posting information on the Internet today is no longer enough - to increase sales, you must constantly attract the attention of potential buyers to your page in order to ensure the popularity of the site. This is where special Internet marketing tools come to the rescue, including website promotion, SEO promotion and conversion increase.
Internet marketing (internet marketing)
a set of measures taken to increase consumer interest in certain goods or services Uses all the methods and techniques of classical, traditional marketing, adapting them to the capabilities of the Internet environment.
Internet marketing includes the following elements:
- Product (aka commodity). Products that have unique properties that make it possible to distinguish this product (service) from similar ones.
- Price. The cost of goods in online stores is usually lower.
- Promotion- multi-component promotion of a network resource, individual products using Internet marketing tools (SEO optimization, contextual, banner and interactive advertising, working with potential buyers through social networks and blogs).
- FROMait. Must meet the needs and psychology of the target audience. Be concise, intuitive and convenient.
The whole essence of Internet marketing is the phased building of work with the client, starting with determining the needs of the target audience, creating adequate and in-demand content, attracting visitors and ending with the conclusion of transactions.
There are some indicators that give Internet marketing a significant advantage over traditional marketing:
- Informativeness. Concentration of information in one place. The site allows you to place not only a detailed description of the product, talk about the process of its production, but also leave feedback to users. This is a very important element in shaping a potential buyer's holistic view of the product. The content of the site must be unique in order to be of interest to visitors.
- High performance compared to traditional advertising. The advertising that we have long been accustomed to (stretch marks, billboards, advertising on TV) has long ceased to pay off, despite the availability of the audience. Internet advertising is cheaper, acts on certain groups of the target audience, who are often interested in finding such information themselves.
- Large coverage of the target audience. The continuous growth of Internet users and the absence of restrictions on the territorial principle make Internet advertising effective, because an order via the Internet can be made from anywhere in the world.
Sellers are interested in promoting business through the Internet. This is used by both large and small companies, as well as private entrepreneurs. Neither the form of ownership, nor the territorial location, nor the number of staff positions prevent the organization from doing this. Only the lack of own knowledge in the use of Internet marketing tools can limit, but in our time there is no shortage of specialists in this field.
The best internet marketing tools for promotion and their pros and cons
You can create a beautiful site, fill it with interesting and necessary information and price lists, and it will not work. A selling site is not necessarily a developed online store. It can be a modest one-page site, which shows all the advantages of buying a product from this particular resource.
A website is a working Internet marketing tool if it encourages visitors to buy. Usually this is facilitated by high-quality design, content and usability of the resource, so when creating a site, you should not look for template paths.
Pros:
- An easy way to determine the target audience, as those who really need to come in.
- Increases brand popularity.
- Allows you to actively interact with visitors.
Minuses:
- A good website requires a lot of investment.
- A low-quality site will not become a selling one, moreover, it can harm the company's reputation.
- If you have created a one-page website, then it is advisable to create a separate landing page for each product group.
Submit your application
contextual advertising
This Internet marketing tool is currently considered the most effective way to advertise. Using search engines, people get ads based on the context of their queries. To place this kind of advertising, Yandex.Direct or Google Adwords will help. It will appear before the eyes of users potentially interested in this information.
Pros:
- Fast effect.
- Orientation to the target audience.
- Does not depend on site optimization.
- If the visitor has not shown himself on the site, then targeting will allow you to send contextual advertising to him, which can activate a passive user.
- You will only pay for visits to the site.
Minuses:
- Excessive intrusiveness annoys users.
- Low click rate.
- A specific price per impression has not been set (an auction system is in effect).
- High cost.
Organic Promotion
SEO website promotion is one of the most important tools of Internet marketing. SEO-optimization of the site allows you to attract visitors by getting into the TOP of search queries, and this saves advertising costs. Reasonable and thoughtful optimization in accordance with the expectations and needs of the target audience affects the increase in website conversion.
Pros:
- Low costs.
- Good conversion.
- An easy way to determine the target audience, as the site is visited by those who really need it.
- No negative effect.
- Increase in traffic.
Minuses:
- Delayed result (more than six months).
- Improvements will be required at the root of the site.
- Constant need to update content.
- Search engines have high requirements for websites and content.
banner advertising
The success of placing a banner depends on the correct choice of advertising platform. In this decision, in general, lies the whole point. this method. Of course, it is more efficient to place banners on popular sites with high traffic. But consider how many potential buyers of the advertiser visit this site. After all, you can pay for an advertising space, but still not convey the information to the right visitor and not recoup the costs.
Pros:
- Banners grab attention.
- Precise targeting.
- Coverage of a wide audience.
- Clarity of pricing.
Minuses:
- Requires significant ongoing investment.
- Little effect on conversion.
Social networks are a place to communicate with your customers, conduct promotions, contests, sweepstakes. You can create a profile and fill it with photos, articles, videos. Social networks are also a useful tool for online marketing. Tens of millions of people visit Vkontakte, Odnoklassniki, Facebook, and Instagram every day. Among them, of course, there will be those who will be interested in your product or service.
Pros:
- Practically does not require investments (except for the payment of some additional promotion services).
- Ability to communicate online.
- Communication without intermediaries.
- Building brand awareness and popularity.
Minuses:
- A lot of time should be devoted to subscribers in order not to leave their field of vision.
- Serious competition for the attention of visitors.
Email Marketing
Many people think that email marketing is an outdated method. You may ask: why send promotional emails if they end up in SPAM anyway? Modern e-mail marketing has learned to send letters pointwise. And this is no longer a mass mailing, so such letters cannot be called SPAM. Before sending such a letter, you need to acquire a customer base. What's wrong with making an offer to those people who really need them?!
Pros:
- Fast and visible results.
- The sender himself determines the number of readers (providing discounts and holding promotions allows you to attract a new audience).
- Interested visitors are ready to buy.
Minuses
- Often annoying obsession, causing the opposite effect.
- Needs preliminary and careful preparation.
- It is impossible to keep the interlocutor, because he can refuse to communicate at any time.
Video Marketing
It has been observed that people prefer to watch than to read. Videos can not only draw attention to your product, but also arouse interest in the very process of its manufacture, form a loyal attitude towards the brand. A video can be an attractive internet marketing tool that can garner a lot of views on Youtube by directing visitors to your site.
As an example, the video content of our client company Biokit
Pros:
- Perception of information in video format is 60 thousand times better than in text.
- A popular Youtube channel will provide a large number of views.
- Video presentation is much more effective than other types of advertising.
Minuses:
- High price.
- Takes a lot of time to create.
Mobile advertising these days is more than just sending SMS. Now, almost all gadgets have access to the Internet, they have applications installed through which advertising is actively launched - a successfully operating tool among well-known Internet marketing tools.
Pros:
- Personalized appeal.
- Wide audience reach.
Minuses:
- Big costs.
- Need help from experts.
Among the many Internet marketing tools, this one is designed to send repeat offers to former buyers or website guests who left their phone or e-mail. Retargeting allows you to collect a database of your visitors using a special site setup in order to personally contact people who are familiar with your products and are interested in it.
Pros:
- Addresses interested visitors.
- Helps build brand loyalty.
- Helps increase sales by 20%.
- Does not require large financial investments.
Minuses:
- Dependence on other traffic sources (directed only to those who have already visited your site).
- Useless with low site traffic (less than 30-40 visitors per day).
These are very convenient network resources, which are multi-profile Internet markets. On aggregator sites, different offers can be presented on the same topic or on different ones, but grouped according to some criteria. It is very convenient for visitors to make a choice between related offers, comparing them and choosing the best option.
Some buyers do not go further than aggregators, so it is definitely worth posting information about yourself on one of them. Registration on aggregator sites is paid, so it would be reckless to just spend a lot of money, taking up space on each of them.
Pros:
- Additional flow of buyers.
- The opportunity to demonstrate their advantages over competitors, if any.
Minuses:
- Placement costs can exceed the profit from customer acquisition.
A “virus” is a video, postcard, or other marketing invention that is attractive to network users and that can arouse interest in the recipient, unlike ordinary advertising. In the future, the addressee sends this material (cartoon, scandal, provocation, link to the site) to all his friends, and they to theirs. The number of views can reach several million, or even more.
Pros:
- Very fast distribution without any costs.
- Distributed voluntarily, does not cause rejection and irritation.
Minuses:
- Really interesting advertising is not so easy to produce, it requires huge costs.
- temporary effect.
- Uncertainty of the final success rate.
- Limited target audience.
Online Games
Nowadays becoming more and more popular, therefore, manufacturers and advertisers use this entertainment to place elements of their brand or inline advertising.
Pros:
- You can interact directly with the target audience, as games usually have a clear age and gender orientation.
- Easy to calculate profit.
- Not too high cost to create.
Minuses:
- Obsession.
- The difficulty of concluding an agreement with the owner of the game.
Formation of public opinion
This Internet marketing tool is aimed at creating and maintaining the image of an organization with the help of advertising texts posted on third-party sites. These can be press releases and articles on news resources, profile articles and reviews on forums. Nowadays, hidden advertising in social networks and visited blogs is a big success.
Pros:
- Unobtrusive effect.
- Does not require costs.
- Regular updating of information for the target audience.
Minuses:
- Frequent failures.
- The result is delayed in time.
- Requires constant monitoring.
Partnership programs
Their essence is that the partner company agrees to sell your products from its website for a certain percentage of sales. With the right choice of a partner with a highly visited site, the profit can be quite large. I must say that this Internet marketing tool is not often used, but it was impossible not to mention it.
Pros:
- Does not require independent work on promotion.
- Easy to set up.
Minuses:
- Lack of control.
- High competition.
Currently, this Internet marketing tool is gaining high popularity, because it is devoid of many disadvantages of advertising. Native ads are naturally embedded in the content of the site without causing irritation. Made in the form of useful materials from independent experts, such advertising arouses interest among users. And what is viewed, read with interest, often influences the formation of public opinion.
Pros:
- Possibility of placement on a variety of sites.
- Absence of obsession.
- Users often voluntarily share information with each other.
- Increase in conversion.
Minuses:
- Expensive tool.
- The complexity of creation.
- It is impossible to calculate the result of use.
Free Internet Marketing Tools That Really Exist
Of course, a significant part of Internet marketing tools cost a lot of money. But there are some that are completely free. Consider the top 20 free advertising options used almost everywhere.
Internet Marketing Tools for Research
- The tool helps to track the increase in brand awareness and awareness through mentions of it on the Internet.
- With the help of Google Alerts, requests are generated for a brand, person or product.
- You can receive new data using a special interface setting, RSS delivery feed, e-mail tools.
- The filters of this Internet marketing tool allow you to select the country, frequency of alerts, language and other details.
This Internet marketing tool can track links to the site of third-party resources, rank them according to the authority of sites and domains, and configure filters (by source, type of links, etc.). The tool is considered free when used through a registered account, but it is not necessary to go through the registration procedure if you need no more than three reports per day. Per large quantity will have to pay.
It is not enough just to fill the page with text, its content has great value to attract a potential buyer, therefore, it is necessary to ensure that the content matches the entered search query. In order for the search engine to find exactly your site, you need to perform SEO-optimization of the text.
Machines read words embedded in HTML tags. Words and combinations of words repeated several times on the page are taken by the software as a sign that the page is relevant to the query. This Internet marketing tool allows you to perform a comparative SEO analysis of entire sites. Moreover, such services usually do not require any registration.
A free Internet management tool that allows you to track the reputation of an entity based on reviews and publications on the Web. The subject can be a company, an individual, a whole brand, or a separate product. Up to 3000 alerts are collected monthly, analyzed, the history is stored in the database, so you can always request an analytical report.
Content tools for online marketing
The service is built on the fact that headlines are generated based on three keywords. These three keywords are formed into the correct constructions, in accordance with the laws of creating advertising headlines. This tool has not yet been adapted into Russian, but English language you can create great titles.
A very useful internet marketing tool primarily for marketers and copywriters. When ideas have already dried up, you can enter a keyword and see some new unusual solution for its use.
A simple and easy-to-use editor that makes the text more readable, it helps to place accents correctly and exclude unnecessary words. The lightness of the text is determined by simply placing it in the window of the online editor. All complex and dissonant constructions will be highlighted in color, the program even generates hints for possible corrections.
A virtual tool for website content optimization. The analysis is performed by placing the address of the page under study in a special field of the program, which in a matter of minutes will display statistics on keywords and links to the site. A complete analysis of the web page is completed in 5-10 minutes.
Social Media Tools for Online Marketing
Free tool for online coordination of social accounts. One interface allows you to manage a large number of profiles (up to a hundred). In free mode, you can organize no more than three profiles on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter. A single interface allows not only managing the content of linked accounts, but also viewing statistics, evaluating their attractiveness to the audience, and studying the results of an advertising campaign.
An online marketing tool that is designed to determine the most convenient time for tweets. The service also searches for the most common opinions that are relevant in your field, analyzes followers, allows you to study their features and thus determine the target audience.
The tool allows you to compile an analysis of the pages of registered Facebook users for free. By simply entering the "Facebook report" combination in the Facebook search bar, you can get detailed information about publications and other activity on the pages you are interested in, and a lot of other useful information presented in the form of tables or graphs.
Trendwatching tools for online marketing
Google's web application that provides the ability to analyze the Google search query database, identify trends, top searches, and understand changing consumer interests. If you enter several queries in a line, the service will conduct a comparative analysis. The tool shows how often users type this or that term in the search line relative to other queries.
This internet marketing tool is a list of the most interesting links on the Twitter network. The service selects users who regularly post the best links and publishes the most popular of them. When forming the content, an analysis of your interests is also carried out.
A very useful tool that allows you to monitor the viral content of the Web. With it, you can see the most relevant news of the information flow. The relevance is revealed on the basis of the analysis of sharing in social networks. The tool can be configured with special filters (regional, temporary, etc.). This tool will be very useful for those who are used to RSS feeds.
Internet marketing tools for working with the site
A tool created for the urgent construction of the simplest landings. With the built-in HTML5-based editor, you can create websites yourself, and for this you do not even need basic knowledge of web design. For those who do not have such a knowledge base, the service will offer free templates and step-by-step examples of their implementation.
A comprehensive analysis of the Quicksprout service allows you to explore not only the page itself, but also the pages of competitors. A very useful feature is the analysis of social media materials, as a result of which the program generates tips and recommendations for changing the site under study. In general, the program serves as a reliable Internet marketing tool that identifies page flaws based on the study of its SEO core and keywords.
The service allows, based on statistics, to evaluate the rapidity of the distribution of the content you post among network users. Virality analysis based on comments, likes and reposts is carried out in the most popular networks Facebook, Google+, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest.
How to select Internet marketing tools according to the strategy
You can read a lot of theoretical information, skillfully presented in books and articles. But studying this area in theory is not at all the same as in practice. But only personal experience will help to master the important principles of Internet marketing.
Integrated Internet Marketing
This strategy combines all the Internet marketing tools that are used in accordance with the general trends of business development on the Web. An integrated approach brings more results than each tool used separately.
Consider the successful use of integrated marketing to increase sales using coaching as an example.
- thematic site or blog with SEO-optimized texts;
- groups in social networks, which will need to be promoted in the future in order to popularize your product;
- contextual advertising.
In this case, three Internet marketing tools will be involved, which will save on advertising.
Internet PR
PR used in the Internet environment has the same goals and objectives as traditional Public Relations. The main thing is to create the effect of the brand's presence in the information space of the Internet and increase its recognition. To accomplish this task, you should publish materials about a particular brand, product, company in the media, in social network groups, in blogs that are popular and reputable.
Consider a couple of methods aimed at improving the effectiveness of online PR:
- Maintaining a news column on your website with their repost on the social network. News update is a very important part in promotion. You can quote articles on social networks, stimulate their reposts. Each interesting news will receive a lot of reposts, which are very useful for popularizing the brand.
- Organization of joint projects with major brands. Joint events help a lot to “promote” a young brand. Neighborhood with already well-known companies will affect the recognition of a newcomer in the industry.
What else to consider in choosing an Internet marketing tool so as not to waste money
To minimize costs, you need to calculate the cost of a lead and a client, take into account the conversion rate of the resource, after which you will receive the final cost of promotion. Knowing the approximate amount of a marketing campaign, you can adjust it by replacing one Internet marketing tool with another. Let's take a closer look at how this can be done.
- Expenses. After calculating the cost of a lead and the conversion of the site, you should choose those Internet marketing tools that fit into your budget.
- Duration. For those who expect results within one month, it makes no sense to invest in SEO optimization of the site and engage in content marketing, the effect of which appears in about six months.
- Consistency. To create the effect of presence, increase brand awareness and popularity, all Internet marketing tools must be used systematically and comprehensively.
Using modern Internet marketing tools, the main thing is not to make mistakes!
Typical mistake #1. Lack of purpose
A person who is seriously engaged in business is probably familiar with the term "SMART goal". This term means that your target must have the following parameters:
- Concreteness.
- Measurability.
- Reachability.
- Consistency with other goals (consistency).
- Limited time (time frame).
You can't just say, "I want a million" without having a concrete idea of what you want. Million dollars? Rubles? Red roses? By what date should this sum appear? The answers to these questions will be decisive for the choice of means to achieve the directed efforts. Concreteness and real achievability of the result motivate for success. If the goal is not realized, the psychological attitude to achieve it drops dramatically.
Typical mistake #2. Wrong target
You can use several serious tools of Internet marketing, but achieve nothing. Because there is no thoughtful purpose. How correctly it is formed depends on its implementation.
If micro conversion is an indicator of achieving intermediate goals on the site (transition from the main page to the order page), then macro conversion reflects the effectiveness of using Internet marketing tools and achieving final results (the share of visitors who made an order on the site in relation to the total number).
Simply put, everything that an actually finished order brings you is a macro conversion. An expression of a macro conversion is a call to the call center, if it is about e-commerce, placing an order on the site, if it is an online store.
If a person, having visited the main page, became interested just enough to go to the page with the terms of delivery, with a description of the product, with current promotions, then this micro conversion, that is, an intermediate goal.
But intermediate goals should be formulated specifically. For example, the goal of “get into the top three according to Google” does not have the above properties of the correct and understandable, but the goal of “get 50 leads per day” is quite specific, realistically achievable and has a time frame and a quantitative factor.
Goals containing any restrictions are also incorrect and incorrect. For example, the task “by all means fit into 10 thousand rubles for contextual advertising and writing SEO-optimized articles” cannot be a goal in itself. It's more of a recommendation. But the wording “the goal is to reach 10 thousand subscribers in the next six months” is correct and feasible.
However, by effectively using Internet marketing tools, you can accumulate an impressive subscriber base, and this will only be a micro-conversion. Because the main goal is the transaction of subscribers into buyers. Agree, nobody needs a database for the sake of a database. Subscribers are needed to realize the ultimate goal of visiting the site - making purchases.
Typical mistake #3. Imitation
Many beginners, not having time to develop their own business concept and their own unique style, start by trying to imitate reputable sites that are leaders in their field. They not only copy the design, but also use the same set of Internet marketing tools. But this does not add to the merits of the beginning brand, but rather the opposite.
By copying a competitor in the industry, you can copy not only its advantages, but also its mistakes. Tracking innovations on his site, try to analyze their advantages and disadvantages. Before entering the same on your resource, answer the following questions:
- What do you think was the purpose of the site owners when they made these changes?
- What has changed in the work of the site after the innovations?
- Imagine hypothetically that you have made the same changes to your site. Will the consequences of their introduction be exactly the same as on the source site?
- Would it be nice for the site visitor to see the imitation?
The first question can only be answered tentatively. Most likely, the innovation is aimed at attracting more subscribers and simplifying the work with the site.
And the answer to the second question can be found by examining the statistics of the site. To do this, there are various types of Internet marketing tools for web analysis that allow you to find out the number of views and the length of stay on the site. Based on this information, we can conclude about the effectiveness of the innovation for the site.
Each time you notice an interesting development on someone else's site, form a hypothesis about its purpose, then test the site with one of the available Internet marketing tools, and then proceed to analyze the information received. At the end of the study, you should make a conclusion about whether your site needs the same feature.
You can use A / B testing to determine which design option will be more convenient and enjoyable for visitors. With it, you can make several versions of the site page or its individual parts, sections.
In this matter, the Internet marketing tool Google Analytics is convenient. This service will allow you to test the project by dividing the audience of the site into two parts. One will see the original version, and the other will see the new one. The comparison should be made according to a pre-selected indicator:
- by the number of transactions;
- to achieve the goal;
- by the number of transitions to the page;
- by subscriptions, events, other active actions on the site.
Using the parameters listed above, it is easy to compare and determine which option is ultimately the most acceptable for visitors. The best option and should be implemented for permanent use.
Remember this important tip: one test only needs to study one hypothesis. After all, if you change your resource as a whole, then there is a high probability that its conversion will change in better side. However, you will never understand which innovations have led to such an excellent result, and which, on the contrary, are holding back the site from even greater success.
Typical mistake #4. From extreme to extreme
Many site owners in pursuit of "merits" and "baits" often go too far. Let's analyze the most typical situations:
1. Trying to enter as much as possible more promotions, discounts, special offers may cause the opposite result. For example, on a tip from one of the Internet marketing tools, a person visits the site for the first time, and a huge number of discounts and promotions fall on him. This bounty fair can cause suspicion and distrust of the site.
It is reasonable and useful to organize promotions for the first purchase, but it is still better to supplement the order with a gift, and not with a discount. It is more effective to provide a cumulative discount system that will motivate you to make regular purchases on the site. Giving customers discounts for any reason is a sign of a dying business.
2. Exalting the Role of SEO. It is generally accepted that SEO-optimization of the site is the tool of Internet marketing that is guaranteed to provide sales. After all, if the site is in the TOP, it is assumed that it will be visited more often than others, and, consequently, the number of orders will be large. However, the top lines on the search results page are not everything, in fact, the site owner does not need positions in the TOP, but a large number of orders.
SEO is not to be criticized either. This is what drives traffic to the site. But keep in mind, the result of SEO optimization will play its role only in six months or a year. If you set out to meet a small budget and stop working at a loss a few months after the start, then the idea of writing SEO texts should be postponed in favor of some other Internet marketing tool.
Definitely don't aim for the top spots all year round if you're offering a seasonal product. For example, who needs knitted hats, scarves and mittens in the middle of summer?
You need to use all the tools of Internet marketing wisely and for the benefit of the company. SEO costs are considerable, the result can only be assessed in the distant future, and no one guarantees it. Therefore, before investing in "heavy artillery", think about how important it is for you.
3. Going to extremes. If you have a tight budget, but at the same time set sky-high goals from using a couple of Internet marketing tools, don't expect miracles. They do happen, of course, but very rarely. In fact, any success is the result of a lot of hard work and serious financial investments.
It is impossible to reach the level of an Amazon website with a $200 budget. You will not be able to find an adequate marketer who promises you to reach unrealistic heights with a penny budget. And if you resist, you will definitely find charlatans and scammers.
How to evaluate the effectiveness of an Internet marketing tool
- Conversion rate model. Let's start with the fact that your site must have Yandex.Metrica or Google Analytics installed. They are needed to count the passing traffic. But just counting traffic is not enough, you need to evaluate its effectiveness, and efficiency is a relative concept. We evaluate progress in one direction or another relative to our goal.
The most simple model Conversion scores are expressed in the analysis of search traffic. You will learn that 1% of all search engine traffic is subject to conversion. Try to take some action to improve this indicator. And if the result is positive, then you need to continue in the same spirit.
- ROI model. This model evaluates the conversion by the amount of return on investment (marketing investment). Does the profit generated exceed the costs incurred? And by how much does it exceed? For example, you invested four dollars in advertising, and received $16 as income. Certainly, the effect is obvious. If there is no growth, then you need to review the tools of Internet marketing.
If you get a dollar of profit for a dollar invested in advertising, then you are operating at a loss, because you have other costs. It also happens that on a dollar of advertising you make a profit of 40 cents. As a temporary result, this is acceptable, but you need to strive to increase ROI. This can be done by choosing the right rational use internet marketing tools.
- LTV, customer life cycle. There are businesses that work with the same clients throughout their existence. With such resources, the cost of attracting a client is much higher than the cost of his first order.
Copyright service sites work according to the LTV model. The initial order is carried out in test mode. So the visitor is trying to evaluate the quality of work, ordering for the first time. But if he likes the result, then in the future he will return and, perhaps, more than once. The profit brought by this client in the long run will be very high.
To find out exactly what Internet marketing tools you need to use to more successfully promote your site, use a professional audit from the Internet marketing agency Sales Generator. Our audit will help you raise your position in search engines, increase the number of new customers, reduce the cost of attracted customers.
Search
We may notify you of new articles,