Marketing on the Web - Paper Example

Introduction

Marketing on the web involves online selling and promotion of products by a company using the principles of marketing strategies and the four Ps of marketing. Online marketing enables the companies to adopt both product based and customer based marketing strategy. To establish a consistent branding message, the majority of the companies have adopted a storytelling method of connecting with their clients across all channels. The four Ps of marketing include products, prices, promotion and place (Schneider). The product's brand implies the clients' perception of the product and forms an important factor for competitive advantage alongside the characteristics of the product. The products represent the physical items or services being offered by the company. The price represents the amount paid by the client. Promotion implies informing the potential clients about the product and the term place mean distribution or ensuring that the product is available to clients from their preferred location.

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Communicating with different market segments requires identification and selection of the best communication media. The process of selecting the appropriate media is critical since the firms that adopt the online marketing does not provide for their physical offices or presence. The main issues, therefore, turn to be trust, complexities and media choice. The web is designed to act as an intermediate mode between mass media and personal contact. Trust was identified to be low on mass media, higher on the web and highest on personal contact. The level of complexity determines the appropriate media used to promote products. Market segmentation implies dividing the potential clients into groups defined in terms of age, gender geographic location and marital status. Each group or segment is hence subjected to a specific appropriate promotion method. Market segmentation on the web offers the firms an online opportunity to present different stores environments. Clients are also offered a variety of choices on the web through the provision of available links directly linked to the products offered. Segmentation using customer behaviors include responding to clients needs. site usage behavioral patterns identified under usage-based market segmentation has identified a set of categories that marketers use such as browsers, buyers, and shoppers.

Advertising on the web is a form of communication between a firm and the current clients, potential clients and the former clients that a firm wishes to retain. During the advertisement process, the company ought to disseminate different messages to different categories of clients and the message should portray an element of a common theme or story. Advertising on the web incorporates the five-stage customer loyalty. the advertising message should inform during the awareness stage. The exploration stage explains how the products work. The familiarity stage is persuasive to convince clients to make a purchase. Advertisement in the commitment stage includes sending reminder messages to clients.

Email marketing has also been identified as a great communication tool between the company and its clients. Though email marketing has been criticized in some cases, some companies send emails to current and potential clients informing them about new products or sales on existing products. The technology enabled customer relationship management employs measures that allow companies to obtain information about the clients' preferences depending on the nature of the web. Companies should create and maintain a brand name that presents a statement of quality and value of the products that makes it easy to recognize the products on the web. The company should also ensure a successful search engine positioning and domain selection in order to ensure that clients easily find the company website.

Works Cited

Schneider, Gary P. Electronic Commerce. 11th ed., Cengage Learning, 2018, pp. 174-214, Accessed 1 June 2018