The Impact of Digital Marketing on the Nation Brand Value - Paper Example

Introduction

Corporate marketing techniques and concepts can be applied to countries to enhance their ratings or reputations in international relations. This concept is referred to as nation branding which aims at measuring, building and managing the reputation of countries to increase their value to the outside world (Reibstein, 2017). Globalization has since taken over international relations, and states seek to take part in multilateral projects, create new relationships and increase their brand values. The nations that can attract tourists, investors, skilled immigrants and also add value to their exports score highly in the value of branding (Clerici, 2018). When it comes to nations' branding, a country's national image on its internal brands and economy are of paramount importance. This is so because the world is an enormous marketplace driven by stiff competition, and what is more is that the winner takes it all in terms of the related benefits. Each country strives to market itself with emphasis on their distinctive characteristics while also enhancing its branding image through whatever they export to other destinations (O'Shaughnessy & O'Shaughnessy, 2000). Effective branding has found foot on what a nation has to offer and why it should be considered by those willing to spend money through tourism or investments. Various countries including but not limited to the United States, United Kingdom, France, Canada, and Germany are currently taking part in nation branding. Some African countries have also shown tremendous economic growth increasing their brand value (Brand Finance, 2018). These countries include South Africa, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Egypt, Tanzania, Ethiopia as well as Ghana. The nations brand value can be measured through an index developed by a British independent policy advisor Simon Anholt. Several variables are used to develop this rating including investment, governance, culture, tourism, exports and immigration. While various techniques are available to promote nations value, social media has emerged as one of the strongest means of doing this especially through digital marketing whose impacts are of enormous effects (Ahmed et al., 2015). This paper explores digital marketing and its impacts on the nations' brand value.

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Social media is one of the greatest manifestations of the new century. According to World Internet Stats (2019), internet usage statistics indicate that about 4.3 billion people are connected to the internet. This number varies according to regions whereby Asia has a connection percentage of 50.4, followed by Europe at 16.5, then Africa at 10.9. The rest of the world shares the remaining percentage. According to these statistics, a huge number spend time online and is highly likely to be reached online through social networks (Brand Finance, 2018). A successful nation branding initiative through digital marketing is dependent on how well the target audience receives, absorbs, comprehends, adopts and then redistribute information of value. Unlike a few years ago when people would congregate and share information in actual social setups, today's case has seen people hanging out and sharing in online communities such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and Whatsapp, to mention a few (Kaneva, 2011). In this regard, the impact of digital marketing can be massively felt in online channels due to swiftness, accessibility and high rates of sharing information through a multitude of people connected to the internet on their digital devices. Of all the social sites, Facebook is the most popular site; therefore, any digital marketing initiative must consider using it in nation branding initiative.

Top Ten Global Nation Brands

The United States stands out as the number one nation brand currently, followed by China, Germany, the UK, Japan, France, Canada, Italy, India, and lastly closing the top ten is South Africa. Numerous countries, destinations, organizations as well as government institutions are increasingly mastering the art of digital marketing and tools available in the digital platforms. The US tops the list as the most valuable branding in the world right now, and social media is central to the efforts (Brand Finance, 2018). Facebook particularly was widely used during Obama's presidential campaigns to target social media users especially the millennials (Fan, 2010). During the campaigns, the social media personnel inquired from the citizens the aspects that they considered important them. The responses were structured into projects that which showcased America in a positive light that was appealing to the voters and the outside world. Some of the projects are still in operation and helping the nation in various ways.

Apart from experiences as investors, consumers, and tourists, people's perceptions of a nation are based on global new trends and social media. Moreover, people get information through what is communicated to them by their friends, family, colleagues and acquaintances. The generalizations that people make or develop about nations are highly dependent on these experiences. Therefore, managing digital content associated with a nation through official channels is of great importance because if not managed well, the impacts can be damaging, misleading and embarrassing (Hakala, Lemmetyinen & Kantola, 2013).

Tools for Nation-Branding Digital Marketing

There are many tools of corporate marketing and digital marketing tools add to the list. Facebook ads, branding campaigns, awareness initiatives, nation image projections, YouTube videos, tourist sites, bloggers and vloggers stories about places, tweets, Instagram posts, tweet, national campaigns and many others are some of the techniques that are used to promote nation branding. While social media sites are considered as the appropriate tools for promoting nations value, other tools exist for specific purposes like social media analysis (Tiago & Verissimo, 2014). Brand24 is a tool used to monitor what people say about a nation and allows the persons responsible for reacting on time. The tool also analyzes the number of times a brand is mentioned, key influencers and the trending hashtags. Global companies like coca cola, Apple, Gucci and many others utilize tools like Captain Growth, Iconosquare and Ahrefs to conduct digital marketing analytics. Other social media managing tools include OneUp, Quu and Planable which can all be used to reshuffle social media posts, plan and schedule content meant for nation branding ("12 Marketing Tools to Try in 2019", 2019).

Branding Techniques and Their Impacts

Creation of social media content and aligning it according to the ideals and identities of the nation being branded is one of the tasks associated with digital marketing that targets particular audiences. The content is created in a manner that identifies with the nation of focus. For instance, social media campaigns aiming to market America can benefit from phrases like "Making America great again", or "Yes we can" - slogans that were used for campaigns by President Donald Trump and former president Barrack Obama respectively. These slogans are well-known worldwide for those who closely follow American politics. The power of such statements is known to have had tremendous effects in influencing people as many would want to be part of the "great" America and or live in the belief that they can achieve anything. Fundamentally, the American dream is inspired by statements like these. Kenya, for instance, has been known with statements like "Hakuna Matata" meaning "no trouble", which presents a peaceful nation (Morgan, Pritchard & Pride, 2011). Such statements have a big impact in attracting people in various capacities including tourists and investors.

The image of a country that is visible to people out there is very crucial in creating and maintaining perceptions that people have over a nation (Hakala, Lemmetyinen & Kantola, 2013). Most countries seek to promote facets that enhance international competitiveness. According to Fan (2010), a nation already enjoys a particular image even without branding, and the only thing that needs to be done is to present the image in such a way that it is attractive to a specific target audience. Both Stock (2009) band Anholt (2007) asserts that when a nation's image is assessed for a potential of marketing, then it is termed as managing. Finland has successfully used this tactic before to project its competitiveness to the world. Also, South Korea has in the recent past changed its image by taking advantage of the Samsung brand that is headquartered in the country. The same can be said by brands such as Hyundai and LG which have aided South Korea as a nation to increase its brand value (Hakala, Lemmetyinen & Kantola, 2013).

Raising awareness is considered one of the first steps in nation branding. Awareness through digital platforms reaches billions of people within a short time. People ought to be aware of the existence of a nation before anything else. Percy (2008) says that an effective awareness drives the target audience to develop positive attitudes towards the country being branded before they consider visiting. Studies indicate that the thoughts of consumers about nations exist in macro and micro levels referring to the nations' association and beliefs, and the countries' beliefs in their products (Kim, 2017). When the link between micro and macro aspects is strong, then the country is strong in terms of awareness, and this is capable of influencing others to adopt, buy products or get associated with the particular countries.

Advertising and virtual tours are some of the most useful aspects of digital marketing. Going through digital platforms, ads exist everywhere, and people interact with them. The chances are high that ads run in almost every site visited, including YouTube. Nations have invested a lot in advertising themselves as exciting destinations that should be visited (Morgan, Pritchard & Pride, 2011). Tourist companies around the world act as the face of the nations in which they are located. Most national governments have ministries of tourism and international relations which ensure that the countries' cultures and heritage are well-marketed out there to potential people who would want to visit (Avraham, 2018). Good coordination, combined efforts among governmental organizations and the private sectors involved in nation branding, make the task so achievable (Dinnie et al., 2010). Some nations take pride in their wildlife, others in sandy beaches, historic sites, rich cultures, sports and sports among others (Avraham, 2018). Virtual tours are structured to invoke visual curiosity in every click. Tours and travel websites are well populated with enticing pictures able to attract millions of people. Official pages of US embassy and those of other embassies like Canada have advertised in the local dailies and sites to attract skilled migrants through opportunities like Green card and the promise of jobs (Kotler & Gertner, 2002).

A nation's brand value also increases depending on the world-class brands that originate or are associated with such countries. This translates to a stable economy that is encouraging to the investors. For instance, the US is the world's strongest brand due to various global companies that are located in the US such as Apple and Gucci. China's economy has also grown strong due to strong brands like Alibaba and Huawei which have enjoyed great success in China and worldwide (Brand Finance, 2018). For its case, China has depended on the pro-business outlook, global leadership, free trade, international ties and much more. The digital marketing strategies for both Huawei and Al...