[Publication] ‘How can industry develop an on-line presence that incorporates marketing strategy, engagement with the consumer, and feedback to enhance its product/service line?’ #Londonbusinessschool

Image

 

Op deze persoonlijke blog zal ik diverse publicaties delen die onderdeel waren van mijn Master of Arts en Master of Science dual-opleiding aan de London School of Business and Finance op gebied van Digital Marketing Experience, Mixed Reality and Mobile Consumer Experience, Consumer Behaviour en Customer Relationship Management. De artikelen zijn onderdeel van de diverse discussions als ook assignments die onderdeel waren van de studies.

How can industry develop an on-line presence that incorporates marketing strategy, engagement with the consumer, and feedback to enhance its product/service line?

Concerning the fact that consumer nowadays show ways of escapism and desicion making is based upon escapism companies must find ways to really engage customers. Expets and industry professionals must also understand the behaviour of consumer hyper efficiency. It reflects the new way of doing business that is here to stay. The expansion of the use of the internet has changed the business models. So the oline presence the incorporates marketing strategy should enhance innovative ways of connecting relevant consumer groups. Taking a look at the  importance of understanding the modern consumer behavior in today’s business of connectivity everywhere, it is a matter of “when”, not “why” when it comes to establishing an professional online presence. 1

The marketing strategy must also online understand the efficiencies that are valued by consumer impact their purchasing decisions. 2

 

 

Website

First the corporate website is of main importance. All businesses should have a website. It can be extremely basic, but it should contain the fundamental information customers targetting both existing and potential customers. Create a website that meet the strategic goals and clear objectives can help you decide how to design that website. The corporate website should show the understanding how to close the gap between consumer desires and industry deliverables.

Survey your existing customers to be sure whate the website should include. It’s the best way to get the insight you need for a better online presence. At least provide a short synopsis of the items and include a link to other pages on your site and also include a contact pagem privacy policy and about page. Constumer groups, like millennials, rely mostly on blogs before they make a purchase, compared to fewer than 3% for TV news 4. So the website should include blog items like product discussions, product overviews and ofcourse frequently asked questions page. The FAQ is an immediate customer service shortcut that might  save you, and your customers, time on traditional communication like phone. Websites should include customer reviews because many customers read online reviews before making a purchase decision. User reviews simply increase conversions and are significantly more trusted than descriptions that come from manufacturers. 5

 

Social media and customer experience

The new consumer behaviour is an issue. People sometimes want to engage with brands and corporations. Social media may help increase the trust before making a purchase decision. Social media is an important part of your online presence. Social media may improve the chances of generating additional revenue and building customer loyalty through connectivity. It allows customers, potential customers, fans and others to engage easily via a channel that plays an important role in their everyday lives. Social media is about viral marketing. The more positive social activity that goes on, the higher the chance is that their friends will be exposed to your brand and intrigued by what you have to offer. People seeing that engagement may be prompted to check you out for their own needs.Social media may be part of the effort to close the gap between consumer desires and industry deliverables. Companies can provide great customer service and improve customer experience through social media.

SEO (Search Engine Optimalisation)

Once there is a online presence, like having a website, it’s vital that it can be found by search engines like Google. 89 percent of the users use search engines to research a product, service or business before making a decision.3 You need to make sure to look at search engine optimisation for your website. The purpose of search engine optimisation is to make it easy for search engines to find the website. Other than this organic way of getting found, you can use the alternative and us the ‘paid’ results, like Adwords search enging advertisements

Mobile presence and mobile marketing

When consumers are looking for information on the go it makes sense that they’d be looking at their mobile devices. It’s important for businesses to appear on mobile search engines and maps. Smartphones and ofcourse tablets provide a new opportunity to   businesses to connect with (potential) customers looking for products and businesses.6

 

How can industry identify the societal issues that are valued by millennials, support such needs, and create awareness of such endeavours?

Millennials are the largest generation at over 85-90 million people in the US, and are the most educated generation in history. Most young professionals, like millennials,  choose organizations that share their personal values.  Beacuse the millennials continue to express a positive view of business’ role in the want businesses to focus more on people (like employees, customers, and society), products, and purpose and less focus on profits.7

Social media and the act of sharing content and other information are in the millennials’ DNA. So the industry must embrace the use of social media and perhaps becoming a real social business.8 Social businesses implement social technologies and strategies that span across their entire enterprise, creating collaborative ecosystems of employees, customers, partners, suppliers, communities and stakeholders in a safe and consistent way. A social business is the ability for an organisation to use its communities to improve its performance and support the needs that are valued by the critical millennials. Millennials use social media to address or engage with companies around social and environmental issues.They also use social media to learn more about specific companies and issues. 9

 

 

 


References:

  • 1 LO1 – Tuition Videos, Consumer Behaviour and Research (UTIU Marketing 25th April 2016)
  • 2 Kauffman FoundersSchool (Links to an external site.), Entrepreneurial Marketing: Modern Marketing Strategy, YouTube video, 2013. Available online at: < https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yeIM5IxvY-o>. Accessed on May 5, 2016.
  • 3 Lucy Godwin (Links to an external site.), CREATING A STRONG ONLINE PRESENCE FOR MARKETING SUCCESS, Ducttapemarketing.com, 2014. Availabe online at: <http://www.ducttapemarketing.com/blog/online-presence/>.  Accessed on May 6, 2016.
  • 4 Dan Schawbel, 10 New Findings About The Millennial Consumer. Forbes, 2015. Available online at:<http://www.forbes.com/sites/danschawbel/2015/01/20/10-new-findings-about-the-millennial-consumer/#6f4bd24028a8> (Links to an external site.). Accessed on May 7, 2016.
  • 5 Graham Charlton, Ecommerce consumer reviews: why you need them and how to use them. Econsultancy.com, 2015. Available online at:< <https://econsultancy.com/blog/9366-ecommerce-consumer-reviews-why-you-need-them-and-how-to-use-them/> Accessed on May 7, 2016.
  • 6 Bill Brunelle, Why a Mobile Presence Is So Important to Small Businesses & How to Launch Yours, Smallbizdaily.com, 2015. Availabe online at: < http://www.smallbizdaily.com/mobile-presence-important-small-businesses-launch/> Accessed on May 7, 2016.
  • 7 Deloitte, The Deloitte Millennial Survey 2016. Deloitte.com, 2016. Available online at: < http://www2.deloitte.com/global/en/pages/about-deloitte/articles/millennialsurvey.html> Accessed on May 6, 2016.
  • 8  Research & Insights, PERCEPTIONS, MILLENNIALS AND CSR: HOW TO ENGAGE THE NEW LEADERS OF TOMORROW. Conecomm.com, 2015.Available online at: < http://www.conecomm.com/csr-and-millennials>. Accessed on May 7, 2016.
  • 9 Joshua Paul, What is Social Business? A Clear Definition. Socious.com,2012. Available online at: <http://blog.socious.com/bid/54542/What-is-Social-Business-A-Clear-Definition>. Accessed on May 7, 2016.
  • 10 IBM Corporation, Social Business Unboxed (Ep 14 Trailer): The IBM Millennial Study – Myths and Truths. YouTube video, 2015. Available online at: < https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PrPyeRjKuAc>.  Accessed on May 7, 2016.
Tags:

About Patrick Petersen

Patrick Petersen is consultant, docent-trainer, schrijver-auteur op gebied van Online Marketing, internettechnieken en interaction design