Marketing and communication form the foundation of every businesses development, growth and success, making them a prime topic of discussion within business operations and management. It is essential for every business whether big or small to manage its marketing and communication strategies which will ensure business growth and development. Unlike the past, marketing and communication is not limited to traditional marketing medium such as newspapers, radio and television. Today marketing primarily depends on internet and digital media to reach out to potential clients. The same applies with communication where telephonic marketing is today considered as obsolete and has virtually been replaced by communication medium such as chatting, social media, video and graphical communication supported by smart technologies. This means every business must adopt modern communication medium to retain their competitive edge in the market and more importantly reach out to the largest number of potential customers.
Digital communication- double sided sward
Digital media and smart technology has helped improve communication and marketing strategy during the past two decades but at the same time, it’s important to remember these communication medium have also been identified to empower consumers. This means a brand may use digital communication and marketing services to boost their exposure, but the same platforms also empower the consumers who share their direct feedback regarding the brand, products and service delivery. This has resulted in major brands hiring dedicated public relations officers to monitor and manage the brands reviews as well as keep in direct contact with consumers, which helps reduce and prevent the risk of negative product, service or brand reviews.
Benefits of digital marketing and communication medium
Low Cost
The first and most important benefit linked to digital marketing and communication medium is the low cost of advertisement and communication. Digital communication has reduced marketing costs to just 20% of the past costs. Most online marketing medium and platforms are free of cost and only require free registration. One of the only cost linked digital media marketing is the manpower and equipment required to perform the marketing campaigns. This also applies with communication where only internet and smart device are required to make international calls and other communication. Applications like Skype, hangout and wattsapp as well as various communication and social media websites provide free communication as long as you have a fairly fast internet connection.
High exposure and instant tracking
Digital communication also delivers high campaign exposure and instant tracking. This is important as it allows marketers to publish their campaigns and track their performance in real time. This is critical as it allows for modifications and changes to be made to the campaigns instantly which help increase customer interactions and turnover. The majority of people today own a smartphone and have a live internet connection thus allowing them to access the marketing and communication campaigns which greatly increases sale conversions.
Customer targeting
Another major plus point linked to modern digital communication and marketing medium is the ability for a marketing campaign to target specific customer groups. This is achievable due to users mainly needing to register and fill their details on the forms, allowing marketing campaigners to target specific consumer groups who are likely to show more interest in the product or service. This strategy is mainly used on social media marketing campaigns where personal details are published thus allowing for focused consumer targeting. Consumer targeting is essential towards increasing the campaigns sales conversions as it utilizes aspects such as gender, age, religion and geographic location to filter users, based on which custom marketing and communication campaigns can be designed. This helps increase viewer interest thus automatically increasing the conversion rates.
Global reach
Digital communication used in marketing and communication has also helps businesses reach out to the international market and considers with minimal efforts. The internet has opened up international communication thus allowing businesses to use various marketing medium to advertise their products and services to international markets. International marketing costs have also reduced and companies are capable of making direct contact with clients who reduced the costs due to eliminating middle men and brokers who contribute towards inflating product and service costs.
Drawbacks of digital marketing and communication
Digital communication delivers major benefits but also increases the risks a business encounters while performing its operations both from consumers and competitors.
Negative marketing
Digital communication and marketing mean a business is publishing its information, products and services online for every person to see. In most situations the public has an opportunity to publish their experience and other aspects of the linked to the products and services being advertised. Competitors also have an opportunity to publish negative information which is likely to damage the brands reputation.
Publicly published Consumer review
Most online marketing and communication campaign medium and platform require for information to be published publically and customer feedback forms provided under each section. Unsatisfied scooters will have the opportunity to publish their views regarding a brand which will have a direct effect on the brands reputation and customer confidence.
Pressure to maintain industry standards
Digital marketing and communication also places a brand under pressure to meet industry standards and match competitor brands. This will require most brands to develop comparison charts outlining their products specifications which other products as well as explain their products benefits. This pressure results in every brands opt for digital marketing and communication medium needing to first match competitor’s product and service specifications before challenging them on digital marketing platforms.
Requirement for specialized HR personnel
As mentioned earlier, digital communication and marketing campaigns expose a brand to public and competitor criticism thus a public relations officer must be assigned the task of managing the communication revised from marketing campaigns. The individual would be in charge of receiving feedback and queries and would be responsible for checking review sites and interacting with unsatisfied customers to help reduce the effects it would have on other consumers’ confidence. Failing to monitor digital communication medium and platforms can result in negative news regarding a brand, its product or service going viral on the internet which is likely to have a present negative effect on the brands reputations and future growth.
From the above information, it is clear that communication and marketing play a pivotal role towards the brands development. To maximize communication and marketing exposure it is essential for businesses to adopt digital communication medium which will help reduce marketing and communication costs as well as brand exposure. Despite the importance linked to digital communication and marketing towards brands success, it’s essential to keep in mind the modern marketing and communication medium also increase the risk to a brand. This makes it imperative for suitable marketing and communication mitigation measures to be taken to help protect a brands market reputation and retain consumer confidence.
Guest article written by: My name is Thomas Smith. I have worked as a content writer for various publishing houses through my career. I have 12 years of overall writing experience out of which the past 3 years have been as a writer for Assignment Writing Help. I have also published various articles and blogs on education and career building.
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