Analysis of the article ‘Pros and Cons of the Most Popular Online Marketing methods’ written by Taylor Watkins on June 12, 2020, and published by Bizinsights.
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Introduction
The article ‘Pros and Cons of the Most Popular Online Marketing methods’ written by Taylor Watkins on June 12, 2020, and published by Bizinsights addresses some of the online marketing methods adopted by various companies and some of the benefits and challenges they have gone through as a result of using those marketing platforms (Watkins, 2020). Watkins notes that people have shifted to online purchases, especially after the pandemic hit the county. According to the author, i.8 billion individuals purchased their commodities through online platforms. If companies adopt online marketing as a strategy, they will get more customers, thus making more sales. However, he warns that too much use of online platforms could result in the loss of authenticity of an organization. This paper will look into the advantages and disadvantages of online marketing methods used by popular companies.
According to Watkins, most companies use the pay-per-click advertisement method to advertise their commodities or services to their customers. In this case, firms pay search engines to advertise their commodities (Watkins, 2020). These search engines then expose these goods to users of the engine as advertisements linked to the content the user is consuming. Companies usually pay for every advertisement made. The advantage of this advertisement method is that the message gets to various users on the online platform. More often than not, the search engine does not give its users an option of counseling such advertisements. For this reason, they are forced to view it hence getting to know a firms’ product and consequently buying if interested. The main disadvantage that stands out with this method is that the commodity advertisement does not reach the group of people who do not use certain search engines or are not on any online platform. Hence, the firms lose customers who benefit from their products but don’t know where or how to access them.
When a company uses online marketing methods, it can reach a wide range of people. In the modern world, nearly everybody, including children, has electronic gadgets. They browse through the internet every day. Chances are they will land into a product being advertised by a firm that has opted to use an online method (Hanlon, 2019). If the product interests them, they can buy it through the links or channels provided by the company. As a result, a company is able to make more sales and realize a substantial profit. The firm is able to create a huge base of its loyal customers through the online marketing method. If online consumers find the product interesting and of good quality, they will likely stick to the firm for more (Gielens, 2019). In addition, they will also advertise the product to their friends and family, who will, in turn, look for the firm and make their purchases. This influence builds on their customer base and enables them to stay relevant and experience overall growth in the company.
Digital marketing methods cut the costs of advertisements for firms. A firm can adopt various online marketing methods, and their price range is also different depending on its effectiveness and periods it will be aired (Liu et al., 2019). This wide range of choices allows firms to decide on the appropriate platform to use following their budget. Firms can also weigh the costs of different online advertisement methods and choose the one they feel is affordable and would attract the most customers’ attention in the market. Unlike the traditional advertisement methods, online advertisement methods allow firms to reach more people at a low cost and be effective at the same time.
The online marketing method allows companies to track their result easily. It means that these platforms put firms in a position where they can track their customer’s preferences and the method that reaches out to a wide range of customers. Tracking these results is essential for firms because it lets them know what sales the most in the market. They can then use these results to decide on the goods to put out in the market and those to minimize (Liu et al., 2019). Furthermore, online marketing methods allow firms to respond to their customers directly. Sections of rating and reviews are available in online commodity or service marketing. Customers can leave their reviews concerning the product they purchased. The information provided by the customer enables companies to enhance the production of certain commodities, change places where most complaints lie, and serve their customers accordingly.
Despite benefiting companies and enhancing their development, digital marketing methods also have their disadvantages. Companies constantly face privacy and security issues. Marketing regulations require companies to follow legal processes before collecting or using their customers’ data to draw conclusions about their performance. These regulations sometimes deny access or use of information that companies consider vital in their operations (Chaffey & Ellis-Chadwick, 2019). Furthermore, firms that do not comply with the regulations accordingly are subjected to fines and penalties. Payments of these fines set a firm back as it is an added cost. In addition, the regulatory board can decide to suspend a firm from operating until further notice. It means that a firm will not continue to serve its valued customers. As a result, they incur losses, their commodities go to waste, and worst of all, they lose the trust of their loyal customers.
The use of digital advertisement methods requires firms to train their employees on how to use the respective platforms. For the effectiveness of an online marketing method, firms need to subject their employees to training on posting commodities on various platforms or search engines. It also has to teach them how to handle and respond to their customers online (Shaw et al., 2018). It should be noted that new gadgets will be introduced to the firms to facilitate such advertisement. The employees have to familiarize themselves with such equipment or gadgets for the methods to be effective. This whole training process will mean that affirm incurs huge costs in purchasing the gadgets and training its employees as well. It is quite a disadvantage because the firm has to use its funds without any subsidization to facilitate this learning and buy all the necessary materials. I agree with this approach because firms will have a reduced profit due to this extra cost incurred, and it is not a guarantee that the advertising method will work or draw the attention of customers in the market.
Firms also face tough competition in the market. Online advertising methods expose firms to the global market where all kinds of goods are. In the global market, firms are like to bump into firms that sell the same commodity as they do. For this reason, competition is created. Therefore, firms are forced to devise mechanisms that will single them out from their competitors and garner more customers. Some firms risk lowering the prices of their commodities or attaching unrealistic discounts on them to get customers (Hanlon, 2019). They might end up incurring losses and getting kicked out of the market. Small firms find it challenging to stay relevant in the digital world since customers have not yet trusted them or their commodities. They are likely to be kicked out of the market faster compared to firms that have been around for a long time.
Conclusion
Digital marketing campaigns have become a required advertisement method for most companies. They have proved beneficial to various firms that have adopted them. Firms have experienced tremendous profits, which have consequently contributed to their growth in the market. Firms need to establish strong and well-laid out advertising strategies to avoid failure. They should take their time and channel all the resources needed for the success of the online advertising platform to it to yield positive results.
References
Chaffey, D., & Ellis-Chadwick, F. (2019). Digital marketing. Pearson UK.
Gielens, K., & Steenkamp, J. B. E. (2019). Branding in the era of digital (dis) intermediation. International Journal of Research in Marketing, 36(3), 367-384.
Hanlon, A. (2019). Digital marketing: strategic planning & integration. Sage.
Liu, Y., Jiang, C., & Zhao, H. (2019). Assessing product competitive advantages from the perspective of customers by mining user-generated content on social media. Decision Support Systems, 123, 113079
Shaw, S. E., Wherton, J., Vijayaraghavan, S., Morris, J., Bhattacharya, S., Hanson, P., … & Greenhalgh, T. (2018). Advantages and limitations of virtual online consultations in an NHS acute trust: the VOCAL mixed-methods study. Health services and delivery research, 6(21).
Watkins, T. (2020). Pros and Cons of the Most Popular Online Marketing Methods. Delaware Business Times. Retrieved November 22, 2021, from https://delawarebusinesstimes.com/sponsored-content/bizinsights/bi-hac-online-marketing/.
