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INTRODUCTION

Advertising in business is a form of marketing communication used to encourage, persuade, or


manipulate an audience to take or continue to take some action. Most commonly, the desired
result is to drive consumer behavior with respect to a commercial offering. Advertising is
defined by Richard F. Taflinger as “Advertising is the non-personal communication of
information usually paid for and usually persuasive in nature about products, services or ideas by
identified sponsors through the various media."

Advertising is normally done by a third party known as an advertising agency. An advertising


agency is a service-based business dedicated to creating, planning, and handling advertising for
its clients. An ad agency is independent from the client and provides an outside point of view to
the effort of selling the client's products or services. An agency can also handle overall marketing
and branding strategies and sales promotions for its clients. Types of ad agencies are

□ Full service agencies


□ Creative agencies
□ Specialized agencies
□ In-house agencies
□ Digital agencies or new media agencies

This report is completely discussing about digital or new media agencies. There was a time when
Television was the most popular medium for Marketer to promote, spread awareness and
generate leads for their products but now the trend has changed and Digital media has taken its
place. Main reason for this change was

□ Traditional methods are expensive. Compared to digital marketing channels, you could
end up spending thousands of dollars more.
□ Traditional marketing channels fail to provide instant feedback and reports about who
saw or heard an ad, and took action. This data is collected long after the initial ad
impression is made (and still then, the statistics are far from exact numbers).

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Digital marketing, on the other hand, refers to marketing methods that allow organizations to see
how a campaign is performing in real-time, such as what is being viewed, how often, how long,
as well as other statistics such as sales conversions.

Digital Media Marketing or Digital Marketing


The term 'digital marketing' was first used in the 1990s. In the 2000s and the 2010s, digital
marketing became more sophisticated as an effective way to create a relationship with the
consumer that has depth and relevance.

Digital marketing was defined in Wikipedia as “marketing that makes use of electronic
devices (computers) such as personal computers, smart phones, cell phones, tablets and game
consoles to engage with customers. Digital marketing applies technologies or platforms such as
websites, e-mail, apps (classic and mobile) and social networks”.

Peoples often referred digital marketing as 'online marketing' or 'internet marketing' but it’s
wrong. Digital marketing revolves around the Internet, which explains why people tend to
believe that digital marketing and Internet marketing are synonymous. Nonetheless, they are
different. Internet marketing falls under the category of digital marketing. Internet marketing
encompasses digital marketing services such as search engine optimization, display advertising,
and email marketing.

What is digital marketing?

Digital Marketing is the promoting of brands using all forms of digital advertising. This now
includes Television, Radio, Internet, mobile and any other form of digital media. Digital
Marketing is the practice of promoting products and services using digital distribution
channels to reach consumers in a timely, relevant, personal and cost-effective manner.

Whilst digital marketing does include many of the techniques and practices contained within
the category of Internet Marketing, it extends beyond this by including other channels with
which to reach people that do not require the use of The Internet. As a result of this
non-reliance on the Internet, the field of digital marketing includes a whole host of elements
such as mobile phones, sms /mms, display / banner ads and digital outdoor.

LITERATURE REVIEW
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The purpose of doing research in the area of digital marketing is because it seem huge, intimidating
and foreign. Businesses are looking for clearer picture to start but do not know where and how to start
doing digital marketing. In today’s time, social media channels such as Face book, Twitter, Google
and other social media firms have successfully transformed the attitudes and perceptions of
consumers and in the end helped revolutionized many businesses. This was done through measurable
vast network of customers with trustworthy data with real-time feedback of customer experiences.

It is much more convenient for businesses to conduct surveys online with a purpose to get relevant
information from targeted groups and analyzing the results based on their responses. Potential
customers can look for reviews and recommendations to make informed decisions about buying a
product or using the service. On the other hand, businesses can use the exercise to take action on
relevant feedback from customers in meeting their needs more accurately.

Digital marketing is the use of technologies to help marketing activities in order to improve
customer knowledge by matching their needs (Chaffey, 2013).

Marketing has been around for a long time. Business owners felt the need to spread the word about
their products or services through newspapers and word of mouth. Digital marketing on the other end
is becoming popular because it utilizes mass media devices like television, radio and the Internet. The
most common digital marketing tool used today is Search Engine Optimization (SEO). Its role is to
maximize the way search engines like Google find your website.

Digital marketing concept originated from the Internet and search engines ranking of websites. The
first search engine was started in 1991 with a network protocol called Gopher for query and search.
After the launch of Yahoo in 1994 companies started to maximize their ranking on the website
(Smyth 2007).
When the Internet bubble burst in 2001, market was dominated by Google and Yahoo for search
optimization. Internet search traffic grew in 2006; the rise of search engine optimization grew for
major companies like Google (Smyth 2007). In 2007, the usage of mobile devices increased the

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Internet usage on the move drastically and people all over the world started connecting with each
other more conveniently through social media.

In the developed world, companies have realized the importance of digital marketing. In order for
businesses to be successful they will have to merge online with traditional methods for meeting the
needs of customers more precisely (Parsons, Zeisser, Waitman 1996).

Introduction of new technologies has creating new business opportunities for marketers to manage
their websites and achieve their business objectives (Kiani, 1998).
With the availability of so many choices for customers, it is very difficult for marketers to create
brands and increase traffic for their products and services. Online advertising is a powerful marketing
vehicle for building brands and increasing traffic for companies to achieve success (Song, 2001).
Expectations in terms of producing results and measuring success for advertisement money spent,
digital marketing is more cost-efficient for measuring ROI on advertisement (Pepelnjak, 2008).

Today, monotonous advertising and marketing techniques have given way to digital marketing. In
addition, it is so powerful that it can help revive the economy and can create tremendous
opportunities for governments to function in a more efficient manner (Munshi, 2012). Firms in
Singapore have tested the success of digital marketing tools as being effective and useful for
achieving results. (Teo, 2005). More importantly, growth in digital marketing has been due to the
rapid advances in technologies and changing market dynamics (Mort, Sullivan, Drennan, Judy, 2002).
In order for digital marketing to deliver result for businesses, digital content such as accessibility,
navigation and speed are defined as the key characteristics for marketing (Kanttila, 2004). Other tried
and tested tool for achieving success through digital marketing is the use of word-of-mouth WOM on
social media and for making the site popular (Trusov, 2009). In addition, WOM is linked with
creating new members and increasing traffic on the website which in return increases the visibility in
terms of marketing.

Social media with an extra ordinary example Facebook has opened the door for businesses to
communicate with millions of people about products and services and has opened new marketing

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opportunities in the market. This is possible only if the managers are fully aware of using the
communication strategies to engage the customers and enhancing their experience (Mangold, 2009).
Marketing professional must truly understand online social marketing campaigns and programs and
understand how to do it effectively with performance measurement indicators. As the market
dynamics all over the world are changing in relation to the young audience accessibility to social
media and usage. It is important that strategic integration approaches are adopted in organization’s
marketing communication plan (Rohm & Hanna, 2011).

Blogs as a tool for digital marketing have successfully created an impact for increasing sales revenue,
especially for products where customers can read reviews and write comments about personal
experiences. For businesses, online reviews have worked really well as part of their overall strategic
marketing strategy (Zhang, 2013). Online services tools are more influencing than traditional methods
of communication ( Helm, Möller, Mauroner, Conrad, 2013). As part of study, it is proven that users
experience increase in self-esteem and enjoyment when they adapt to social media which itself is a
motivating sign for businesses and marketing professional (Arnott, 2013). Web experiences affect the
mental process of consumers and enhance their buying decision online (Cetină, Cristiana, Rădulescu,
2012). This study is very valuable for marketing professional as it highlights the importance of digital
marketing.

The Internet is the most powerful tool for businesses (Yannopoulos, 2011). Marketing managers who
fail to utilize the importance of the Internet in their business marketing strategy will be at
disadvantage because the Internet is changing the brand, pricing, distribution and promotion strategy.
Pakistan has seen tremendous growth in media with 20 million people have access to the Internet but
still marketers insist on doing things the traditional way (Mohsin 2010). Management and structure in
Pakistan are still based on ancient paradigm where customers are moving ahead with their demands
and expectations. This gap is widening day by day with limited skills and mindset available in
Pakistan to solve the problem for the demanding customers. Companies in Pakistan including the
MNC’s are going the traditional way and keeping the digital aspect just to show off in tune with the
modern trends.

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AIMS AND OBJECTIVES
PRIMARY OBJECTIVE
□ The main objective of the study is to understand the consumer buying journey
in Digital era.

SECONDARY OBJECTIVES
□ To know affinity in customers for collecting information before purchase.
□ To determine out the media, which is most important in creating stimulus in
Indians?
□ To understand the media consumption of Indians.
□ To figure out how Indian will purchase a product.
□ To understand post purchase behaviour of Indian

Scope of the project:

1 To understand the digital marketing models.

1) To understand marketing effectiveness.

2) To understand how digital marketing campaign's takes place.

3) To understand how digital marketing agencies works and generating revenue.

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RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

The descriptive research design is used for analyzing and studying the process of Business
Development. It is very simple & more specific than explanatory study.

Data Sources:

Primary Data: -

It is a firsthand data which is collected by you only. The different way of collecting primary data
is personal interview, questionnaire, survey etc. As my project is descriptive study there is no
primary data collected as such.

Secondary Data:-

Secondary data is collected from already existing sources in various organization broachers &
records. Secondary data for the study were collected from the magazines, websites & other
previous studies.

To meet the objectives, the study used qualitative research. The descriptive study was done
through review of existing literature that helped in validation and extraction of the important
variables and factors. Data was collected from secondary sources. Secondary sources were
magazines, websites, books, office executives, and company data.

I have also used an online questionnaire to understand the consumer buying behaviour of Indians
in digital era

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DIGITAL MARKETING

Meaning:

Digital Marketing (also Online Marketing, Internet Marketing or Web Marketing) is a collective
name for marketing activity carried out online, as opposed to traditional marketing through
print media, live promotions, tv and radio advertisement. The rapid growth of Digital Marketing
Industry is a direct consequence of the global phenomenon that is the Internet, and
effectiveness of Digital Marketing channels in generating revenue and awareness. Compared to
traditional methods of advertising, Digital Marketing offers rather realistic costs (particularly
important for small- and medium-size businesses and start-ups), accurate targeting and
excellent reporting.

Types of Digital Marketing

In normal outbound marketing, we will use pull and push marketing strategy. Like that in digital
marketing also pull and push are types.

In push digital marketing the marketer sends a message without the recipient actively seeking
the content, such as display advertising on websites and news blogs. Email, text messaging and
web feeds with customized Contents can also be classed as push digital marketing when the
recipient has not actively sought the marketing message. Push marketing allows you to target
your demographics and use your marketing dollars to promote your product to the people you
know are interested in what you have to sell. A push marketing campaign can be more
expensive when it comes to upfront costs, so you really need to be sure that your marketing is
going to reach the right people at the right time. Behaviour targeting is good example for push
digital marketing.

In Pull digital marketing includes blogging, email marketing, social media, info graphics and
other forms of visual messaging and search engine optimization (SEO). A pull marketing
campaign also includes public relations or other ways of reaching out to potential or already
realized customers who you want to keep engaged. While a pull marketing campaign can be

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less expensive to get started, you will incur costs in other ways. For example, if you are running
a social media campaign, you will need to hire someone to manage your social media and
respond to people who leave comments or ask questions. Social media gets people talking and
that has a major impact on sales. Pull marketing also requires a greater investment in time, but
it gives you more ability to entertain your customers and educate them about your company.
But don't get confused by seeing Email in push and pull, there is a difference. If marketer is
sending emails with customized content or banners to specific group of customers is push
digital marketing. If marketer is sending emails with the same content or banner to all
customers is pull digital marketing.

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DIGITAL MARKETING CHANNELS

1. SEO (Search Engine Optimization):

Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of affecting the visibility of a website or a web
page in a search engine's "natural" or un-paid ("organic") search results. SEO may target
different kinds of search, including image search, local search, video search, academic search,
news search and industry-specific vertical search engines. As an Internet marketing strategy,
SEO considers how search engines work, what people search for, the actual search terms or
keywords typed into search engines and which search engines are preferred by their targeted
audience. Optimizing a website may involve editing its content, HTML and associated coding to
both increase its relevance to specific keywords and to remove barriers to the indexing
activities of search engines. Promoting a site to increase the number of back links, or inbound
links, social book marking, directory submission is the SEO tactic.
Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of increasing the quality and quantity of website
traffic by increasing the visibility of a website or a web page to users of a web search engine.
SEO refers to the improvement of unpaid results (known as "natural" or "organic" results)
and excludes direct traffic/visitors and the purchase of paid placement.
SEO may target different kinds of searches, including image search, video
search, academic search, news search, and industry-specific vertical search engines.
Optimizing a website may involve editing its content, adding content, and modifying HTML
and associated coding to both increase its relevance to specific
keywords and remove barriers to the indexing activities of search engines. Promoting a site
to increase the number of backlinks, or inbound links, is another SEO tactic. By May 2015,
mobile search had surpassed desktop search.
As an Internet marketing strategy, SEO considers how search engines work, the
computer-programmed algorithms that dictate search engine behavior, what people search
for, the actual search terms or keywords typed into search engines, and which search
engines are preferred by their targeted audience. SEO is performed because a website will
receive more visitors from a search engine the higher the website ranks in the search
engine results page (SERP). These visitors can then be converted into customers.
SEO differs from local search engine optimization in that the latter is focused on
optimizing a business' online presence so that its web pages will be displayed by
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search engines when a user enters a local search for its products or services. The
former instead is more focused on national or international searches.

1.1 Directory submission

It is a part of SEO (Search Engine Optimization) off page work. Directory Submissions is a
process of submitting your Website URL to theme related Directory like if your site is Health
Related you should Submit your site URL to Health related directories sites for getting Back link
from them.

Types of Directories:–There are basically three types of Directories Submissions

1. Paid or Featured Web Listing: – In this type of Directories Submission the owner of
Directories Site Will Charge for Submission and your link will approved hand to hand or within
24 hours you will get fast back links from this type of submission. Some sites offer this package
for yearly or lifetime.
2. Free or Regular Web Listing: – It is free for Directory Submission no one charge for free or
regular submission but there is no guarantee for getting approved your link by Administrator
and it will take lots of time.

3. Reciprocal Regular Web Listing: – In this a reciprocal link must be submit to your site when
you activate Directory Link then Directory administrator will approve your link.

Types of Directory Submission Ways :

1. Automated Directory Submission: – In this way of submission many software and tools are
used to submit directories it will save time and with the help of automated huge amount of
submission done in short time.

2. Manually Directory Submission: – It is done by manually and it will take lots of time to do
directory submissions.

1.2 Social bookmarking:

Essentially, a social bookmark is a link that people post to social websites for others to see
because they find it interesting, valuable or cool. In a way, social bookmarks are just like the
bookmarks you already have on your private computer. The difference between the two is that
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social bookmarks are saved to the web where they can be easily shared while private
bookmarks are saved to your own browser. The idea behind social bookmarking is simple: post
links on popular social bookmarking websites to increase your own traffic and gain an ongoing
stream of new readers and customers. Content that are openly shared with other Internet
users literally have unlimited growth potential. For example, one link can quickly multiply and
reach thousands of desktops across the world if one user passes it on to others, and those users
in turn do the same, and so on. Online marketing has gravitated away from true-and-tried ad
and affiliate marketing toward the rapidly growing world of global social networking. Social
bookmarking is a great traffic-boosting search engine optimization (SEO) strategy because it’s
easy, effective and trendy.

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2. SEM (Search Engine Marketing):

Search engine marketing (SEM) is a form of Internet marketing that involves the promotion of
websites by increasing their visibility in search engine results pages (SERPs) through
optimization and advertising.] SEM may use search engine optimization (SEO), which adjusts or
rewrites website content to achieve a higher ranking in search engine results pages, or use pay
per click listings.

There are four categories of methods and metrics used to optimize websites through search
engine marketing.

1. Keyword research and analysis involves three steps ensuring the site can be indexed in the
search engines, finding the most relevant and popular keywords for the site and its products,
and using those keywords on the site in a way that will generate and convert traffic. A follow-on
effect of keyword analysis and research is the search perception impact. Search perception
impact describes the identified impact of a brand's search results on consumer perception,
including title and Meta tags, site indexing, and keyword focus. As online searching is often the
first step for potential consumers/customers, the search perception impact shapes the brand
impression for each individual.

2. Website saturation and popularity, or how much presence a website has on search engines,
can be analyzed through the number of pages of the site that are indexed on search engines
(saturation) and how many backlinks the site has (popularity). It requires pages to contain
keywords people are looking for and ensure that they rank high enough in search engine
rankings. Most search engines include some form of link Popularity in their ranking algorithms.
The following are major tools measuring various aspects of saturation and link popularity: Link
Popularity, Top 10 Google Analysis, and Market leap’s Link Popularity and Search Engine
Saturation.

3. Back end tools, including Web analytic tools and HTML validators, provide data on a website
and its visitors and allow the success of a website to be measured. They range from simple
traffic counters to tools that work with log files and to more sophisticated tools that are based

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on page tagging (putting JavaScript or an image on a page to track actions). These tools can
deliver conversion-related information.

There are three major tools used by EBSCO: (a) log file analyzing tool: Web Trends by NetIQ;
(b) tag-based analytic tool: WebSideStory's Hitbox; and (c) transaction-based tool: Tealeaf
RealiTea. Validators check the invisible parts of websites, highlighting potential problems and
many usability issues and ensuring websites meet W3C code standards. Try to use more than
one HTML validator or spider simulator because each one tests, highlights, and reports on
slightly different aspects of your website.

4. Whois tools reveal the owners of various websites, and can provide valuable information
relating to copyright and trademark issues.

2.1 Pay per click (ppc):

Pay per click (PPC), also called cost per click, is an internet advertising model used to direct
traffic to websites, in which advertisers pay the publisher (typically a website owner) when the
ad is clicked. It is defined simply as “the amount spent to get an advertisement clicked.”

With search engines, advertisers typically bid on keyword phrases relevant to their target
market. Content sites commonly charge a fixed price per click rather than use a bidding system.
PPC "display" advertisements, also known as "banner" ads, are shown on web sites or search
engine results with related content that have agreed to show ads.

In contrast to the generalized portal, which seeks to drive a high volume of traffic to one site,
PPC implements the so-called affiliate model, which provides purchase opportunities wherever
people may be surfing. It does this by offering financial incentives (in the form of a percentage
of revenue) to affiliated partner sites. The affiliates provide purchase-point click-through to the
merchant. It is a pay-for-performance model: If an affiliate does not generate sales, it
represents no cost to the merchant. Variations include banner exchange, pay-per-click, and
revenue sharing programs.

Websites that utilize PPC ads will display an advertisement when a keyword query matches an
advertiser's keyword list, or when a content site displays relevant content. Such advertisements

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are called sponsored links or sponsored ads, and appear adjacent to, above, or beneath organic
results on search engine results pages, or anywhere a web developer chooses on a content site.

The PPC advertising model is open to abuse through click fraud, although Google and others
have implemented automated systems to guard against abusive clicks by competitors or
corrupt web developers.

Pay-per-click is calculated by dividing the advertising cost by the number of clicks generated by
an advertisement. The basic formula is:

Pay-per-click = Advertising cost ÷ Ads clicked

There are two primary models for determining pay-per-click: flat-rate and bid-based. In both
cases, the advertiser must consider the potential value of a click from a given source. This value
is based on the type of individual the advertiser is expecting to receive as a visitor to his or her
website, and what the advertiser can gain from that visit, usually revenue, both in the short
term as well as in the long term. As with other forms of advertising targeting is key, and factors
that often play into PPC campaigns include the target's interest (often defined by a search term
they have entered into a search engine, or the content of a page that they are browsing), intent
(e.g., to purchase or not), location (for geo targeting), and the day and time that they are
browsing.

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3. SMM (Social Media Marketing):

Social media marketing is the process of gaining website traffic or attention through social
media sites .Social media marketing programs usually center on efforts to create content that
attracts attention and encourages readers to share it across their social networks. The resulting
electronic word of mouth (eWoM) refers to any statement consumers share via the Internet
(e.g., web sites, social networks, instant messages, news feeds) about an event, product,
service, brand or company. When the underlying message spreads from user to user and
presumably resonates because it appears to come from a trusted, third-party source, as
opposed to the brand or company itself, this form of marketing results in earned media rather
than paid media.

3.1 Engagement

In the context of the social web, engagement means that customers and stakeholders are
participants rather than viewers. Social media in business allows anyone and everyone to
express and share an opinion or an idea somewhere along the business’s path to market. Each
participating customer becomes part of the marketing department, as other customers read
their comments or reviews. The engagement process is then fundamental to successful social
media marketing.

3.2 Facebook Marketing

Facebook is the world's most popular social network for both businesses and individuals. With
over one billion users, your friends and fans are likely already using the platform and you
should be too. In fact, people are 51% more likely to make a purchase after "liking" a brand on
Facebook. Facebook marketing requires a good intellects and unique thinking to make the
campaign effective. In facebook marketing in fact in visual /web marketing your content speaks
a loud that is why make sure your content should be relevant to your audience and business.

Pros:

● Facebook is a low-cost marketing strategy

Marketing activities that would cost thousands of dollars through other channels can be used

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on Facebook for a fraction of the cost. This makes it ideal for small to medium businesses with a
limited marketing budget. Larger businesses can also trial marketing concepts and themes
through Facebook before committing to bigger campaigns.

● Share basic information about your business

Your Facebook page is a place where you can publicise your business name, address and
contact details, and briefly describe your products and services. You can also talk about your
staff, history, or any other aspect of your business that is likely to attract other Facebook users
and create interest in what you do.

● Share pictures and videos from your business

As well as allowing you to post text, Facebook lets you upload pictures and videos from your
business. This can be a powerful way to communicate with customers and potential customers,
allowing them to see your product or service without having to visit your premises.

Facebook also allows users to 'tag' photos to indicate if a Facebook friend appears in them. This
function can be used to promote your business. For example, a tour operator could post a
photo on their page of a group going white-water rafting, then invite each participant to tag
their image in the photo. Each tagged image will show up as an update on the participant's
Facebook account, where their friends will see it too. This increases the level of interest in the
picture, and your business.

If you do decide to use tagging, be careful. It can be a privacy issue, and some Facebook users
are sensitive about being tagged in photographs. For this reason, it is better to ask participants
to do the tagging, rather than doing it on their behalf.

● Talk to existing and potential customers

You can use Facebook to 'talk' to existing and potential customers by posting and receiving
messages. But don't use Facebook to aggressively promote your products or services. You'll
have much greater success if you share information related to your business that is actually
useful or interesting to other users. This increases your credibility and promotes your business
by building long-term relationships with other users.

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For example, a veterinarian could post tips for looking after pets, timing them according to
when particular health issues arise (e.g. ticks in summer).

You should also listen as much as you talk. Paying attention to what the market thinks about
your business, your industry, a product or a marketing campaign can provide valuable insights.

● Provide customer support

Customers can post after-sales questions on your Facebook wall, and your staff can answer
them there. This is often more efficient than staff answering phone calls, and allows other
customers to read common questions and answers without having to approach you
individually.

● Raise brand awareness and promote positive word-of-mouth

You can increase your business's profile on Facebook by encouraging existing and potential
customers to click the 'Like' button on your Facebook page. Once they like your page, your
customers will receive your updates on their wall, where their friends will also see them. This
helps to build awareness of your business, and to associate your friends with your brand.
Customers can also post positive messages about your products or services, shared on their
walls for all their friends to see.

● Facebook can steer traffic to your website

You can include a link to your website on your Facebook page. Indeed, many businesses report
that the greatest benefit of Facebook is the extra traffic that it steers to their site. Visitors who
come to the website can be exposed to stronger marketing messages and, often, the option of
buying goods and services. Customers who come to your website from Facebook are likely to
be more receptive than the average visitor, because they already know something about your
business and were motivated to click the website link.

● Targeted advertising

Facebook can analyse all the information that millions of users enter into their profiles. As the
owner of a business page, you can pay to use this information to deliver targeted advertising to
a specific group. For example, an outdoor store could use Facebook to calculate how many men
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over a certain age in a certain city have listed 'fishing' as an interest. Then they could develop
an ad for new fishing lures, and pay for it to appear only on the pages of those people. (Ads
appear on the right-hand side pages in Facebook.)

● Offer deals through Facebook Places

Facebook Places allows users to 'check in' on mobile devices at a particular place, so that their
friends can see their location on Facebook. Facebook Places also identifies popular places close
to where a user checks in. Businesses can use Facebook Places so that when a user checks in to
a neighbourhood, street or business, they receive a list of nearby businesses offering deals (e.g.
discounts, freebies, loyalty rewards). Businesses that have a Facebook page are automatically
included in the Facebook Places directory.

Cons:

● Loss of Control

Facebook was designed as an interactive online forum that encourages members to share
information via photos, video clips, links and written posts. While account owners ultimately
have control of what remains on their public profile, there is little control over who posts
information or what those posts contain. It is relatively easy for a competitor, angry customer
or disgruntled employee to post accusatory comments that are inflammatory, derogatory or
otherwise slanderous to your business on your Facebook wall. Even well-meaning posters may
use language or photos that are not in line with the image you want to maintain for your
business. Maintaining vigilant control over the content that appears on your Facebook page
takes the time and effort of approved content monitors, which can be costly and time
consuming for small business owners.

● Cost of Maintenance

Content pages must continually be updated with new information that readers will find useful,
beneficial or interesting for Facebook marketing to be effective. This requires development of a
detailed innovative social media marketing strategy a costly investment for small advertising
budgets. Facebook marketing strategies include video product demonstrations, interactive

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forums and online contests, all of which must be created, uploaded, monitored and maintained
by a business owner, staff member or social media advertising agency.

● Competition

Marketing platforms executed via Facebook are open to easy duplication by competitors. Rival
business owners can easily pose as “friends” or “fans” to gain access to your content. Photos,
artwork and other images posted to your site are easily accessed and reused by visitors and
can show up in other places you may not approve of.

● Professionalism

Social media platforms like Facebook were created to facilitate the casual sharing of
information that may not mesh with the professional reputation you want to establish for your
business. For example, Facebook marketing of a nightclub needs to be vastly different from
Facebook marketing of a doctor’s office or law practice. Care must be taken to develop and
maintain a Facebook presence that reflects your corporate philosophy, or it could place your
company at a disadvantage.

● Advertising Costs

While basic Facebook pages are free of charge for personal users, business accounts that
feature advertising opportunities come with a price tag attached. This added promotional
expense can be a disadvantage for small business owners.

● Negative Content

Communicating with your clients or fans over Facebook sounds friendly in theory, but some
people may use your Facebook page as a venue to write offensive comments or post spam. A
user might even post false allegations about your business on your page for anyone to see. As a
result, your business needs to be monitoring its Facebook page frequently, ideally checking
each individual post. Even if you address these issues quickly, you'll never know how many
people saw the negative comments on the page and will associate that memory with your
business.

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● Subscriptions

Just because someone clicks "Like" on your page does not guarantee that she will see your
updates in her Facebook news feed. In an effort to give users more control over their Facebook
experience, the social networking site allows people to unsubscribe from a page's updates.
When a user unsubscribes from your updates, your new posts will be hidden from her news
feed, so she will only see your posts if she actively visits your page. This makes it impossible to
know exactly how many people are actually viewing your posts in their news feeds, so you
cannot accurately measure impressions.

● Time Consumption

Utilizing a Facebook page as a part of your digital strategy is very time-consuming if done right.
In addition to watching out for negative comments, a business should respond promptly to any
questions or positive suggestions posed by customers. Because Facebook is up and running 24
hours a day, posts may accumulate quickly. If a business's Facebook engagement grows, it may
even become necessary to designate an employee strictly to social media duties. This might not
be realistic for some companies, making it unreasonable to properly manage a Facebook page.

Thumb rules:

● Emphasize on visualization. Rich visuals make the best content and the best timelines.
‘Highlight’ posts to give them the full width of the Face book container. To make it more
attractive.
● ‘PIN’ posts, these posts stay at the top of the feed promoting posts.
● Ensure FB apps have relevant info, your audience is looking for.
● Analyse what works, and what doesn’t work: Face book Insight. Edge Rank. Social
bakers.

3.3 Twitter marketing (A game of 140 characters)

Twitter’s flexible, real-time platform allows you to get creative and drive results at the same
time. Whether you’re looking to drive sales, increase brand awareness or launch a product.
Twitter marketing is not much popular than face book but still it has an impact on audience The

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very first thing in twitter marketing you need to understand and learn the twitter terminologies
well.

1. HASHTAG
A hashtag is any word beginning with the # sign. People use hashtags to organize conversations
around a specific topic. Clicking on a hashtag takes you to search results for that term.

2. MENTION

Sometimes you want to bring a Tweet to someone’s attention, but you still want all of your
followers to see the message. So instead of a reply, use a mention. Include the @username of
whomever you want to mention in your Tweet, and it will appear in the Mentions section (in
the Connect tab). All @username mentions are clickable and link back to the mentioned
individual’s profile.

3. REPLY

You can respond to a Tweet by hitting the reply button. When you reply, your response is
public, and will show up in your home timeline and the timeline of the person to whom you are
responding. The reply will also be visible in the home timelines of people who follow both you
and the person to whom you sent the reply. Meaning, someone not in the conversation has to
follow both of the people replying to be able to read both sides of the conversation.

4. RETWEET

You can pass along someone’s Tweet by retweeting it. Just hit the retweet button to send the
original message to all of your followers.

5. LINKS

Twitter’s link- shortening feature allows you to paste a link of any length into the Tweet box
and it will automatically be shortened to 19 characters. This makes it easier to fit long URLs into
the 140 character limit.

6. FAVOURITE

You can favourite the tweet for future reference. This is just like an archiving something that’s
really interesting to you.
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7. DM (direct message)
You can send private messages to someone, just like an email. For DM, sender and receiver
should be following each other.

Pros:

● The targeted market is most probably on Twitter:

Since a very large number of people use social network, there is a high probability that the
interested parties for the product you are advertising is in the virtual world. This is one great
advantage every business should try to make use of because if you are not using social
networks for advertising, then you are missing a large market.

● Great way to research market:

With the growing popularity of the internet, market research has become easy. Instead of
spreading questionnaires or asking people oral questions, the use of social networks made it
easy by making it easier to create free surveys and posting the links so that people can
participate. This is a very easy way of doing market research, keeping in mind the fact that the
setting up the surveys won’t cost money and people can finish those surveys in less time than
the hard copy one.

● Growth of social networking:

There is no doubt that the use of social networks is rapidly growing. What this means to
business is that, there are audience on the virtual world than the business could ever reach
through any other type of media. This is in fact one of the main advantages of using Twitter and
other social networks for businesses.

● Easier way to pass info:

By just posting a 140 character tweets, a business would be passing more information than it
can do anywhere else. This costs less or almost nothing compared to other modes like sending
a mail or making a phone call. I also don’t know if this is true for everyone else, but I may read
lots of stuff online that I may not read if they were on a hard copy or somewhere else.

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Cons:

● Spams and viruses:

When the use of the internet world has increased, the potential risks that one can obtain from
the internet have increased as well. What this means is spammers could spam your site or
worse than that, can find access to your information through social networks. Social networks
could be useful, but if not properly used, then they could lead to more problems.

● Using for business needs:

Twitter and other social networks are designed to be user friendly. On the other hand, there
are also applications and other aids that make it easier to use. One thing with social networks is
that businesses and individuals do not use it the same way. What this means is that businesses
need to learn how to efficiently and effectively use Twitter and other social networks so that
they could make the use out of it.

● Limited space:

I think everyone who used Twitter or paid a little attention to how it’s used knows about the
140 characters thingy. This kind of space or limitation on character is not enough for most
business and this is where learning to effectively and efficiently twitter comes into place. On
the good side, may be this is good, because otherwise people won’t be in the mood to read a
whole blog most of the time.

● Streamline nature of twitter:

It’s a common expectation of anyone who follows others on twitter not to follow everything.
One of the reasons this happens is because the tweets in twitter are designed to stream really
quickly and usually showthe latest tweets. So some of times, some of the tweets one makes or
a business makes may lost in the long shuffle of tweets. Like I said before, this calls for learning
to use twitter effectively.

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Thumb rules:

● Remember, you just have 140 characters to play around. Compose your message within
120 characters or less and leave atleast20 characters so that others can re-tweet (RT).
● Utilization of # hash tags Tweets with hash tags get twice the engagement of those
Create a list of #Hash tags relevant to your brand Build a campaign around those #Hash
tags and invite followers to re-tweet.
● Posts with images have double the engagement of those without even though users
can’t see them until they click on them. It creates an interest among the audience.

3.4Linked In Marketing:

LinkedIn is a business-oriented social networking service. Founded in December 2002 and


launched on May 5, 2003 it is mainly used for professional networking. In 2006, LinkedIn
increased to 20 million members. As of June 2013, LinkedIn reports more than 259 million
acquired users in more than 200 countries and territories.

LinkedIn allows companies to create professional profiles for themselves as well as their
business to network and meet others. Through the use of widgets, members can promote
their various social networking activities, such as Twitter stream or blog entries of their
product pages, onto their LinkedIn profile page. LinkedIn provides its members the
opportunity to generate sales leads and business partners. Members can use “Company
Pages” similar to Facebook pages to create an area that will allow business owners to
promote their products or services and be able to interact with their customers. Due to
spread of spam mail sent to job seeker, leading companies prefer to use LinkedIn for
employee's recruitment instead using different job portals. Additionally, companies have
voiced a preference for the amount of information that can be gleaned from LinkedIn
profile, versus a limited email.

Pros and Cons of social media marketing on LinkedIn

LinkedIn is one of today’s biggest social networks but it’s not exactly what you might call
“strictly social.” LinkedIn provides a great deal of exposure to businesses and can help find new

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partners, business opportunities, or employees. Some might even call LinkedIn a social network
for business as it’s used mainly for “professional networking.” As a social platform LinkedIn
incorporates many social aspects, but its main focus is the business world. As a result, many
small business owners join LinkedIn with the hopes of expanding their ventures and creating
new connections that might prove beneficial. But like most things,

LinkedIn has its pros and cons.

Pros

● The first, most obvious benefit from using LinkedIn comes from the algorithmic realm
of SEO (search engine optimization). It’s yet another avenue that search engines use to
bring businesses in search query results. It’s the perfect tool to give a business more
exposure while also allowing it to expose the most crucial parts of its business – the
mission, the background, the members of the team, etc. Increased SEO exposure leads
to increased web traffic which, in turn, leads to an increased conversion rate.
● LinkedIn is also a great way to stay up-to-date with the news from your industry or field
of interest. This is a major benefit it keeps you in the current loop, indicates upcoming
trends or big ideas, and provides a ripe stomping ground for sharing experiences and
advice among experts surrounding topics that are important to the business. These
easily accessible resources are invaluable to a company, particularly smaller ones, due
to its low cost and high beneficial value.
● LinkedIn is also a great asset because of the amount of information it gives about a
particular company or business. Similar to Facebook, LinkedIn will tell you all the major
data you need to know about a company as well as give you the professional profiles of
the individuals associated with the business – from employees to investors. Access to
this type of specific data and information allows users to easily find potential partners
or recruit new employees, saving you a lot of time, energy, and resources.
● LinkedIn Answer also gives users the chance to demonstrate their knowledge and skills
in their respective field to establish themselves as credible experts with vast knowledge

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and expertise. In turn, this is beneficial for LinkedIn users as it positions them as experts
and boosts the company’s credibility.

Cons:

● When looking at LinkedIn, it’s also important to be aware of and acknowledge its cons.
One of the major negatives is the way users use LinkedIn as an advertising megaphone
via SPAM so brace yourself for the slew of SPAM coming your way.
● Once established, LinkedIn is a major timesaver. But in the beginning, it requires a lot of
personal time and work version of LinkedIn, but that might not be an option for smaller
companies with a limited budget. to get your connections flowing and conversations
started. Users need to constantly ask others to be introduced to companies and
individuals they are interested in connecting with, which can be cumbersome at times.
Always keep in mind that LinkedIn is a platform for connections and conversations so
approach these tasks with the outcome of building a business relationship in mind. This
task can be sidestepped with the paid
● Overall, LinkedIn is a solid platform for businesses and individuals. If you are just
getting started, keep these pros and cons in mind. If you do, your relationship and
experience with LinkedIn will prove beneficial.
● In our internship, we used LinkedIn to grow the professional network of Institute of
Digital Marketing. This institute not only provides knowledge but also do business with
its skill sets. LinkedIn helps in building great professional network and in getting new
businesses. Apart from the workshops and course classes, Institute of Digital Marketing
has some set of people who develops e-commerce websites and optimizes them.
Hence, in order to get business we have used LinkedIn as a major platform.
● In LinkedIn groups, there will be discussions going on every time. So, we have created a
LinkedIn group and started discussions on various topics on digital marketing. In the
beginning the results were very slow since LinkedIn is strictly a professional network
and the targeted people might not Show much interest here. As it goes on, our

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discussion has got a wide popularity with students from different colleges asking
questions and actively participating in the discussion.

With this growing popularity on LinkedIn, slowly business started coming in. in the beginning
only small projects used to come like landing page creation, content creation, blog postings
etc. There were two big projects came during my internship tenure from Dharani
Computers and The Suntech Corporation for developing and managing the website and do
search engine optimization for them.

3.5 Pinterest:

It is a visual discovery social network. It is a way of sharing images of anything, from fashion to pets
to pot plants. You can create your own online pinboards to suits any theme and share it with
likeminded people. Pinterest completely revolves around the premise of being creative and visual.
70% users are female and aged between 25 and 44. So if you are targeting women pinterest is the
right platform. Pinterest is now onE of the top 10 social networking sites tracked by Hit wise.
How brands can use pinterest

Pinterest does not encourage product pushing, this means brands must look at crating boards that
are culture and lifestyle related. You can create boards on trends, behind the scenes, preliminary
sketches for products.

3.6 Instagram:

Instagram, the new revolutionary photo-sharing program, making it easier than ever to share your
best pictures with the world. The social media program allow you to upload, add digital filters, and
then post your pictures on your Instagram-feed, as well as other social networking sites. You can
connect your Instgram account with Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Flickr, Foursquare and your email
account. This makes it easy to share your pictures on multiple platforms all at once.

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When it comes to brands and businesses, Instagram goal is to help companies to reach their
respective audiences through captivating imagery in a rich, visual environment. Moreover,
Instagram provides a platform where user and company can communicate publicly and directly,
making itself an ideal platform for companies to connect with their current and potential
customers.

3.7 Google +:

Google has described Google+ as a "social layer" that enhances many of its online properties, and
that it is not simply a social networking website, but also an authorship tool that associates web-
content directly with its owner/author. It is the second-largest social networking site in the world
after Facebook. 540 million monthly active users are part of the Identity service site, by interacting
socially with Google+'s enhanced properties, like Gmail, +1 button, and YouTube comments. In
October 2013, Google counted 540 million active users who used at least one Google+ service, of
which 300 million users are active in "the stream".

Pros:

With most marketers comfortable with using Facebook for their primary social media marketing
tactics they quite often don’t see the other opportunities. Here are some compelling
reasons to register and start using a Google+ page to complement your Facebook page,
your social media and digital marketing activities.

● Google+ hangouts

Google+ hangouts have been an important part of the Google+ platform since day one. They
allow you to create online meetings that are limited to 10 active users but it allows you to
stream YouTube video to an unlimited number of viewers. Hangouts provide a way to
engage with small groups of customers that you may want to share important information
and/or educate.

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● No update filtering
Google doesn’t need to make money from Google+ as its major revenue (over $30 billion) is
from its Google ad words and search advertising. It doesn’t need to force you to pay to be
visible on Google+. Facebook has increasingly applied its Edge rank technology that filters
the updates that are seen by people that have liked your brand’s “Facebook page”. Some
research shows it at less than 15% and shrinking. This is so they can force you to spend to
advertise on Facebook to get attention. It has become “pay to play” Google plus does not
filter (censor) your updates to followers that are following your page.

● No ads

Point two leads to another advantage. There are no annoying advertisements on Google plus.
No distractions and no one wanting to sell you weight loss or dating services.

● Social signals

Google wanted to enhance its search engine capabilities by having humans vote on what
content they liked. (That is the Google+ button). This is now built into Google’s search
algorithms to ensure that Google remains relevant on the web. This makes certain that
your content is receiving votes (social signals) when you are participating on Google+.

● Search visibility

By participating on Google plus you are increasing the visibility of your brand. Ever searched for
a brand or business and noticed what comes to the top of the rankings? It is all the
major social networks that appear on the first page. Also what should be considered is
the importance of securing your brand name on Google+, which is an important part of
building your online digital assets.

● It is the second largest social network

Google plus is no longer something to be ignored with over 600 million registered users and
over 350 million active monthly users. Many of your customers are now on Google+.
That on its own should be enough to make you motivated to participate. You do need
to establish a marketing beachhead on this significant platform.

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● Local marketing

Google has removed “Google Places” and now has created a “Google+ Places Page”. This means
that customers who are on Google+ can leave reviews for your business there. This
turns up on local search results. Now that is something you shouldn’t ignore if local
location marketing is vital for your retail store or business.

● Integration with other Google properties

Google built Google+ from day one to be integrated into its other web properties. They
consider it as being “core” to its entire online strategy so it is woven into Gmail, the
Chrome browser, Picasa and YouTube. This integration will lead to more effective
marketing over time.

Cons:

● Google Plus still has Relatively Low Reach

Google Plus still serves a much smaller market than Twitter and Facebook, and it is not
surprising that many customers cannot be reached through Google Plus. As such, many
potential customers will not see or be interested in your company’s Google Plus
content on your business page because they don’t want to use Google Plus.

● Google’s Poor Social Media Track Record

This is a legitimate risk factor. Many of Google’s past forays into social media like Buzz and
Wave not only failed, but failed with scandals and controversy. There is a fair amount of
scepticism whether or not Google Plus is just another house of cards waiting to
collapse, even after several years of operation.

3.8 You tube

YouTube is a video Social Networking site, and the 2nd most popular search site on the Internet
after Google, who owns YouTube. YouTube video watching is a significant activity on
the Internet, with over 1 billion visits to YouTube daily and over 100 million videos

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watched daily. And it's easy for anyone who sees your video to rate it and share it with
his Social Network.

Pros:

● Vast Audiences for your Video

The success of any business depend upon its visibility and youtube gives you that very much
required exposure with little or no effort at all. It is just the matter of selection of
uploading your video under right place, under right category. So it is very easy and
more likely to reach masses when you use youtube for your videos, and hence chances
of clever video to grab viewers’ attention and go viral, is quite high on youtube, when
self-hosted videos(websites). Anybody can embed videos on their websites, blogs etc.
and if good, your video will also be approachable from outside of youtube. In case you
want your video to be viewed by selected number of people. You can do that by making
it private.

● Save Dollars with Free Video Hosting

If you are planning to host your videos on your own video hosting server or thinking about
getting licence from a video platform then you have to take in account, this extra
burden of dollars on your wallet. Though Google don’t promote commercial video
sharing but has now made an amendment in the terms and conditions for sharing
original contents of brands. It is one time investment and you would be happy to
upload your content on YouTube as you are still saving the additional design and
functional costs. Hence, if you compare the current cost for licences of video platform
YouTube brand channel is a smart bet.

● The ease to use it

Though we all get motivated enough to cross all hurdles and do hard work, when we decide to
do some serious business but why to choose a harder path when similar results can be
achieved with an easy and fair option. This is the reason why YouTube is a favourite

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option. All you need is to follow some very basic and simple steps to upload your
video(s). Create an account, sign-in, upload and before you blink you are on YouTube.
You can easily upload a video via a flip video camera or your smartphone within
minutes. In fact if user is interested in just watching a video no registration is required.
Yes! It is as simple as that.

● Links and Web Traffic

Not only sales but web traffic for the video (actually website) is also very important for any
business based on web. You don’t have to bring people to visit your video instead
YouTube brings them for you and if you are lucky enough and your content go viral (i.e.
your content liked by (exponentially increasing) high number of people) then if you are
on YouTube other website will embed your video to make themselves more optimized
for searches. As mentioned earlier YouTube is owned by Google who is Father of all
search engines also uses its owned sites for searches so definitely your network is quite
strong, when you are on YouTube.

● Large Bandwidth and sustainability

YouTube is a dedicated website from the well-established giant Google, and it has its own
dedicated servers to handle hell load of traffic (hundreds of thousands or millions of
visitors over a short period of time). Consider the case when your video goes viral and
you start getting whooping number of hits, then will arise the need of substantial
amount of bandwidth to handle such a heavy traffic. So if you are not using YouTube,
you are in trouble, and unfortunately instead of being happy you would be in a panic
situation due to the potential low bandwidth of your website. Of course, it is wise to
use YouTube when the whole world is interested in your video(s).

● Number, length, size of Videos

Today YouTube if the world’s dominant resource and repository for videos and luckily there is
no limit on the number of videos you can upload, which is not possible if you are using
some other licenced video platform. You may say 15 minutes which is the current

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allowed length of a video is less for your content. Is it really? Anything effective can be
presented even in lesser time but if you think otherwise then all you need to do is to
break your content in different videos logically and upload them in parts instead of a
single video. Is it not cool? For video, 2GB size is good amount and it is the current size
you can upload on YouTube. Basically a standard sized video will easily fit on YouTube.

● Feedback is Important

If we don’t listen to others and analyse their suggestions or comments about our work, we
can’t learn and survive in this competitive environment. YouTube allows viewers to
provide comments for the videos and hence you are in direct touch with live audiences
and potential customers. Importantly al the comments are emailed to you and in case
you want to delete any comment, you can do it easily.

● Easy navigation and supported Formats

There are several ways one can search for videos on YouTube – by keyword, by topic or by
simply scanning the most popular video’s list. If you like the work of some producer,
simply subscribe and no more searching would be required for that producer. YouTube
uses Adobe Flash to play back videos which is a standard format supported by most
browsers (IE, Firefox, Safari, and Opera). You can upload most popular video formats:
.WMV, .AVI, .MOV, and .MPG files which are automatically converted to flash. People
can reach YouTube videos through their mobile devices as well. Point is, when a
popular service is easy and can be commonly used then it is wise to host your videos on
that website.

Cons:

● Concept overrides content

Good content is not as necessary as good concept in video-making. To get thousands of views
and drive visitors to your YouTube video, you have to inject a great concept that makes
them almost forget how they were led to the site. Learn how to remix videos and

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audios and create the element of surprise. Break down long clips to shorter and
bite-sized ones to appeal to a larger audience. Make your ads outright and amazing.
You can use title optimization by using intriguing headlines that would make them want
to find out more about your topic.

● Requires more attraction

Users of the Internet usually just scan text-based content to find the information and get to the
core of the content immediately. Realize that in videos, this cannot entirely be applied.
Viewers watch videos from beginning to end and not jump from one segment to
another to find meaning in the video. Hence, the intro of your video must be alluring
enough to get them continue watching until the end or until you have made your point
get across. Make it snappy and no longer than three minutes. Else, especially for those
with slow Internet connection and those with shorter attention spans, users will more
likely to just press the X button and move on to the next video.

● Fresher uploaded videos result from the search hits

Typically in Google searches, the more aged the blog post is, the more it gets brought up to the
top results page. This is because the page has incurred more backlinks and has
increased credibility rate online. In comparison, YouTube searches don’t act that way.
Rather, it considers the newest videos as the top-rated hits. There is what’s called the
“freshness” factor in every video. So in order for your videos to rank high and produce
the honors, you must either resubmit or re-upload them whenever you got the time
and remove the older video. Note also that in YouTube, videos only have a shelf life of
two days before it is moved out from the Daily Most Viewed list to the Weekly Most
Viewed. So the key here is to

make sure that it’s getting viewed more and more each day, to stay on top. Marketing through
YouTube videos can be one of the effective ways on how to take advantage of the fact that
people are visual. Videos can entertain your viewers or followers than textual content.

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4. ODA (Online Display Ads):

Display advertising is a type of advertising that is located on websites. It can be seen in a wide
range of different formats and contains items such as texts, images, flash, video and audio. The
main purpose is to deliver general advertisements and brand messages to the plus 40 million
people connected to the Internet each month. It is important to choose the right format
because it will help to make the most of the medium. It is also

possible to add:

● Video
● Expendables: flash files that expand when the user interacts on mouse over
● Overlays: ads that appear and that it is possible to remove clicking a close button;
● Sponsorship: including a logo or adding a brand to the design of a web site.

To help to better selecting the right format for type of ad, Interactive Advertising Bureau has
realized a Display Standard Ad Unit Portfolio that works as guideline that can be followed by
the creative.

5. ORM (Online Reputation Management)

Online reputation management coined by the public relation. Basically ORM is a process include

●  Undertake the comprehensive research and analysis the online content.


●  Track your users’ actions and opinions about brand.
●  Reduce your risk of featuring amongst the negative user sentiments.
●  Enhance your web presence and create positive perceptions.

6. MMT (Mobile Marketing):

Mobile marketing is marketing on or with a mobile device, such as a smart phone. Mobile
marketing can plague customers with time and location sensitive, personalized information that
promotes goods, services and ideas. In a more theoretical manner, academic Andreas Kaplan

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defines mobile marketing as "any marketing activity conducted through a ubiquitous network
to which consumers are constantly connected using a personal mobile device".

Mobile marketing via SMS has expanded rapidly in Europe and Asia as a new channel to reach
the consumer. SMS initially received negative media coverage in many parts of Europe for being
a new form of spam as some advertisers purchased lists and sent unsolicited content to
consumer's phones; however, as guidelines are put in place by the mobile operators, SMS has
become the most popular branch of the Mobile Marketing industry with several 100 million
advertising SMS sent out every month.

6.1 Ways of mobile marketing:

MMS

MMS mobile marketing can contain a timed slideshow of images, text, audio and video. This
mobile content is delivered via MMS (Multimedia Message Service). Nearly all new phones
produced with a color screen are capable of sending and receiving standard MMS message.
Brands are able to both send (mobile terminated) and receive (mobile originated) rich content
through MMS A2P (application-to-person) mobile networks to mobile subscribers. In some
networks, brands are also able to sponsor messages that are sent P2P (person-to-person).

Good examples of mobile-originated MMS marketing campaigns are Motorola's ongoing


campaigns at House of Blues venues, where the brand allows the consumer to send their
mobile photos to the LED board in real-time as well as blog their images online.

Push notifications

Push notifications were first introduced to smartphones by Apple with the advent of the iPhone
in 2007. They were later further popularized with the Android operational system, where the
notifications are shown on the top of the screen. It has helped application owners to
communicate directly with their end users in a simple and effective way. If not used wisely it
can quickly alienate users as it causes interruptions to their current activities on the phone. It
can be much cheaper if compared to SMS marketing for the long run, but it can

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Become quite expensive on the short run, because the cost involved in application
development. Once the application is download and installed provided the feature is not turned
off it is practically free, because it uses internet bandwidth only. SMS and push notifications can
be part of a well-developed inbound mobile marketing strategy.

APP Based marketing

With the increasingly widespread use of smartphones, app usage has also greatly increased.
Therefore, mobile marketers have increasingly taken advantage of smartphone apps as a
marketing resource. This allows for direct engagement, payment, and targeted advertising.
There is a lot of competition in this field as well. However, just like other services, it is not easy
anymore to rule the mobile application market.

In game mobile marketing

There are essentially three major trends in mobile gaming right now: interactive real-time 3D
games, massive multi-player games and social networking games. This means a trend towards
more complex and more sophisticated, richer game play. On the other side, there are the
so-called casual games, i.e. games that are very simple and very easy to play. Most mobile
games today are such casual games and this will probably stay so for quite a while to come.

Brands are now delivering promotional messages within mobile games or sponsoring entire
games to drive consumer engagement. This is known as mobile advergaming or Ad-funded
mobile game.
Mobile web marketing

Google and Yahoo! as on web pages specifically meant for access by mobile devices is also an
option. The Mobile Marketing Association provides a set of guidelines and standards that give
the recommended format of ads, presentation, and metrics used in reporting. Google, Yahoo,
and other major mobile content providers have been selling advertising placement on their
properties for years already as of the time of this writing. Advertising networks focused on
mobile properties, SMS resellers and advertisers are also available. Additionally, web forms on

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web pages can be used to integrate with mobile texting sources for reminders about meetings,
seminars and other important events that assume users are not always at their computers. In
addition Mobile websites are another aspect of mobile web marketing and can be a tool than
can used to help make purchasing goods and services easier as well as create better
communication opportunities between trades.

QR codes

QR codes allow a customer to visit a web page address by scanning a 2D image with their
phone's camera, instead of manually entering a URL. The resultant URLs typically include
tracking features which would be unwieldy if typed by the customer. Originally approved as an
ISS standard in 1997, Denso-Wave first.

Developed the standard for tracking automobile parts in Japan. QR codes have been growing in
popularity in Asia and Europe, but have been slow to be adopted in North America. Some
high-profile QR campaigns in the United States have included billboards by Calvin Klein in Times
Square, QR codes for every SKU in Home Depot and Best Buy stores, and a scavenger hunt
promoting Starbucks and Lady Gaga. Apple pass book Implemented as a native app for iOS6,
has employed QR codes as one of the ways that the iPhone (or iPod Touch) users can take a real
world action. I.e. scan the Barcode on their Passbook Pass. In addition to QR codes, the
Passbook (application) also supports PDF417 and Aztec 2D Barcodes.

Bluetooth

The rise of Bluetooth started around 2003 and a few companies in Europe have started
establishing successful businesses. Most of these businesses offer "hotspot" systems which
consist of some kind of content-management system with a Bluetooth distribution function.
This technology has the advantages that it is permission-based, has higher transfer speeds and
is also a radio-based technology and can therefore not be billed (i.e. is free of charge). The likely
earliest device built for mobile marketing via Bluetooth was the context tag of the Ambie Sense
project (2001-2004).

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7. EMT (Email Marketing)

Email marketing is directly marketing a commercial message to a group of people using email.
In its broadest sense, every email sent to a potential or current customer could be considered
email marketing. It usually involves using email to send ads, request business, or solicit sales or
donations, and is meant to build loyalty, trust, or brand awareness. Email marketing can be
done to either sold lists or a current customer database. Broadly, the term is usually used to
refer to sending email messages with the purpose of enhancing the relationship of a merchant
with its current or previous customers, to encourage customer loyalty and repeat business,
acquiring new customers or convincing current customers to purchase something immediately,
and adding advertisements to email messages sent by other companies to their customers.

Types of email marketing

Email marketing can be carried out through different types of emails:

● Transactional emails

Transactional emails are usually triggered based on a customer’s action with a company. To be
qualified as transactional or relationship messages, these communications' primary purpose
must be "to facilitate, complete, or confirm a commercial transactions that the recipient has
previously agreed to enter into with the Sender", along with a few other narrow definitions of
transactional messaging. Triggered transactional messages include dropped basket messages,
password reset emails, purchase or order confirmation emails, order status emails, reorder
emails and email receipts.

The primary purpose of a transactional email is to convey information regarding the action that
triggered it. But, due to its high open rates (51.3% compared to 36.6% for email newsletters),
transactional emails are an opportunity to engage customers: to introduce or extend the email

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relationship with customers or subscribers, to anticipate and answer questions or to cross-sell
or up-sell products or services.

● Direct emails

Direct email or interruption based marketing involves sending an email solely to communicate a
promotional message (for example, an announcement of a special offer or a catalog of
products). Companies usually collect a list of customer or prospect email addresses to send
direct promotional messages to, or they can also rent a list of email addresses from service
companies, but safe mail marketing is also used.

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Advantages of Digital Marketing

Digital Advertising is increasingly an inherent budgetary component of many organizations


today. Organizations of all sizes use the medium to promote their products and services. So
well, why do so many organizations use the medium? Simply put, it is due to the numerous
advantages that online advertising offers. These are discussed in the paragraphs ahead.

● Reach

The ability of the online medium to target a certain demographic of users is one of the greatest
advantages of digital advertising. In addition, the geographical reach of the online medium is far
greater than that of traditional media. It’s not only cost effective to achieve a wider geographic
area but the ads can also be targeted to the desired audience. For example, if an advertiser is
keen on selling his or her products targeted to a certain demographic of people, it is quite
possible through online advertising. Digital advertising has matured to the extent that web
publishers, media agencies and advertisers themselves know the optimal ways and websites for
a certain category of products or services.

● Measurement

With various tools becoming available, tracking effectiveness of ad campaigns is becoming


possible today. In other words, measuring Return of Investment (ROI) is increasingly possible
today. Organizations that were previously reluctant to spend online, now realize that the online
medium does offer means to alleviate any such fears. Moreover, when properly designed
online marketing campaigns generate the desired results, advertisers are further encouraged to
continue advertising online.

● Interactive and Engagement

The Internet is arguably the most interactive and engaging medium among various others.
Interactive campaigns have become a norm with the power of the online medium. One such
advertisement worth mentioning is the campaign by AXE where the end user could alter the
smile of a woman as he/she liked to i.e. in an interactive framework. The advertisement struck
an instant chord with the youth to which AXE the brand is positioned for Customers are

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basically just a click away from the advertisers. In other words, direct response between end
users and advertisers is possible through the online medium.

● Time

Through the Internet, an advertiser can reach a desired target group or demographic in a much
shorter time frame. For example, if an advertiser needs to plan some sort of ambush marketing,
the online medium can be an effective means of achieving it. Even otherwise i.e. for regular
marketing campaigns, the total time necessary to complete an online advertising campaign is
less than that of traditional advertising methods.

● Cost

When compared to traditional forms of advertising, digital advertising is cheaper. Various


payment models are available between the advertisers and publishers. Many a time,
advertisers are charged only when visitors click on their ads. The various payment models are
discussed in detail in the next section.

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RESEARCH PROBLEMS

Technical Aspects of problem:


● Finding the online presence of the client.
● Understanding why it is so weak.
● Identifying what solutions would be better for particular client.
● How to improve their presence, etc.

Managerial Aspect of the problem:

● To define SWOT for the client.


● To define their requirements and the corresponding solutions.
● To define the gap analysis for the client.

Business Aspect of the problem:

● To find better business opportunity for ROW.


● To resolve the client’s problem in terms of ROI.
● Competitive benefits and bets pricing offering.

FINDINGS
1. Most of the real sector people actually understanding the value and opportunities of digital
marketing.

2. With the study of digital marketing I came to its emergence and extreme growth in today’s
scenario.

3 What I found in client servicing is convincing clients is bit complex as they too have complete
knowledge about the digital marketing and also explaining how we are better than others.

4. Most of the sectors initially opt for the digital marketing channels name search engine
optimization, search engine marketing and social media marketing and later they will think
about other channels which mean these three channel high acceptance.

5. It is easier to approach a company’s if you first send them an E-mailer to related sector and
then call them in fact sometimes the company itself call having seen the E-mailer.

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6. Indian customers are highly information seekers. They collect more information about
quality, price and refer customer’s experiences before purchasing a product.

7. Advertisements have high impact for creating stimulus in Indian customers. But this stimulus
will get in to action only through opinion leaders.

8. Indian consumers have high tendency to go for online purchase. They have high affinity to go
online for electronic products and apparels.

9. One of the current trends in Indian youth and young Indians are watching the T.V programs
via online portals. May be the main reason is convenience of time, they can watch programs
which they had skipped due to some reasons.

10. The same thing is happening for the newspaper also, people have more affinity towards
online news portals. Here's the reason may be they can get news updates very early; they don’t
need to wait for daily newspapers.

11. In both of these cases, one opportunity is lost for marketer and one opportunity is emerging
for them to reach their T.G.

12. More than 90% of the samples have a mobile or Smartphone and laptops or PC. 96% of
samples have an internet connection is any of these gadgets, this showing the penetration of
internet in India.

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CONCLUSION

The successful completion of this internship indicates that the future of marketing is in the
hands of digital. Digital marketing is not only concerned with placing ads in portals, it consists of
integrated services and integrated channels. Marketers want to use these components in an
effective way to reach target groups and to build a brand. In this digital era marketer is not the
custodian for a brand, people who are connected across the digital platforms are the
custodians.
Brands want to build their presence over digital platform, because customers have high affinity
towards digital media than other media’s. More than that customers are highly information
seekers and digital media is the only platform for two way communication between brands and
customers. Digital media is the best platform to convert a product to a brand. Because it is
more cost effective and it provide lot of touch points to marketer. Brands can able to engage
their target group in an effective way through digital platforms. Digital media is not only for
engagement, brands can increase their customers or they can retain their existing customers.
Digital platforms help to increase the impact of brand recall in target groups. Importance of
digital presence increasing importance of digital agencies, so they making money through
digital advertising raising of digital marketing consciousness making money for digital agencies
by which they are booming and making more money with small investments. I honestly believe
that this project report will be at most useful for marketers to understand the digital marketing
and also to plan for future strategies.

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Bibliography

❖ Marketing Insight from A to Z – Philip Kotler


❖ “Digital Marketing” the book – Dave Chaffey
❖  www.thefuturebuzz.com
❖  www.cookitup.com
❖  www.marutisuzukiastar.com

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