Applications of Digital Marketing

Introduction

Digital marketing is a process of promoting different products through electronic interfaces. For the better part of the 20^th century marketing and advertisement relied on print and broadcast media for the distribution of information regarding different company’s products. At the turn of the millennium however the focus of marketing began to undergo an unassailable shift towards web based promotions. This was the promotion and sale of products through the internet. Technological advancements have profoundly impacted marketing. The internet is no longer something to be accessed from a cyber café or desktop computer. It is accessible from a host of portable devices such as smartphones, tablets and laptops. What this implies is that the internet is virtually at the customer’s fingertips. This inevitably led to online marketing which is the promotion of products on the internet (Wertime and Ferwik, 2011).

While this can logically be lauded as a good move, there are several variables that will determine the level of success or failure a business organization’s marketing efforts. In line with the changing focus that the field of marketing has been witnessing, today’s promotional efforts are obliged to follow a customer centric mode. Customer centric basically refers to the placement of the customer at the center of marketing efforts. This means that the preferences, tastes and experiences of the customer become the main focus in the marketing campaign. In this exercise, two elements of promotional websites will be analyzed with respect to the ways they can be used to bolster marketing efforts. The two elements of these websites that will be focused on are usability and persuasiveness.

Criteria to be used in the analysis of user experience provided by websites

When it comes to usability there are several issues that have to be handled for a customer to easily maneuver through the site and make use of the different features that have been included by the designers.

Accessibility and availability of the website

A website is only useful to the customers if they can find it. If they cannot do this then the site is completely useless to the owners and non-existent to the customers. Site availability and accessibility for the target can be ensured by ensuring the website has mobile responsiveness, server uptimes and also the elimination of broken links. Mobile responsiveness is the ability of a site to automatically adjust for users of mobile devices with different screens. Broken links occur when a page cannot be found and this serves to discourage the customer from using the site. Server uptime is the minimization of the possibility of a customer encountering an error while trying to enter a website (Sabina, 2013).

Clarity of the Website

Another crucial element of website usability is the clarity of information presented on the webpages. The goal of a visitor who opens or logs into a website is to find whatever he or she is looking for in the shortest time possible. This cannot be achieved if there are many distractions or unnecessary steps to be taken for customers to reach this point. Customers are attracted to a website by the user- friendliness they experience in their use of the site. As a result the designer of the website has to bear in mind the fact that customers will come to the website having specific objectives that they desire to meet. Some of the ways that clarity in a website can be realized is through a proper information infrastructure, guidance, information feedback, familiarity, simplicity and consistence being applied to the website (Sabina, 2013).

The importance of a good informational architecture is that it ensures the information is presented in a manner that will be easily understandable to the customers.

Guidance is important because it helps to direct the customers through the website rather than have them get confused while trying to navigate the website.

Direct feedback provides users of the website with immediate notification of the success or failure of actions that they have taken such as transactions or enquiries.

Consistency refers to the stability of presentation as maintained by the website through the different pages. This will give the user peace of mind as they are navigating the site (Sabina, 2013).

Simplicity is the act of focusing on the customer’s needs and this saves on time.

Familiarity refers to the presentation of materials in a manner that the customer is accustomed to and this is based on styles that have dominated the industry.

Learnability of the Website

This is the degree to which one can navigate through the website without the need for instructions on what to do. Intuitive user interfaces on websites increase their productivity since users will spend more time viewing the different products that are on offer and less experimenting to see what works for them and what doesn’t. a website can be made learnable through the use of elements that users are already familiar with. An alternative approach is the use of easy to learn elements. If new elements are being introduced, it is prudent to provide some form of direction or helping hand for the foreigners (Sabina, 2013).

Credibility

The level of credibility that a website has determines how much it can and will be used by the customers of a company. The trust that people have for a website and the company that owns it is much more important than the products available on the website. The content and design of the website determines the customers’ beliefs about the existence of the company. They also need to believe in the quality and specification of the company’s core business. This information can be well presented in the ‘About Us’ page (Sabina, 2013).

With regard to the content, it is crucial that someone proofreads it before it is published online. Other issues such as the mislabeling of pages and images also lower credibility. The content needs to project an aura of professionalism. If possible, testimonials from actual third parties may be added.

Relevance of the Website

A good website is not just that which has been designed well. Careful attention needs to be given to the type of customers who are targeted and the needs they have. This means that the users of the site, their needs and different actions they may wish to carry out online need to be outlined clearly prior to and during the designing of the website. This will ensure the meeting of needs held by customers (Sabina, 2013).

Persuasiveness

Other than a site being usable to the market targeted by a business enterprise, it is important to include persuasive elements that will encourage the people who log in to use the site as well as make purchases of the different commodities that have been. There are different approaches that can be used as indicators of the persuasive power of a website and some of these will be analyzed below.

There are four main ways where web pages can be made more persuasive. These are at the page headline, the use of Social Proof, the use of Credibility and also Persuasion Windows.

Page Headlines

The use of questions: Instead of merely placing statements about the different services and products a company offers, questions can be employed and this is due to the fact that this tend to provoke the mind into a state of inquisitiveness which will then help keep the user seeking more information and therefore shopping more.

The creation of a problem

Based on the knowledge that a company has of its audience, it is a good idea to provide them with a problem or series of problems that they are familiar with. These have to be based on needs that these customers are known to have.

Social Proof

Testimonials can again become useful in making the website persuasive due to a dilemma that many a customer find themselves in. On one hand they are not prepared to blindly make purchases while on the other they do not have enough time to conduct research. Testimonials that display positive reviews from other customers can help fill this void since they provide the customers with some form of reassurance regarding the products on display in the website (Sabina, 2013).

Making users of the website proud of what they do

This is achieved by convincing the customer that his or her choice to make purchases from your company is a wise decision. To achieve this, it is essential to display a list of reputable customers who consume the same product. The unique selling points of the product such as durability or cost effectiveness also need to be emphasized. These will make the customer feel appreciated (Sabina, 2013).

The Persuasion Windows

Exploiting opportunities to thank customers is one way of persuading them to continue using the website and its services. This will encourage them to sign up for newsletters and other special services. Thanking users through emails is one sure way of exploiting this.

Alarm Clocking

This technique is relatively new and it involves the provision of a unique deal on the site at a given time in the day. This deal is often so attractive that it greatly increases the rate of visitors to a website who are keen on avoiding the regretful feeling of not taking advantage of an opportunity (Sedley, 2011).

The use of the right pictures on the website.

Since first impressions heavily influence how we perceive different things, it is important for the designer of the website to include the appropriate images reflecting the products that are on offer. This provides the customers with somewhat of a mental shortcut since they can compare what they were looking for with what is on display.

Comparison of the Websites Marketing the Samsung Galaxy S4 and the IPhone 5 smartphones.

Below is a critical analysis of two websites that are of competing smartphone manufacturers.

The Apple IPhone 5 website analysis

The website loads relatively fast thus making it easier for a user to access the materials it has.

The images on the site are full page images of the phone accompanied by statements that appraise the phones for the different benefits this design will give the user. Another image displays different cases for the phone as well as a wide array of the applications that the device can run.

The use of large pictures provides customers with an up-close look at the device’s exterior as well as display settings. At the bottom of the page there are details about the phone’s features and different ways of accessing apple products.

Evaluation: This website is generally appealing with a very strong indication of the desire to persuade the public to purchase the product. This is because of the way they make the customer proud of being associated with the product as well as ultra-clear images that show the different elements of hardware and software (Apple, 2013).

It scores highly on usability due to the inclusion of a simple interface that a user can navigate intuitively.

Total Score 8/10. This site strikes a near perfect balance of usability and persuasiveness.

Evaluation of the Samsung Galaxy S4 website

The website scores high on credibility owing to the detailed description and demonstration of the features this phone comes with. The shopping button however seems to have been placed prematurely since the customer has hardly seen enough to make a decision concerning the purchase of the product.

The site also persuades the user to make a purchase of the product by encouraging words such as “shoot like a pro” and “Hardware Excellence” which will emphasize the high quality this phone has (Samsung, 2013).

Another challenge I encountered was the phone simulator which was slow to respond and abit complicated.

Total Score 5/10. While the site is persuasive, the usability was a letdown due to the inclusion of complicated elements.

Recommendation: This website can become more appealing to customers if it is made customer centric rather than focusing exclusively on the phone itself. This current format greatly narrows their market segment.

References

Apple (2013) The IPhone 5. Retrieved from http://www.apple.com/iphone-5s/ on December 11, 2013

Sabina, I (2013) 5 Key Principles Of Good Website Usability. Retrieved from http://blog.crazyegg.com/2013/03/26/principles-website-usability/ on December 11, 2013

Samsung (2013) Galaxy S4. Retrieved from http://www.samsung.com/us/guide-to-galaxy-smart-devices/galaxy-s-4-smartphone.html on December 11, 2013

Sedley, R (2011) Review your persuasion approaches to increase conversion, Smart Insights. Retrieved from http://www.smartinsights.com/persuasion-marketing/persuasion-marketing-principles/persuasion-conversion/ on December 11, 2013

Wertime, K., & Fenwick, I. (2011). Digimarketing: the essential guide to new media and digital marketing. John Wiley & Sons.