Author: Daegan Smith
Businesses that want to sell something in the market need 2 things. The first is the product to be sold which has to be made then distributed to places like the grocery, the mall or the supermarket. The second is marketing which is the vehicle to carry that message across to the consumer so that people are aware of its existence then it is purchased.
Marketing has traditionally been done by putting an ad either in the newspaper, the radio and the television. Lately, efforts done by marketing to get the message across to the public is not enough to drive sales.
There are 2 factors that contribute to this;
? A lot of companies have also made similar products making the playing field more challenging that it was before.
? Also, customers are smarter than ever who not only buy but first check how this brand fairs over another before deciding which one to choose.
Changes in technology have also transformed the way companies want to increase brand awareness. To face the challenges of the 21st century, the best solution will be to evaluate what has worked not only in one industry but to also know what has worked in others. This will change the mindset of just using traditional marketing that most companies use giving one company an advantage over another.
Buzz marketing otherwise known as word of mouth marketing is a strong force that has not yet been tapped fully and worth exploring.
A good example is how some book companies have used talk show hosts and other personalities in endorsing the product. TV personalities have become key influencers that tell the people what to buy or not. When a viewer listens and believes what is said, there is a high chance that in less than a day or even a week, that person is now a customer of that brand.
Other industries that have seen the potential of buzz marketing have followed suit and used it to further expand the market share of the brand. People who have never heard about a certain product especially in the health sector either to lose weight or help one from being sexually impotent have done research and decided to request more information before finally being convinced and sold to the product.
Another way of thinking out of the box is through the use of viral marketing. Given that information in the internet transfers in kilobytes per second in cyberspace, information that needs to get to people is faster than ever reaching beyond state lines to places around the world.
Good examples of this are the various email sites. Aside from giving people a faster way to communicate with one another, it offers a free service to people who do not have an account and sign up to also be an active member.
A more recent phenomenon is pod casting. This refers to how people have been able to download music; software and give people time to watch a show that has been missed at the person�s convenience.
In the business sector, it has been used to advertise a product just like that in the television all in the palm of a person�s hand.
For internal communication among office staff, it can be used as a training tool that gives information and other news that are essential to the people who need it.
This has gotten the attention of various websites that have decided to enter pod casting which will further increase the number of people have used this device by the millions.
The alternative form of media attempts to bypass the old school approach. It relies heavily on the influence of special personalities who have mastered the art of reaching out to a lot of people. The larger the base, the better positioned one brand is in the field.
Even as marketing has reached the digital age, it does not mean that traditional marketing is obsolete. Both methods still need strategy, creativity and vision of what is to be achieved.