INTRODUCTION TO E COMMERCE

E commerce

The term Electronic commerce (or e-Commerce) refers to the use of an electronic medium to
carry out commercial transactions. Most of the time, it refers to the sale of products via Internet,
but the term E commerce also covers purchasing mechanisms via Internet (for BTo-B)

E commerce, also known as electronic commerce or internet commerce, refers to the buying
and selling of goods or services using the internet, and the transfer of moneyand data to execute
these transactions

Introduction to Commerce
• Commerce is basically an economic activity involving trading or the buying and selling of
goods.
For e.g. a customer enters a book shop, examines the books, select a book and pays for it. To
fulfill the customer requirement, the book shop needs to carry out other commercial transactions
and business functions such as managing the supply chain, providing logistic support, handling
payments etc.
As we enter the electronic age, an obvious question is whether these commercial transactions
and business functions can be carried out electronically.
In general, this means that no paperwork is involved, nor is any physical contact necessary. This
often referred to as electronic commerce (e-commerce).
The earliest example of e-commerce is electronic funds transfer. This allows financial
institutions to transfer funds between one another in a secure and efficient manner.
Later, electronic data interchange (EDI) was introduced to facilitate inter-business
transactions.

E-Commerce
 “E-Commerce or Electronic Commerce, a subset of E-Business, is the purchasing, selling and
exchanging of goods and services over computer networks (such as Internet) through which
transactions are performed”.
 “E-Commerce can be defined as a modern business methodology that addresses the needs of
organizations, merchants and consumers to cut costs while improving the quality of goods and
services and increasing the speed of service delivery by using Internet”.
 E-Commerce takes place between companies, between companies and their customers, or
between companies and public administration.

History of E-Commerce
• The history of Ecommerce seems rather short but its journey started over 40 years ago in
hushed science labs
• In the 1960s, very early on in the history of Ecommerce, its purpose was to exchange long
distance electronic data. In these early days of Ecommerce, users consisted of only very large
 companies, such as banks and military departments, who used it for command control
communication purposes. This was called EDI, and was used for electronic data interchange.
• Originally, electronic commerce was identified as the facilitation of commercial transactions
electronically, using technology such as Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) and Electronic
Funds Transfer (EFT). These were both introduced in the late 1970s, allowing businesses to
send commercial documents like purchase orders or invoices electronically.
• The growth and acceptance of credit cards, automated teller machines (ATM) and telephone
banking in the 1980s were also forms of electronic commerce
• In 1982 Transmission Control Protocol and Internet Protocol known as TCP & IP was
developed. This was the first system to send information in small packets along different routes
using packet switching technology, like today's Internet! As opposed to sending the information
streaming down one route
• Beginning in the 1990s, electronic commerce would include enterprise resource planning
systems (ERP), data mining and data warehousing
• In 1995, with the introduction of online payment methods, two companies that we all know of
today took their first steps into the world of Ecommerce. Today Amazon and ebay are both
amongst the most successful companies on the Internet

Functions of E-Commerce
 Marketing:- One of the areas it impacts particularly is direct marketing. In the past this was
mainly door-to-door, home parties (like the Tupperware parties) and mail orders using
catalogues or leaflets. This moved to telemarketing and TV selling with the advance in
television technology and finally developed into e-marketing.
 Human Resource Management:- Issues of on-line recruiting, home working and
‘entrepreneurs’ working on a project by project basis replacing permanent employees.
 Business law and ethics:- The different legal and ethical issues that have arisen as a result of a
global ‘virtual’ market. Issues such as copyright laws, privacy of customer information etc.
 Management Information System:- Analysis, design and implementation of e-business
systems within an organization ; issues of integration of front-end and back-end systems.
 Product Operations and Management:- The impact of on-line processing has led to reduced
cycle time. It takes seconds to deliver digitized products and services electronically; similarly
the time for processing orders can be reduced by more than 90 percent from days to minutes.
 Finance and Accounting:- On-line banking ; issues of transaction costs ; accounting and
auditing implications where ‘intangible’ assets and human capital must be tangibly valued in an
increasing knowledge based economy.
 Economy:- The impact of E-commerce on local and global economies; understanding the
concepts of a digital and knowledge based economy and how this fits into economic theory.

Scope of E-Commerce
 E-Commerce is a general concept covering any form of business transaction or
information exchange executed using information and communication technologies
((ICT’s).
  It includes electronic trading of goods, services and electronic material.
 It takes place between companies, between companies and their customers or between
companies and public administrations.

• Electronic Markets:-
 An electronic market is the use of information and communication technology to present
a range of offerings available in a market segment so that the purchaser can compare the
prices of the offerings and make a purchase decision
e.g. Airline Booking System
• Electronic Data Interchange:-
 It provides a standardized system for coding trade transactions so that they can be
communicated from one computer to another without the need for printed orders and
invoices & delays & errors in paper handling.
 It is used by organizations that make a large no. of regular transactions.
e.g. EDI is used in the large supermarket chains for transactions with their suppliers.
• Internet Commerce:-
 Information and communications technologies can be used to advertise & make sales of
wide range of goods & services.
 This application is both for business to business & business to consumer transactions.
e.g. The purchase of goods that are then delivered by post or the booking of tickets that
can be picked up by the clients

E-COMMERCE MODULES OR TYPES

E-commerce comes in six basic types

 Business-to-Business (B2B)
 Business-to-Consumer (B2C)
 Consumer-to-Consumer (C2C)
 Consumer-to-Business (C2B).
 Business-to-Administration (B2A)
 Consumer-to-Administration (C2A)
  Business-to-Business (B2B)

1. Business-to-Business (B2B)

This e-commerce type encompasses all electronic transactions of goods or services, conducted
between companies, i.e. companies sell their goods online to other companies. They are not
engaged in sales to the consumer public.

2. Business-to-Consumer (B2C)

In a Business-to-Consumer e-commerce environment, companies sell their online goods to

consumers who are the end-users of their products or services. Usually, B2C Ecommerce web
shops have an open access for any visitor and user. There are already many virtual stores and
malls on the Internet, which sell all kinds of consumer goods, such as; computers, software,
books, shoes, cars, food, financial products, digital publications, etc.

3. Consumer-to-Consumer (C2C)

Consumer-to-Consumer (C2C) type e-commerce encompasses all electronic transactions of

goods or services conducted between consumers. Generally, these transactions are conducted
through a third party, which provides the online platform where the transactions are actually
carried out. eBay.com is a very good example. It is the most popular platform that enables
consumers to sell to other consumers.

4. Consumer-to-Business (C2B)

In C2B, there is a complete reversal of the traditional sense of exchanging goods. Here,
consumers offer their products or services online and companies post their bids. Then
consumers review the bids and choose companies that meet their price expectations.

A platform that is very common in this type of commerce is the markets that sell royaltyfree
photographs, images, and media and design elements, such as; Stock photo.

5.Business-to-Administration (B2A)

This part of e-commerce encompasses all transactions conducted online between companies and
public administration. This is an area that involves a large amount and a variety of services,
particularly in areas such as fiscal, social security, employment, legal documents, and registers,
etc. These types of services have increased considerably in recent years with investments made
in e-government.

6.Consumer-to-Administration (C2A)

The Consumer-to-Administration model encompasses all electronic transactions conducted

between individuals and public administration.
Examples of applications include:

Education – disseminating information, distance learning, etc.

Social Security – through the distribution of information, making payments etc.

Taxes – filing tax returns, payments, etc.

Health – appointments, information about illnesses, and payment of health services, etc.

Both models involving Public Administration (B2A and C2A) are strongly associated to the
idea of efficiency and easy usability of the services provided to citizens by the government,
with the support of information and communication technologies.

B2B e-commerce Business Model

In simple terms, the B2B E commerce Business is a form of electronic commerce that deals
with the transaction of goods and services between businesses through the internet. In most
cases, this transaction is performed through an online portal. The main objective of this business
model is to increase the business efficiency and revenue of retailers. Rather than manually
processing orders, all the orders in the B2B model are processed in the digital platform.
Contrary to the conventional E commerce model of purchase and sale between the consumer
and seller, the B2B model deals in commercial transactions between businesses.

The crux of this business model is based on careful planning in order to have efficient and
profitable transactions in consideration with complex market conditions.

B2B E commerce Business Model Advantages

 Market Predictability

Compared to the other business strategies, the B2B E commerce business model has more
market stability. B2B sectors grow gradually and can adapt to various complex market
conditions. This helps to strengthen the online presence and business opportunities and get more
potential clients and resellers.

 Better Sales

An improved supply chain management process along with a collaborative approach increase
customer loyalty in the B2B E commerce business model. This, in turn, leads to improved sales.
It helps businesses to showcase product recommendations and unlock effective up selling and
cross-selling opportunities.
 Lower Costs

Due to an effective supply chain management process, this online business model leads to lower
costs for the businesses. In most cases, the work is done through automation that eradicates
chances of errors and undue expenditure.

 Data Centric Process

One of the main advantages of the model is that it relies on effective and factual data to
streamline the whole process. In this way, errors can be avoided and proper forecasts can be
made. With an integrated data-driven approach, you can calculate detailed sales statistics.

B2B E commerce Business Model Disadvantages

Just like the other business models, the B2B E commerce Business model has some flaws too,
which are:

 Limited Market

Compared to the B2C model, this type of business has a limited market base as it deals with
transactions between businesses. This makes it a bit of a risky venture for small and medium E
commerce businesses.

 Lengthy Decision

Here, the majority of the purchase decisions involve a lengthy process as there are two
businesses involved. The process may involve dependence on multiple stakeholders and
decision makers.

 Inverted Structure

Compared to the other models, consumers have more decision making power than sellers in the
B2B business model. They may demand customizations, impose specifications and try to lower
price rates.
MOBILE COMMERCE

M commerce

M-commerce (mobile commerce) is the buying and selling of goods and services through
wireless handheld devices such as smartphones and tablets. As a form of e-commerce, m-
commerce enables users to access online shopping platforms without needing to use a desktop
computer. Examples of m-commerce include purchasing, mobile banking, virtual marketplace
apps like the Amazon mobile app or a digital wallet such as Apple Pay, Android Pay and
Samsung Pay.

Over time, content delivery over wireless devices has become faster, more secure and scalable.
As of the use of m-commerce accounted for 34.5% of e-commerce sales. The industries affected
most by m-commerce include:

 Financial services, which includes mobile banking (when customers use their handheld
devices to access their accounts and pay their bills) as well as brokerage services, in which
stock quotes can be displayed and trading conducted from the same handheld device.

 Telecommunications, in which service changes, bill payment account reviews can all be
performed from the same handheld device.

 Service and retail, as consumers are given the ability to place and pay for orders onthe-fly.

 Information services, which include the delivery of financial news, sports figures and traffic
updates to a single mobile device.

Types of m-commerce

M-commerce can be categorized by function as either mobile shopping, mobile banking or

mobile payments. Mobile shopping allows for a customer to purchase a product from a mobile
device, using an application such as Amazon, or over a web app. A subcategory of mobile
shopping is app commerce, which is a transaction that takes place over a native app. Mobile
banking includes any handheld technology that enables customers to conduct financial
transactions. This is typically done through a secure, dedicated app provided by the banking
institution. Mobile payments enable users to buy products in-person using a mobile device.
Digital wallets, such as Apple Pay, allow a customer to buy a product without needing to swipe
a card or pay with physical cash.

How Mobile Commerce Works

With most m-commerce enabled platforms, the mobile device is connected to a wireless
network that can be used to conduct online product purchases. For those in charge of
developing an m-commerce application, important KPIs to monitor include the total mobile
traffic, total amount of traffic on the application, average order value and the value of orders
over time. Similarly, tracking the mobile add to cart rate will help developers see if users are
becoming customers. M-commerce developers may also be interested in logging average page
loading times, mobile cart conversion rates and SMS subscriptions.

In terms of mobile payment products specifically, they operate through a form of peer-to-peer
(P2P) sharing. Once a mobile device is paired with a bank card’s information, the phone can be
waved over a payment terminal to pay for a product. This contactless payment using a mobile
device is possible due to the use of Near Field Communication(NFC).

Advantages And Disadvantages Of Mobile Commerce

Advantages

 Added customer retention by being more easily accessible.

 More convenience for customers in comparing prices, reading reviews and making purchases
without the need of a desktop computer.

 Wider variety of products and services.

 Automates a businesses’ point of customer contact and sales.

Disadvantages

 A poorly executed mobile experience can deter customers from making purchases.

 Mobile payment options are not available in every geographic location and may not support
every type of digital wallet.

 Businesses must know and comply with tax laws and regulations of all countries they ship to
(some businesses will avoid this by only allowing purchases and shipping from their country of
origin).

Advantages of M-commerce

 It provides a very convenient and easy to use the system to conduct business transactions.

 Mobile commerce has a very wide reach. A huge part of the world’s population has a mobile
phone in their pocket. So the sheer size of the market is tremendous.
 M-commerce also helps businesses target customers according to their location, service
provider, the type of device they use and various other criteria. This can be a good marketing
tool.

 The costs of the company also reduced. This is due to the streamlined processes, now
transaction cost, low carrying cost and low order processing cost as well.

Disadvantages of M-commerce

 The existing technology to set up an m-commerce business is very expensive. It has great
start-up costs and many complications arise.

 In developing countries, the networks and service providers are not reliable. It is not most
suitable for data transfer.

 Then there is the issue of security. There are many concerns about the safety of the
customer’s private information. And the possibility of a data leak is very daunting.

Top 10 Applications of Mobile-Commerce

Mobile commerce has entered into finance, retail, telecommunication, healthcare, information
technology, sales and services. Need for M-commerce has increased multifold in recent times.
Some of the applications of mobile commerce are briefly discussed below.

Applications of M-Commerce

1. M-Commerce For Finance

The customer (using the mobile) can pay from their bank account using mobile commerce
facilities. Mobile users can transfer funds between account or receive any information related to
finance from financial institutions or banks. WAP based mobile devices allow the user to access
the internet or the website of the financial institutions.

For example, a user of the credit card gets reminded from the institution stating the amount of
outstanding balance, minimum amount due and the due date. Likewise, when the customer pays
through cheque or when the payment is made by him, the institution sends an acknowledgement
through SMS stating the amount that has been received by the institution.

For example, ICICI Bank has launched iMobile. iMobile allows the customers to carry out all
internet banking transactions through mobile phones. Customers can transfer funds to ICICI and
non ICICI Bank accounts with the help of their mobile. It allows customers to request for a
cheque book or stop payment of a cheque through mobile device. Customers can also pay their
utility bills through this facility. It allows them to know their transaction details and payment
due dates through mobile phones.
The M-Commerce is very much prevalent in stock broking services. The user can access the
stock market quotes. The share brokers send details about the market trends to client and offer
some tips for trading. After receiving the information, the client responds or gives instructions
to the stock broker. Such transaction takes place either in his/her form of SMS or call.

2. M-Commerce For Retail And After Sale Services

Companies can also make online catalog of products so that the mobile users can access the
catalog from their mobile devices. Customers are able to shop, place orders or hire services and
pay for dues through mobile phones.

3. M-Commerce and Mobile Marketing

It is easy for business organizations to send text messages to promote a new product or carryout
any form of promotional campaign. For example, Reliance Fresh sends the customer an SMS
stating the reward points earned by them when they purchase goods from Reliance. Even if
some changes are brought in providing reward points, they are informed to the customer in
order to encourage sales.

4. M-Commerce and Mobile Ticketing

Airline tickets can be purchased through mobile phone. It also enables users of mobile phone to
make changes in their tickets. For example, With “flybuy SMS” launched by Kingfisher
Airlines and paymate, customers can get the details of Kingfisher airlines flights by sending
SMS. The customer can book the ticket after receiving a reply. Besides the above, movie tickets
can also be booked through mobile phones.

5. M-Commerce and Mobile Entertainment

Mobile terminal acts as a portable music player. Downloading ringtones has become successful
m-commerce application. Mobile phone manufacturers and wireless providers are making good
money by selling different kinds of customized ringtones.

6. M-Commerce for Hotel Reservations

Using mobile devices, customer can reserve for restaurants and hotels according to their needs.

7. M-Commerce in Healthcare and Medicine

Wireless services are used in healthcare and medicine for billing, lab ordering, referrals,
prescriptions and clinical decisions. For example, in United States, healthcare professionals are
able to obtain patient information from any location by getting connected wirelessly to the
hospital’s information system. They are able to access the pharmaceutical information of
patients and provide better patient care.

8. M-commerce for Intra-Office Communication

Sales personnel, who are always on the move, may need to access to the company information
system to check price of products. But mobile allows the traveling sales personnel to track
inventory and maintain communication with seniors at ease. Traveling salesmen do not have to
wait for long to get approval from the seniors. Any information could be transferred easily and
quickly with the help of mobile devices. It removes barriers in intra-office communication.

9. M-Commerce for Information

Mobiles enable customers to get information like sport news or political news of their choice.
For example, today through SMS, students are able to check their university results or public
examination results.

10. M-Commerce for Gaming

Customers can play multi player games through mobiles. Mobile games are very popular with
colourful displays and it generates good revenue.
E-Marketing

What is E-Marketing?

E-Marketing (Electronic Marketing), also known as Internet Marketing, Web Marketing,

Digital Marketing, or Online Marketing, is marketing done through the internet on online
channels. E-marketing is the process of marketing a product or service offering using the
Internet to reach the target audience on smartphones, devices, social media etc.. E-marketing
not only includes marketing on the Internet, but also includes marketing done via e-mail and
wireless media. It uses a range of technologies to help connect businesses to their customers.

Like many other media channels, e-marketing is also a part of integrated marketing
communications (IMC), which helps a brand grow across different channels. E-marketing has
become a pivotal tactic in the marketing strategy adopted by companies using several digital
media channels.

What is E-Marketing?

Web marketing, digital marketing, internet marketing or online marketing; all of these words
are synonymously used for E-Marketing. What it means is the marketing of products or services
by using the internet. E-mails and wireless marketing also fall into the category of e-marketing.

We can say that it uses different technologies and media to connect customers and businesses.
Especially in this era of technology, e-marketing has become a very important part of the
marketing strategy of different companies.

Features of E-Marketing
Big or small, many businesses are using e-marketing because of various features and multiple
advantages. Some of the important features are as follows;

 E-marketing is Cheaper than Traditional Marketing

If you compare its cost with traditional marketing media such as newspaper ads and
billboards, then it’s much cheaper and efficient. You can reach a wide range of audience
with very limited resources.

 Tangible ROI
Small business owners can now check the turnover rate or ‘‘action taken’’ with the help
of Infusionsoft. It analyzes multiple things like views of videos, number of emails
 opened, and per click on the link. Most importantly, it tells us how much sales the
business has been made as a result of e-marketing.

 24/7/365 Approach
It works 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and 365 days of the year. It doesn’t matter
whether you’re homesick, sleeping, or attending a casual meetings; but e-marketing is
always hard at work.in the times of pandemic, online marketing becomes even more
prominent when the offline or traditional marketing channels cannot deliver the optimum
return on value.

 Eliminate Follow-up Failure

Elimination of follow-up-failure is the main secrete behind the success of small business.
It is done by entering your business figures into the Infusionsoft, and then its automated
marketing system will provide you the custom-tailored information about your business,
which areas to improve and what product to discontinue.

Disadvantages of E-Marketing
E-Marketing is not without disadvantages, some of them are as follows;

1. Technology Dependent. E-Marketing is completely dependent on technology and the

internet; a slight disconnection can jeopardize your whole business.
2. Worldwide Competition. When you launch your product online, then you face a global
competition because it’s accessible from everywhere.
3. Privacy & Security Issues. Privacy and security issues are very high because your data is
accessible to everyone; therefore, one has to be very cautious about what goes online.
4. Higher Transparency & Price Competition. When privacy and security issues are high,
then you have to spend a lot to be transparent. Price competition also increases with higher
transparency.
5. Maintenance Cost. With the fast-changing technological environment, you have to be
consistently evolved with the pace of technology and the maintenance cost is very high.
What is E-Marketing?
Web marketing, digital marketing, internet marketing or online marketing; all of these words
are synonymously used for E-Marketing. What it means is the marketing of products or services
by using the internet. E-mails and wireless marketing also fall into the category of e-marketing.

We can say that it uses different technologies and media to connect customers and businesses.
Especially in this era of technology, e-marketing has become a very important part of the
marketing strategy of different companies.
Features of E-Marketing
Big or small, many businesses are using e-marketing because of various features and multiple
advantages. Some of the important features are as follows;

 E-marketing is Cheaper than Traditional Marketing

If you compare its cost with traditional marketing media such as newspaper ads and
billboards, then it’s much cheaper and efficient. You can reach a wide range of audience
with very limited resources.

 Tangible ROI
Small business owners can now check the turnover rate or ‘‘action taken’’ with the help
of Infusionsoft. It analyzes multiple things like views of videos, number of emails
opened, and per click on the link. Most importantly, it tells us how much sales the
business has been made as a result of e-marketing.

 24/7/365 Approach
It works 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and 365 days of the year. It doesn’t matter
whether you’re homesick, sleeping, or attending a casual meetings; but e-marketing is
always hard at work.

 Eliminate Follow-up Failure

Elimination of follow-up-failure is the main secrete behind the success of small business.
It is done by entering your business figures into the Infusionsoft, and then its automated
marketing system will provide you the custom-tailored information about your business,
which areas to improve and what product to discontinue.

E-Marketing Advantages
Some of the important advantages of e-marketing are given below;

1. Instant Response. The response rate of internet marketing is instantaneous; for instance,
you upload something and it goes viral. Then it’d reach millions of people overnight.
2. Cost-Efficient. Compared to the other media of advertising, it’s much cheaper. If you’re
using the unpaid methods, then there’s almost zero cost.
3. Less Risky. When your cost is zero and the instant rate is high; then what one has to loos.
No risk at all.
4. Greater Data Collection. In this way, you have a great ability to collect a wide range of
data about your customers. This customer data can be used later.
5. Interactive. One of the important aspects of digital marketing is that it’s very interactive.
People can leave their comments, and you’ll get feedback from your target market.
6. Way to Personalized Marketing. Online marketing opens the door to personalized
marketing with the right planning and marketing strategy, customers can be made to feel
that this ad is directly talking to him/her.
 7. Greater Exposure of your Product. Going viral with one post can deliver greater
exposure to your product or service.
8. Accessibility. The beauty of the online world and e-marketing is that it’s accessible from
everywhere across the globe.

Disadvantages of E-Marketing
E-Marketing is not without disadvantages, some of them are as follows;

1. Technology Dependent. E-Marketing is completely dependent on technology and the

internet; a slight disconnection can jeopardize your whole business.
2. Worldwide Competition. When you launch your product online, then you face a global
competition because it’s accessible from everywhere.
3. Privacy & Security Issues. Privacy and security issues are very high because your data is
accessible to everyone; therefore, one has to be very cautious about what goes online.
4. Higher Transparency & Price Competition. When privacy and security issues are high,
then you have to spend a lot to be transparent. Price competition also increases with higher
transparency.
5. Maintenance Cost. With the fast-changing technological environment, you have to be
consistently evolved with the pace of technology and the maintenance cost is very high.

Types of E-Marketing
When we talk about digital and email marketing, then there are different type and methods of e-
marketing which are as follows;

 Email Marketing
Email marketing is considered very efficient and effective because you already have a database
of your targeting customer. Now, sending emails about your product or service to your exact
targeted market is not only cheap but also very effective.

 Social Media Marketing

Social media is a great source of directly communicating with your customers to increase your
product awareness. It could be done by any or all of the social media channels such as
LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Google, and YouTube. Some of the important
advantages of social media are as follows;

 Increase product awareness and reputation means more sales.

 Directly communicating with your customers can increase brand loyalty.
 You can increase the number of visits to your website and rank it up in the search engine.
 Targeting the exact audience will help you to know more about your customers’ needs.

 Video Marketing
It is said that a picture is worth a thousand words, and a video is worth thousands of pictures.
You can catch the attention and emotions of your target market by showing them a video clip
about your product or service. Video marketing is very effective if it conveys the right
message to the right audience.
 Article Marketing
Engaging quality content by providing valuable information to your targeted market, what
people are looking for over the internet to solve a certain problem? It is a consistent and
ongoing process of delivering quality content to your readers. It is not always about selling;
you’re educating your audience and helping them by adding some value in their lives.

 Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate marketing is the process of promoting some products of certain brands and earning
your commission out of every sale. It works for everyone; win, win situation.

Mobile Marketing (M-Marketing)

What Is Mobile Marketing?

Mobile marketing is any advertising activity that promotes products and services via mobile
devices, such as tablets and smartphones. It makes use of features of modern mobile
technology, including location services, to tailor marketing campaigns based on an individual's
location.

Mobile marketing is a way in which technology can be used to create personalized promotion of
goods or services to a user who is constantly connected to a network.

Types of Mobile Marketing

There is a variety of mobile marketing techniques to try for a business. Factors like your budget,
specific industry, and customer segment determine the success of the strategy. That said, below
are some mobile marketing options:

 Mobile App Marketing. Mobile apps allow businesses to include ads in specific mobile
application designs. Facebook is an excellent example of ads in an app.
 In-Game Advertisements. This approach refers to all advertisements on mobile devices
that pop up when certain games are opened or in progress. These ads can appear as full-
image ads, banner pop-ups, or video ads that show up during loading screens.
 Quick-Response Barcode (QR Codes). These barcodes are scanned using the camera of
a phone, and then the customers are redirected to the linked site from where they can see
more information regarding a particular brand.
 Mobile Banner Ads. These banners are pretty much the same as the ones on the desktop,
only that they are adequately smaller to fit on the screens of mobile devices.
 Proximity Or Bluetooth Marketing. With this approach, consumers get location-
specific ads enabled from the Bluetooth on their devices.
 Voice Marketing. This is when businesses use computer produced and automated calls
to promote their goods or services. It is up to the customer to decide whether to hang up
or listen to the phone call.
 SMS Marketing. This method of mobile marketing is, by far, the most common.
Marketers use this medium to reach out to customers with offers and other relevant
information via their mobile gadgets. SendPulse makes it possible by offering
professional features for effective mobile marketing.

Mobile Marketing Process:

1. Research your target customers

2. Leverage opportunities on social media
3. Set goals
4. Create mobile-friendly campaigns
5. Perform location-based marketing
6. Consider the unique features of mobile devices
7. Offer incentives
 1. Research your target customers. A marketer should conduct thorough research on their
consumer demographic to gather useful information such as what they like, the sites they
visit, the apps they use, and so forth. This information enables the marketer to create
effective ads.
2. Leverage opportunities on social media. To effectively push a brand, marketers should
create great ads that appeal to large numbers of social media users.
3. Set goals. Measuring the results and progress of a particular mobile marketing strategy is
only possible if the purposes of the campaign are set beforehand.
4. Create mobile-friendly campaigns. Since the aim is to push a brand via mobile devices,
it makes sense to create content, apps, or websites that are fit for mobile usage.
5. Perform location-based marketing. One of the most effective ways of minimizing the
bounce rate is by providing ads that are relevant to the target audience. Use tools such as
Google Trends, GPS, and apps like Google Local inventory to send out campaigns that
resonate with the target demographic.
6. Consider the unique features of mobile devices. Create ads that can be manipulated by
different mobile device features to make the user’s experience quite memorable. For
instance, rather than creating video ads that cannot be paused, one can put up an
advertisement that can be paused, rewound, forwarded, and so forth to enable customers
to get a clearer picture regarding a product.
7. Offer incentives. Providing some rewards or offers will encourage prospective
customers to take action.

CRM – CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT

The expression CRM has been used since the 1990s and earlier. It is an upright concept or a
strategy to solidify relations with customers at the same time reducing cost and enhancing
productivity and profitability of firm. CRM can be said as comprehensive set of processes and
technologies for managing the relations with potential and current customers and business
partners across marketing, sales, service regardless of communication channel. This concept of
CRM can be understood by following diagram
CRM has become the new buzzword of e-business. Many definitions move around IT and
technology. Some of the companies follow G-SPOT.

This stands for:

G = Goals
S = Strategies
P = Plans
O = Objectives
T = Tactics
Here is how it breaks down CRM.
1. Goals: Every business has clearly defined goals; such as profitability, worldwide recognition,
etc.
2. Strategies: To achieve goals, company defines strategies. It is plan of action for long run.
3. Plans: It is a short term executive plan to achieve goals.
4. Objectives: These are the measurable goals of each plan.
5. Tactics: This is what companies use to achieve the goals.

This is another diagram which indicates meaning of CRM:

So, simply stated CRM is about getting, keeping, growing customers. It ultimately results in
customer oriented attitude of companies. In past, CRM has been defined as automated process
and transactions. Today, CRM definition has changed. It is an enterprise transformation which
places the customer at the centre of all activity. The technology allows for companies to use
each interaction as a basis to gain knowledge about preferences, tastes and habits of customers
and upgrade the level of service for meaningful relationship in future.

Thus, to sum up CRM is a combination of software and business process. It tries to accomplish
a particular set of goals usually centred on growing top-line revenues. It is about creating
consistent customer history to convert customers into loyal and faithful customers and then
partners.

Definitions of CRM

CRMGuru.com (2003):

Defines CRM as, “a business strategy to select and manage customers to optimise long-term
value. It requires a customer centric business philosophy and culture to support effective
marketing, sales and service processes.” This definition can be well-explained with following
pyramid diagram which explains CRM must start with business strategy, which drives changes
in organisation and work processes which lastly turn enabled by information technology.

Peppers and Rogers (2004): “An enterprise-wide business strategy for achieving customer-
specific objectives by taking customer specific actions.”

Paul Greenberg (2004): (A father of CRM) “CRM is a philosophy and business strategy,
supported by a system and a technology, designed to improve human interactions in a business
environment.”

Features of CRM

Customer Relationship Management is a strategy which is customised by an organisation to

manage and administrate its customers and vendors in an efficient manner for achieving
excellence in business. It is primarily entangled with following features:

1. Customers Needs: An organisation can never assume what actually a customer needs. Hence
it is extremely important to interview a customer about all the likes and dislikes so that the
actual needs can be ascertained and prioritised. Without modulating the actual needs it is
arduous to serve the customer effectively and maintain a long-term deal.

2. Customers’ Response: Customer response is the reaction by the organisation to the queries
and activities of the customer. Dealing with these queries intelligently is very important as
small misunderstandings could convey unalike perceptions. Success totally depends on the
understanding and interpreting these queries and then working out to provide the best solution.
During this situation if the supplier wins to satisfy the customer by properly answering to his
queries, he succeeds in explicating a professional and emotional relationship with him.

3. Customer Satisfaction: Customer satisfaction is the measure of how the needs and responses
are collaborated and delivered to excel customer expectation. In today’s competitive business
marketplace, customer satisfaction is an important performance exponent and basic
differentiator of business strategies. Hence, the more is customer satisfaction; more is the
business and the bonding with customer.

4. Customer Loyalty: Customer loyalty is the tendency of the customer to remain in business
with a particular supplier and buy the products regularly. This is usually seen when a customer
is very much satisfied by the supplier and revisits the organisation for business deals, or when
he is tended towards rebuying a particular product or brand over times by that supplier. To
continue the customer loyalty the most important aspect an organisation should focus on is
customer satisfaction. Hence, customer loyalty is an influencing aspect of CRM and is always
crucial for business success.

5. Customer Retention: Customer retention is a strategic process to keep or retain the existing
customers and not letting them to diverge or defect to other suppliers or organisation for
business. Usually a loyal customer is tended towards sticking to a particular brand or product as
far as his basic needs continue to be properly fulfilled. He does not opt for taking a risk in going
for a new product. More is the possibility to retain customers the more is the probability of net
growth of business.

6. Customer Complaints: Always there exists a challenge for suppliers to deal with complaints
raised by customers. Normally raising a complaint indicates the act of dissatisfaction of the
customer. There can be several reasons for a customer to launch a complaint. A genuine reason
can also exist due to which the customer is dissatisfied but sometimes complaints are launched
due to some sort of misunderstanding in analysing and interpreting the conditions of the deal
provided by the supplier regarding any product or service. Handling these complaints to
ultimate satisfaction of the customer is substantial for any organisation and hence it is essential
for them to have predefined set of process in CRM to deal with these complaints and efficiently
resolve it in no time.

7. Customer Service: In an organisation Customer Service is the process of delivering

information and services regarding all the products and brands. Customer satisfaction depends
on quality of service provided to him by the supplier. The organisation has not only to elaborate
and clarify the details of the services to be provided to the customer but also to abide with the
conditions as well. If the quality and trend of service go beyond customer’s expectation, the
organisation is supposed to have a good business with customers. Let it be a newly brought up
enterprise or a well established organisation the above aspects prove to be of prime importance
in dealing with a genuine customer through a well organised CRM system.
CRM Cycle and CRM Programmes

There are six stages of relationship before exit with every customer and company. The stages of
relationship goes in

By having such strategies customer cycle can be implemented. The CRM cycle consists of
those stages which conform to the objectives laid down in its definition. CRM cycle starts from
acquisition of customers by creating value to them. Value to the customers will be created by
understanding them and their psychology towards buying. Following diagrams indicates CRM
cycle and CRM programmes.

1. Customer Need Assessment And Acquisition: This is the first step in every customer cycle
and programme. Some of the companies use traditional mass media to target customers and get
new customers. Also some companies target www channel as it captures mass altogether. The
needs of customers should be assessed so as to acquire new customers.

2. Customer Development Through Personalisation And Customisation: Companies

should use customisation and personalisation of product as needed by customers. This will help
in more customer retention and development of customers’ numbers to the firm.
3. Cross-Selling And Upselling: Cross selling is the action or practice of selling an additional
product or service to an existing customer. Many business also uses upselling as a technique
wherein a seller induces the customer to purchase more expensive items and other add-ons to
make more profitable sales. This techniques will further lead to acquisition and retention of
customers in CRM cycle and CRM programmes.

4. Customer Retention And Referrals For New Customers: Customer retention is the
activity to reduce the no. of customer defections. The goal of customer retention programmes is
to help companies to retain and keep many customers and create customer loyalty. From this
customer loyalty, company can get referrals from delighted customers as new customers. Thus,
the CRM cycle and programme either ends at customer migration or new cycle begins at the
referrals for new customers. CRM cycle can be also explained through following diagrams of
service level agreements or sales profile

1. Initial transaction is a stage of foundation of business. So, customer identification is the

basic task to be performed here and to serve them.

2. Repeat customers develop greater economic and emotional tie-up with company. More the
repeat customers, more retention with low cost involvement.

3. Customer advocates are most satisfied customers of company who gives or brings in more
customers by their referals or references.
Marketing Information System (MkIS)/(MIS)

A marketing information system is a platform for collecting, storing, analyzing, and distributing
important marketing data received from internal and external resources. It provides marketers
and other specialists with easy accessibility to accurate data that helps them make informed
decisions oriented on business growth.

Why is a marketing information system important?

Whether you are a marketer or a business owner, sooner or later, you need to take strategic
decisions to improve your product, increase your market share, attract new audiences, and
handle the competition. The most reliable foundation of any decision is data. With the help of
accurate information about your marketing environment, competitors, customers, and their
behavior, you'll manage to make better campaigns. The insights obtained from reports and
marketing research will prevent you from playing a guessing game and wasting your time and
budget in vain. The more complex your marketing information system, the more value you can
get from it.

Other benefits of using a marketing information system include the following ones:

 a thorough analysis of demand and supply;

 increased competitiveness and your market share;
 identifying business development opportunities;
 implementing consumer-oriented approach;
 identifying and managing business risks;
 improving the overall marketing strategy of your company;
 keeping an eye on your competition;
 better control of all marketing operations.

Components of Marketing Information System

These components form a holistic marketing information system. So, to make the most out of it,
you need to combine them effectively.

1. Internal records. This is the first and most easily obtainable type of information you can
get inside your organization. For this purpose, you need to monitor your cash flows,
employee costs, product inventory, sales, and marketing reports on the performance,
including current and past ones, credits, etc. Internal records include all the financial,
transactional, and marketing data from your performance reports.

2. Marketing research. This essential marketing information system component allows

you to state a specific problem as your current business goal and investigate all the details
necessary for developing its solution. If you are thinking of developing a new product,
 you should conduct marketing research. Then, based on your finding, you'll manage to
create a solution. Stating a problem lets marketers direct all their efforts into collecting a
particular type of data from the most meaningful sources.

3. Marketing intelligence. This type of data makes it possible to understand the current
situation and changes in the market, trends, competitors' strategies, recent innovations in
the market, and consumers' preferences. You can get it from external resources such as
journals, magazines, competitors' sites, marketplace overviews, press, partners, suppliers,
etc.

4. Marketing decision support system (MDSS). This data can be retrieved from special
analytics software and services that help marketers collect, store, and analyze data to
make better decisions. For example, you can use specific third-party platforms to carry
out market segmentation or discover the average costs spent on PPC advertising by
companies from your industry.

Characteristics / Features of MkIS

 Continuous system : MkIS is a permanent and continuous system of collecting

information. It collects information continuously.
 Basic objective : The basic objective of MIS is to provide the right-information at the
right-time to the right-people to help them take right decisions.
 Computer based system : MkIS is a computer-based system. It uses computers for
storing, analyzing and supplying information. It also uses micro-films for storing
information. Therefore, it is very quick and accurate.
 Future-oriented : MkIS is future-oriented. It provides information for solving future
problems. It is not past-oriented.
 Used by all levels : MkIS is used by all three levels of management, i.e. top, middle and
lower. It is used for making marketing plans, policies and strategies. This is used to solve
marketing problems and to take advantage of business opportunities.
 Sources : MIS collects information from both, internal and external sources. For example,
information is collected from company records, publications, etc.
 Collects marketing information : MIS collects all types of marketing information. It
collects information about the consumer competition, marketing environment, government
policies, etc. It supplies this information to the marketing managers.
 Helps in decision making : MIS supplies up-to-date and accurate information. It helps
marketing managers to take quick and right decisions.

Tasks Performed by an MIS

1. Data Collection
2. Data Evaluation
 3. Data Transformation
4. Data Transmission

Data Collection
The initial task in any MIS is a data-collection activity, which is not really a single action.
Rather, it comprises several processes, each designed to obtain particular data used for unique
purposes.
The type and amount of data collected depend on how much is available and how much
information executives want and are willing to pay for.
Data Evaluation
An MIS includes an activity to evaluate the relevance and accuracy of collected data.
Data are raw facts whose value to decision-makers is uncertain. On the other hand, the
information comprises facts whose accuracy has been measured and is in a usable form and
considered useful to decision-makers.
Data Transformation
Ideally, data coming into an MIS should be in a form that can be used immediately.
However, this seldom occurs. Some data must be analyzed through statistical testing; others
have to be broken apart or combined somehow. Nearly all data will need to be condensed and
placed in the formats the users’ desire.
Data Transmission
All the MIS operations are worthless if the information is not transmitted to the right people on
time. To ensure that information does not get lost, distorted, or unnecessarily delayed in
transmission, a dissemination activity is required.
Information can be routed by intraoffice or intracompany mail, or different sophisticated
electronic mediums can transmit it. If left to an informal process, the information will almost
surely be lost or delayed.

Marketing Planning

Definition: Marketing Planning provides the framework of the advertising and marketing
efforts made for the business. It describes the role and responsibilities of a marketing manager
to accomplish the objectives of the company. It gives prominence to the distribution of
marketing resources pleasantly and economically and provides a creative direction for
marketing operations.

Marketing planning consists of the policies, programs, budgets, marketing mix, historical data,
current market position and future predictions of the business. However, a good marketing plan
also requires a solid marketing strategy as without a proper marketing strategy marketing plan
cannot become useful for the business.

Types of Marketing Planning

Following are the types of marketing planning:

1. Long -Term Marketing Planning

The planning made to achieve the long-term goals of an organization is known as long-term
marketing planning. It involves deep research of the market conditions and thus handled by the
top-level management of the organization. It is based on the precise strategies set up by the
entrepreneurs, considering all the future possibilities and risk factors.

2. Short –Term Marketing Planning

Such planning is done for a short period of time, i.e., for less than one year, for meeting the
recurring problems of the business and does not require high-level efficiency. Thus, it is made
by the middle-level management of the organization.

Steps Involved in Marketing Planning

Following are the steps involved in marketing planning:

Step 1
Situation Analysis: This section defines your company and its products or services, such as
market summary, competition, product offering, SWOT analysis, and keys to success and
critical issues.

Step 2
Describe your Target Audience: Develop a simple profile of your prospective customers like
influencers they follow, websites they visited, e-mails they opened, blogs and articles they have
read, products they have bought, the content they have downloaded, venues they have checked
into and searches they have conducted. You can describe prospects in terms of demo graphs of
age, sex, family components. It will help in media and public campaigns.

Step 3
List your Marketing Goals: Make a shortlist of What marketing strategies are to be followed?
What do you want your marketing plan to achieve? And keep checking what you have achieved
and What you have to achieve?

Step 4
Develop the Marketing Communications Strategies and Tactics: It’s time to detail the
tactics you will use to accomplish your goals. Outline your primary marketing strategies, then
include a variety of tactics you will use, such as specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and
timely tactics.

Step 5
Set your Marketing Budget: Setting your marketing budget is inexpensive and gives high
returns. Marketing is essential to the success of your business. Thus, you need to develop a
percentage of projected gross sales to your annual marketing budget.
Importance of Marketing Planning

Marketing Planning is an organized and analytical exercise to develop marketing strategies. It

may have a connection with the company as a whole or to strategic business units (SBU). It is a
progressive exercise that describes the future strategies of a company with special reference to
its product expansion, channel design, sales promotion and experience. We can now outline the
significance of marketing planning in the following points:

1. It helps in avoiding future uncertainties.

2. It helps in obtaining governance by objectives.
3. It helps in obtaining targets.
4. It helps in managing the arrangement and connections among various departments.
5. It helps in controlling the activities of the organization.
6. It helps consumers in obtaining satisfaction.

Benefits of Marketing Planning

It has the following benefits:

1. It encourages successful marketing actions.

2. Marketing planning helps to harmonize activities that can expedite the achievement of
targets over time.
3. It obliges management to evaluate the future in an organized way.
4. Resources can be more equitable, respecting identified market events.
5. Planning gives a framework for an ongoing check to operations. It will allow the
company to provide more attention to market expansion instead of market maintenance.
6. It helps to examine performance, take advantage of strength, minimize weakness and
risks and lastly, open up new opportunities.
7. Marketing planning can be recommended to minimize the threats of failure.
8. It decreases the conflicting results of unfavourable circumstances above the control of the
management.
9. Marketing planning benefits an extensive view of the company and acts as a process of
communication and co-ordination amidst the marketing department and other
departments.
10.Greater alertness to make a change can be stimulated. Marketing strategy is equal to the
marketing sense by which the business unit wishes to attain its marketing objectives.

Components of Marketing Planning

It has the following Components:

1. The success of marketing planning depends on individual behaviour and response.

2. It is complex in nature as it includes the past, present and future predictions of the
company.
 3. Marketing resolutions have long term holdings on efficiency, profitability and market
position of a company.
4. It is an explicit and organized approach towards the planning of all marketing actions
such as price setting, product positioning, distribution channels etc.
5. Marketing planning as an analytical action need thinking, imagination and foresight.
Market projection, market analysis, consumer behaviour analysis, direct marketing
outcomes are based on data and measurement drawn from internal and external
environments.
6. It is a progressive and changing process design to develop market-oriented or customer-
oriented business activities.
7. Marketing planning is concerned with two things, first is, refraining from incorrect
activities, and second is, diminishing frequency of failure to achievement. Hence, it has
both an expectant and a fatalistic component.
8. The marketing department of the company handles all the marketing planning on the basis
of the proposals given by the distinct divisions of their department; considering all
suggestions; marketing plans are developed.
9. It is a procedure of determining in advance what to do and how to do it. If the marketing
executive wishes to attain a target market at a near-future date and if he wants some time
to determine what to do and how to do it, he must create the relevant marketing decisions
earlier than taking actions.
10.Marketing planning is often a decision-making procedure. It is a program of marketing-
based activities concerning the future with the object of underrate risk and ambiguity and
producing a set of interconnecting decisions.

Marketing Audit
Definition: The Marketing Audit refers to the comprehensive, systematic, analysis, evaluation
and the interpretation of the business marketing environment, both internal and external, its
goals, objectives, strategies, principles to ascertain the areas of problem and opportunities and
to recommend a plan of action to enhance the firm’s marketing performance.

Definition: Marketing Audit is an overall analysis of a company’s marketing strategies and

objectives in a systematic manner so as to find out the problematic areas and opportunities
and urging a plan to improvise the company’s marketing performance. It is essential as it
analyzes the external and internal situations.

The marketing audit is generally conducted by a third person, not a member of an

organization.

The firm conducting the Marketing Audit should keep the following points in mind:
  The Audit should be Comprehensive, i.e. it should cover all the areas of marketing
where the problem persists and do not take a single marketing problem under the
consideration.
 The Audit should be Systematic, i.e. an orderly analysis and evaluation of firm’s micro
& macro environment, marketing principles, objectives, strategies and other operations
that directly or indirectly influences the firm’s marketing performance.
 The audit should be Independent; the marketing audit can be conducted in six ways:
self-audit, audit from across, audit from above, company auditing office, company task-
force audit, and outsider audit.The best audit is the outsider audit; wherein the auditor is
the external party to an organization who works independently and is not partial to
anyone.
 The audit should be Periodical; generally, the companies conduct the marketing audit
when some problem arises in the marketing operations. But it is recommended to have a
regular marketing audit so that that problem can be rectified at its source.

Components of Marketing Audit

1. Macro-Environment Audit: It includes all the factors outside the firm that influences
the marketing performance. These factors are Demographic, Economic, Environmental,
Political, and Cultural.
2. Task Environment Audit: The factors closely associated with the firm such as Markets,
Customers, Competitors, Distributors and Retailers, Facilitators and Marketing Firms, Public
etc.that affects the efficiency of the marketing programs.
 3. Marketing Strategy Audit: Checking the feasibility of Business Mission, Marketing
Objectives and Goals and Marketing Strategies that have a direct impact on the firm’s
marketing performance.
4. Marketing Organization Audit: Evaluating the performance of staff at different levels
of hierarchy.
5. Marketing Systems Audit: Maintaining and updating several marketing systems such as
Marketing Information System, Marketing Planning System, Marketing Control System and
New-Product Development System.
6. Marketing Productivity Audit: Evaluating the performance of the Marketing activities
in terms of Profitability and Cost-Effectiveness.
7. Marketing Function Audit: Keeping a check on firm’s core competencies such as
Product, Price, Distribution, Marketing Communication and Sales Force.

Marketing Strategic Planning Process

Marketing Strategic Planning means to plan all the activities of a business to ensure competitive
advantages and profitability. Marketing Strategic planning involves adapting the firm to take
advantage of opportunities in its constantly changing marketing environment.

Marketing Strategic planning engages a firm to take advantages from the available opportunities
in frequently changing marketing environment.

Steps in Marketing Strategic Planning

Following are the steps in marketing strategic planning

1. Defining The Company Mission

2. Setting Company Objective and Goals
3. Establishing Strategic Units (SBUs)
4. Performing Situational Analysis
5. Developing Marketing Strategy
6. Implementing Planning
7. Feed back

1. Defining the Company Mission Statement

Frist step in marketing strategic planning is defining the company mission statement. Mission
statement a statement of organization’s purpose, what it wants to accomplish in the larger
environment. The mission statement should be base on the following facts that it should be:
  Market oriented rather than product oriented
 Realistic
 Specific
 Fit the market environment
 Base on its distinctive competencies
 Motivating

2. Company Objectives and Goals

After to define company’s mission, the second step in marketing strategic planning is the
company objectives and goals for each level of management, and the managers will responsible
to achieve them. Marketing strategies are necessary to support these marketing objectives. If
increase its market shares, the company should increase its products availability and promotion.
To take place in new markets it should cut its prices. The company’s mission is translated into a
set of objectives for the current period.

The objectives should be

 Specific and stated

 Achievable
For example “To increase our market share to 10% in one year”

3. Establishing Strategic Business Units

Most companies operate several businesses. A business must be viewed as a customer satisfying
process, not a goods producing process. A business can be defined in three dimensions
Customer Group, Customer Needs & Technology. Large companies manage variety of
businesses for each business a strategy is needed. For instance there are 49 Strategic Business
Units of General Electronic and there are three main characteristics of every SBU.

 It is single business or collection of related business that can be planned separately the rest
of the company.
 It has it own set of competitors.
 It has a manager who is responsible for strategic planning and profit performance.

4. Performing Situation Analysis

Performing situation analysis is the fourth step of marketing strategic planning. In performing
situation analysis a business analyze both internal and external environment.

Internal Environment

Each Business needs to evaluate its internal environment (Strengths and weaknesses)
periodically. A company management or consultant review marketing, financial,
manufacturing and organizational competitors and evaluate each factor as a major or
minor strength and major or minor weakness.
 External Environment

In External Environment the company analysis (opportunities & Threats), once the
company examine its opportunities & threats which facing a specific business unit, it
characterized it business in four outcomes business overall attractiveness.

1. An ideal business is high in opportunities and low in threats.

2. A speculative business in both major opportunities and threats.
3. A mature business is low in major opportunities and low in threats.
4. A troubled business is low in opportunities and high in threats.

5. Marketing Strategy
Strategy is the fifth setp of marketing strategic planning. Strategy is a game plan for getting the
objectives. Every business must plan a strategy and achieve its objectives. Consisting of all
marketing strategy and compatible technology strategy and sourcing strategy.

Types of Marketing Strategy

 Overall Cost Leadership

In this strategy the business work hard for low production and distribution cost. So
it price lower and win market share.
 Differentiation
The businesses try to achieve superior performance in an important customers
benefits area valued by large part of market.
 Focus
Here business focuses one or more narrow market segments. The firm gets to
know these segments either cost leadership or differentiation within the target
segment.

6. Implementing Planning
A clear strategy may be useless if the firm fails to implement it carefully. In this stage
managers will work a lot and get work from their subordinates. Successful marketing
implementation depends on who well the company blends its people, organization structure,
decision and reward system, and company culture into a cohesive action program that supports
its strategies. The company’s formal organization structure plays an important role in
implementation marketing strategy. The best example is Mckinesy 7s framework for successful
implementation.

7. Feedback of Marketing Strategic Planning

After implementing its strategy the firm needs to track the result and monitor new developments
in external and internal environment.
AIDA Model
The AIDA model is an acronym - it stands for attention, interest, desire and action. It is a
model used in marketing that describes the steps a customer goes through in the process of
purchasing a product. The AIDA model has been in use since the late 19th century.

What Is the AIDA Model?

It is a model used in marketing that describes the steps a customer goes through in the process
of purchasing a product. The AIDA model has been in use since the late 19th century. It has
been reviewed and modified multiple times over the years, both in marketing and public
relations.

History of AIDA Model

The AIDA model was developed by the American businessman, E. St. Elmo Lewis, in 1898.
The original main purpose was to optimize sales calls, specifically the interaction between seller
and buyer concerning the product.

Lewis can be considered a pioneer when it comes to the use of scientific methods for designing
advertising and sales processes. At the same time, it was very important for Lewis to view
advertising as a type of “training” that assisted the beneficiary. Lewis’s theoretical explanations
of advertising theory rested on extensive experience. He was, for example, marketing head at
various companies and advised organizations as well as companies involved in the conception
of advertising measures and campaigns. He has shared his knowledge in the form of various
publications — both in written form and in seminars at US universities. His AIDA model can
be perceived as an important legacy, because the formula is still used more than 100 years after
its first appearance, for example in digital marketing.

The AIDA Model Hierarchy

The steps involved in an AIDA model are:

 Attention: The first step in marketing or advertising is to consider how to attract the
attention of consumers.
 Interest: Once the consumer is aware that the product or service exists, the business must
work on increasing the potential customer’s interest level.

For example, Disney boosts interest in upcoming tours by announcing stars who will be
performing on the tours.

 Desire: After the consumer is interested in the product or service, then the goal is to
make consumers desire it, moving their mindset from “I like it” to “I want it.”
For example, if the Disney stars for the upcoming tour communicate to the target audience
about how great the show is going to be, the audience is more likely to want to go.

 Action: The ultimate goal is to drive the receiver of the marketing campaign to initiate
action and purchase the product or service.

Therefore, the AIDA model says that Awareness leads to Interest, which leads to Desire, and
finally, Action.

Let us consider ways to use the AIDA model by looking into each part of the hierarchy.

First Step: Attention

Often, the attention part is overlooked by many marketers. It is assumed that the product or
service already got the attention of the consumers – which may or may not be the case. In any
event, don’t just assume that everyone is already aware of your product. One of the best
approaches to attracting consumer attention is what’s called “creative disruption” – breaking
existing patterns of behavior through a highly creative message. This can be done in several
ways:

 Placing advertisements in unexpected situations or locations. This is often referred to as

guerrilla marketing.
 Creating shock in advertisements through provocative imagery.
 An intensely targeted message. This is also referred to as personalization.

Essentially, the goal is to make consumers aware that a product or service exists.

Second Step: Interest

Creating interest is generally the hardest part. For example, if the product or service is not
inherently interesting, this can be very difficult to achieve. Make sure that advertising
information is broken up and easy to read, with interesting subheadings and illustrations. Focus
on what is most relevant for your target market in relation to your product or service, and on
conveying only the most important message you want to communicate to consumers.

A good example of this is Wendy’s “Where’s the beef?” ad campaign that focused on the fact
that Wendy’s hamburgers contained more beef than their competitors’ hamburgers.

Third Step: Desire

The second and third steps of the AIDA model go together. As you are hopefully building
interest in a product or service, it is important that you help customers realize why they “need”
this product or service.
Think about how the content in infomercials is presented – they aim to provide interesting
information on the product, along with the benefits of buying it – benefits that ideally make
consumers want the product more and more. Infomercials do this extremely well by showing
the product being used in several creative situations. Convey to the audience the value of the
product or service, and why they need it in their life.

Fourth Step: Action

The last step of the AIDA model is getting your consumer to initiate action. The advertisement
should end with a call to action – a statement that is designed to get an immediate response
from the consumer. For example, Netflix uses persuasive text to convince the consumer to try
their free trial. Netflix communicates how convenient their product is and highlights its value,
then urges consumers to sign up for a free trial.

Good advertising should elicit a sense of urgency that motivates consumers to take action
RIGHT NOW. One commonly used method for achieving this goal is making limited-time
offers (such as free shipping).

Modern Media V/S Traditional Media

What is Traditional Media?

Traditional media refers to everything that runs via traditional media channels such as
television, radio, newspaper, magazine etc. When you look at a TV commercial or listen to
the radio or read a magazine or newspaper, you’re experiencing marketing through traditional
media channels. Traditional media are predominantly push media where the message
is broadcast from company to customer and other stakeholders. Traditional media has been a
part of our culture for over half a century. Traditional media proved to be a powerful tool in the
process of making learning and teaching more effective and interesting. In traditional media, the
sender usually decides what to publish, broadcast or telecast, while the receiver always receives
the information. In private organizations, the owners are usually responsible for the content or
material published.

Examples of Traditional Media

Traditional media include radio, broadcast television, cable and satellite, print, and billboards.
These are the forms of advertising that have been around for years, and many have had success
with traditional media campaigns.
Even within traditional media, however, there is some debate over which form is best. The
answer really depends on who you talk to– your broadcast TV rep, for example, may swear
there is no way to achieve the same level of reach and frequency with print advertising. Your
radio rep may tell you that radio is actually superior because it interacts with consumers while
they are in the car or store, potentially when they are deciding on their purchase.

What is Modern Media?

Modern media is a form of electronic communication that enables users to create and share
information, ideas, messages, and content via social networking websites and applications.
However, the term ‘social media’ is often used interchangeably with ‘social network’. In fact,
social network is a concept that was around long before the advent of the internet. Social
network refers to a group of people who know each other or connected in some way. Today, the
terms ‘social networking site’ or ‘social networking service’ are a little outdated, but they
essentially refer to the same services as ‘social media’. Social media is now mainstream media,
but it is difficult to define it accurately because there are exceptions to every definition. It
differentiates itself by being interactive – a two-way communication. Social media includes
websites that are available for social networking.

Relationship between Traditional Media and New Media

In spite of the way it’s often positioned, traditional and new media do not have to go head to
head. These mediums can actually be used together to make your advertising campaign stronger
than ever. Traditional and new media can complement one another, with each playing a vital
role.

To help that concept hit home, let’s look at an example. Say, for a moment, that you own a hair
salon and are trying to grow your business. Your target demographic is women ages 18+, and
you would especially like to reach mothers whose children need a haircut. You are currently
using your entire advertising budget on print and radio, and have seen some return on your
investment, but would like to see more.

One way you could achieve that is to spread out your advertising dollars. Imagine your
advertising budget as a pie. Each form of media is one piece of the pie, so right now your pie
has two pieces: one for print, and one for radio. What if you cut the pie into six pieces, however,
and added in a couple of other forms of media. New media, as we’ll get into a little later, tends
to be much more affordable than traditional advertising.
You could take some of the radio and print dollars and shift them into targeted mobile ads,
sponsored social media posts, and banner ads, and you would exponentially increase your reach.

Traditional Media vs New Media

While traditional and new media can go hand-in-hand, there are a few reasons why you should
consider adding new media to your mix over expanding your use of traditional media.
 Value
New media is often far less expensive than traditional media. Not only do you pay
less for your advertisement, but you also pay less per person that you reach.
 Communication/ Interaction
New media tends to be much more interactive than traditional media, as well. New
forms of media such as social media allow for direct communication and
interaction between business and consumer.
 Data-Driven
New media is highly data driven. You have access to exactly how many eyeballs
saw your banner ad, for example, or how many people visited your webpage.
 Level Playing Field
Social media, in particular, provides a level playing field for all businesses. It
doesn’t take exorbitant amounts of money to grow your business using social
media.
 Cost Efficient
On a related note, new media is also more cost-efficient. Spending money on new
media will likely yield a higher reach than spending the same amount of money on
traditional media.
 Accuracy
An added bonus of new media is the accuracy of its results. Unlike with TV ratings,
new media allows you to comb over results that show you exactly how many
people saw your ad, how long they viewed your ad for, and whether or not it led to
a click-through.
 Trust
Having a presence on social media allows businesses to establish a sense of trust
with consumers. We tend to trust our friends, and if a consumer follows you on
social media it implies that same sense of trust. This also helps promote effective
word of mouth advertising.
 Real-Time Results
Unlike traditional media, the results you receive from new media are often in real-
time. That allows you to make instant changes to your creative in order to achieve
maximum effectiveness. It also gives new media a leg up over traditional, where it
often takes time to see the results of a campaign.
 Global Reach
 New media has a global reach, whereas traditional media tends to be highly
regional. With new media, you are able to reach the entire globe for a fraction of
the cost.
 Choice of Audience
New media is highly targeted, and just about everyone uses it. That means you can
have your choice of audience.
 Virality
Truly effective new media has the potential to go viral. Your content could be
shared with millions of people, boosting both your credibility and your image.
 Effect on Consumers
New media can make consumers feel as if businesses and brands are accessible–
almost as if they are friends. Traditional media promotes more separation between
consumers and businesses.
 Amount of Usage
In today’s world, consumers simply interact more with new media than traditional
media. People tend to spend an ever-increasing amount of time engaging with their
cell phone, and less and less time watching TV or listening to the radio.
 Ability to Track Results / Result Tracking
When it comes to new media, the results are highly trackable. You can see exactly
what demographics your ads are scoring big with, and which ones you’re missing.
 Mobility
New media follows the consumer wherever they are. It can follow them right into
your store.
 Adaptability
New media is adaptable. You can easily switch out the content and creative of an ad
or create a new sponsored social media post.
 Run Multiple Campaigns at Once
New media allows you to run campaigns with multiple different creatives at the
same time. This allows you to better target all demographics.
 Ease of Use
Although new media can be pretty daunting at first, once you learn it, it’s actually
easy to use. The results are easy to understand, and the sites are easy to navigate.
 Targeting Capabilities
New media is excellent if you are trying to target specific individuals or
demographics. The targeting capabilities go far beyond that of traditional media.
 Customization & Personalization
New media can be easily customized to meet your business’s needs.
 Marketing
Traditional media is a form of outbound marketing, where businesses send their
message out to consumers. New media is a form of inbound marketing, where
businesses interact with individuals who sought them out. Inbound marketing tends
to provide more willing consumers than outbound marketing.
 Engagement
 New media allows for more engagement with consumers. Whether it’s social media
or a targeted banner ad that asks the consumer a question, new media opens the
lines of communication between business and consumer.

Mobile Advertising

What is Mobile Advertising?

By definition, mobile advertising refers to any form of advertising that appears on

smartphones and mobile devices such as tablets and e-readers. It includes all the interactive
channels that are used by the advertisers to communicate or promote brand information,
news or offers, through mobile devices or networks.

Mobile advertising can include anything from SMS offers, banner advertisements on
websites, ads on downloaded apps and games, and much more. The goal of the marketer
here is to ensure continuous engagement with the consumers by means of different types of
updates.

Few Examples of Mobile Advertising

Mobile advertising is very common in our daily life, sometimes apparent and sometimes not
so apparent. Mobile ads examples include Instagram Story Ads that pop-up in between your
connection’s stories, text and image ads on Facebook, Carousel Ads, Snapchat Filters and
Ads, video ads on YouTube, ads in-between playing videos or games, notifications from our
downloaded apps, while browsing mobile websites and much more.

Benefits of Mobile Advertising

 Large Audience: Research suggests that as much as 79% of people always have
their smartphones with them. Further, it is no surprise that most of us are always
online via mobile devices, be it social media, online shopping, emails or something
else. This makes for a huge potential customer base that brands can target.
 Low Cost: Mobile advertising costs way lower than conventional channels such as
TV or print media. There are a wide variety of types of mobile media that you can
use to affordably connect with your brand.
 Easy Tracking: With the advancement in technology, tracking the performance of
your mobile advertising campaign is now very easy. It offers quick and complete
 analytics of data metrics such as impressions, click-through rate, likes, shares,
audience demographics and much more.
 Quick Response: Since the target audience is almost always near to the devices, or
watching the screens, response time is very quick. Either the ads will be acted upon
or rejected in a miniscule time frame.
 Geo Targeting: Once you have analyzed the received data and user demographics,
it becomes very easy to selectively target that segment of your audience which is
more likely to respond or engage in a particular advertisement.
 Higher Conversion Rates: Thanks to the advanced targeting options, consumers
receive ads that are of some benefit to them, hence, they are also more likely to
respond to them and complete the call to action.

Types of Mobile Advertising

There are many types of mobile ads, most important of which include:

 Push Notifications: The pop-ups that appear on a mobile device, delivered both while
the user is active on the app and also when the user is not active.
 Banner Ads: The most common type of mobile ads, which can be seen embedded on a
website or an app. These include text ads, images, graphics or a mix of all 3.
 Interstitial Ads: These are full-screen videos or graphics that are usually placed at app
transition points. Have you ever observed an image or short video coming up when you
watch videos or while playing games. These are interstitial mobile ads.
 Video Ads: Video advertising is a very powerful tool for any company that helps users
when they are in the decision-making process. Interactive mobile video advertising
delivers a complete visual experience, allowing the user to feel closer to the product or
service in question.
 Native Ads: Native ads are similar to banner ads but are displayed within the app’s
natural environment so that they blend in with the flow and become less likely to be
treated as advertisements.
 Location-Based Ads: These are marketing messages that are sent to the website or app
visitors depending on the geographical presence of the visitor.
 SMS Ads: SMS ads are efficient for broadcasting purposes, for a wide reach, because
they are supported by major network carriers and are compatible on most mobile phones.
SMS ads are also easy to create and understand by consumers.

Social Media Advertising

Social media advertising is a type of digital marketing that utilizes social networks such as
Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram to deliver paid ads to your target audience. Social media ads
are a quick and effective way to connect with your consumers and boost your marketing
campaigns.
By leveraging various data sources, advertisers are able to hyper-target their audiences and
deliver personalized content based on demographics and user behavior. When an audience is
introduced to a brand on social media, advertisers may see more interactions and conversions.
Social media ads are also cost-effective, offering the potential for high rates of return.

Social advertising is a must if you want to quickly reach new target markets. More and
more companies — including the world’s top-performing brands — utilize social media ads
to grow their companies and reach out to new consumers. To keep up with the competition, it’s
important to learn how these ads work and how they can benefit your company.