Introduction
The world has transformed due to new technology and the marketing strategies have been redesigned. The increased use of internet is becoming the marketing tool for most organizations. Email marketing and use of social network have been adopted. This report will answer why it is important to use e- marketing and how to build trustworthiness. The report will also cover the changes in advertising strategies to target social networks.
Importance of trustworthiness for web pages and how it can be built
Every company embarking on e-marketing should build trustworthiness of their sites to the viewers. Trustworthiness is paramount because the internet users fear things like online payments (Internet Marketing Indonesia Journal, 1). Karimi and colleagues (pg 1) argue that for a company to make sales online there is dire need to build trustworthiness of their sites.
This will enable the company to create loyal customers online. The customers would want to have a functioning website (not the one going on and off), a website with a good appearance, and one that is recognized and with good reputation in the industry. Through trustworthy sites, companies will be able to create repeat purchases and referrals from the existing customers.
Building trustworthiness
There are many ways through which trust for a business operating online can be built. It is important for an online business to have a professional website. In this web site, the information in it should be carefully written in order to avoid grammar mistakes or omission of important information (Email marketing journal Para 2).
It should also be updated often and the time taken for the pages to load should be checked. The company should ensure that the clients are not frustrated by the time taken for the pages to load by ensuring that the pages do so quickly.
It is easy for the clients also to trust a company that they know well. The clients can learn more about the online business through the information that the company itself avails in their web site. Any online company that wishes to have their clients build trust in them should therefore offer as much information as possible.
This may include information like the company’s history and their contacts for example phone numbers and address. This is important to the clients in case they need to contact the company.
Another way that companies can use to build trust is liaising with well known companies which people have trust in. such companies can approve their products or the use of their brand name.
When advertising any product, the online company should avail enough information about the product. They should not have some hidden charges which the clients are not aware of. This is because it can be very frustrating for the clients when they find out that they were cheated into buying a certain product. It is also important for the company to give information about the product they are advertising.
The clients should also be guaranteed of security. This is especially useful to the clients who are not very conversant with the technicalities involved in online shopping.
The customers should be assured that the server they are using is secure to carry out their transactions. The company should also be flexible in the avenues used to get to their customers by giving them other options they can use to make their transactions for example phone numbers.
Respect of the customers’ privacy is also vital in building trust. The company should avoid asking for unnecessary private information in orders to serve the clients.
If the clients are not comfortable to disclose some information and the company knows that they can serve them without the information, then it should stop insisting on being given the information. In case the company needs the information, it should patiently explain to the clients why it needs the information and guarantee them of confidentiality of such information.
Clients should also be given an opportunity to contact the on line company. This can help especially when a client needs personal help maybe due to a problem encountered while trying to carry out a transaction. Also, being able to talk to a person who can help them makes them increase their trust in a company because they know that their needs will be adequately addressed.
Organizations build trust displaying the range of products and their names. A display of all services and goods can be made available to enable consumers choose the product that suit them Ojha (pg 1).
They can order and obtain the goods or service with arrangements done via the internet. For this reason the cost implications are drastically reduced. E- Marketing gives the consumers a wide range of information for them to make informed choices.
Communication is easy and can be made any time of the day. As long as there is internet connectivity one can access the website and get the information. Consequently, it is possible to send requests and receive answers even outside working hours. It is possible to get response about products thorough emails (Ojha pg1).
Trustworthiness is achieved by establishing good communication. When an organization gets a list of emails, they should establish if they are genuine. Then if genuine, they can go ahead and begin a relationship. The first emails to be sent must give a good impression of the organization. Notions that would make the customer deduce that they are after making profits are avoided.
The organization should set up a system of response for enquiries that will be sent. As a result, the system of the organization must be set up and be working before sending. After getting the response, the organization must answer questions as soon as possible. Communication should be maintained to keep the customers (Ask Mike the Mentor; Para 3).
While sending the email, the marketer can avail contacts of the organization. They can invite the customer to visit the organization website in the advertisement. They may also include pictures of the organization and those of the management.
The organization can provide information on activities and involvements in other areas like leisure activities. Besides inviting the customers, the organization can encourage the customer to reach them whenever they need any assistance (Ask Mike the Mentor; Para 3).
The change in advertising strategies to target social networks
Social media have changed their strategies of advertising significantly. For example, it is possible for one to use a short video clip when advertising using the YouTube.
Although it is a relatively new social media, coming to market around 2005, the YouTube is very popular for hosting videos for free and hence it has become very popular tool for those who wish to market their product effectively. This has been especially useful to people in the movie industry and other businesses that require such services.
Creation of different sites for different target groups has also been useful to the people who would wish to use social media for marketing purposes.
There are sites where professionals can get specific information about their field, others for those who just want information in general or for the people involved in research. With such groupings, marketing becomes easy because companies know their target group when doing on line marketing.
The use of social bookmarking sites is also rising in popularity among those interested in online marketing. It gives information about people using the social network sites like facebook and twitter who make use of tags in order to provide information about sites that have the majority of people visiting it.
The tagging helps in sharing of information with other people who might be in the same group. By using this method, information is spread rapidly and in the case of marketing, it becomes a very effective tool.
The world is changing and advertising has changed as pointed out by Hensel and Deis (pg 5). There is more use of the internet and so creating social network is inevitable. In traditional advertising the customer was dormant, they hardly had a chance to react and give feedback other than in buying. With advertising in the social media, customers can interact with the organization and other customers.
Examples of the social media include: face book, twitter and you tube among others. The ability of the customer to interact with the company and other customers through social media was not present while using other traditional methods. Through the use of social media, one is able to know what others are saying about a certain product
Companies are taking advantage of the many social networks that are accessible to many people globally to market their products (Dorine and Karla pg 6). This is a change for the social networks which in the past were not used very much for business purposes but just for communication. This is a recent change that most businesses that have high targets are using because of the return that social media offers.
Companies are using this marketing strategy because there are many people using the social media and therefore, it becomes very easy for their products to be known by many people not only locally but also globally because many people can access this information.
Apart from just reaching many customers hence increasing the profit margins of a company, using social media is also helpful to companies because it can help create new partnerships with other companies (Alkemade, and Castaldi pg 3).
It is therefore possible to meet potential business partners through social media which is helpful to both companies. Many companies are turning to the use of these sites to meet both potential customers and business partners. Conventional ways of marketing like the use of print media are slowly dying away.
Advertising is much easier and more informative in the social networks (Kelly, Kerr and Drennan, Para 3). People only enquire about the usefulness of a product to people in the social network without having to try it themselves. One needs to post a question and get different views.
The different views that one obtain assist them to make a decision. Besides being easy, social networks save time and money. One advert can be viewed by so many. The people in a social network can send invitations to view the advert or even send the advert (The Cracking the Code of Marketing, 1).
Conclusion
E-marketing is fast, saves on time and cost as well as reaches many people at once. An organization can achieve trustworthiness by maintaining good communication, giving a good impression of the business in the first instance, maintain customers, respond to questions and provide contacts.
Since the introduction of social networks, the advertisers have taken advantage of the conversational nature used in the social net work to give information.
Works Cited
Alkemade, Floortje and Castaldi Carolina. Strategies for the diffusion of innovation on Social networks, 2005. Web.
Ask Mike the Mentor. Email Marketing- Build Trust with Your New Subscribers, 2011. Web.
Cracking the Code of Marketing. Why Social Network Engagement is About Conversations, 2011. Web.
Dorine C. Andrews and Karla N. Haworth. Online Customer Service Chat: Usability and Sociability: Issues Journal of Internet Marketing, 2010. Web.
Email marketing journal. Importance Of Mobile Email Marketing, 2011. Web.
Hensel, Kyle and Deis, Michael H. Using social media to increase advertising and improve marketing. Entrepreneurial Executive Journal, vol 15, 2010. Web.
Internet Marketing Indonesia Journal. The Importance Of Web Directories, 2009. Web.
Karimi, Yasmin., Jozef, Simon., E-marketeam, Traversi., Antona, Pauline and Konov, Todor. The importance of e- marketing for any business organization, 2009. Web.
Kelly, Louise, Kerr, Gayle and Drennan, Judy. Avoidance of Advertising Sites: Teenage Perspective. Journal of Interactive Advertising Vol 10, 2, 2010.
Ojha, Jhanvi. Explain the Importance of Email-Marketing, 2011. Web.