Introduction
Over the past several decades, the world has seen fast growth in technology. Companies in the hardware and software development fields have extensively invested in innovative ideas. They have also enhanced their understanding of devices and how to make life simpler for technology users.
MediaFire is one of the companies that have identified the opportunity presented by the internet through social media, data sharing, and file sharing. The company differentiates itself in the field by developing a platform that allows users of different technological devices to back-up different files.
The company focuses on enabling its consumers to save their files for security purposes, and it has also developed a channel that allows the customers to share the files with their friends. File sharing in the current state of technological growth is the biggest challenge because of the space required in gadgets, and the ability to share important files fast and easy.
MediaFire has taken up the challenge to provide its users with the most secure, easy-to-use, and fast way to back-up and share files. The system allows its users to save and share software, music, documents, and many other digital files.
The company has developed user applications to simplify the use of the system. The applications are compatible with different operating systems to ensure that customers with computers, tablets, mobile phones, and other internet-enabled gadgets. This paper looks to highlight the opportunities and threats that exist in MediaFire’s cloud.
Market size
The market size of the company has been on an increasing trend owing to the fast consumption of internet-enabled mobile phones across the world. More people in the emerging markets for smartphone developers are acquiring mobile phones that can accommodate the free MediaFire application. According to the company’s website, there are more than 150 million people using the MediaFire on a monthly basis.
The cloud system is yet to be introduced to a large number of people across the globe; hence, there are many emerging markets that the company can harness. The company has particularly targeted marketing through its interactive website and social media platforms.
This approach indicates that as more people continue using social media platforms, the number of potential users of MediaFire will continue increasing across the globe. The marketing department of the company has indicated that the company’s website is one of the most effective marketing channels.
Over 345 million people visit the website on a monthly basis. A big number of the visitors to the website are from the United States, and other developed nations where more people have access to internet-enabled gadgets (MediaFire, 2015).
Growth
MediaFire has seen tremendous growth over the past several years as the target population across the world continues to appreciate media and technology. Growth in the company is expected to be influenced by the youth across the world because 85% of the visitors to its website are aged between 18 and 54 years.
53% of these visitors are male; hence, the men across the world are expected to make a bigger contribution to MediaFire’s growth. Researchers in the company have revealed that on average, every visitor to the site spends 8 minutes. This time translates to about 2 million hours spent on the system on a daily basis.
The company has particularly witnessed fast growth in users through social media platforms like Facebook, where millions of users have declared their approval of the quality of the services offered by MediaFire. The growth rate of the company for the past three years has been 85% every year (MediaFire, 2015).
Geographical distribution and profits
The majority of MediaFire customers are located in the United States and other developed nations across the world. The customers have diverse requirements, and their use of the cloud system varies. While there are professionals who save important files, there are also other users who rely on the system for entertainment by sharing files like images and music.
The ability of the system to accommodate diverse users has distinguished it from its competitors, and this adds value to the services offered by the company (Satpute & Deora, 2014). MediaFire has used a very effective strategy to increase its profit margins. The strategy entails offering its users free accounts.
The company has developed applications for Android, iOS, and Windows, which are free to download for users. Users create free accounts that have paid upgrades. The upgrades are part of the profit generating operations of the company.
As the number of free account increases, the company is increasing its profits because most of the customers upgrade their accounts after a short time using the free accounts. The free accounts are also ad-enabled, and they have increased profits for the company (Li et al., 2013).
Market segments
MediaFire has segmented its market across the lines of consumer behaviour, in terms of their preferred operating systems in their gadgets.The company’s marketing strategy focuses on different users. The cloud system accommodates professionals looking to save and share important files while accommodating casual users looking to use the cloud for entertainment.
The market segments are bounded by the types of gadgets that the potential users possess. MediaFire has developed applications that are compatible with Android, iOS, and desktops using OSX and Windows. The company’s website is the primary marketing channel, and it has targeted the four segments.
The company has already identified that the majority of the customers are youths who possess internet-enabled gadgets; hence the marketing strategy is based on attracting more youths. This strategy is especially targeted to the regions with developed nations because there is more data to be shared by youths in the regions. Using social media as a marketing tool has also influenced global targeting of the potential customers.
Within each market segment, MediaFire has concentrated on the unique features that are enabled by the respective operating systems to add value to the services offered by the cloud system (Press, 2015). MediaFire has distinguished its services from its competitors by developing a system that allows users to secure their files and share them easily with their friends. It targets all types of files; thus, it is a system for all technology users.
Expected rates of growth
MediaFire’s growth rate is dependent on the growth rate of internet users across the world, and this is a function of the rate of consumption of smartphones and computers. According to the reports available from the company’s website, MediaFire has witnessed a growth rate of 82% every year for the past three years.
This trend is expected to prevail, especially as the company continues to target the emerging markets for mobile technology. The projected growth in smartphone consumption across the world in 2015 reveals that the emerging markets will have the biggest contribution to new users of MediaFire.
Countries like India, China, Brazil, and many other emerging markets for mobile technology will translate into growth in cloud systems for global companies, including MediaFire. The United States’ society has one of the highest consumer populations of smartphones, and the iOS-based gadgets already have MediaFire applications (Tech Devices in 2015, 2014).
The graph below reveals the projected rates of smartphone consumption in the United States, which will potentially translate to a larger market share for cloud companies (Why we need Mobile/ smartphone Websites, 2015).
This factor means that as more consumers buy iOS products, MediaFire will continue harnessing a larger market share. Seeing that smartphone users are set to increase in 2015, MediaFire is likely to be one of the beneficiaries of this growth in mobile technology consumption.
The company is in a position to record more than 82% growth, which it has recorded for the past three years. Growth in social media users is also a variable that will influence growth for the company because of its marketing strategy. The main reason for projecting a growth rate higher than 82% in 2015 is because the company is looking to introduce unique services and applications for MediaFire users.
For instance, Pool is a new application that the company is looking to introduce to its cloud system. The application is bound to increase the number of MediaFire users because of the quality of the experience it is expected to facilitate to picture lovers (Press, 2015).
High opportunity segment and low opportunity segment
MediaFire uses a behavioural marketing segmentation strategy, and it has based its segmentation on the types of gadgets possessed by its potential consumers. This segmentation process focuses on the type of operating system that runs the gadgets. In the current state of business, the iOS is one of the most lucrative segments.
Users of iPhones and iPad have the advantage of having MediaFire as one of the native applications in the gadgets. This development means that every sale of an iOS product with the application translates to a potential new user of MediaFire without incurring the cost of marketing. MediaFire has concentrated its marketing strategy in the United States because the nation has more users of the iPhone and the iPad than any other part of the world.
The free applications and accounts can also be upgraded to the required package for respective customers. The desktop application segment is the low opportunity segment because more people are shifting from using desktops to smaller gadgets like mobile phones and tablets. The desktop application has been facing numerous challenges, including lack of sufficient data storage for potential customers (Ulloa, 2013).
How customers make buying decisions
Purchasing decision-making on the part of the customers has to be in line with one or more factors that influence them to buy products (Pride et al., 2012). Customers have to be in a state of dissatisfaction with their current products. This dissatisfaction forces the customers to replace their current product with a new product that would possibly solve the prevailing problems (Ferguson & Johnston, 2011).
Customers also make buying decisions when they recognise the need to own a product. When people find a commodity that raises a need in their lives, they are likely to purchase it. Customers may also make buying decisions based on their research findings. Purchasing a commodity may also be triggered by an evaluation of the available options.
For instance, customers may opt to buy a product because it has better quality and prices. (Hutchinson, Reid, Donnell & Ireland, 2013). Most customers in the modern world are making decisions to purchase products based on their usage experience. This trend is especially widespread in purchasing technology products and services. Tastes and preferences are also big factors in buying decisions (Dabhilkar, 2011).
Most people have loyalty to specific brands of products. For instance, in the mobile technology field, there are people who prefer iOS products to Android products and vice versa. After the introduction of online business platforms, customer purchasing decisions have been influenced by the reviews given by other customers (Urban, Sultan & Qualls, 2000).
It is apparent that most online buyers focus on what other people are saying about a given product or service prior to making their purchasing decisions. Company websites are also a good source of information that would influence customers to make a purchase (Samson, Mehta & Chandani, 2014). Most consumers rely on the information provided about the product to make their buying decision.
For instance, with a new technological product, customers have to be educated on the benefits of acquiring the technology. Social norms have also been known to influence buying preferences in a society. Cognitive fluency is also a factor in purchasing habits of consumers. Some people purchase products because they understand them better than the alternative commodities (Uddin, Lopa & Oheduzzaman, 2014).
Major competitors
The major competitors of MediaFire include Google Drive and DropBox. The companies have been in the business for a long time, and they have developed a very large market share across the world. The companies have particularly harnessed a big market share in the American market, where MediaFire is looking to establish a larger share.
The main strength of the two major competitors is their asset base. The companies have the capability to accommodate mass storage of customer files, unlike MediaFire, which is still looking to enhance its storage capacity. Their weaknesses lie in their diversity in services.
MediaFire has provided a platform that allows social sharing of files for individuals, as well as for professionals. It accommodates a more diverse set of products and services for its clients. Google Drive and DropBox have a significantly larger market share than MediaFire because they are better equipped and more experienced in the cloud systems field (Google Drive vs The Competitors, 2015).
Conclusion
MediaFire has taken up the challenge to provide its users with the most secure, easy-to-use, and fast way to back-up and share files. According to the company’s website, there are more than 150 million people using the MediaFire on a monthly basis.
The marketing department of the company has indicated that the company’s website is one of the most effective marketing channels. Growth in the company is expected to be influenced by the youth across the world because 85% of the visitors to its website are aged between 18 and 54 years.
53% of these visitors are male; hence, the men across the world are expected to make a bigger contribution to MediaFire’s growth. MediaFire has segmented its market across the lines of consumer behaviour in terms of their preferred operating systems in their gadgets. According to the reports provided by the company’s website, MediaFire has witnessed a growth rate of 82% every year for the past three years.
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