Final Reflective Blog and Critical analysis on one topic

Overall throughout E-Marketing I have gained knowledge and going from not really knowing what E-Marketing is and how it impacts a business, to E-Marketing having an enourmous impact on people and organisations. I have learnt that it is important for an organisation to keep up to date with social media sites and the use of online and offline branding, the overall impact of online culture on an organisation, the use of digital media and overall how much the internet is impacting people and organisations. I have learnt that E-Marketing really does play a part in how successful an organisation can become, including the impact it can have on the populations everyday lives. I have thoroughly enjoyed learning about E-Marketing and expressing my learning through weekly blogs and I will end my blog with a critical analysis on one of the topics I have covered.

One of the topics covered in my blog which I will be critically analysing is lecture 7 in which I was discussing The Digital Communication Landscape. As defined previously by Hana, S. et al (2013: 102) digital communication is defined as "a computer mediated communication featuring multiple-media forms including sound, video and motion" and it is also a way for friends and organisations to communicate digitally for example through social media. Events tend to be advertised and promoted more and more frequently on social media sites and this is because it is more "cost effective" according to Moss, S and Walmsley, B. (2013: 105) however just because it is more cost effective it doesnt mean that it is 'better' so to speak. Promoting events and organisations via social media has led to a number of complications for example Lipschultz, J, H. (2014: 102) states that "The competition within social media in some cases had led advertisers and marketers to ignore the risks associated with edgy content" and then goes on to say "in 2012 alone, a long list of social media failures resulted a lack of anticipation to how people use content" therefore this leads me to believe that even though social media is easily accessible and cost effective organisations are not always using it correctly.Which is a critical analysis towards the digital communication landscape.

 

 

References:

 

Moss, S and Walmsley, B. Entertainment and Management: Towards Best Practice, 2013, Page 105
 

Hana, S. Noor Al Deen, Hendricks, J, A. Social Media and Strategic Communications 2013, Page 102

 

Lipschultz, J, H. Socual Media Communication: Concepts, Practices, Data, Law and Ethics. 2014, Page 102

 

Lecture 7 - Analyse The Digital Communication Landscape

 

According to Hana, S. et al (2013: 102) digital communication is defined as "a computer mediated communication featuring multiple-media forms including sound, video and motion" Weigold and Arens (2010) cited in Hana, S. (2013: 102) add to this by stating that digital communication can also be defined as "a mechanism for an audience to connect, communicate, and interact with each other and their mutual friends through instant messaging or social networking sites" The Digital Communication Landscape consists of ways of which organisations and people can communicate digitally for example social media communication and that these digital influences will effect organisations worldwide.

There is believed to be a change in the communication landscape and this is because the communication process is becoming much more advanced. My particular field within my course is events, and social media is one of the best ways in which an event organisation can promote its events because such a large amount of peolpe are on social networking sites Moss, S and Walmsley, B. (2013: 105) states that "the most effective mediums for for small scale event promotions are, word of mouth, social media and flyers" they then go on to state that Social Media is one of the most cost effective ways of marketing events. Here is a graph allowing you to see the amount of Smart Phone users and the predictions for the future.

References:

Moss, S and Walmsley, B. Entertainment and Management: Towards Best Practice, 2013, Page 105

Hana, S. Noor Al Deen, Hendricks, J, A. Social Media and Strategic Communications 2013, Page 102 

Lecture 6 - Change to value systems as a result of interactive media

 

Digital Media has been defined by (PC Mag) as "Any storage device that holds digital data. All data generated in a computer are digital. See media, digital, magnetic disk, magnetic tape, optical disc and USB drive. (2) Any type of information stored in the computer, including data, voice and video"

There are differing roles of digital media and these devises according to WiseGeek can include :
 

             Computers, mobile devices, video game consoles, projectors, television and radio.
             Consumers access these files mostly for entertainment and educational value;

             however, others are used for manipulation into other forms of media,
             such as movies, albums or websites.

WiseGeek shows an understanding of what different types there are of digital media. Digital Evolution was the next thing which we discussed in my 6th lecture and below will be a picture in which explains what digital evolution is.

What is Mobile Marketing?

Marrs, M. (August 19th, 2013) states that,"mobile marketing consists of ads that appear on mobile smartphones, tablets, or other mobile devices. Mobile marketing ad formats, customization, and styles can vary, as many social media platforms, websites, and mobile apps offer their own unique and tailored mobile ad options" Because there is such a large amount of mobile phone users (see graph below) then organisations are starting to market through mobile phones to attract a larger amount of peoples attention.

What is Permission Marketing?

Permission marketing according to Rouse, M. is "Permission marketing is an approach to selling goods and services in which a prospect explicitly agrees in advance to receive marketing information

References:

Marrs, M. (Published: August 19th 2013) What is Mobile Marketing and Why Does It Matter? Available at: http://www.wordstream.com/blog/ws/2013/08/19/what-is-mobile-marketing  [Accessed] 7.12.2014

PC Mag, Encyclopedia, Available at: http://www.pcmag.com/encyclopedia/term/41342/digital-media [Accessed] 7.12.2014

WiseGeek, What are the different types of digital media, Available at: http://www.wisegeek.org/what-are-the-different-types-of-digital-media.htm [Accessed] 7.12.2014

Rouse, M. Permission Marketing, Available at: http://searchcrm.techtarget.com/definition/permission-marketing [Accessed] 7.12.2014

Lecture 5 - Online Culture

 

 

'Online Culture IS The Culture'

Online culture will be explained within this blog. These facts were accessed from: http://www.slideshare.net/timparsons/online-culture-is-the-culture-1915017 There are over 1 Billion internet users worldwide, there are 6 million Australians on Facebook, 300 million Chinese internet users, Over 1.5 Billion Iphone apps downloaded since July 2008, 100% Mobile penetration in Australia. Online Culture is about people today.

Online Culture is rich in human behaviours,  Online Culture is hungry for authenticity, Online Culture is great at getting the truth, Online Culture is rife with innovation, Online Culture is about reinventing the economy, Online Culture is principally a form of open society, Online Culture is highly disruptive, Online Culture is the mainstream!

Blurring of Online and Offline Media has created challenges. Juhasz said "it’s hard to distinguish between what she called “lived reality” (real life) and “the online experience” (digital life). "The worlds have meshed together to create the “blended reality,” where people are always being touched by media information and it’s infecting or augmenting their lived realities", Juhasz said.
Read more at http://national.deseretnews.com/article/770/Blurred-lines-How-peoples-lives-have-become-an-online-and-offline-experience.html#wvbTw3MzOpUzpE9s.99

References:

http://national.deseretnews.com/article/770/blurred-lines-how-peoples-lives-have-become-an-online-and-offline-experience.html

http://www.slideshare.net/timparsons/online-culture-is-the-culture-1915017

Lecture 4 - Offline Branding, Marketing Communications Mix, The Marketing Mix

 Offline Branding has many components some of these are: Conventional Print, Radio and Television Branding also Billboards, Coupons and Vouchers. Offline Branding is promoting something which doesn't consist of using a computer to advertise or get peoples attention.

There is a Marketing Communications Mix.

Which as you can see consists of Seven elements, these elements are: Advertising, Public Relations, Direct Marketing, Sales Promotion, Event Marketing, Digital Marketing and lastly Personal Selling. These seven elements are a specific mix a company uses to pursue its advertising and marketing objectives.

See :http://www.themarketingguywhodrivessales.com/crashcourse/promix.htm for more information of the Seven Elements of the Marketing Communications Mix.

Chaffey (2011: 420) states that "the 4P's have been extended to the 7P's by including three other elements that better reflect service delivery" The new marketing mix consist of the following: Product, Promotion, Price, Place, People, Process and Physical Evidence. The marketing mix is applied frequently to organisations when developing new marketing strategies for their products of services. Kumar (2010: 45) states that the marketing mix "sets out the marketing variables that your business needs to understand and control in order to achieve your overall business objective" The 7P's are part of an organisations planning process and therefore the planning takes time and effort this allows an organisation to have a competitive advantage because they have planned thoroughly and through-out the process

 



 References:

 

 http://www.themarketingguywhodrivessales.com/crashcourse/promix.htm 

Chaffey, D. E-Business & E-Commerce Management: Strategy, Implementation and Practice (2011, Page 420)
 

Kumar. Marketing of Hospitality and Tourism Services (2010, Page 45) 

Lecture 3 - Definition of Offline Media, Objectives of Offline Communication

 

Danesi (2008: 217) described Offline Media to be "1. A computer that is not connected to the internet. 2. by extension, anything that exists outside of cyberspace" Traditional media has now been defined as Offline Media in contrast to those that are 'online'. Autores (2011: 354) added to this definition and stated that "by the end of last century, Offline Media such as CD-ROM or DVD-ROM were barely used therefore the internet started to incorporate some key factors" Some of these key factors included infrastructures and technologies and then this allowed "accessibility never experienced before, with regard to the information, content, quick navigation and other technical features and the interaction between users" Autores (2011: 355) 

Offline media has marketing strategies of its own some of these are Direct Mail, Discount Pricing and also Loyalty Programmes. Direct Mail marketers are able to purchase a mailing list in which is based on demographic data that people most likely to buy their products. Discount Pricing is another strategy in which allows an organisation to advertise sales of their products in local newspapers and advertising inserts. Loyalty programmes allows an organisation to gain customers in which will repeat purchase and to encourage customers to patronize businesses more frequently. See http://www.marketing-schools.org/types-of-marketing/offline-marketing.html for more information.

The main objectives of Offline Communication according to Flores 2012: 167):

This final set of objectives concerns anything that measures the propensity of consumers to engage in purchase of conversion action online or offline, following or in parallel with their involvement in earned media in relation to the brand and its products. It goes without saying that these are the most important objectives for any type of online or offline communication, because it is through them that we can begin to develop a true calculation of ROI.

 

Flores understands that offline communication can allow an organisation to develop a true calculation of ROI.

References:

http://www.marketing-schools.org/types-of-marketing/offline-marketing.html

How To Measure Digital Marketing: Metrics for Assessing Impact and Designing (Flores, L. 2012, Page 167)

Understanding Media, Today: McLuhan in the Era of Convergence Culture (Autores, V. 2011, Page 354, 355

Dictionary of Media and Communications (Danesi, M. 2008, Page 217)

Lecture 2 - Algorithms, (SEO) Search Engine Optimisation, (PPC) Pay Per Click and Viral Marketing

To make a computer do anything in which you want it to it needs to follow a program. A program is when you tell the computer step by step what you want it to do, it then follows these steps mechanically to accomplish the end goal."The algorithm is the basic technique used to get the job done". Google for example, if you wanted to search algorithms you would use google, that is a natural search, and by fact google is the most searched. According to a blog written by Chris Heiler in 2013, Google released a new Algorithm called "Hummingbird"  (for "precise and fast" per google) It's estimated that Googles "Hummingbird" algorithm went into effect around August 2013 and this new algorithm will impact approximately 90% of all search results. LandscapeLeadership is the website in which this journal is written believe that they have had a dramatic increase in views due to "hummingbird" and below is a screenshot from their HubSpot dashboard illustrating their organic search traffic increase.

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) and Pay Per Click (PPC) are ways of boosting traffic to your website. PPC is where you can pay for traffic using advertising programs or alternatively you can build traffic for free by achieving high rankings in the natural search results. This was also discussed in the first part of our lecture. Viral Marketing can be defined according to (Chaffey et al, 2009) as “a marketing message that can be communicated from one person to another.”

Viral marketing can be spread via communication between groups of people, emails, websites and more. There are two main forms of viral marketing and these are pass along emails and also discussions within social networks.

Virgin is a very well known and very large business. With their blog and also their website Virgin can promote new offers and deals, it is also a way of interacting with potential customers whilst promoting their brand.

References

Internet marketing, Chaffey et al, 2009
Http://computer.howstuffworks.com/question717.htm
Http://www.landscapeleadership.com/blog/bid/320802/is-Google-s-New-Algorithm-Responsible-for-Dramatic-Increase-in-Organic-Search-Traffic
Http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/223567

Lecture 1 - Apple Pay

During this lecture was when we starting getting down to business and started to understand what E-marketing really was.

 

 

Apple are increasing the security on the Apple IPhone and exploring the possibility of scanning the thumb print or even the Iris. Apple used the scanning of the thumb print due to the creation of the IPhone 5S. Apples research shows that more than 50 percent of smartphone users did not even protect their smartphone with a simple pass code. Touch ID is believed to be a seamless way to use your own unique fingerprint as a passcode, your fingerprint is one of the best passcodes in the world. Apple again improved the level of security with the IPhone 6 where paying in stores or within apps has never been easier! You will no longer need your wallet or purse as now with the IPhone 6 you can pay with a single touch. This is possible thanks to the innovative Near Field Communication antenna, all you need to do is hold your phone near the contactless reader with your finger on Touch ID. Apple believe that because the payments will be made by fingerprint it is of better proof and therefore safer and more secure.

Amazon have started using Predictive sales. "Amazon knows what you want before you buy it" Amazon filed for the patent officially known as "method and system for anticipatory package shipping" Amazon can see everything that you have clicked on, including time on site, duration of views, links clicked and hovered over, shopping cart and wish lists. This can then provide "decision support for speculative shipping of items". Overall Amazons research shows that 7/10 people will not return an item even though they can send the item back for free! Therefore Amazon are making a profit for items people didn't even order.

Virgin will be linked throughout my E-marketing topic. See the Virgin Groups Blog here: http://blog.virgin-atlantic.com/t5/About-Our-Blog/bg-p/About#.VISGzGdyaUl

References

Http://support.apple.com/en-us/ht5949
Https://www.apple.com/apple-pay/
Http://www.predictiveanalyticsworld.com/patimes/amazon-knows-what-you-want-before-you-buy-it/

Meeting Garth

During our first E-marketing lecture we were introduced to our new lecturer Garth! During this lecture we established that he had different ways of teaching and helping us learn and even compared himself slightly to Socrates and how his teaching skills relate to his own. Each of us then had an opportunity to say a little bit about ourselves and tell everyone about our previous education and what we studied. Shortly after this we were then split into smaller groups and then had to choose a company of our own choice and research this travel organisation in relation to E-marketing.