Internet based marketing blog
Internet based marketing blog
The website that I have selected for this assignment is, Colgate-Palmolive. The URL of the website is: http://www.colgate.co.in/app/Colgate/IN/HomePage.cvsp
- Target Marketing: It allows you to target a specific group of people. Hence, you can design your messages in a specific way to entice a particular segment.
- Helps you increase the customer involvement with your product/service, as they have access to almost all information. The customers can provide immediate feedback too.
- The sales potential increases.
- A company’s image is enhanced and there is an ease of brand re-call due to internet based marketing communications.
- This is a great way to get exposure without much expense. Hence, small business can profit a lot from this.
The disadvantages of using internet based marketing communications are as follows:
- There is a lack of personal touch between the company and the consumers.
- It can take too long for certain images and videos to download; this can lead to customer annoyance.
- There is always a chance that a hacker may hack into your system and steal important information.
- Pop-ups, Mailers, and other advertising measures are irking for the customer.
- The internet still is way behind the reach of television and radio.
Factors that make a website effective in marketing communication practice and strategies:
- The website should be useful for the user. The content of the website needs to be useful for the user and should provide him the required information.
- The purpose of the website should be made clear by the designs and graphics of the website.
- The website should be user friendly and should be easy to navigate. The visitor should know where they are, where they need to go and the other areas which they can explore.
- Another important factor is that the website must allow quick download of images and videos.
The website uses all the four mentioned factors for effective communication. The Colgate-Palmolive website is useful and has lots of useful information for the visitor. A look at the screen and you can see that they offer products for Oral care, Personal Care and Home care. They have a list of the products that they offer in each range and there is information about each product too. The designs and graphics used in the website make the purpose clear, that the site is meant for Oral and Personal care products.
The website is user friendly and allows the visitor to explore freely, without getting lost. Besides this the images and videos can be downloaded easily with a good internet speed. Although, the website has everything for an effective online communication, the visual appeal of the website could have been increased.
The website promotes two-way communication between the customer and the company in three ways. The customer can either email the company at the mentioned address or call the company. They have given their toll free number for easy access and have also mentioned contact numbers of their Consumer Affairs Offices, globally. The third way of contacting the company can be through letters, for which they have mentioned their postal address.
The site offers some online dental games for the kids and the parents, which is one of the methods they use to collect customer information. The other way they collect information is when the site visitors mail them or call them for detailed information. They have a ‘contact us’ tab for this. Another way by which they collect customer information is by offering professional help on dental care, for this they require the visitors to register online for free.
The website needs to improve considerably on their two-way communication, between them and the customers. They can do this by providing links to their Facebook and Twitter pages, where the customer can interact and get responses sooner. They can have periodic online competitions, or can ask the customers for their email address to be informed about any special offers or sales.
After reading the blog the readers may agree with the points mentioned about the websites internet based marketing. They can even comment on the look and communication ability of the website as the website does lack visual appeal and has less opportunity for two-way communication. They may even be able to add a few valuable points as an extension to my blog.
Reader response to the blog post:
Reader 1: I agree with the blog, a well written article on the website of Colgate-Palmolive. One point that I would like to make is that the website does lack visual appeal, but only in case of India. Once you select the other countries the website that comes up becomes interesting and pretty.
Reader 2: The website can also improve their two-way communication by giving a permanent link to their Twitter and Facebook page. They can just add a tab on the main page saying ‘Follow us on Twitter’ and ‘Like us on Facebook’.
Reader 3: Internet based marketing allows wider reach to the audience and if managed efficiently it work wonders for a business. The company as big as Colgate-Palmolive needs a well managed internet based communication with their customers, only then will they be able to improve.
References
K, Shelly. (2007). 5 Simple Ways to Gather Customer Information. Retrieved from http://voices.yahoo.com/5-simple-ways-gather-customer-information-673328.html?cat=3
Smith, Christopher W. (2005). Internet Marketing – Advantages and Disadvantages. Retrieved from http://ezinearticles.com/?Internet-Marketing---Advantages-and-Disadvantages&id=65052
