Monthly Archives: October 2015

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Some small businesses still don’t realise that commerce is moving online and how important it is for them to adapt to this marketplace change. According to Rieva Lesonsky, CEO of GrowBiz media and president of SmallBizDaily.com , this online presence is unavoidable and crucial for small and big businesses to succeed. She argues that businesses should concentrate on media presence and mobile responsiveness to catch up with the technological change.

The fact that the business world is constantly having a greater online presence can act as an opportunity or threat, depending on the size of the firm and it’s ability to cope with this change. For small firms, this online presence popularity can be a threat because they still don’t have the skills, time or money to establish themselves through the internet. Even if they do so, it is really difficult maintain a strong presence because some don’t even have responsive websites. On the other hand, big firms can consider this as an opportunity to reach out to a wider audience. Big firms that have the time, skill and money to develop an online presence will be able to promote their brand better and connection with their customers will be facilitated.

In my opinion, technological improvement should always act as an incentive for companies to change their ways of performing. What is working right now may not work in the future so companies should always try to cope with the change. Whether one is successful at it depends on the audience’s reception.

Reference:

http://theweek.com/articles/574875/most-common-small-business-mistakes-that-lead-failure-digital-age

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This week in class we have used the business canvas model and applied it to a company of our choice. This activity has helped me understand how businesses document their existing situation. Reading the news has made me realise that this simple yet useful model is applicable to well established companies such as American Airlines. This company has recently introduced a service which allows passengers to track their luggage. In fact, this was their value preposition because it was an existing problem; it was “something our customers ha[d] been asking for a really long time”. This new feature is made for all passengers that fly with American Airlines and want to keep and eye on their bags and it is a way to keep customers satisfied.

As a person that flies really often, I really value an airline that takes into consideration its customers needs. American Airline found an existing problem and did their best to solve it. Although I have not experienced having my bags being misplaced or lost, I know people that have been through this, thus this new tracking service will be really beneficial. However, I don’t consider this new tool as a way for the company to grow customers. Even though this does improve customer satisfaction, I believe that a person will tend to be loyal to the airline that offers the best deals.

Only a small percentage of passengers in each flight have their luggage lost or misplaced. This means that the tracker is ultimately made to assure that nothing happens to the luggage and passengers can fly without worries. As said before, this feature will not necessarily attract new customers ( many other airlines also provide this system) but it will definitely enhance the airline’s brand.

Reference:

http://www.fastcompany.com/3051801/elasticity/american-airlines-lets-passengers-track-checked-bags-in-real-time

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A recent study has shown that marketers believe that their efforts influence buyer’s decision, however; only about half of the consumers that were part of this study trust marketing materials. Instead of relying on social media, word of mouth marketing or customer relationship management, consumers are more likely to trust first hand resources such as friends or family members. In other words, marketers and consumers don’t share the same idea on what is considered effective marketing.

This study demonstrates that marketers should focus less on marketing tactics such as marketing through social media and focus more on providing access to these first hand resources. In fact, this will reduce costs for most companies because content marketing or social media marketing tends to be more expensive. First hand resources such as family or friends or online reviews are easier to access, cheaper and according to the study, more influential.

So are marketers and consumers in different planets? In my opinion, this depends on the consumer. There are certain times were social media marketing is effective but other times were it is redundant and a waste of money. Personally, I also prefer first hand resources before purchasing a product because I get to see the product through the eyes of the customer and not the company. Family, friends and online reviews will point out of the flaws of a product while a company will tend not to do so.

This study implies that many businesses are investing a lot of money in marketing but the return of investment is not adequate. Because of this reason, firms should first consider whether these type of marketing should be done in order to prevent major costs.

Reference:

http://www.dmnews.com/infographics/are-marketers-and-consumers-on-different-planets-infographic/article/442537/