The Pros and Cons of Digital Marketing Methods

Introduction

Today Digital Marketing is a part of everyone’s life, from personal to professional use. People use it to get up-to-date information and the business evolved through this network (Chaffey, 2016). The Internet is the most cost-effective ways to promote businesses (Chaffey, 2016; Lu, 2016).

Internet technology has altered the way customers search for information, products, and engage with other consumers (Abdullah, 2016). The era of digital marketing begin in 1990 when the search engine was developed. Thus, the customers’ database was tracked more effectively and the relationship between seller and buyer was transformed (Schoenbachler, 1997). With the advent of the iPhone the number of Internet users increased in the 2000s and marketing automation was evolved (Kemp, 2018).

The idea of SM began in the early 1970s with the first e-mail sent (Milner, 2016). Statista (2020) reveals that the use of SM around the world continues to grow and has now reached 49% of the world’s population, 4.14 billion internet users in 2019. Advances in smart mobile technology have contributed to this achievement (Kemp, 2018). Since 1990-the 2000s, online marketing evolvement has changed the way businesses adopt technology for marketing. Moreover, the development of SM has created a need for platforms and online communities. Thus, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube and Twitter have appeared on the market and now customers are over-dependent on these channels (Kannan, 2017; Cant, 2016).

Digital marketing methods:

Pop-up advertisements – promotional messages to the consumers. The first banner add was made in 1994. Now Paid Advertising is used on most of sites. It is important for businesses because it allows for targeting specific demographics and choosing the right SM marketing strategy (Chaffey, 2016).

Facebook started attracting attention from 2004. As the result, more SM marketing strategies were developed. Now it is the most popular social network with over 1.69 billion daily users (Clement, 2020) this marketing tool allows start-ups and established companies to get attention with a minimum budget on advertisements (McFadden, 2020).

YouTube first appear in 2005 and introduced a completely new method of communication allowing a business to use video marketing (McFadden, 2020).

Twitter lunches in 2006 and has got a “cult-like” status because it allows users to communicate directly with celebrities (McFadden, 2020).

Instagram shacked the SM scene in 2010 because it allowed sharing of photos and videos. It was acquired by Facebook in 2012. Today, it is the biggest SM sites in the world with over 1 billion daily users (Clement, 2020). This platform is used by private users and businesses to promote the product (McFadden, 2020). The demographic in Instagram is much younger than on Facebook (Milner, 2016).

Direct marketing to consumers allows you to monitor audience trends and adapt to them as well as advertising. Social networks also let you communicate with your audience directly, by doing this you are making your brand more personable; breaking down the impression that your accounts are being run by corporate robots. Overall, social networks allow you to interact with your target demographic leading to growing your business (Chaffey, 2017).

In general, today’s market is dominated by Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Hence, what can be learned from the history of SM, it’s that this will change. New companies will arise and old ones will die or merge into something else because people’s preferences change (Jones 2015).

Talking about benefits, the numbers of SM users illustrate a clear advantage for sellers. There is a potential role of SM in advertising business success. Therefore, many institutions are using SM to create brand awareness and products/services. Moreover, SM provides businesses with additional benefits such as enhanced search ranking and website traffic, the capability to attain consumers directly, expanded customer involvement, and enhanced customer service (DeMers, 2014).

SM has changed the way we think about marketing, it connects individuals and creates opportunities for cooperation between people in the digital world. So, customers can benefit from obtaining comparison shopping and sharing opinions, quality content, and clear product information. Thus, it is leading to a shift in driving power toward consumers and away from companies (Sai, 2015).

Today, organizations use marketing practices to satisfy customers, develop relationships, and generate profits. However, sometimes marketers focus on their selfish motives forgetting about the customer and social welfare. Therefore, marketing is criticized for the negative impact on customers, such as high prices of products, deceptive practices, high-pressure selling, unsafe products, planned obsolescence, poor service to customers, and materialism. Marketers should consider the societal concerns of various stakeholders (Dhruv, 2008).

Social responsibility in marketing is discussed with ethics. Marketing ethics is an area of applied ethics which deals with the moral principles behind the operation and regulation of marketing (Kotler, 2017).

Today in a competitive world companies that adhere to ethical values have an advantage over the ones that just simply provide their products. Firstly, when a company behaves ethically, positive attitudes about the organization are developed by customers (Kotler,2017). For instance, Lush become a champion by being ethical and eco-friendly (Ustik, 2019). Alternatively, it may drive to bad publicity, dissatisfied customers, a lack of trust even legal action. For example, ASDA abuses workers’ right. So, it has long legal battle with its staff and as the result losing the trust of their customers, getting bad publicity (Partridge, 2020). Secondly, organizations are responsible for their actions that lead to ethical abuses. Professional associations of consumer interest groups have a great impact on marketing. To protect consumer rights or to stimulate trade State regulations are designed (Jones, 1998). For example, GOV.UK is in charged with enforcing the laws to limit dishonest marketing practices (GOV.UK, 2020). According to Kotler (2017), the success and profitability of the company depend on their capability to respond to:

Deceptive marketing practices when the customers believe that the price they pay for a product/service is low. It includes falsely advertising “wholesale” or “factory” prices (Kotler, 2017).

Deceptive promotion is also a form of fraud when the seller intentionally disinforms regarding performance and sales and the customer sincerely believes the message (Patel, 2019). A great example is Splenda that claimed to be made from sugar (Heilpern, 2016). Furthermore, today a marketer who doesn’t tell the truth offends against morality in addition to the law. The advertising of some products may offend people who have got different interests, and religions (Chaffey, 2016). For example, the advertising by Benetton Group which shows the leaders kissing including Obama, Sarkozy, and the Pope. Shortly, it was removed (Carr, 2019).

Direct marketing is one of the most questionable advertising channels especially when approaches are unasked (Chaffey, 2016). For example, direct mail, annoying telemarketing calls, long TV commercials, and persistent and high-pressure selling are raising ethical questions (Sabitha, 2016). The Direct Marketing Association specifies ethical guidelines for companies participating in direct marketing to protect consumers (DMA Code UK,2020).

The quality of products and services provided frequently raises questions regarding ethics in marketing. There are complaints about unsafe product with poor quality and content. For example, Mattel company which made Barbie doll coated with toxic lead paint (Nayab, 2011). Also, a product with a short life, which becomes quickly become unfashionable or functional. Thus, the customer is pressured to buy another one and the company might gain a bad reputation or/and put itself at risk for legal action. In the dynamic computer industry, the changes occurred frequently. But it can be interpreted as planned obsolescence (Pace, 2007; Jimenes,2016). For example, phone.

High-pressure selling. The sales staff is evaluated by sales performance. Therefore, performance pressures exist that may urge ethical issues. For instance, pressuring consumers/vendors to buy more than they need or to buy more expensive products (Jimenes,2016).

Solomon (2017) believed that marketing focuses on materialism. According to Manchiraju (2013), people are judged by what they own rather than who they are. Thus, it affects their purchasing behavior. For example, some customers would like to have a lifestyle or image which they cannot afford (Celes, 2020). Therefore, Solomon (2017) stated that marketing created false needs and wants and is aimed at making consumers buy more than they need and can afford. Wide range of credit cards offers with high limits, and appealing advertising with celebrities which stimulate unrecognized needs (Celes, 2020).

Bhasin (2018) believed that the management and marketing department must strictly follow the set of ethical guidelines. It is vital for the prosperity of the organization because usually, people do business with organizations and/or people who they trust (Francis, 2019). Moreover, marketers and management should be responsible for communication and organizations’ decisions that influence the interaction with the communities (Belyh,2019; Gilman, 2003). Marketing law and ethics are related to subjects. Many businesses work without the need for Government to get involved and to adhere the firm to more ethical standards. Also, self-regulation cannot protect the interest of society, customers or organizations. Thus, the Government’s concerns to monitor ethics to protect the interests of all parties (Tait, 1996).

Conclusion

To summarise, online social networks are growing quickly and play an important role in everyday life. Marketers can implement marketing activities more economically and effectively by using SM. A social network allows to collect of information and can be used as a promotional tool.

Ethical standards are very vital for users and must be followed by staff. However, business decisions and ethical issues are not as simple as in personal life and specialized knowledge is required to make the right decision. Therefore, ethical codes and professional ethics must be always followed by employees and managers. Furthermore, to minimize criticism marketers should respond to existing wants rather than create a new one, build long-term relationships and deal fairly with customers, and provide better service, and return privileges.

Furthermore, organizations should maintain a balance between their aim of making profits and societal requirements. It will help to have sustainable growth and healthy customer relationship.