FlexiCoolGifts - Online Marketing - Essay Example

?Business Plan “World wide web”, the new realm of businesses and organizations to create, promote and nurture businesses. Dotcom boom and latest technological development in Internet has widened the opportunities, challenges and extent of business development online. Lack of understanding, domain knowledge and fast-changing technology has made the online environment fraud-prone, and requires careful interpretation and understanding of the solutions, and services to ensure sustained business development with minimal cost. Online business development starts with development of an online business place, widely known as website. Several facets are attached with development of a website and depend on the type of website as per requirement. Major contributions are from design and technology perspective keeping in mind the business objective, e.g. a corporate website can be static in nature with a professional design aspect, whereas a retail website (portal) has to be dynamic and communicative with consumers, with detailed product information, and purchase and multiple payment options. FlexiCoolGifts FlexiCoolGifts is a gift store, which requires the dynamic aspect of design to effectively communicate with perspective consumers. The website needs to be an e-commerce website with detailed information about the products offered, and purchase and multiple payment options for best user experience. Once the website is developed, a complete online marketing strategy and online business revenue model has to be established. Online Marketing Online marketing is the process of marketing and advertisement of a business (brand) and its products and services on the “World Wide Web”. A simple concept plays the role in the Internet marketing scenario – “Customer Reach – anytime, anywhere”. Online marketing strategy is a combination of certain factors depending on the business type, model and business objective. It is also a combination of “primary” and “complementary” marketing channels to make the entire strategy objective oriented and result driven. Complete understanding of online marketing strategies and careful utilization of online marketing tools and channels make online marketing highly effective with minimum cost. FlexiCoolGifts can utilize the following types of online marketing channels for business development. Types of Online Marketing Online marketing is a combination of certain types of marketing and advertisement activities carried out in the Internet environment with an objective of reaching out to the perspective customer, anytime & anywhere. There are various types of online marketing channels such as Search Engine Marketing (Paid Search Results), Search Engine Optimization (Non-paid Search Results), Social Media Marketing (Marketing and Advertisement through Social Networking Channels and websites), Social Media Optimization (Marketing and advertisement message optimization in social media), Display Advertisement (marketing and advertisement through display or banners online), Contextual Advertizing (marketing and advertising text messages on other websites), Affiliate Marketing (marketing and advertising on a affiliate website), Directory Submission (Submitting Websites to Online Directories), Webinars (Online Seminars), Online Audio and Video Marketing (Interactive Marketing and Advertisement), Mobile (Cell Phone) Marketing (SMS, MMS, Audio and Video Clips), E-Mail Marketing (Marketing and Advertisement through e-mails), Online Chat Support (Online Support Mechanism), Viral Marketing (Audio-Video option to Spread through people), Interactive Advertising (Audio & Video Clips recorded or animated), and blogging. Online Marketing Strategy By careful consideration of market dynamics, customer segmentation, market research results, SWOT of business and unique selling proposition (USP), a marketing strategy and marketing mix can be devised. FlexiCoolGifts is a unique gift store with a wide range of gift items, music; videos etc. for various occasions are available along with customized items. Keeping the products in mind a definitive marketing strategy with following objectives can be devised. Branding Branding is the concept of increasing product or organizations value proposition and re-call value. It is first level consumer reach strategy. Branding can be achieved through a marketing mix of paid and non-paid (in-bound & out-bound) channels for effective ROI optimization. Display Ads, E-Mail Marketing, SMS Marketing, Social Media Marketing and Search Engine Marketing are best suitable for branding. Demand Generation Demand generation focuses on increasing brand value and by creating awareness about the company and its products or services. The cycle of demand generation involves typically four stages – Awareness, Relevant Brand Positioning, Support Validation and Mitigating Customer Evaluation. A well balanced combination of Blogging, Affiliate Marketing, Directory Submissions and Social Media Optimization can lead to fruitful results. Lead Generation Lead Generation is the process of targeting potential and perspective consumers for business development and sales generation. Both in-bound and out-bound marketing channels can be utilized for lead generation activity. Lead Conversion / Acquisition Lead conversion is the process of acquiring new customers by closing a sale or purchase. Detailed product information, product reviews, customer testimonials, highlighting strong security policies and multiple payment options can easily convert a lead to a customer. Revenue Model Revenue Model focuses on strategies to monetize for the product or service offerings. FlexiCoolGifts can earn revenue by focusing on increasing sales, online, by providing online purchase mechanism and online payment mechanism on the website. Comprehensive descriptions about the gift items and other available products with high-quality images on the website attract the website user and increase the chance of sales. A blend of technology by providing a mechanism to select the preferred item and smooth and secure payment options ensures an online sale. Online sales are cost-effective and secure as they remove the manual dependencies. Key Website Features A successful website is known by its user’s experience and user interface (UI). UI of a website brings in a lot of value while designing a user friendly website. The most common factors that should be taken into consideration while designing an e-commerce website are the layout, easy navigational structure, color combination, content characters, images, detailed content and product information, product price information, delivery options, terms and conditions and at the last but not the least, secure payment options along with post-sales support. FlexiCoolGifts is a mass-merchant website and has numerous products for sale. Keeping the vastness of products in mind, a category page needs to be included. Under the category page all products should be stated based on type. Each type would have list of products available and each product would have a detailed information page. Purchase cycle can be initiated from the products page by selecting products and quantity, and the individual product page. Each product page would have options to share the purchase with friends by including social media feed technology. Each product page would have a link to the terms and conditions page, payment options page and delivery options page. Delivery option would be available for the customer to decide to choose the delivery type (Paid or Non-Paid). Products with high-demand would be highlighted on the home page and other product pages as “hottest selling items”. A color combination of purple, lavender and white, and their variety of shades would be excellent for a gift website. Payment Methods Inclusion of secure payment methods for the consumers is an important factor online businesses’ development. With the development of technology there are various ways of secure online payment methods. These methods are verified and approved by world standards. Payment method by Credit cards, Debit Cards, ACH (Account Payment), Wire Transfer, Net Banking, Cash Cards and Check Deposit are few secure payment methods. On the Check out page the consumer should be allowed to choose the option, best suitable for him/her to make the payment. An instant confirmation of the payment received / rejected should be notified to the customer through on-screen display, e-mail and cell phone. This would enhance the customer confidence and the customer would try to make payment through alternative methods in case of a payment failure. Cost, Benefits & Limitations – Online Solution Technology is evolving with an objective to make our lives stress-free and provide benefits which were not available earlier. One such technological advancement is integration of payment (revenue) mechanism with a website. This makes the entire solution controlled by one-accounting tool, which keeps a track of the inventory as well as the finances. The integrated reporting tool provides detailed reports of every transaction, selling point/location and delivery location for better and effective control over the business. This allows the business owner to focus more on business development strategies rather than focusing on finances and inventory. Usually we assume that such a solution would cost much and we avoid it for future. With the advancement of technology such solutions are much more affordable than ever. Usually the solution is provided on a subscription-based model or full-purchase model. A final decision can be made based on business requirements. Although there are technology advancements, still there prevails certain limitation. This business model is limited to the power of Internet. Dependency on the bandwidth and users over the internet of a particular location (for a location specific business) are some of the limitations. Recommendations We recommended clarifying all the queries about the solution and technology involved in the development of the solution. Consultation on online marketing strategies and adoption of such channels is recommended. Online Marketing involves certain paid and non-paid channels for marketing and advertisement online. Detailed study is recommended. Please consult regarding the price of the solution and website development cost before any engagement. Read More