What Is China’s Deleveraging Strategy?
China has been the fastest growing economy in the world for the past few decades. The Chinese economy continued to grow even during the recession period. Many economists believe that a growing Chinese economy was a gift to other countries during the slowdown. Since the Chinese economy was growing, international trade was flourishing, and other […]
A Comparison between Shareholder Ownership and Control
In previous articles, we discussed the roles and responsibilities of the shareholders. In this article, we look at the distinction between shareholder ownership and control and illuminate how this comparison plays out in the corporate world. To start with, many public limited companies have a large body of shareholders who have invested in the company […]
Is the Canadian Government Creating a new Real Estate Bubble?
The housing market in Canada has gone through a full cycle since 2009. During 2009, the prices were at an all-time low. Ever since the prices have increased at break-neck speed. The prices rose so much that real estate simply became unaffordable for most people. However, in the past couple of years, the housing prices […]
Role of Opinion Leaders and Change Agents in the Knowledge Management Paradigm
The Role of Opinion Leaders and Change Agents in Diffusion of Innovations Knowledge management systems are effective when the innovations are pioneered by organizations. Apart from the innovations themselves, they have to be diffused throughout the organization to benefit the employees. The key question here is that when there are thousands of artifacts and documents […]
Performance Appraisal Interview
Introduction We have discussed the performance appraisal process in earlier articles. In this article, we discuss the performance appraisal interview and its importance in the performance appraisal cycle. The performance appraisal interview is the first round in the performance appraisal process and this is the round in which the manager communicates his evaluation of the […]
Ever wondered how websites give away much for free or for low prices and offer lots of information and other such conveniences? Did you ever felt the need to know how online marketing works with terms such as clicks, click through, eyeball views, and likes and shares indicating how online marketing firms monetize these aspects?
Indeed, online marketing offers website owners, firms, marketers, and advertisers a way to convert the digital footprint of the visitors to the websites into monetary values thereby ensuring that website owners do not lose out on their low cost access and advertisers find new ways to convert clicks and eyeball views into product sales.
If not anything online marketing is similar to Television and Newspaper marketing except that in its case, the number of unique visitors can be measured accurately due to the availability of tools that provide statistics on how many visitors (measured as eyeball views) browsed through, among them how many actually clicked on the ads, and in a more granular manner, how many of them visited the advertiser’s website.
These metrics in turn help marketers and advertisers pick and choose which websites to place their ads in. In a way websites compete with each other to attract the, most number of visitors in a manner similar to how TV channels are geared towards attracting the highest readership possible so that advertisers choose them over others when placing ads.
Thus, online marketing is a relentless race to garner the most eyeballs, achieve the most number of clicks as possible, and to convert such clicks on ads into product sales. In this respect, it needs to be noted there needs to be a “synergy” between the websites on which the ads are being placed and the ads that are being displayed.
A clear example of how successful online marketing works is this website, ManagementStudyGuide.com wherein as you read a particular article, you can see ads that are relevant to the topic of the article.
Indeed, the key to successful online marketing is the complementarities and the supplementarities that the website and the ads that are being placed on it have in common.
This is the reason why many websites and the advertisers who place ads do so with view of attracting what are known as Click Through consumers.
These are visitors who after reading something on the website notice the ads that are related to the specific content and then click on the ads and if enticed and persuaded, buy the product that is being advertised. For successful “conversions”, the website of the advertisers has to be optimized as well.
Talking about optimization, it is also the case that websites can attract visitors only if they are ranked higher than the other pages when browsers search for information on search engines. Research has shown that browsers do not go beyond the first 10 (or more commonly, the first five) results on Google when they search for a particular keyword.
This is the reason why most websites often undertake what is known as SEO or Search Engine Optimization wherein they use targeted language and keyword placement so that they appear on top of the results. Indeed, the better optimized your site, the more chances that you would attract visitors, and the more possibility of conversions.
However, sometimes this race for search engine ranking has the consequence of making the language on the website pretty jumbled and unorganized and hence, not reader friendly, thereby defeating the purpose for which such optimization was done.
Having said that, in recent years, the race for eyeballs and likes and shares has led to what is known as Black Ops Advertising wherein marketing and advertising are so “in your face” that it is almost impossible not to notice or for that matter, not to be bombarded by ads and escape the incessant buzz of notifications and alerts.
You may have noticed how most websites ask whether you want alerts to be sent, and how they place ads almost everywhere to the point where it becomes irritating, and how intrusive such ads are as you browse through the website.
Indeed, this type of advertising is known as Black Ops Advertising and it has got some consumer privacy advocates and other well meaning stakeholders worried about how to protect consumers from this so that they are not tricked into buying because the ads are so invasive.
Moreover, there is also the concern that in the race for eyeballs, clicks, and views, marketers are unduly targeting the consumers and in some instances, collecting data that includes personal and confidential data as well. Indeed, in an age where Data is the New Oil, such nefarious access to data might do more harm to everyone than good.
Thus, there is a need for regulating online marketing in the same manner in which print and visual media marketing is regulated.
Of course, one must also consider how online marketing helps businesses lower costs of website access for users as they gain on ads and then pass on the benefits to the users by charging them low costs for access.
Thus, there are advantages and disadvantages of online marketing and much depends on how website owners allow their websites to be used or misused as far as the race for eyeballs, clicks, and likes and shares are concerned.
Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *
