Marketing & Information Technology Strategies
Marketing strategies evolved alongside information technology throughout the 20th century, and the trend continues into the 21st. As the marketing profession races to keep up with the rapid evolution in information technology, strategies for advertising, promotions, public relations, product development and even packaging continue to change their focus. Staying on the cutting edge of marketing and information technology strategies can help you reach customers in innovative and effective ways.
Other People Are Reading
-
New Media Advertising
-
Information technology plays a large role in the evolution of advertising strategies. After relying on television, radio, print and community advertisements for years, marketers are now turning to a range of new technology-driven outlets. Website advertising, ads on streaming music and video, text message and email advertising, and even 3D advertising are all tools in the modern marketer's strategic toolkit. Planning ahead and using new technologies in new ways is the key to gaining a competitive advantage in new media advertising.
Loyalty Programs and Purchase Tracking
-
Information technology grants marketers an unparalleled ability to track customers' shopping and purchase behavior. Loyalty programs, driven by large, centralized databases, can offer customers custom-tailored discounts and promotional offers based on their actual purchases. Customer tracking programs can even go as far as to analyze customers' purchase history and loyalty program reward balances against coupon databases, then to automatically print coupons for items that the customer actually purchases.
-
Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
-
Salespeople rely on software- and database-driven customer relationship management systems to guide their communication with potential and current customers. CRM systems pool a large amount of data on individual contacts and groups, including contact information; career information; personal information, such as birthdays and preferred leisure activities, which can be used to strengthen relationships with customers; and a record of past conversations. CRM systems also assist salespeople and business owners with scheduling meetings and calls, helping them to keep track of their time-bound responsibilities.
Social Media Involvement
-
Social media is a relatively new phenomenon that gained widespread use among consumers around the turn of the century. It did not take long for marketers to realize the potential of tapping into these virtual communities to reach customers in a more personal way than ever before.
Through social media, companies can cost-efficiently spread advertising and promotional messages over vast distances and to large, highly targeted audiences. Social media outlets also allow customers to give their favorite companies direct feedback on their products, services and performance. Social media interaction is much more controllable than early forms of Internet advertising, making it more desirable for consumers but more challenging for marketers.
-
References
Resources
- Photo Credit woman talking on cell phone / mobile phone image by Katrina Miller from Fotolia.com
