Вопросы экономики и финансов: тезисы докладов VІ Международной научно-практической конференции (Киев-Будапешт-Вена, 31 мая 2016)
Section 1. PR, advertising and marketing
ZAKUTNIA YULIIA
Online marketing
LLC "Company "FavorBud "
m. Lviv, Ukraine
KOHUT IRYNA
Assistant Department of Technology Management
National University "Lviv Polytechnic"
m. Lviv, Ukraine
DIGITAL MARKETING AS A COMMUNICATION WITH PROJECT BENEFICIARY: UKRAINIAN PROSPECTIVE
During the last year, the number of Ukrainian Internet users has increased from 18.8 to 21.8 million [1]. Every third pensioner and every second villager are now online. Internet became the most reliable channel to reach the beneficiaries of every project targeted on teenagers, adults or even on the people of senior age.
Growing popularity of the Internet forces entrepreneurs over the globe to change their approach to marketing. More and more companies invest in digital activities, such as content writing, social media management, search engine optimization, email marketing, website and landing pages development, target advertising and so on. These channels require lower expenditure with up to 2-3 times higher ROI than from traditional marketing. According to “Mondo” statistics, in 2016 every second company is willing to hire a marketer with tech background [2].The number of advantages over traditional approach allows digital marketing to grow rapidly, attracting the attention of more and more beneficiaries of different projects. The following benefits are the most significant for digital marketing:
Almost unlimited ways to reach a customer. Digital marketing channels allow targeting a message to any person who uses a device with the access to Internet. Comparing to traditional marketing which has limited capabilities for physical distribution of the information, digital channels reach every person in the world who is online.
Wider opportunities for behavior targeting. All data about online behavior is collected and kept, therefore, search engines and other IT giants can describe almost every user in details. Such characteristics as gender, age, geographical location, occupation and interests are no more a secret. Google and other large companies provide indirect access to this information, offering online advertising opportunities.
Lower cost comparing to traditional marketing.Digital marketing does not require any recurring costs. The investment covers the salary of the specialist and buying of proper software. According to “HubSpot”, only such channel as content marketing saves up to 62% of money spent on engaging the same amount of clients as with traditional marketing [3].
Direct options to measure a statistics.Almost every digital marketing channel provides diverse statistics on a topic. Experienced marketer always measures the effectiveness of every channel and modifies the strategy according to that data, avoiding inefficient actions.
Immediate client’s feedback to any marketing activity.The Internet has wide opportunities to discuss everything, so nothing could be hidden. Every service or product gets direct feedback expressed as buying, reference, comment, like, or share. Using targeting and measuring the statistics, a company gets a direct opportunity to keep in touch with every beneficiary who also can connect to company’s owners simply through a website or social media.
According to Lasswell’s model, every communication consists of five main elements, which are: communicator (the “who” of a message), message (what is told about), a channel which transmits a message, audience that receives a message and effect followed by message [4].
In digital marketing, the company or its chief executives by marketer’s deputy performs the role of communicator; it transmits some message (which is usually related to selling, building brand loyalty or engaging more people) through one of marketing channels (social media, website, article, target ad, email and so on) to a beneficiary, and gets a feedback. This feedback is measurable and immediate, expressed not only in long-term indexes such as increase or decrease of sales but direct reactions which a client already types on his or her Twitter or shares in a comment under an article.
Therefore, running the digital marketing campaign, first of all, the company should think about communication with a beneficiary. On the Internet, marketing is no more about efficient or inefficient strategies, but about proper and improper communication. The Internet is a magnifying glass which reveals every hidden detail. If a company cheats a client, he or she can ask a search engine additional question and check what is wrong. Like in personal communication, honesty, reliability and professionalism value a lot.
Nevertheless, Ukrainian business entities skip an opportunity to promote themselves online. While large companies with solid income invest in digital marketing activities, an enterprise of small or middle size (58% of Ukrainian companies [5]) are quite conservative. They either ignore or do not understand the benefits of digital marketing and rely on traditional ways of promotion.
Comparing to the US and Europe, very few Ukrainian small and middle businesses implement successful digital marketing strategies. As a result, many companies and public institutions either implement “word of a mouth” principle or spend large amounts of money on traditional marketing. Therefore, many projects remain to stay invisible for possible stakeholders while using the Internet could help to reach the target audience. The research shows, in 2013, only one of four companies had its corporate website [6].
Moreover, even those companies which have websites do not pay much attention to their maintenance. Frequently a website has poor usability and does not represent the company in a proper way. In addition, website content usually is unprofessional, with the domination of “I”-statements and unfair marketing information. Other digital marketing channels also remain to be too unfamiliar for the majority of Ukrainian companies.
To conclude, Ukrainian enterprises have wide opportunities for developing their digital communication with a beneficiary. Instead of cancelling online presence or building a wall of unilateral selfish speech, they start building a strong dialogue with their customer, responding to his or her direct need and getting immediate feedback. The ongoing topic is crucial to further growth of different enterprises, which should pay much attention to increasing awareness of people who use the Internet regularly.
References:
1. Кількість регулярних інтернет-користувачів в Україні зросла до 21,8 млн [Електронний ресурс] // Gazeta.ua. – 2015. – Режим доступу до ресурсу: http://gazeta.ua/articles/life/_kilkist-regulyarnih-internetkoristuvachiv-v-ukrayini-zrosla-do-218-mln/633061.
2. Mondo | DigitalMarketing&TechnologyResourcing [Електронний ресурс]. – 2015. – Режим доступу до ресурсу: http://www.mondo.com/.
3. HubSpot | Inbound Marketing&Sales Software [Електронний ресурс]. – 2015. – Режим доступу до ресурсу: http://www.hubspot.com/.
4. Baran S. Mass Communication Theory: Foundations, Ferment, and Future / S. Baran, D. Davis. – United States of America: Cengage Learning, 2009. – 374 p.
5. Охріменко О. Чи не занадто багато у нас середнього і малого бізнесу в Україні? [Електронний ресурс] / Олександр Охріменко // 112.ua. – 2015. – Режим доступу до ресурсу: http://ua.112.ua/mnenie/chy-ne-zanadto-bahato-u-nas-serednoho-i-maloho-biznesu-v-ukraini-240000.html.
6. Лише кожна четверта українська компанія має власний сайт [Електронний ресурс] // RegioNews. – 2013. – Режим доступу до ресурсу: http://www.regionews.ua/node/109798.
