Issues in Global Marketing: Electronic Marketing
Table of Contents
Challenges in Electronic Marketing. 1
Primers to Selling Electronically. 2
Introduction
In the current digital world, companies are feeling the need to blend with the times, part of which is by embracing digital marketing. For international companies, particularly emerging ones, there are, however, a few factors that need scrutiny and addressing before the deciding to use digital marketing. This summary will discuss these factors, using Alliance Sanitation Company as a case study.
Challenges in Electronic Marketing
First, online marketing lacks the personal touch that other forms of marketing may have (Thomas, 2018). Wherewith physical marketing the seller can easily convince the buyer of the quality and benefits of a product, Alliance Sanitation Company (ASC) marketers may have the challenge to prove their product’s quality online. The executives must ensure that the product quality is superb, especially for the first products to win customer trust. Also, there will need to address customer issues in a personal manner. In digital marketing, customers will still have questions and queries about the products of the company, and they will expect instant response just as if they were in a sanitation products store.
The company must also be aware of the cultural differences in different regions, particularly about the style of the advert (Wild & Wild, 2016). Adverts can turn unappealing, and at times, offending to some cultures, yet they were the best in the home country. Such discrepancies have caused a rejection of otherwise quality products and services by some regions. The design of the electronic adverts thus becomes a challenge. In the past, prominent companies such as Disney has faced poor product reception in foreign lands following the cultural clash, with the locals finding the associated culture unappealing (Wild & Wild, 2016).
Primers to Selling Electronically
Most of what the company needs to know and understand before deciding to take its products to the digital market place is especially factors behind the challenges of electronic marketing. It is to start with, essential that the managers do research and study of their target customers’ cultures (Wild & Wild, 2016). By understanding the culture, the management will be able to direct what is best to include or exclude from the online advertisement. Companies have in the past failed at online marketing since their ads were conflicting with the cultures of some regions, thus could not gain customer preference.
It is secondly necessary that before embarking on digital marketing, managers establish a means to translate their product descriptions effectively, and advert languages to fit the local styles (Thomas, 2018). While online marketing makes it easy, it may fail to reach some potential clients, due to inadequate translation either in the product description, or the advertisement language. Direct translation from the home language to a different dialect may not be enough, as direct translations can distort the message. The managers must, therefore, adequately prepare to provide ads in the best local languages (Wild & Wild, 2016). Under the same, managers must also consider the issue of cultural erosion in their adverts, and hence ASC should aim to use adverts that will support diverse cultures.
Conclusion
While online marketing has benefits including round the clock marketing, there are challenges to it as well. Managers of a company are also required to consider a few factors, not limited to cultural differences, the language of the adverts, and the lack of personalized service to the consumers.
References
Thomas, R. (2018, February 15). Four types of analysis critical to your digital marketing strategy. MyCustomer. https://www.mycustomer.com/marketing/strategy/four-types-of-analysis-critical-to-your-digital-marketing-strategy
Wild, J. J., & Wild, K. L. (2016). International business: The challenges of globalization (8th ed.). Pearson.