Technology in the Marketing of Products
Technology has an affect on the marketing of products.
Mobile Technology for Business
Think about how businesses used to market products--purchasing ads in newspapers and magazines,
placing signs around the store, having salespeople go door to door. While those activities still happen,
you are much more likely these days to receive an advertising email, read a tweet or check out a website
found through a search engine. Technology has changed the way businesses market products
Internet
Websites have become business necessities when it comes to marketing products. The medium allows
for plenty of room to share product details, reviews, photos and videos that engage potential
customers. Announcements often go out through online services and media stories, while blog posts
and word of mouth can drive traffic to a website. Businesses not only can announce products, but also
can sell them directly to customers all over the world. That reach stretches far beyond what a local
newspaper ad can achieve.
Email Marketing
Email marketing is one of the most affordable and potentially engaging ways to market a product.
Businesses that have built up opt-in email lists have a large base of customers who already are
interested in the products they offer. Email marketing is an ideal way to announce new offerings,
distribute coupons or discounts and share information on products. Many email marketing campaigns
have evolved into digital newsletters, in which product marketing integrates with compelling content.
Mobile
Mobile marketing involves reaching customers on their cell phones and other mobile devices through
text messaging and applications. Businesses can use text messages to send special coupons or deals to
people on a marketing list. While some businesses develop their own branded applications for
smartphones, many piggyback on existing applications that offer space for advertisements or coupons
geared for local users. For example, a business may maintain a profile on a social media smartphone
application that gives users a 20 percent discount if they try out a new product at the store.
In Store
Technology is making its presence known in stores. The use of digital signage is a trend that allows
businesses to capture the attention of customers and market specific products to them. This is
particularly helpful for restaurants and other businesses that need to respond to changes in inventory or
introduce new products on a regular basis. Advanced point of sale systems can give employees real-time
information on what products are in stock or help them track a customer's preferences. Providing
excellent customer service is a key to successful sales and marketing.
Social Media
Social media is both a major opportunity and a great challenge for businesses when it comes to product
marketing. It can be a quick and easy way to communicate information on new products to a large
group, but businesses have to be careful to attract customers rather than talk down to them. Businesses
should look at social media as technology that enables the age-old marketing technique of word of
mouth. Create a compelling social media experience, interact with customers and encourage them to
share your product information with others.
Related Articles
1. Consumers Search Online
Today's consumers turn to the Internet to find local businesses, research product information and
compare services of different companies. Businesses that operate robust search engine-optimized
websites appear at the top of search results when online users key in specific keywords or phrases. Both
business-to-business and business-to-customer ventures benefit from marketing strategies that boost
search engine rankings. Online marketing isn't just for online businesses but also boosts sales for bricksand-mortar establishments. As more people access the Internet through smartphones, mobileoptimized websites increase walk-in local traffic.
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Establish Authority
A business website is the central component of e-marketing. Large and small businesses establish solid
reputations in their fields with attractive, useful and easy-to-navigate websites. Important features
include an "About Us" page as well as information on products, services, company news, activities and
location or contact details. Articles on relevant subject matter and a regularly updated blog are excellent
marketing tools to establish authority and expertise.

Inbound Marketing
E-marketing is an effective tool for businesses because it draws prequalified sales leads. When someone
arrives at your site or finds your Facebook business page, he has keyed in a word or phrase indicating he
is searching for something your site offers. Analyzing this inbound website traffic provides valuable data
about your target market and gives you the chance to collect email addresses to increase your database
of sales leads. Popular inbound marketing techniques include offering a coupon, free report or
newsletter by email, giving businesses a way to contact potential customers.
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Great Relationship Building
Relationship building is a marketing strategy built on establishing a long-term and mutually beneficial
relationship between businesses and customers. Using e-marketing through social media allows ongoing
two-way communication. Google+, LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Pinterest are social media
platforms that businesses use to build relationships and communities around their brands. Social media
allows businesses of all sizes to address public relations and customer service issues quickly, announce
time-limited offers and promotions, and give customers a chance to share their product-related stories
and images. Big businesses are changing marketing strategies to include e-marketing and relationshipbuilding techniques. CNN reports that as of early 2012, Nike reduced its print and media advertising by
40 percent to focus on digital interaction and personalized communication with customers online.
The Importance of a Business's eMarketing Strategies
2. E-commerce includes buying and selling activities conducted online and through other electronic
media and devices. The proliferation of online retail and e-commerce make the use of marketing tools
important to companies as they help attract and retain primary customers. Each tool offers distinct
advantages.
E-Commerce Marketing Tools
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Websites and Blogs
Businesses commonly develop websites and blogs to promote their companies, products and services.
Blogs offer an interactive tool to communicate information to customers and receive feedback through
comments. Additionally, companies use sites and blogs as media for banner ads and other ad
placements. For instance, a sports retailer may pay to place banner ads on sports-rated websites and
blogs.
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Email
Email marketing is used to attract new customers and maintain close relationships with existing ones.
Companies use lead generation tools and buy email lists to send out mass emails at a low cost. Many
companies offer sign-up forms on their websites for email newsletters. They also use email to target
loyal customers with information and special promotions. Email clubs allow customers to receive weekly
or monthly email promotions.
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Search Engines
Search engine optimization, or SEO, has become a major marketing tool for small online companies in
the early 21st century. SEO is the development of a website that achieves high results in popular search
engines such as Google and Yahoo. Being a top listing in a popular product- or industry-related search is
a major source of site traffic. You can buy search placements as well to attract a certain volume of
visitors while your site grows.
Social Media
E-Commerce businesses also use social media tools, including Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest and YouTube
to create awareness, attract customers and interact directly with people. Companies can make brand or
product announcements to followers and monitor conversations about their businesses using social
media. The immediate interaction and affordability make social media tools appealing to small
businesses.
Virtual Communities
Virtual communities include an array of online meeting places for people who have shared interests,
such as gardening, video games and books. Forums, chat rooms and other interactive formats exist as
virtual comunities. These communities provide a good venue for e-Commerce ads because of the
specialized audience interest. For instance, a seed company might advertise on a gardening forum.
3. Marketing evolves with the technology and demands of each generation. The new generation of
customers is more mobile, technologically savvy and sensitive to the way companies behave. As a small
business owner, you can focus your marketing on where trends are heading and stay intimate with
customers in cost-efficient ways. Focus your marketing efforts on what next generation customers care
about, how they communicate and what type of marketing campaigns will blow their minds.
* Next GenFocusing on Cares
Expressing what your company cares about beyond profit and products is increasingly important to
customers. If your marketing message speaks to customers’ hearts and passions, you’ll attract more
loyalty as well as sales. For example, more customers care about a healthy planet, respect for workers
and giving back to the community. Embrace this trend by promoting your company’s high values and
explaining what your company does to improve the world we live in.
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Marketing to the Mobile
Start-ups and nimble small businesses can gain an edge over larger competitors by aiming at strategic
and unobtrusive ways to reach customers on their smartphones. From April to December of 2011, the
share of retail sales using smartphones grew from 1.87 percent to 3.74 percent, and customers are
embracing mobile shopping faster than retailers can keep up, according to Mobile Commerce Daily.
Smaller businesses have an opportunity to keep pace with customers ahead of the larger retailers, and
gain market share. Marketers focusing on mobile are learning to personalize, yet automate, text and
voice message promotions. Twilio, for example, is one site that lets marketers build smartphone
applications that can allow customized and immediate contact between company and customer.
Feeding the Content Beast
It’s important for companies to frequently create online content. Increasingly creative and engaging
photos, videos, stories and status updates keep a company competitive today. The compatibility of the
major social networking sites gives your company’s content the potential to reach a wide audience
online. For instance, YouTube videos don’t just stay on YouTube. They get shared on many sites
including Facebook, Google Plus and Pinterest. One way your small business can stay in front of this
trend is to directly interact with and send content to your “prosumers,” or active and loyal consumers
who blog about your brand, post photos of purchases, start fan groups online or help spread the word
about new offers.
Partnering with Customers
The next generation of customers will be accustomed to participating in product or service development
by giving feedback to companies that listen and respond. In 2011, 62 percent of consumers sought
customer service using social media while about 95 percent of consumers’ wall posts and comments
about brands were left unanswered, according to Huffington Post UK. This trend opens up opportunity
for hungry, smaller brand marketers to stand out from larger competitors by getting online and
committing to social media relationship development. If customers can have two-way dialogue with
brands as easily and naturally as they interact with their friends, brands will prosper.eration Marketing
Ideas
4. Small businesses thrive on being nimble and open to change. This includes the ability to stay
connected, work from any location and keep employees productive when on the road. Mobile
technology like smartphones, laptops, mobile applications and GPS devices keep colleagues in contact
and help business owners stay in touch with customers. Mobile marketing is a growing area that is of
particular interest to small businesses trying to reach local customers.
Benefits
Many of the benefits of using mobile technology center around improving communication. Cell phones
keep businesses and employees connected with each other and customers both at the office or on
vacation. It gives individuals the ability to communicate instantly and respond quickly to business
situations. Laptops have become powerful computing devices that offer access to all of the applications
needed to run a business, including accounting software, a Web browser or a database program. Mobile
marketing reaches new and existing customers through a direct channel that helps with sending out
special offers and tracking responses.
Cell Phones
Cell phones are a must-have business accessory for many good reasons. Cell phones mean that business
owners and employees aren't tied to an office. They can stay in touch from anywhere. Smartphones are
increasingly powerful devices that are closer to being mini-computers than old-style phones. As
smartphones become more and more popular, business owners need to consider implementing policies
to deal with the use of these phones. This may include a no-talking-while-driving policy or a security
policy that requires the use of passwords to protect valuable business data that may be kept on the
devices.
Why should I keep records?
Everyone in business must keep records. Keeping good records is very important to your business. Good
records will help you do the following:
Monitor the progress of your business
Prepare your financial statements
Identify sources of your income
Keep track of your deductible expenses
Keep track of your basis in property
Prepare your tax returns
Support items reported on your tax returns
Monitor the progress of your business
You need good records to monitor the progress of your business. Records can show whether your
business is improving, which items are selling, or what changes you need to make. Good records can
increase the likelihood of business success.
Prepare your financial statements
You need good records to prepare accurate financial statements. These include income (profit and loss)
statements and balance sheets. These statements can help you in dealing with your bank or creditors
and help you manage your business.
An income statement shows the income and expenses of the business for a given period of time.
A balance sheet shows the assets, liabilities, and your equity in the business on a given date.
Identify sources of your income
You will receive money or property from many sources. Your records can identify the sources of your
income. You need this information to separate business from nonbusiness receipts and taxable from
nontaxable income.
Keep track of your deductible expenses
Unless you record them when they occur, you may forget expenses when you prepare your tax return.
Keep track of your basis in property
Your basis is the amount of your investment in property for tax purposes. You will use the basis to figure
the gain or loss on the sale, exchange, or other disposition of property, as well as deductions for
depreciation, amortization, depletion, and casualty losses.
Prepare your tax return
You need good records to prepare your tax returns. These records must support the income, expenses,
and credits you report. Generally, these are the same records you use to monitor your business and
prepare your financial statement.
Support items reported on your tax returns
You must keep your business records available at all times for inspection by the IRS. If the IRS examines
any of your tax returns, you may be asked to explain the items reported. A complete set of records will
speed up the examination.