Use of New Technologies in Marketing and Research

Use Of New Technologies In Marketing & Research
A wave of new technologies exists today to aid marketers in reaching and researching existing and prospective customers. The newest trends in marketing are based on and around the use of new technologies. With resources such as QR codes, social media marketing and mobile marketing, consumers are directly involved in activities that require an interaction around the benefits offered by a brand.

Social Media Marketing
Social media marketing. refers to the process of gaining website traffic or attention through social media sites. Social media marketing involves using peer recommendations, building brand personality, and addressing the market as a group of individuals. It also uniquely encourages customers to create their own content and buzz around a product. In other words, programs usually center on efforts to create content that attracts attention and encourages readers to share it with their social networks. Hence, this form of marketing is driven by word-of-mouth; this means it generates results in earned media rather than paid media.
Some examples of popular social media sites are:
Twitter
Twitter allows companies to promote products on an individual level. The use of a product can be explained in short messages that followers are more likely to read. Messages can link to the product’s website, Facebook profile, photos, videos, et cetera. This link gives followers the opportunity to spend more time interacting with the product online. This interaction can create a loyal connection between product and individual and can also lead to larger advertising opportunities.
Facebook
Facebook profiles are more detailed than Twitter. They allow a product to provide videos, photos, and longer descriptions. These also can include testimonials, as other followers can comment on the product pages for others to see.
Foursquare
Foursquare is a location-based social networking website where users can check into locations via their smartphones. Foursquare allows businesses to create a page or create a new venue or claim an existing one. A good marketing strategyfor businesses to increase footfall or retain loyal customers includes offering incentives like discounts or free food/beverages for people checking in to their location, or provides special privileges for the mayor of that location.
LinkedIn
LinkedIn, being a professional business-related networking site, allows companies to create professional profiles for themselves as well as allowing their business to network and meet others. Through the use of widgets, members can promote their various social networking activities, such as Twitter stream or blog entries of their product pages, on their LinkedIn profile page. LinkedIn provides its members the opportunity to generate sales leads and business partners.
Viral marketing
Another type of innivation in marketing is Viral marketing. It involves the exponential spread of a marketing messages by online word of mouth (sometimes referred to as “word of mouse”). A major component of viral communication is the meme - or a message that spreads virally and embeds itself in the collective consciousness. Viral marketing is closely tied to social media, since social media platforms and their sharing functionality are the main way that a message is able to “go viral” online.
Mobile Marketing
Mobile marketing is marketing on or with a mobile device. More specifically, marketers use interactive wireless media to provide customers with personalized information that promotes goods, services and ideas - thereby generating value for all stakeholders. The most popular forms of mobile marketing include:
SMS Marketing
Over the past few years, SMS (short message service) marketing has become a legitimate advertising channel in some parts of the world. On average, SMS messages are read within four minutes, making them highly convertible.
SMS marketing services typically run off a short code. Short codes are five or six digit numbers that have been assigned by mobile operators in a given country for the use of brand campaigns and other consumer services.
MMS Marketing
Mobile content can also be delivered via MMS (multimedia message service). Nearly all new phones produced with a color screen are capable of sending and receiving standard MMS messages. MMS mobile marketing can contain a timed slideshow of images, text, audio, and video.
QR Codes
Also with the increase in smart phone usage, QR - or quick response - codes have become much more prevalent in marketing pieces both on and offline. Consumers can scan these images with their smart phones to instantly reach information or offer pages. Acting as a visual hyper-link, QR codes make it easy for someone to reach a mobile optimized offer page. As such, they represent a very powerful tool for initiating consumer engagement at the time when the marketing piece is likely triggering its most emotional response. Their potential for tracking offline sources and delivering the types of analytics previously reserved for online tracking makes another powerful reason that marketers are flocking to QR codes in droves.Figure 1