Changing media consumption habit of today’s
consumer, who has access to multiple of these, is resulting in his/her spending
the media time with different media at any given point of time. In addition to
this, advertisers who are exposing the consumers to a clutter of advertising
messages are facing the challenge of both - reaching the target audience and
breaking through this clutter. This has increased the need of businesses to have online presence
in today's competitive markets. Web Analysts suggest that one of the best ways
to establish a strong footing in the virtual world is through Social Media
Marketing. Be it through social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter or
LinkedIn or through blog posts, social media offers a unique platform to
allow interaction between a brand and a consumer in a contemporary manner.
Today, consumers look for in-depth information and know-how of a business/brand
before taking it up. With presence on an interactive social platform, a
business is subjected to a favorable light whereby consumer queries,
information, and updates can be discussed openly and directly1. A
survey done by the global PR firm Burson-Marsteller proves that 79% of the
Fortune 100 companies are using at least one of the social media platforms –
Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and a corporate blog2.
Figure 1. depicts that the gap between the Claimed
and Active Internet Users in India is
decreasing. This shows that accessing Internet is becoming a regular activity
and out of the above mentioned four social media platforms, Blogs can
be used as one of the most effective tools of marketing communication in India.
A report by LodeStar Universal
estimates that there are 17.8 million active Internet users in the 16-54 age
group in India, many of whom would have also used tools, such as instant
messaging and discussion forums. Around
15.1 million or 85% of such Indians read blogs online. Social networking, picture and video
sharing, online communities and Internet chatting and blogs are significant for
81% of the users. – WATblog citing JuxtConsult report3.
Blogs thus offer a bunch of
opportunities to be exploited by companies for increasing their brand image and value and in turn
gaining an edge over their competitors. There are many reasons that justify inclusion of blogs in the
marketing communication toolkit. One can access a blog or
post a message at any convenient time. Blogs provide a channel for reaching a
large number of geographically distributed audiences which in turn increases
awareness and boost sales. Blogs are cost-effective, easier to implement than
most of the other modes of communication and preferred due to their simplicity
and informal nature. Use of blogs facilitate search engine optimization and
improve traffic to company websites which are normally packed with information.
Blogs help in brand building for the company by employee bloggers and
co-branding by consumers / online audience. Blogs have been useful for swift
handling of crisis situations and providing instant clarifications before
substantial damage is done4. Blog advertising is also gaining
momentum with more and more creative online mar-com managers who are ready to
address the new breed of up-to-date consumers in the current market.
Figure 2: Source: I cube, 2008, IMRB Syndication
Increase in the mobile phone users in our country also
adds to the importance of usage of blogs for Mar-com. Also, there has been a
considerable change in the content delivery with the introduction of the
innovative applications like M-commerce, M-blogging and even location based
services. This has resulted in the transition of applications from basic
communication to the entertainment options like Mobile TV and user generated
content like M-blogging and social networking sites (SNS). Appropriate content over the Internet
will drive the users for using Mobile Internet. It has
been expected that innovative applications like M-Commerce, M-Blogging etc.
will help in attract many users5. The figure 2 below shows that 8% of the internet users accessing
internet on mobile do the same for information search. This is where the blogs
can emerge as an important tool for the marketers to communicate with their
target.
Blogs along with corporate websites have a huge potential
for addressing the youth market in India. Also, cost-effectiveness, instant
penetration over wide geographical areas, scope for community participation and
brand building would make this online media a favourite for marketing
communication in emerging markets4 (IBID).
References
2. Cover Story – Does Social Media
really matters to Indian Businesses, 4 Ps Business and Marketing Magazine issue
18 Nov 2010 – 1 Dec 2010
3. India Internet and Web Statistics
2008
http://blog.santoshmaharshi.com/2008/09/16/india-web-internet-statistics-2008/
4. Pal S. K. and Kapur V, (2010)
'Blog Marketing Strategies for Mature and Emerging Markets', International
Journal of Innovation, Management & Technology, Vol.1, No. 4
5.IAMAI report on Mobile Internet in
India, Dec 2009.
Bibliography
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