Online Interactivity

Online interactivity is a great plus to using the online market to make your brand grow.

Consumers enjoy being able to access websites and share information with other people. Whether its commenting on a subject, sharing it on Facebook or tweeting about it.

Online interactivity promotes a website and can be a marketers dream or nightmare. there are certain things that can cause interactivity to be a problem as noted on Mr. Mayazaki's Blog

http://www.sensibleemarketing.com/2012/03/how-much-interactivity-does-online.html

Among these negative aspects are included:
- interaction takes time and money 
- interaction is not always possible
- takes away the "special" aspect of the brand
- can lead to an overbearing friendship that can not be stopped
- consumer interaction with one another can be harmful

The negative aspect i have seen the most over the years is consumer interaction with one another. At times a consumer will interact with another who has negative comments about the product. this can lead to trash talk drawing negative attention to your product as well. Other consumers can also not only negatively speak on your product but recommend other products to your consumers that they believe will work better than yours

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interactive_marketing

http://hubshout.com/?The-6-I%E2%80%99s-of-Internet-Marketing&AID=324

The Buyer Decision Process

The Buyer Decision Process can be broken down into 5 easy steps as shown bellow:

In the new age of electronic.. well.. EVERYTHING. Buyers are finding themselves electronically going through the buyer decision process.

Need Recognition. 
Your online on google-ing ways to get rid of that stubborn belly fat that just won't go away. You find many articles listing Hydroxycut as the top seller for weight loss supplement. You now need to purchase this product to fulfill your dream of 6 pack abs.

Information Search
You continue your search on websites that claim to know about weight loss you find yourself searching the opinions on www.gnc.com, www.epinions.com, www.healthguru.com and they all have trust worthy reviews and picture of people who have lost the weight with this product.

Evaluation of Alternatives
On these sites though you also encounter many people who have used the other brand, slim quik. So you decide to do a bit of research on that as well. You hit up trust worthy google one more time and compare the two products, which one is more appealing and promises better results. 

Purchase Decision / Evaluation
After researching and gathering all the information you can now make an educated purchase. I do believe that the online buying process might add a an extra step to the buying process.

Price competition.
Purchasing online gives buyers the ease and simplicity of being able to find the cheapest option at the click of a button. Many websites like buy.com actually show all the prices for different websites that the product is available on and the buyer can chose.

So basically e-marketting can be found through out the entire process from the advertisement, research and price matching. 

http://bcdm-kim.blogspot.com/2011/04/neuromarketing-future-of-marketing.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buyer_decision_processes

http://www.sensibleemarketing.com/2012/10/where-is-e-marketing-in-buying-decision.html

Free to be Stalked

The internet 

Yes that wonderful magical invention that has us connected to the entire world. With one click you automatically receive millions of answers within seconds. Who would have thought that it would grow into what it is now, information on anything and everything and even anyone....

Anyone, you and me both we can be found on the internet with a little searching you might be able to find more information than you'd like to find about yourself online. 

Take Facebook for example a social website where people post their pictures, information, relationship status, location, likes dislikes etc to share with friends and pretty much the rest of the world. Employers and companies are opening Facebook pages also as it is a good way to get a company out there and market their companies. But what if you get tired of Facebook or find yourself wanting to get rid of it..Goodluck. Feel free to deactivate your Facebook while you think it over but there is no delete button. So be careful what you post on Facebook because it'll be around for a while your information is stored on their site. 

But internet users beware it is not only the information your putting out there on purposely on your social media pages but it's also the everyday information that is being captured. This is captured through a thing called cookies


"A cookie is a piece of text that a Web server can store on a user'shard disk. Cookies allow a Web site to store information on a user's machine and later retrieve it. The pieces of information are stored as name-value pairs."

Most websites you visit and put information into will store an "ID" for you such as Amazon, Ebay, and any search engine. These cookies help websites recognize you and keep track of what you've been searching for and things your interested in so website can further recommend things you might like to purchase or might direct any search query you type to things similar to previous searchers. 

So for those people out there who fear their privacy on the Internet EFF has provided their "12 ways to protect your online privacy" such that include:

• don't be so quick to give up your personal information on websites that ask for it
• turn on a cookie notice, your browser will alert you when a website tries to write a cookie.
• beware of reward or prize sites
• don't reply to spammers EVER

So although privacy may seem a far reach online, it is possible to be more careful than most to insure your web time is safer. 


Further reading :

http://www.sensibleemarketing.com/2012/10/is-online-privacy-ultimate-oxymoron.html

http://www.forbes.com/sites/ashoka/2012/10/05/online-privacy-made-easier/


https://www.eff.org/wp/effs-top-12-ways-protect-your-online-privacy

Confessions of a Shopaholic

It's needless to say that ever since the Amazon appeared in about 1995 i have been admiring the world of online shopping. There is nothing better than sitting in the comfort of your home while ordering a new TV, a blu-ray player and a movie. Why not add a box of popcorn some paper towels and 24 pack of coke i click submit sit back and within 48 hours (I'm an Amazon Prime member) i can sit back and watch my movie on my new TV and blu-ray player. 

And if being able to shop from the comfort of your home doesn't completely  reel you in then maybe the cheaper rates will. Many times online on websites like amazon you can find the same products for cheaper or sold in bulk and tax free..... up until now. 

Up until now stores like Amazon have not been adding sales tax to orders but the state of California has been one of the states to change that. Online shoppers found themselves scurrying to make their order before midnight on September 14th. Not only will Amazon be adding taxes but they have agreed to open two distribution centers in the state creating more than 1,000 jobs for Californians. Consumers can expect that other states will follow in this manner and implement the sales taxes as well. The state of California expects this change to bring the state from 80million to 100million a year. The states believe they lose 11.5billion dollars in taxes that are not collected each year (Blackstone)

The states that already collect sales tax from amazon include :
Kansas, Kentucky, New York, North Dakota, Texas and Washington. And by 2013 states of Virginia and New Jersey are expected to join in as well. 


Now the question most consumers will be asking themselves, is it worth the wait? If the product im looking to buy is $5.00 cheaper online and i'll be taxed and have to wait at least 48 hours to receive it, wouldn't i just rather go to the store and buy it? I consider myself to be part of a thrifty generation but i also fall in the instant gratification generations, we want it now and we want it quick! So which will it be, are you thrifty ? are you instant?


Further reading:

http://www.sensibleemarketing.com/2012/09/will-amazon-be-next-walmart-new-tax.html


http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505268_162-57512862/calif-law-ends-tax-free-shopping-for-amazon.com-other-online-retailers/

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303644004577525070594717752.html

A Different Campaign

The other day while catching up a on one of my favorite shows on www.hulu.com online a commercial caught my eye. I guess i could say this commercial caught my attention many times as it was replayed during the entire show, "My name is Bill and I'm a Mormon". Online advertisement for our republican candidate Mitt Romney. At that moment i noticed all the subliminal messages going around on the Internet.

We are a generation powered by social media, the internet drives us all and candidates are aware of that. They are spending great amount of money on online videos and advertisements. The most recent information provided by CNN news informs that Obama has surpassed Romney's online spending campaign, he has spent roughly $16.4million dollars on online ads. Is this a smart move? Many people believe it is, it's a great way to reach the young population through youtube vides, tweets, Facebook and advertisements on websites. Online advertisement reaches everyone this year people not only had the option of viewing the debate on television but it was advertised and viewed online. Clips were cut and placed on youtube, comments were written online debates between voters were exchanged. The internet has made the elections grow in a way that might have been unthinkable in prior years. It has reached out to a younger crowd that has not been as involved in previous years. The amount of young voters has been increasing since 2000 and at 2008 it reached an all time high with a 51% of young population voting. So online advertising seems to be working right??


It's important to take into account that just like I am currently writing this article freely online many of the advertisements we might be seeing are being freely written by biased voters trying to get their candidate ahead. While the beauty of the internet is the ability to freely right and express your thoughts it is important to take this into account when looking at advertisements if they do not state they are endorsed by the candidate or do not come from a reliable page it is very likely they are not always going to be true. And even then! Hackers can breach websites and change information or ads created. So remember when surfing your favorite website if you encounter a pop up ad that you find thought provoking and interesting look a little more into it before making a judgment based on this one ad. 

Good luck to all in the future elections take advantage of this great tool we posses for information on our candidates but always remember that the truth is not always what it seems.

For further information on the matter::

http://www.sensibleemarketing.com/

For external information on vote statistics:

http://www.yda.org/resources/youth-vote-statistics/

further information on online campaigning::

http://www.cnn.com/2012/06/03/politics/online-campaign-spending/index.html