In today’s digital era, businesses use the internet to promote their products and services to global markets.
Digital marketing has transformed how companies market their goods and services. In connection, the internet is gaining more importance as it provides a competitive advantage to businesses.
This article introduces e-marketing and its significant advantages and disadvantages.
What is e-marketing?
E-marketing or electronic marketing is a term that refers to an integrated marketing communication process. It defines how brands communicate with customers for effective lead generation and engagement.
This type of marketing is an excellent alternative to traditional marketing – especially for e-commerce businesses.
Marketers use e-marketing to advertise their products and services over the internet. It takes place in the following sectors:
- Consumer markets
- Business-to-business
- Public relations
- Stakeholder management
- Media advertising
- Sponsorship
It uses SEO and PPC marketing strategies to gain prospects. But it is more focused on building customer relationships.
3 main types of e-marketing
There are different types of e-marketing, but here are the most common ones:
Social media marketing
Social media marketing (SMM) is one of the most influential types of e-marketing because it is driven by the following core areas:
- Connection. Individuals utilize SMM to connect with their target audience using social sites like Facebook and content platforms like Youtube.
- Interaction. Businesses leverage free advertising opportunities through electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM).
- Customer data. SMM uses customer data to crowdsource new marketing strategies.
Influencers and business owners use social media to build social networks and company brands.
According to Business Wire’s report, 82% of individuals have either purchased or considered buying a product after reading posts from friends, relatives, or influencers on social media.
Email marketing
Email marketing is one of the components of e-marketing. It includes newsletters with promotions of sales for the subscribers.
It is suitable for keeping consumers updated with the latest products and services. However, this e-marketing can drive potential customers away because of spam emails.
Blogging
Blogging is a form of content writing that businesses utilize to feature their company’s services online.
Content writers who use blog marketing can use interlinking. This is when the author links a non-competitor article within their blog post to drive traffic to websites.
Types of blog posts vary depending on the target audience. For instance, a travel blog features different tourist destinations to attract a traveler reader.
Advantages of e-marketing
As mentioned, e-marketing helps promote a company’s products and services to global markets. To elaborate further, here are the advantages of using e-marketing:
Greater reach
Many businesses have become global, and e-marketing uses the following platforms for greater reach:
- Microsoft
- Apple
- Amazon
Because of this, many industries gain global audiences – and even small companies can now compete in global markets.
More effective use of resources
Besides being less costly than other marketing methods, it enables the use of resources efficiently with its salient features:
- Buy and sell products from anywhere
- Simplify the entire marketing process
- Offers rich information to the seller and buyer
Better social media engagement
E-marketing helps businesses to improve customer engagement using different communication channels.
As mentioned, business sectors leverage social media marketing to engage with potential consumers on platforms such as:
- YouTube
- Newer platforms (e.g.Tiktok)
More personalized advertisements
Remarkably, e-marketing has boosted organizations’ capacity to conduct business more quickly by using data and profiling tools — delivering targeted ads to the right person at the right time.
Disadvantages of e-marketing
While e-marketing has many advantages, it’s not free from flaws. Here are its disadvantages:
Purchase limitation
A purchase limit in e-marketing indicates that consumers can only purchase products with minimum orders. For instance, a customer must purchase a product with a different item at a similar price.
It may be difficult for clients to obtain the desired goods with add-ons because the check-out process may be expensive.
Payment methods could be another limitation. Some online merchants only accept credit card payments. This makes it difficult for other consumers to pay, especially those without a credit card.
Security and privacy
Security and privacy are critical considerations in e-marketing.
Established brands are vulnerable to online fraud, in which an unauthenticated person can engage in unethical and fraudulent acts.
A business that lacks data protection may result in financial and customer loss. Hence, protecting clients’ and businesses’ information with anti-fraud systems is essential.
Technology requirements
E-marketing is entirely dependent on technological devices and the internet.
As a marketer, you must invest in other technology requirements. Otherwise, you can’t reach patrons who now rely heavily on modern technology.
Mass emails get ignored
One of the biggest errors that marketers make is sending mass emails using email marketing.
As stated earlier, people get annoyed with spam emails. Thus, this is not the recommended way of advertising products to prospects and clients in e-marketing.
Overall, e-marketing is beneficial in marketing your business’s products and services worldwide efficiently. Knowing its advantages and disadvantages can help you make informed decisions for your entire business process.
