What Were The Reasons For The Failure Of Early Online Marketing Companies?
The mid 1980s marked the rise of online
marketing as a means to reach global market segments. The advent of internet
technology enabled marketers to move away from heavy offline campaigns like
signages, billboards, television and newspaper ads to the digital platform.
However, not all the early birds were able to sustain the demands of the
end-users and they succumbed in a very few years from incorporation, due to one
or more of the following reasons:
- Failure To Understand The Target Market
The relationship between the early online
marketers and clients was a very closed one, without much scope for
interaction. The client supplied the budget and okayed the timeline - the
marketing campaigns were unleashed. There was complete failure to understand
the requirements of the target market. The focus was lop-sided and attempts to
market the merchandize were greater than that of solving customer pain-points.
Modern digital marketing companies have come a long way from them, and today,
multiple user personas are created for understanding the demographics of the
customer.
- Narrow Focus On Self-Promotion And Neglect Of Community Building
The early day marketing maxim was truly
simple - making profits. Profits are a must even today, but there is a stress
on co-existence and a need for upholding social values. The content used in
traditional marketing campaigns was solely promotional. It was one-sided as
well, with the companies trying to attract customers towards the brands. There was no interaction between customers
who were spread across different geographies. Social media was restricted to
personal use and online marketers never tried to encourage interaction with
customers on public forums. But today, the norms of social media marketing have
changed and businesses are intent on transacting with clients in a
human-enabled manner.
- Ignorance Of CSR And Online Reputation Management
Corporate Social Responsibility was only
viewed as a matter of compliance and statutory requirement. But today CRM (Cause Related
Marketing), is used as an effective marketing technique by modern
web marketers. Addressing various social and economic issues has now become an
integral part of online reputation management. Major brands are coming forward
with contributions, both monetary and non-monetary, in support of causes like
education, women empowerment, wildlife conservation, pollution prevention and
so on. The early online marketers failed to use these initiatives in an
effective manner for growing brand affinity.
- Underestimating The Power Of Customer
The dominance of customer was not felt in
the early days of the dotcom bubble. The business world was dominated by
producers, salesmen, advertisers and middlemen. Customers opinion was grossly
neglected. This resulted in dissatisfaction among customers. Customer churn was
at its worst and online marketers could do nothing to prevent brand switching.
Customers were being sold suboptimal products and customer service was poor.
The customer-is-king era soon dawned, forcing many early businesses to exit.
The pillars
of inbound marketing are customer empowerment. Learning from their early
failures, the online marketing agencies of today have rearranged their
priorities. They help not in selling products and services, but in telling
customers where to find good value for money. They encourage making informed
decisions so that customer satisfaction increases. To educate customers and to
provide them with value-added services creates a sense of responsibility and
ethics in internet marketers.