Introduction
Online marketing is becoming a crucial part of people’s lives in the contemporary digitalized society. The number of users of social networks is on the rise, which shapes human consumption and buying patterns behavior (Maghda, 2021). In the past, businesses were struggling with a decision on how to market their product and services, which slowed the establishment of corporations. However, today, with the enhancement of the use of social media, business presence online has become one of the best approaches to achieving business goals (Akula, 2015). Internet marketing has several significant advantages for startup businesses. Therefore, this essay will identify the effects of online marketing on startup businesses, focusing mainly on how it helps to reach a larger audience, drive sales through social media, and build brand awareness.
The Contribution of Online Marketing to Reaching a Larger Audience
Online marketing is an innovative approach to reaching a wider pool of target markets. People worldwide use social media platforms, which facilitates the opportunities for using digital marketing for startups to reach their intended audiences more effectively (Yamini and Chad, 2020). One of the ways to achieve a better reach is through artificial intelligence, which helps analyze data on social media for the successful automation of marketing (Garg et al., 2022). Another method of using digital marketing for audience reach enhancement is through chatbots that automate processes, improve service support quality, and consumer enhancement (Kavya, Hariharan, and Chandrakhanthan, 2020). Moreover, social media and online platforms are more accessible to customers than traditional marketing means. Conventional marketing tools are ineffective in reaching a competitive advantage, while online marketing has infinite opportunities and choices to promote products and services to larger audiences (Schwarzl and Grabowska, 2015). Since the number of online users is growing significantly, it is easy to advertise products and services to them through online means (Bharti and Kumar, 2020). Thus, it is essential for startups to efficiently use online marketing to reach their audiences.
Online Marketing as a Driver of Sales on Social Media
Digital marketing helps drive sales through the use of social media. Online social networking platforms, such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, provide an opportunity for using multiple marketing channels (Yamini and Chad, 2020). Since the products are easily noticeable to prospective consumers, which increases the level of sales for companies. Moreover, specifically designed digital marketing strategies are capable of growing sales. For example, Gulati (2022) found that Indian startups had been effective in increasing sales using email, pay-per-click, and social media marketing, as well as search engine optimization. The use of such approaches for startups is validated by their cost-effectiveness. Indeed, Yamini and Chad (2020) claim that online marketing helps gain high revenues with minimal costs, specifically for small businesses. The same claims are supported by Suleiman et al. (2020), who state that digital marketing allows for achieving startup goals due to limited budget expenditures. A Chicago-based company, Foiled Cupcakes demonstrated that social media helps increase sales with limited costs (Bharati, 2017). Thus, digital marketing allows for saving finances and operating limited assets effectively and more cost-efficiently than traditional marketing.
The Use of Online Marketing to Build Brand Awareness
Brand awareness is one of the main drivers of consistent growth of competitive advantage, which is vital for startups striving for long-term market presence. Internet-based marketing allows for enhancing brand reputation, customer loyalty, and product awareness on a wide scale. In particular, the use of online marketing helps increase brand reputation since it allows for communicating with consumers directly. Since customers impact business brands by repeatedly referring to companies and recommending them, which builds enhanced brand awareness among existing and prospective buyers (Akeel and Gubhajo, 2020). To raise brand awareness among social media users, startups might adhere to such tools as notifications, reminders, and advertisements (Isoraite, 2016). In essence, to build a strong brand reputation, a startup has to make the consumer sufficiently interested in the brand. Such a goal might be achieved by sending marketing messages and posting up-to-date information on specialized pages of brands on social media (Isoraite, 2016). Through close interaction with the customer base online, companies are capable of communicating the value of their products and services product or service as generated by the company.
On the other hand, social media platforms serve as a digital space for spreading the word of mouth about brands. Customers can share information about brands for other users to see and increase their awareness of the company’s products and reputation. Thus, online marketing helps influence consumer buying behavior on multiple levels (Kucuk, 2011). The ultimate goal pursued by online marketing efforts is to induce consumer loyalty for long-term profit-making and competitive advantage building (Kovanoviene, Romeika, and Baumung, 2021). Thus, due to the interactive setting of social media, digital marketing increases the ease of connecting with consumers to build brand awareness.
Conclusion
In summation, research findings suggest that there are multiple benefits for startups when using online marketing. Firstly, the use of internet-based marketing tools allows for reaching wider target markets due to the innovative solutions and accessibility of information for potential customers. Secondly, startups that use online marketing strategies are capable of increasing their sales through social media, which is a cost-effective way of targeting markets through a variety of channels. Finally, internet marketing allows for effective brand awareness building through transparency and reliability that contributes to the company’s reputation. Thus, startup businesses need to engage in online marketing practices to achieve their corporate goals efficiently and effectively.
References
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