2.1 Introduction of the chapter
Literature review chapter is useful to represent the existing literatures related to the above mentioned research topic which is the use of online communication marketing in the fitness centres in the Utrecht, Netherlands through which the fitness centres try to retain more customers in the market and attract more audiences through increasing awareness of being feet and fine by attending the fitness centres situated in Utrecht, Netherlands. through this chapter, it is possible for the researcher to gather the secondary sources of information such as books, journals, online articles, new papers and business letters through which it is possible to collect in depth data and information related to the social media marketing strategy, enhancing the market communication through online marketing, customer relationship management and brand awareness which are effective to analyse the above mentioned topic of the research which is the presence of online communication marketing strategy of the fitness centres situated at Utrecht, Netherlands through which the fitness centres can attract more audiences and retain the customers. The theories and models of digital marketing strategic planning are hereby effective for the researcher to analyse the research topic further by utilising the information in the literature review which helps the researcher to meet the research questions and complete the study efficiently by analysing the importance and strategies of digital marketing for enhancing communication through which the fitness centres situated in Utrecht, Netherlands can expand their business as well as attract more audiences at the market and retain long term customers.
2.2 Model of social media marketing
Social media marketing is the process of gaining attention through social media sites where the organisations let the people know about the brands, products and services and pricing through short and modified content and messages. Through social media marketing process, the organisations try to provide all the relevant information to all the customers around the world so that the consumers can access the product at the market by acknowledging about the detailed information of the products or services. the models of social media are developed further,
- Honeycomb Model of social media:
As per the model, there are different factors such as identity, presence, relationship, reputation, groups, conversation and sharing through which it is easy to improve engagement with the social communities across the world so that the customers can identify the brand sat the market.
Figure: Honeycomb Model of social media
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As per the model, brand identity is useful where all the companies need to utilise the social media platform for sharing their information with the customers across the globe so that the brand identity can be improved, and the consumers can identify the brand sat the market. Building relationship with the end users of the organisational products and services is also relevant for developing effective strategic planning for successful promotion of the companies. Reputation can also be improved throughs social media where the organisations try to manage their strength and reach the customers successfully with quality products and services where the reputation of a particular brand can be improved in the society. Social media platform is effective for improving conversation and sharing the relevant information with all the customers and audiences available at the market and it is the responsibility of the organisations to utilise social media platform for interacting with the customers successfully. Hereby, through this model, it is possible to understand that, social media marketing strategy is beneficial for the organisations to build strong corporate relationship through communication and interaction where they can improve trust and loyalty as well as enhance brand reputation and identity.
- 4C marketing strategy:
4C marketing strategy is another model of social media where the companies utilise the social media platform for retaining the customers so that they can strengthen their customers base through delivering high quality products and services were the expectations of the consumers can be maximised well. As per the model, the factors are consistency, clarity, competitiveness and credibility through which the companies aim to satisfy the customers at the market with latest products and innovative services. Social media is one of the best platforms for successful promotion of the organisational products and the companies in the recent years try to digitalise their operational system as in the recent era of digitalisation, most of the people prefer online activities for making effective purchase decision.
Figure: 4C marketing strategy
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As per the model, the organisations try to be concern about the convenience tio buy for maintaining consistency and in this regard, the companies aim at promoting their products through social media, expansion of the physical store ad promoting the products through different social media sites. Additionally, cost is another factor, which is maintained by the companies for satisfying the customers at the market so that clarity can be maintained, and it is easy for the companies to retain the customers and create values for them by delivering quality products at a cost effective manner. The third factor is to enhance communication to manage competitiveness where the firms try to build relationship through developing communication, interaction, loyalty and trust by the social media sites where two way communication is helpful for the brands to gain high market share and retain long term customers which in turn helps to gain high competitive advantage in the market. Hereby, social media marketing strategy is beneficial for the companies to gain competitive power for running their operational activities at the international market. The forth factor in this model is to maintain credibility, through meeting he needs and preferences of the customers. in this regard, the organisations aim to acknowledge the actual taste and preferences of the customers and analyse the market trend so that it will be beneficial for the firm s to meet the expectations of the customers. Hereby, through this model, it is possible to acknowledge that, social media marketing strategy is advantageous for the organisations to strengthen the customers base and promote the organisational p0riducts at the market successfully.
- 6C of customer motivation:
6C is also another effective model of social media marketing strategy where the factors are content, customisation, community, convenience, cost reduction and choice which help the companies to motivate the customers for choosing the right products and services of the organisations so that it is posisbel to satisfy the customers in the society. Content plays a crucial role where the organisations promote the organisational products and services through developing suitable content and post it in different social media sites which help the organisations to promote the brand and increase brand identity and reputation at the market. Customising the products as per the market trend and the needs and preferences of the customers as well as attract the whole social communities as a whole are also important which can be possible through social media marketing strategy.
Figure: 6C of customer motivation
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Making the products and services convenience and reduce the cost of the organisational activities are also easy through social media where the companies try to promote the organisational products and services proficiently. In this regard, social media platformism beneficial for improving product diversification and promoting the products at a lower cost where the customers can make effective choices according to their needs and preferences. Hereby, the models of social media are effective for the organisations to promote the products and attract the audiences at the market so that they can interact with the customers and retain them for long run.
2.3 Importance of online marketing strategies
Online marketing strategic planning refers to the companies who are trying to customise their messages according to the target market where the online activities of the firms are beneficial for successful promotion of the organisational products and services at the market through which the customers can identify their products and services at the market properly. Hereby, the online marketing tactics are useful for providing the chance to the customers to keep in touch with the organisation through which they can choose the right products and services according to their needs and preferences. The goal of online marketing tactics is to retain the customers and attract more audiences at the market through increasing brand image and visibility of the firms at the market where the customers can identify the organisational products and services efficiently. Online marketing strategy provides a scope to enhance two-way communication where the end users of the products and services and the representatives of the firms can interact directly through the online sites which enhance communication and build strong relationship, trust and loyalty. Online marketing strategic planning hereby helps the organisation to fulfil the aim and objective of marketing strategy of the companies which is to promote the bard and retain the customers in the market. The digital media strategic planning is hereby beneficial to utilise the online resources as well as develop the technological upgradation for interacting with the customers and develop strong corporate relationship with them for strengthening the customers base of the companies.
Online marketing information in this regard is also another advantage of using the digital marketing strategy where the companies can share and send their messes related to the organisational products and services, availability of the products, variety of products and services offered by the companies, prices and different offers that the customers can get from the organisation. Hereby, it is beneficial for the companies to utilise the digital marketing strategy for successful promotion of the brand as it enhances brand reputation and strengthen the presence of the brand at the market. In such an era of globalisation, most of the people are looking for online content as they are interested in online activities, shopping and mobile services through which they can interact with the whole world. Hereby digital marketing strategic planning plays a crucial role for the organisations to enhance communication and increase the speed and intensity to promote the organisational products and services at the market.
The digital media marketing strategic planning is also beneficial to gather information about the market trend, existing competitive firms at the market, customer’s demand and preferences, pricing and competition at the market which helps the companies to develop effective planning to create values for the customers so that the business can meet the expectations of the customers. Hereby through digital marketing, the companies can promote their brand and gain competitive advantage by retaining the consumers and attracting more audiences for long run. Additionally, the digital marketing tactics are important for the organisations to expand their business in accost effective way as online website and company’s portal are helpful to promote the products and interact with the customers at minimum cost which helps the companies to expand tehri business and promote the brand successfully.
The online sites such as blogging, YouTube, social media such as Facebook, Twitter and company’s website are effective to develop attract content related to the organisational products and services as well as the content related to the strategies of creating values for the customers are provide a scope to the businesses to develop string relation with the customers and retain them for long run. In addition to these, the digital marketing communication help the businesses to increase market interaction where increasing interactivity provides an opportunity to the firms to get response from the customers and it in turn helps to build strong relationship, trust and loyalty among the customers. Hereby, there is faster impacts of utilising the digital media marketing strategy where the customers can engage with the representatives of the business and the business can also improve interaction with all the stakeholders of the companies including the government, employees, managers, distributors, shareholders and suppliers who try to handle the operational activities of the companies efficiently. Customised strategy and ongoing communication are other benefits of digital marketing strategy where the companies can customise their message and develop customer centric business model to help the consumers at the market by choosing the right products as per their choice and preferences.
Promotional activities through digital marketing help to target the audiences who have high intension to purchase and in this regard the market research through online communication helps the brand to understand the market trend and choice and preferences of the customers where they can target the right segment of customers for influencing them to make effective purchase decision. Online marketing strategic planning in this regard enhances the brand presence through online platform where the accessibility of the products can influence the customers to make effective purchase decision and apart from that, the digital media marketing strategic planning is helpful for the organisations to increase brand awareness and convenience where the customers prefer to purchase the organisational products and services online. Hereby, the digital media and online marketing communication is beneficial in such era of globalisation and digitalisation, where most of the people prefer online purchase and online interaction for building trust and loyalty and in this context the organisations also get benefits of strengthening their customer’s base through building strong relationship by enhancing two-way communication. All the corporate firms and conglomerates in this context focus on digital media strategy for successful promotion of the organisational products and services as well as share their message with wide range of customers for attracting more audiences at the market and retaining them for long run.
2.4 Brand awareness through digital marketing
Brand awareness is an important factor in such an era of globalisation, where it is necessary for the corporate firms to imporve the visibility of the brand so that the customers are familiar with the brand image, logo, products and services of a particular firm. In this context, digital marketing communication contributes a lot in rising brand awareness and enhance branding of the corporate firms through which the leaders and mangers can establish their business in effective market and retain the customers for long run. Digital marketing in this regard plays a crucial role in raising brad awareness where the customers can identify a particular brand of their choices and prefer to make effective purchase decision for the organisational products or services according to their needs and preferences.
Figure: Brand awareness
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Brand awareness depends on the pre-purchase experience, purchase experience and post purchase experience where the customers can satisfy by making effective purchase decision for the organisational products and services according to their choice and preferences. In this context, digital media advertising is beneficial through which the companies can enhance their branding activities and increase their visibility at the market. Company’s website and social media marketing enhance internal and external communication and it is possible to build strong relationship by ensuring trust and loyalty and this in turn helps in branding and improving brand awareness at the market. The loyalty program, quality of the products and efficiency of the organisational services are also effective for raising brand awareness. Loyalty and trust as well as engagement with all the customers hereby are important for brand awareness where all the customers love to purchase the products and services from a particular company that they prefer. Social media advertisement and social campaign are also effective for branding and in this recent era of digitalisation, social media activities are essential for raising brand awareness where the company’s representatives try to engage with the customers through enhancing communication and interaction so that they can share their feedback and views with each other. This further helps to build strong corporate relationship and retain the customers or long run and hence, brand awareness depends on digital media marketing strategy where the visibility and presence of the brand through online activities are beneficial for the customers to identify the right products and services of a particular brand. Through digital media marketing, the companies try to present product variety and attract more audiences and additionally, managing the quality of the products and efficiency of services are necessary to keep the customers satisfied and raise brand awareness where the customers prefer to make effective purchase decision for the organisational products. Brand awareness through digital media is therefore advantageous for the business to expand successfully and for successful branding, the companies focus on quality of the products, product variety, efficiency of the services, cost of the services, price of the products, social media marketing, promotional activities of the brand and high quality image and attractive logo which are effective for raising brand awareness at the market.
2.6 Customer relationship management
Customer relationship management is the strategic planning of the organisations for managing proper relationship with the customers through interactions so that it is possible to be connected with all the customers by enhancing streamline process and improve profitability. Through managing customer’s relationship, it is easy for the conglomerates to build string corporate relationship with all the customers in the market which in turn helps the firms to strengthen their customers base by retaining the long term consumers for the organisational products and services. Through customer’s relationship management, the companies also can monitor their performnace and develop proper strategic planning for more modifications so that it is easy to enhance the overall performnace of the organisations. Transparency and accountability can be manageable through customer relationship management where the both way communication and open interaction further helps the business representatives to build strong corporate bond with all the customers. Through the strategic planning for customer relationship management, the organisations can enhance trust and loyalty among the customers and retain the old as well as new customers at the market which helps the companies to run their operational activities in the market sustainably. Customer relationship management in this regard is helpful for the organisation to recognise the market trend as well as acknowledge the actual needs and preferences of the customers at the market and this in turn provides an opportunity to the organisational representatives to serve the customers according to their taste and preferences.
Figure: Customer relationship management
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As per the figure above, the strategic planning of customer relationship management depends on the people, technology and process through which the conglomerates can achieve their goal by building strong relationship with the customers in the market. The organisational representatives are playing key role in building strong relationship with the customers through enhancing two way communication and open interactions and apart from that the representatives seek feedback from the customers for gathering data and information about the purchase experience and expectations of the customers. Customer behaviour must be evaluated so that it is easy for the business representatives of the firms to understand the actual preferences of the customers and provide the best possible service and quality products successfully according to the consumer’s needs. Social media plays a crucial role in this context, to enhance the practice of customer relationship management where the online portals, the online services of the companies are effective to improve engagement with the customers successfully. The social media activities through YouTube, Online portals, Company website, Facebook and Twitter are effective for improving customer relationship management where the representatives of the companies can connect with the customers and share particular information with them. This improves engagement and builds strong relationship with the customers successfully. In such recent era of globalisation and digitalisation, mobile trend is also increasing where there are several mobile applications through which the customers can stay connected with the organisations which in turn helps to improve trust and loyalty. Open communication and sharing feedback as well as exchanging proper information between the customers and the organisations can also be possible through social media which helps the firms to manage the customers successfully. Apart from that, technological advancement in the firms and more in depth research and investment on technology are helpful for managing big data of the customers which is also useful to manage the customers in long run. Hereby, the customers relationship management is beneficial for retaining customers in long run and strengthening their customer base and in this context, people, process and technological upgradation make it possible to manage the customers successfully by building strong corporate relationship with all the customers.
2.7 Social media marketing channels
Through different social media channels, it is possible for the organisations to promote the organisational products at effective market. Email marketing is one of the best ways to promote the organisational product by sending personalise email to the customers. It is necessary to maintain the big data of the customers and send them important messages about the organisational products discount, offers, pricing and new collections of the companies. This in turn helps in building trust and loyalty and maintain the customer base of the organisations. Email marketing in this regard is beneficial for the organisations to utilise social media platform and build strong relationship with the customers where the consumers feel valued as they are treated fairly at the organisation. Additionally, mobile marketing is another effective way where the organisations develops personalise mobile applications and promote the new collections, sales and discounts through the application which are also effective to retain the customers and attract more new consumers at the market. Direct mail marketing and customer loyalty and rewards program is also effective for retaining the customers and build strong relationship with them for long run. In addition to these, social media marketing is also beneficial for the companies where the organisations focus on Twitter, Facebook, Blogs, YouTube and Instagram for uploading the video and photos which may attract the audiences at the market. Through Facebook, it is posisbel to share the message to all the people across the world where the companies upload content, pictures ad short videos for attracting the customers.
Moreover, YouTube is another platform where the organisations can upload the videos with effective information about the organisational products and services, its usability, pricing and offers through which it is easy to retain the customers successfully. In addition to these, the content uploaded in Twitter and Blogs are also effective for social media marketing where the organisations also can promote their organisational products and services at the market. These are the major social media platform through which the organisations try to share their important information with the people around the globe and it is beneficial for them to attract more audiences and strengthen the customer’s base of the companies successfully. The customers also can identify the organisational products and services at the market and it is beneficial for them also to make effective purchase decision for the particular products or services. Through the social media marketing, the organisations also can develop two way communication through direct interactions with the customers ad ensure brand reputation, brand identity and brand equity at the market.
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