Marketing in 21st Century

Article by : Dr. Suman Kumar Dawn, Calcutta Business School

Marketing in the 21st century is very different from its early beginnings. Today's marketers have more choices in terms of support, media opportunities, and communications. They also have more competition from varied sources, especially as the Internet has made it possible for companies around the globe to compete virtually. The following are the major trends; shifts & challenges that the marketer and business people will need to take into consideration for formulating their Marketing strategies.

More Creative Options / Be Different

Technology has offered not only more options for sharing marketing messages, but more selections for creating these messages as well. Today's marketing personnel can use a range of tools to enhance communications through graphics, sound, and movement. The future will belong to those who manage uniqueness in their projects by being different. There is no point in trying to imitate others. In the current scenario, it is enough to be what you are and bring out the best in you. In the same way, companies that are different and innovative will be successful.

More Consumer Choices

More consumers’ choices in the 21st century mean more competition for businesses from many sources. The Internet, in particular, now allows even the smallest organization to establish a regional, national, or even international presence. Competition now comes not only from the business across the street, but also from across the world.

More Communication Choices

Marketers making the best use of social networking, online communications and digital opportunities are building bridges and connections that will prove fruitful in the coming years. Embracing new and emerging technologies hopefully rather than fearfully will position their organisation for the future rather than relying on out-dated marketing models that worked before but that are being quickly overtaken by those more cost effective and real-time. The 21st century offers many choices for marketing communications. Companies still have apply the traditional tools, such as newspapers, radio, and television, but also have a wide range of online tools, including social media.

Social Media Streamlines Word-of-Mouth

Word-of-mouth has always been an important factor in successful marketing efforts, but social media makes this method even more effectively. Consumers have the ability to interact with millions of people in the 21st century, in sharp contrast to the days when information sharing was minimal.

Digital revolution and 21st century have made companies fine tune the way they conduct their business. One major trend observed is the need of stream lining internal processes with the focus on cost reduction through outsourcing. Another trend observed in companies is, encouragement to entrepreneur style of work environment with glocal (global-local) approach. At the same time, marketers of companies are looking forward to building long term relationship with consumers. Marketers are looking at distribution channels as partners in business and not as the customer. Ultimately, successful marketing is about identifying a target market, understanding its needs, and communicating the business' compelling messages through multiple channels. These marketing messages all convey how consumer needs can be met by the business' products and services.