Facebook-Marketing Mix

Facebook is a privately owned website and social network founded in 2004 by Harvard university students Mark Zuckerberg with his fellow students Eduardo Saverin, Dustin Moskovitz and Chris Hughes. It was operation in the limited area of Harvard in 2004 and become fully accessible in 2006. The main purpose for launching the website was bringing a connection between Harvard students, to know each other more and in better way but now the same purpose is being followed worldwide. Below the features of marketing mix has been stated. Product Facebook has launched number of products including friends, messages, games, groups, photos, links, videos, a marketing space, advertisements, products pages, uncountable applications and a lot more. Users can communicate so well with their far off friends by sending them virtual gifts according to the occasion for a minimum price of one dollar. This type of applications are visible on almost every user profile on the occasion like Christmas, Eid, Independence day celebrations, birthdays etc (Michelle, 2008). Facebook offers social plug-in, graph API, Social Channels, Authentications and the open graph protocols to the web developers. Proxy and private settings are provided to the users to settle up their profile availability along with the customization of the material being loaded up on their profiles. Users are now provided access to Facebook through their mobiles; this has rendered more clicks to Facebook by increasing the daily user percentage because of any time access. Facebook has provided an opportunity to Facebook users to register their complaints for the website access, while improving the services miles forward. Price People that are lured into Facebook enjoys all services free of cost, while one controversial statement says that this is a virtual cost by means of using personal information of users but this actually is not the case, as one can put as much secrecy and privacy one can. Facebook earns most of the revenues by the commercial groups, online events that are organized by the company, advertisements that come on the side of logged on page. Facebook being a private company doesnt opens up its revenue earning units but always welcomes Brand advertising, performances advertising. Virtual goods and Microsoft advertising and has earned up to 1.1 billion dollars from this, according to a rough estimate (Dempsey, 2006). Place Almost 600 million users are registered with Facebook, being accessed mostly by U.S community. The network is most popular nowadays as it can be accessed anywhere, in schools, colleges, universities and homes throughout the world.

 Facebook has its availability along the globe and Egypt revolution is commendably associated with the promotions provided by Facebook. Promotion Facebook had become partner with Microsoft, Pandora and Yelp according to a planned strategy, and has earned a lot of promotion by taking this step, by increasing user number along with ads promotion on Facebook by different companies (Rosmarin, 2006). The website is providing small businesses big blow opportunities to establish and this promotes face usage as well, by their product customers being Facebook users ultimately. Extended Mix: People: Facebook employs about - people Process: Systems used for the FB servers, the thousands of applications, games available to the public Physical Evidence: Nothing peruse, but if we are to measure, we can measure the FB site and chat connectivity

Finally, from the above stated information we can easily understand that how Facebook is evolved with the Markeing Mix.

The Role of Advertising in Marketing Mix

Marketing mix consist of four important variables of marketing, i.e. 4Ps-Product, Price, Promotion and Place. Apart from the traditional 4Ps, there are also other variables, i.e. Packaging, Posting, and Pace. Advertising is an element of promotion. However, it not only assists in promoting the product, but also affects the other variables of marketing mix. This can be explained as follows: 1. Advertising and Product: A product is normally a set of physical elements, such as quality, shape, size, colour and other features. The product may be of very high quality .At times, the product is so designed that it requires careful handling and operations. Buyers must be informed and educated on the various aspects of the product. This can be effectively done through advertising. Thus, advertising plays the role of information and education. 2. Advertising and Price: The price is the exchange value of the product. A marketer may bring out a very high quality product with additional features as compared to competitors. In such a case, price would be definitely high. But buyers may not be willing to pay a high price would be definitely high. But buyers may not be willing to pay a high price. Here comes advertising. Advertising can convince buyers regarding the superiority of the brand and thus its value for money. This can be done by associating the product with prestigious people, situations, or events. Alternatively when a firm offers a low price products the job of advertising needs to stress the price advantage by using hard hitting copy. It is not just enough to convince, but it is desirable to persuade the buyer. Thus advertising plays the role of conviction and persuasion. 3. Advertising and Place: Place refers to physical distribution and the stores where the goods are available Marketer should see to it that the goods are available at the convenient place and that too at the right time when the buyers need it. To facilitate effective distribution and expansion of market, advertising is of great significance. Thus advertising do help in effective distribution and market expansion. 4. Advertising and Promotion: Promotion consists of advertising, publicity, personal selling and sales promotion technique. Businessmen today have to face a lot of competition. Every seller needs effective promotion to survive and succeed in this competitive business world. Advertising can play a significant role to put forward the claim of seller, and to counter the claims of competitor. Through effective advertising, sellers can face competition and also help to develop brand image and brand loyalty. 5. Advertising and Pace: Pace refers to the speed in marketing decisions and actions. It involves among other things the launch of new products or brand variations at greater speed than before. As and when new brands are launched, advertising plays an important role of informing, educating and persuading the customers to buy the product.

6. Advertising and Packaging: The main purpose of packaging is protection of the product during transit, and preservation of quality and quantity. Now a days, marketers take lot of efforts to develop and design attractive packages as they carry advertising value. A creatively design package attract the attention of the customers. It also carries an assurance of quality and creates confidence in the minds of customers to buy the product. 7. Advertising and Positioning: Product positioning aims at creating and maintaining a distinct image of the brands in the minds of the customers. Through advertising the marketer can convey the positioning of the brand and accordingly can influence the buying decision of the target audience. Finally, from the above stated information we can easily understand that how Advertising is evolved with the Markeing Mix.

7 Ps of Marketing on the Internet

The four Ps Product, Price, Place and Promotion have long been associated with marketing, but things have changed on the Internet. So along with a change in the nature of the four Ps there are three new Ps which are relevant to the internet marketer.

1. THE PRODUCT on the Internet usually changes form online, and the user experiences it electronically, in the form of text, images and multimedia. Physical goods are usually presented in the form of a detailed online catalogue that the customer can browse through. Technology allows the user to virtually touch and feel the product on the Internet rotate it, zoom in or zoom out and even visualize the product in different configurations and combination. Content and software are two avatars of digitized products that can be even distributed over the Internet. On the Internet, E-marketing will be based more on the product qualities rather than on the price. Every company will be able to bring down the cost of its products and hence competition will not be on price. It will rather be on the uniqueness of the product. To be able to attract the customers and retain them, the company will have to provide nouvelle and distinct products that forces the net users to purchase and come back for more. 2.THE PRICE has been drastically changed over the Internet. It lets the buyer decides the price. Also it gives the buyers information about multiple sellers selling the same product. It leads to best possible deal for the buyers in terms of price. A website named Priceline.com is extremely popular as its compares the price of many airlines and offers the least price to the buyer. Pricing is dynamic over the Internet. 3. THE PLACE revolves around setting up of a marketing channel to reach the customer. Internet serves as a direct marketing channel that allows the producer to reach the customer directly. The elimination of the intermediate channel allows the producer to pass the reduced distribution cost to the customer in the form of discounts.

4.PROMOTION is extremely necessary to entice the customer to its website, as there are currently more than one billion web pages. Promoting a website includes both online and offline strategies. Online strategies include search engine optimization, banner ads, multiple points of entry, viral marketing, strategic partnership and affiliate marketing. Presently, the cyberspace is already cluttered with thousands of sites probably selling similar products. For the customers to know of the Companys existence and to garner information on the kind of products or services that the company is offering, promotion has to be carried out. There can be traded links or banner advertisements for the same. Also the traditional mediums like print, outdoor advertising and television can be used to spread awareness. 5.PRESENTATION The presentation of the online business needs to have an easy to use navigation. The look and the feel of the web site should be based on corporate logos and standards. About 80% of the people read only 20% of the web page. Therefore, the web page should not be cluttered with a lot of information. Also, simple but powerful navigational aids on all web pages like search engines make it easy for customer to find their way around. 6.PROCESSES Customer supports needs to be integrated into the online web site. A sales service that will be able to answer the questions of their customers fast and in a reliable manner is necessary. To further enhance after sales service, customers must be able to find out about their order status after the sale has been made. For e.g. FedEx (www.fedex.com), the overnight Courier Company allows its customers to keep track of the parcel and they are well informed about the present whereabouts of their package. 7.PERSONALIZATION Using the latest software from Broad-Vision and others, it is possible to customize the entire web site for every single user, without any additional costs. The mass customization allows the company to create web pages products and services that suit the requirement of the user. A customized web page does not only include the preferred layout of the customer but also a pre selection of goods the customer may be interested in. For e.g. Yahoo! (www.yahoo.co.in) entered the Indian cyberspace and started its personalized services. A registered user of Yahoo can now personalize the front page with the all the information he needs. He can read the news of the world, add a tax calculator, see the weather forecasts of his city and listen to his favorite songs and all this simultaneously.

Finally, from the above stated information we can easily understand that how Internet is evolved with the Markeing Mix.