The Expansion Of Marketing Through E-Marketing
One of the many reasons marketing methods have changed is due to the advancement of technology. According to Liew and Loh, “the museum has grown to envelope important technologies such as text and multimedia messages via the Internet”. With advancement in development of portable gadgets such as smartphones and tablets, users have the ability to access information from almost anywhere at any time so long as they are connected to Internet. With the convenience of being increasingly connected, social media users are on the rise. In 2017, there were 2.46 billion users of social media worldwide, an increase from 0.97 billion in 2010. The increase in users allows for a message to be spread to a wider range of audience at a higher speed and frequency.
Facebook being one of the most active social media platforms, has active users of multiple demographics, such as different age groups, ethnicities and income level. In the United States of America (USA), as of January 2018, 81% of Facebook users were between the ages of 18 and 29, 38% between the ages of 30 and 49 years, 65% between the ages of 50 and 64 years, and 41% were aged 65 years old and above.
Given this wide range of potential audience on a single platform alone, museums are able to utilize Facebook to reach out to them. Museums and institutions can create interest groups or post on their pages for the general public to view the information. In addition, Facebook allows organizations to have control over who their audience is. Organizations that purchase advertisement space through this option have the ability to select their intended audience. Facebook allows organizations to target audiences based on their demographics, location, interests and behavior (“Facebook Ads”). Social media marketing permits museums to use their resources more efficiently as they are in charge of marketing to the best audience for them.
The use of social media allows audiences from any part of the world at any time to engage in dialogue and share their experiences. On 30 June 2009, in a case study for an exhibition held at the Australian Museum in Sydney, social media was made to be an essential tool for marketing. As part of marketing efforts, a Facebook group was created. At the end of the case study, there were 305 members, 10 discussion topics, 65 comments, 38 wall posts, 54 photos uploaded and 20 links redirecting to other websites posted by members. This shows the power of social media, in this instance Facebook, and the promotion of a museum event using Facebook.
In addition to social media platforms, the official website of a museum or an institution has become an avenue to target audiences. Acknowledging that audiences look for a website to plan their trips, websites now serve as a virtual pamphlet. Audiences are made aware of the existence of a museum based on their web-presence. Information such as ticketing, operating hours and programs are listed to guide visitors to plan and make an informed decision. Anyone with Internet connectivity is able to access information on websites round the clock as there are no “operating hours”. The introduction of websites has resulted in audiences being able to plan their trips to museums in the comfort of their homes.
Conclusion
Traditional marketing techniques have the ability to reach out to potential audiences, with limiting factors such as location and accessibility. Information can be reached only by those at a given time or place the advertisement is placed. That information can be easily ignored. From observation, behavioral preferences of users have evolved. The style and preference of obtaining information has changed with technological advancement. Information is now omnipresent and available to users at their own convenience. This illustrates that traditional marketing is not effective and relevant in our current society to attract audiences to museums or institutions and that e-marketing is an essential tool to reach out to audiences of today.
