Online Marketing And The Cloud
Let’s face it – in the end what matters is the sale. Every one of us is marketing something or the other. Sometimes we are marketing ourselves. But the online marketing scene is a bit different, in the sense that it no longer belongs to a select few geeks who understand the technology behind the digits. The new marketing paradigm belongs to the crowd, derives power from it and is driven by the common man – the prosumer – the producer as well as the consumer. Is it just a coincidence that cloud technology has developed as an adjunct to this new marketing paradigm? Let’s look at how things in the marketing realm are going to pan out in coming years.
Marketing in the Cloud
Digital marketing spend is likely to cross the $150 Billion mark in the year 2014. Out of this, a major chunk will be taken up by IaaS providers – those who will power the entire marketing scene with their virtual hardware and software. Traditional marketing will give way to digital in a big way. It’s predicted that over 25% of market share will be gobbled up by online media. These are significant numbers which compel us to give a second look at the digital marketplace.
Vital Ingredients of Digital Marketing
A major portion of online marketing spend will go on infrastructure, more specifically the cloud computing environment. Additionally, more money will be spent on creation, distribution and consumption of search optimized content. The internet backbone will become faster and cheaper leading to a widespread use of digital technology. The traditional advertisement channels will give way to informational content which will be informal and informative. This will require companies to develop suitable content marketing strategies. Content by itself will take a portion of future marketing expenditure. Of course, PPC and other modern online advertisement channels will continue to hold sway for some years to come. Eventually, all online marketing would focus on organic content development and distribution.
Social Media and Online Marketing
Never before has social media played such a vital role in marketing. Sites like Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter have started impinging on marketing strategies. A significant number of companies have reported sales through social media sites. Video marketing, especially YouTube has become an important part of marketing strategy. All these social sites are built on cloud technology. Therefore, as we see bludgeoning growth in these social channels, the need for cloud infrastructure will go up, creating opportunities for those in this space.
Email Marketing, Newsletters and other Media Channels
The entire online marketing sphere will remain incomplete without the mention of email and distribution of information through digital brochures, fliers and newsletters. The email engine is a powerful medium which combines well with other online media campaigns. Email marketing consumes an enormous amount of bandwidth and requires huge infrastructure. This need can only be fulfilled by cloud technology.
With regards to bandwidth many IaaS vendors charge a minimum of $0.12/GB. But with GMO Cloud America, Inc. bandwidth is for free.
Conclusion
The future of cloud infrastructure is closely linked to developments in online marketing. The domino effect between the two is likely to result in massive infusion of new technology. This will primarily affect the way we create, distribute and consume content. Ultimately we may see hitherto unknown ways to market our products and services.
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About the Guest Author:
Sankarambadi Srinivasan, ‘Srini’, is a maverick writer, technopreneur, geek and online marketing enthusiast rolled into one. He began his career as a Naval weapon specialist. Later, he sold his maiden venture and became head of an offshore Database administration company in Mumbai. He moved on as Chief Technology Officer of one of the largest online entities, where he led consolidation of 300 online servers and introduced several Web 2.0 initiatives. He holds a Master’s degree in Electronics and Telecommunication.
