This business project is about Uber. Uber was founded by Garrett Camp and Travis Kalanick in March 2009. These two were inspired to come up with a taxi company after they were unable to make it to a meeting in time due to the absence of vehicles. The organisation has some goals and aims that guide its operations. First, it aims at creating the most prominent taxi network in the world, by availing riders with convenient transport that is reliable and safe at fair prices in different cities in the world. Uber also aims to expand its services globally in a bid to enable the drivers and riders to connect. Another objective of the corporation is to take over the taxi industry through offering the cheapest rides throughout the world. The organisation also seeks to eliminate the ownership of private cars thus reducing problems such as traffic jams. In addition to the above aims, the company also intends to offer various types of transportation services in areas where it is located.
Uber provides services for both its riders and drivers. For the passengers, the primary service the company offers is transportation from one location to another. A rider usually, through a smart phone, hires a vehicle to a particular destination (Cohen et al., 2016). This is made easier by the Uber app that people download and install on their smartphones. It is estimated that the people who are using Uber for their transportation are around 55 million. A driver who is the nearby locality is usually the driver who picks the rider within a short period. The drivers get an opportunity to earn well, be their bosses and interact with people from the different parts of the world. Currently, Uber has employed about seven million taxi drivers. The number of trips that Ubers make is around one million.
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
The website address of the company is “ www.uber.com ” . The headquarters of the company is in San Francisco, California, United States. By 2017 November, there was a rise in the revenue that the company earned quarterly to around $2.2 billion, this was a rise by approximately 11.8%. By December, Uber raised about $14 billion. Uber's gross bookings through Silicon Valley also rose to $11.1 billion. Uber is among the top companies in the world in terms of earnings, and it is currently valued at around 70 billion dollars (Cohen et al., 2016).
Section 2
Digital marketing involves the creation of awareness and marketing of a particular company or brand online by using the various digital platforms. Social media marketing consists of the use of the multiple platforms that people exchange information to popularise and promote a certain organisation or brand. The various platforms of social media include Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Google+, Youtube and Tumblr.
The social media platforms that Uber uses include Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. The digital marketing platforms that it uses are YouTube, e-mails, and use of a website. Uber uses Facebook to relay information about the latest offers and deals. This platform is essential to Uber since the company has more than 8 million followers on Facebook. Through Facebook, Uber can inform its clients on the various discounts on rides, deals, new rides that are available and the various riding arrangements that its customers can use. The customers are also given a platform to channel their complaints to the organisation through Facebook and the company can in turn address these complaints (Lipsman et al., 2012). In situations where the customers are not sure about certain issues relating to Uber, they inquire through this platform, and they are given feedbacks. Through Facebook messenger, customers can register and order rides at the pressing of a button without having to go through the processing of downloading the Uber app.
In a bid to connect with many customers, Uber also has a Twitter account. This account has about six hundred and ninety-eight thousand followers. In addition to providing the information regarding the new deals and pictures, Twitter enables customers to view images and videos of the new rides and how the charges are determined. To most people, it is easier to watch an advertisement than to read about it. Thus, Twitter enhances the marketing of Uber. On various occasions, Uber tweets and these tweets often receive comments and retweets, and this has helped create awareness of the brand and also promote its use since people tend to redirect others to use the taxi service (Lipsman etal., 2012). Uber also uses LinkedIn to reach new consumers.
One of the most successful stories of the 21 st century is that of Uber. In Instagram, stories and information tend to be delivered via pictures. Though Uber has about 433 thousand followers on Instagram, it continues to post various pictures its vehicles, services, discounts and prices. Uber has gone an extra mile to share about seven hundred images on Instagram. Through this, many people who had not heard about it globally were able to know and try out their services. Uber has been able to enhance its market through clients who first know about Uber through the viewing of images on Instagram.
One of the digital platforms that Youtube uses a lot is you tube. Uber posts many videos about its services which people can view. By early 2017, Uber had about 42 million views of its videos, and this number has increased over time. Youtube has aided Uber to market its various brands and also involve the customers more interactively. The videos that it posts often are meant to engage the customers and also advertise its brand (Lipsman et al., 2012).
Uber has also invested much in e-mail marketing which is the primary means of communication in the Company. Uber sends emails to its customers informing them of the various services that the firm is providing and also the offers that it has. In the event of new customers, Uber usually sends automatic receipts to them and requests them to rate their services.
Also, the company has various bloggers and a site known as the Uber blog. Also through Tumblr, many people blog about Uber thus creating awareness. These blogs tend to inform new customers about the services that Uber offers, how to access Uber, how to pay for the taxi services and any other clarification needed. In case the new customers require any explanation, they can get them from the various bloggers. Even though it has been shown that not many people rely on blogs or access them, the few that do can join or instead influence others.
The most important digital marketing tool that Uber uses is the Uber app that is accessed through the smart phones (Lipsman et al., 2012). Through this app, people can know the rides that are available. Customers can seek clarification on various issues regarding the taxi service. The app also has multiple contacts and email address to file a complaint regarding the company. In the case of lost property within one of the company vehicles, the app can be used to trace the driver of the vehicle, therefore, recovering the goods. Many people find it easy to use the app as compared to using the website to order for Uber.
Another method that Uber is using to create awareness through social media and digital marketing is through using celebrities and famous people to advertise their goods through these various platforms. Since these people are influential in society and usually followed by many people on this social platform, it aids in the creation of awareness and increased use of Uber services since most people trust and are influenced by what their celebrities say.
Section 3
One of the ways that the Company has used to ensure that many people are able to access transportation at fairly lower prices and at any time is through the introduction of the Uber in Facebook messenger. Through Facebook messenger, people are now able to register for Uber at the tap of the button of the phone. The statuses of the rides are then sent to a private conversation that occurs between the rider and Uber on the messenger. This enables riders to track and view their history of payments and also rides.
Using Uber on messenger is easy. First, one has to register, and this usually takes a few seconds. Once the registration is complete, and the customer requests a ride, the ride is usually free or less than twenty dollars. This is one way that Uber is using to carry out inbound marketing. It does this marketing by first seeking to attract its customers via messenger (Lipsman, 2012). Through lowering the initial costs of the ride or giving free rides to the new customers, it tends to make the new clients that they are valued by the organisations. To those riders that refer new customers, incentives such as free rides are given. This also encourages the old clients to keep using Uber. If a customer has an Uber account but has never used it on Facebook messenger, then the rider can connect the Uber account in the Facebook messenger and after that proceed to request for a ride.
When the company was introducing Uber in messenger, it was aimed at reaching availing transport for those people who did not have the Uber app at relatively low prices and at any time. Initially, the only way that people could access the Uber services was through the Uber app or the Uber website. Since many people do not have the app, this has given them an alternative means to access the taxi services (Jenk, 2015). In instances where people do not have smartphones or iPhones, they can still be able to requests for rides, by using Facebook messenger apps on computers.
The company was successful in providing transportation means since the number of rider-driver partners significantly increased after the introduction of Uber in messenger. For example, in the United States, the number of rider-driver pair was about 150,000 before Uber was introduced in messenger, but it rose to about 200,000 pairs afterwards (Hall & Krueger, 2015).
Even though the company made an effort to reach many people through the Facebook messenger, it could have done more to ensure that people receive taxi transport. Uber should have gotten into partnership with other social platforms such as Google+ and Twitter so that people could be able to register and even order rides from those platforms. Not all people have Facebook accounts, twitter accounts and quite a number are on Google+. Therefore, through the inclusion of these other social platforms, many people could be able to know about the taxi company therefore enhancing its services.
Conclusion
It is evident that Uber has lessened the transport burden that used to exist. It is now easier to order for a ride during any time of the day as long as Uber services are within one’s location. Uber has also created employment opportunities for many people as drivers. However, Uber continues to face many challenges. Harassment of the drivers from other taxi companies has dramatically affected the company’s operations. Various law suits regarding the drivers or company’s operation have also faced the firm for a while.
References
Cohen, P., Hahn, R., Hall, J., Levitt, S., & Metcalfe, R. (2016). Using big data to estimate consumer surplus: The case of uber (No. w22627). National Bureau of Economic Research.
Hall, J. V., & Krueger, A. B. (2015). An analysis of the labour market for Uber's driver-partners in the United States. ILR Review , 0019793917717222.
Jenk, J. (2015). Theory meets practice in the taxi industry: Coase and Uber.
Lipsman, A., Mudd, G., Rich, M., & Bruich, S. (2012). The power of “like”: How brands reach (and influence) fans through social-media marketing. Journal of Advertising research , 52 (1), 40-52
