Reflection:
This week I collected data from two marketing software company websites, HubSpot and Klaviyo. They both portray how specific companies have been built to perfect and optimize the marketing process. They will also be good for my paper by narrowing my focus and providing a concrete example of how neoliberal tenets are reflected in the transition to digital marketing. Next week, I plan to evaluate products from two other marketing software companies.
Annotated Bibliography:
HubSpot is a widely popular growth platform that is all about trying to help companies grow better with their marketing, sales, and service software. Essentially, they track all kinds of data about individual consumers based on which of their web pages you visit and even the time you spent on each page. One aspect of their marketing software functions where they will send you an specific email every time you visit one of their web pages. The pages describing their product are filled with neoliberal language such as effective, optimize, increasing revenue, etc. For example, one line from their website describes the benefit of their software “convert more leads, win more customers, and turn them into promoters that grow your business”.
Klaviyo is email marketing software specifically for ecommerce. It also involves similar surveillance methods to HubSpot of tracking consumer data to deliver targeted emails. The page is also riddled with neoliberal language. The home screen when you visit the page has a rotating slide that says “tired of not growing faster?… Tired of wasting time?…Tired of hidden costs?”. A concise description of the product also reflect neoliberal tenets: “Most ecommerce marketing software forces you to choose between being as effective as possible or moving fast. Klaviyo is different. Designed for growth-minded ecommerce merchants, Klaviyo gives you powerful functionality without sacrificing the time it takes for your marketing to make an impact on your bottom line”.
Comments:
Glad to see that you followed your plan for this week, Lauren. It is great that you are paying attention to the language used in these websites. “Efficiency” seems to be one of the key promises that these websites are making.