Internet Marketing

Internet Marketing/eMarketing

What is eMarketing?

eMarketing is essentially part of marketing. So the place to begin defining eMarketing is to consider where it fits within the subject of marketing. So let's start with a definition of marketing. The American Marketing Association (AMA) definition (2004) is as follows:

Marketing is an organizational function and a set of processes for creating, communicating and delivering value to customers and for managing customer relationships in ways that benefit the organization and its stakeholders.

Therefore eMarketing by its very nature is one aspect of an organizational function and a set of processes for creating, communicating and delivering value to customers and for managing customer relationships in ways that benefit the organization and its stakeholders. As such an aspect, eMarketing has its own approaches and tools that contribute to the achievement of marketing goals and objectives.This also helps us to differentiate between eMarketing and E-commerce, since E-Commerce is simply buying and selling online.

What is the difference between eMarketing and Internet Marketing?

There is no real difference between eMarketing and Internet Marketing. However, with the arrival of mobile technologies such as PDA's and 3G mobile phones, as well as Interactive Television, both terms tend to be stretched to include these new media technologies. On the other hand, others would see eMarketing and Internet marketing a subtly different, for example Chaffey (below):

Internet marketing is achieving marketing objectives through applying digital technologies. (Chaffey 2006). eMarketing is achieving marketing objectives through use of electronic communications technology. (Chaffey 2006). Whilst this distinction is wholly acceptable, it is difficult to see where the distinction lies between digital technologies and electronic communications technologies, especially with the convergence of technologies such as mobile devices.

What are the eMarketing tools?
The Internet has a number of tools to offer to the marketer.

• A company can distribute via the Internet e.g. Amazon.com.
• A company can use the Internet as a way of building and maintaining a customer relationship e.g. Dell.com.
• The money collection part of a transaction could be done online e.g. electricity and telephone bills.
• Leads can be generated by attracting potential customers to sign-up for short periods of time, before signing up for the long-term e.g. which.co.uk.
• The Internet could be used for advertising e.g. Google Adwords.
• Finally, the web can be used as a way of collecting direct responses e.g. as part of a voting system for a game show.

How do marketers plan for eMarketing?
There are two ways of looking at this.

• An existing organization may embark upon some eMarketing as part of their marketing plan.
• An organization trades solely on the Internet and so their marketing plan focuses purely on eMarketing.

The marketing plan in either case is the next step, whether focused upon eMarketing or all marketing. The next lessons focus upon a tailor-made eMarketing plan which conforms to the acronym AOSTC (from our generic marketing planning lesson).

• A - Audit - An audit of internal strengths and weaknesses, an external opportunities and threats.
• O - Objectives - SMART eMarketing objectives.
• S - Strategy - eMarketing strategies.
• T - Tactics - an eMarketing mix.
• C - Controls - measuring the performance of our eMarketing plan.

Internal Audits for eMarketing.
Where are we now?(internal perspective)

The starting point for any eMarketing planning is the internal audit. We are seeking to answer the question, where are we now? form an internal perspective. This is a consideration of internal resources and the effectiveness of our eBusiness based upon a number of factors, as such as those that follow:

Resources.
* Labour (trained, motivated, retained) Men.
* Capital (investment/cash flow) Money.
* Equipment (servers/software/back up) Machinery.
* Time (project plans) Minutes.
* Raw materials or components (depends on your business) - Materials .
Current effectiveness.
* Page views/sites/hits/page views/income.
* Trends/potential new customers
* Customers - e.g. how many are online? Are there new channel segments emerging?
* Competitors - who are they? What is their online proposition? How successful are they online?
* Distributors - are new, online, intermediaries emerging while old off-line distributors are being wiped out (disintermediation)? What are the potential channel conflicts?
* Current product market strategies of competitors I.e. audit with Ansoff's matrix.

Situation Analysis for eMarketing.
Where are we now? (Inetnal v External Perspectives)

The situation analysis for eMarketing bridges the internal audit and competitor research. It answers the question where are we now in terms of our eMarketing (internal v external perspective)? The analysis literally considers your eMarketing situation by considering the fit between internal and external factors. There are similarities with traditional concepts and techniques, but you need to focus upon digital commerce. Here we consider the 5 S's of Internet Marketing (Smith and Chaffey 2006), the Customer Life Cycle (CLC), and the application of SWOT analysis.
The 5 Ss of Internet Marketing.

Smith and Chaffey (2006) distil the situation of a business using Internet as part of its business under the following 5S's:

• Sell - Grow sales and attract business using digital technologies.
• Serve - Add value through the benefits of the Internet such as speed.
• Speak - Get closer to customers by making your business available to them at home, work or on the go with mobile technologies.
• Save - Reduce costs by using information technologies to make your business more efficient.
• Sizzle - Extend the online brand (or create a new one) - remember sell the sizzle not the sausage i.e. the benefits, aesthetics or value of a product or service rather than its features.

The Customer Life Cycle (CLC).

The Customer Life Cycle (CLC) is a tool that considers the creation and delivery of lifetime value to customers i.e. CLC looks at products and services that customers need throughout their lives. It is market oriented rather than product oriented (e.g. PLC). Key stages of the customer relationship are considered.

SWOT analysis - ranked and weighted.

SWOT analysis is a tool for auditing an organization and its environment. It is the first stage of planning and helps marketers to focus on key issues. SWOT stands for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.

Some of the problems that you may encounter with SWOT are as a result of one of its key benefits i.e. its flexibility. Since SWOT analysis can be used in a variety of scenarios, it has to be flexible. To overcome these issues, one should employ a POWER SWOT.

Competitor Research for eMarketing.
Where are we now? (External Perspective).

As you plan for eMarketing and during the plan's implementation, one needs to pay careful attention to the activities of competitors. So competitor research for eMarketing is essential when attempting to answer the question where are we now ( external perspective)? There are a number of approaches that can be employed, with the emphasis on each approach shifting depending upon the nature of our eBusiness and market. Here are some key tools of competitor research for eMarketing:
* Use search engines.
- General topics such as Google, Yahoo!, and MSN.
- Type names of competitors.
- Type industry, product or term.
- Search 'down' into a directory structure e.g Yahoo!
- Search a competitor's web site.
- Product information, press releases, job opportunities.
- Pricing information.
- Distribution information such as where to buy.
(So publish only what you'd give away at a trade show!)
* Hunt for trade associations.
- Search for personal pages or 'Blogs.'
- Different perspective e.g fans, ex-employees.
- E.g. www.blogger.com, www.myspace.com, www.youtube.com
* Ask your target market.
- Send questions to named personnel, newsgroups, personal pages, mailing lists.
- Conduct a survey using.
- Buy secondary reports e.g. Datamonitor, Mintel.
* Newsgroups and post queries.
- Newsgroups on bulleting boards or forums.
- Deja.com (Google).
- Read online financial information.
- Research public companies.
- III.co.uk Ample UK.
- FT.com UK.
* Read online competitive information.
- E.g. Hoovers.com - Paid for, in US.
* Study demographic reports.
- Statistics.gov.uk/census in UK.
- Census.gov in US.
* Original source material.
- Business Source Elite, Newspapers, Kelly's, Kompass.
* Monitor special interest material.
- E.g Marketing Week (BSE) , Campaign (BSE), Marketing (BSE).
* Use a professional researcher.

eMarketing Mix
What is the eMarketing Mix?

The eMarketing Mix is essentially the same as the marketing mix. It is simply the adaptation of price, place, product and promotion to the eMarketing context. Of course one could also include physical evidence, people and process when marketing planning for an online service. Below are a series of lessons that consider how markets can apply the eMarketing mix to their organization's own product, service, brand or solution.

eMarketing Product

We've already considered product as part of the marketing mix. Two previous tools for product decision-making have been introduced - Product Life Cycle (PLC) and the Three Levels of a Product. Both of these tools are equally applicable to the context of eMarketing, and can be easily applied to include eMarketing and product.

eMarketing Price.
Pricing tactics as part of the eMarketing Mix.
What is unique about pricing for the Internet?

The emarketing mix is simply an adaptation of the traditional marketing mix, and 'P' for price. However, the Internet has influenced how online businesses price in a number of ways.

eMarketing Place.
Place tactics as part of the eMarketing Mix.

The eMarketing space consists of new Internet companies that have emerged as the Internet has developed, as well as those pre-existing companies that now employ eMarketing approaches as part of their overall marketing plan. For some companies the Internet is an additional channel that enhances or replaces their traditional channel(s). For others the Internet has provided the opportunity for a new online company.

Internet Marketing and Promotion: Internet Advertising

This lesson looks at ways of increasing the popularity of your website by looking at external sources of Internet Advertising.

1. Pay-Per-Click Advertising. example : Google Adwords.
2. Search Marketing
3. Affiliate Marketing
4. Offline Promotions Strategies

Internet Marketing and Promotion: Website Optimization

This lesson looks at ways of increasing the popularity of your website by looking at the internal optimization of the website itself. It considers many important ways of building your traffic, including Search Engine Optimization (SEO) approaches. Example : Build your traffic.

Alternative strategies could include:

• Encourage other sites to reprint your content (with credit given to you, and links back to your main site).
• Post information about your site in communities, forums and chat groups.
• Set up your own affiliate programme, and pay commission.
• Encourage visitors to bookmark your site.
• Create a mailing list, and send newsletters. Betters still, create a dynamic site that encompasses a CRM strategy.
• Hire professionals to code your site, and to manage Search Engine Optimisation (SEO).