Transcript Chapter 14
Electronic Marketing Chapter 14 Establishing and Promoting a Virtual Store Electronic Marketing: Integrating Electronic Resources into the Marketing Process, 2e 4/1/2016 2004 Joel Reedy and Shauna Schullo In Creating the Virtual Store, the Best Advice is “Go Slow” • The marketer as the merchant should investigate the pitfalls before he begins to extol the potentials of e-commerce and become blinded by its advantages • To avoid “commerce overconfidence,” the general strategy of setting up commercial units should not be any different for e-commerce activities • Traditional organizational responsibilities for establishing financial affairs, production concerns and marketing actions should be determined in the same manner for virtual commerce companies Electronic Marketing: Integrating Electronic Resources into the Marketing Process, 2e 4/1/2016 2004 Joel Reedy and Shauna Schullo The Triad in Action • The virtual marketer must arrange for financing to purchase hardware and software material • Establish an office • Arrange for personnel and business necessities • Rounding out the triangle of finance and operations is the marketing function working to investigate consumer wants and the proper, highly-exposed delivery process for those bundles of benefits Electronic Marketing: Integrating Electronic Resources into the Marketing Process, 2e 4/1/2016 2004 Joel Reedy and Shauna Schullo Do It Yourself or Hire a Developer? • One of the biggest decisions, particularly for the small company or individual, is how to set up the online store • The decision usually revolves around the answers to the following questions: – How experienced in business is the person responsible for setting up the online storefront? – How technology-savvy is this individual? Electronic Marketing: Integrating Electronic Resources into the Marketing Process, 2e 4/1/2016 2004 Joel Reedy and Shauna Schullo Do It Yourself or Hire a Developer? • Intangible qualities in establishing a virtual storefront – Finding a niche to fill – Attracting and training good people – Creating an attractive company culture • To establish an electronic presence, it will also require some tangible equipment to access the Web Electronic Marketing: Integrating Electronic Resources into the Marketing Process, 2e 4/1/2016 2004 Joel Reedy and Shauna Schullo Do It Yourself or Hire a Developer? • Whether or not the e-marketer employs a developer or does it herself, the storefront must have reliable access to the Web as well as these elements: – Virtual store-building software – Virtual online information sources – A 500 MHz or faster PC – A large hard disk, perhaps 20 gigabytes of storage or larger – 128 or more megs of ROM memory – A large color monitor Electronic Marketing: Integrating Electronic Resources into the Marketing Process, 2e 4/1/2016 2004 Joel Reedy and Shauna Schullo Do It Yourself or Hire a Developer? • Reliable access elements continued… – Cable or ISDN modems, or a 56.6 Kpbs modem at minimum – A browser – Printers – Scanners – Telephone service and an Internet Service Provider Electronic Marketing: Integrating Electronic Resources into the Marketing Process, 2e 4/1/2016 2004 Joel Reedy and Shauna Schullo Engaging a Storefront Developer • Service companies have evolved to produce the entire virtual storefront in a turnkey fashion – The marketer supplies the developer with a marketing plan – He directs the company according to his understanding of the target market – The developer should design the site for the most popular browsers and specify the necessary equipment to implement the design on the Web Electronic Marketing: Integrating Electronic Resources into the Marketing Process, 2e 4/1/2016 2004 Joel Reedy and Shauna Schullo Engaging a Storefront Developer • It is easy to be dazzled by graphics; however, the marketer must ask himself the following questions: – Does the design and copy fit the objectives for the online marketing? – Is the design attractive, memorable, and motivating? – Does the design ask or require the viewer to do something, such as click through a site, register for a promotion, or visit a dealership or retail store? – Is the site reflective of other company marketing materials? – Can the site be produced for the budget allotted and within the time frame allowed? – Do the site strategies match the corporate strategies of the company? Electronic Marketing: Integrating Electronic Resources into the Marketing Process, 2e 4/1/2016 2004 Joel Reedy and Shauna Schullo Joining a Cybermall? • After the site is created and the meta tags are tested, the next decision for the marketer is how to maintain an optimal awareness for the site – Step one - register with a variety of search engines so that the consumer can locate merchandise and offerings – Step two - assess maintaining a stand-alone site as opposed to participating in the “bundling” of cybermall retailers • The cybermall is a virtual collection of sites, usually bringing financial, insurance, or automobile sites together that offer the shopper many hyperlinked addresses to follow from one page Electronic Marketing: Integrating Electronic Resources into the Marketing Process, 2e 4/1/2016 2004 Joel Reedy and Shauna Schullo Joining a Cybermall? • The major benefits of signing on with a cybermall are: – Expanded exposure over and above the efforts of a single site – The selection to be found at the cybermall’s address – The site maintenance services by the cybermall operator • The major disadvantages are: – The cost of joining and “renting” space monthly – Heavy competition Electronic Marketing: Integrating Electronic Resources into the Marketing Process, 2e 4/1/2016 2004 Joel Reedy and Shauna Schullo The Marketing Duties of a Web Site Manager • What are the necessary elements to begin setting up an online presence? – A detailed study of the Internet and the Web as well as the peripheral promotions and communications capabilities nested on the company desktop – Proficiency at a word processing program – An understanding of advertising procedures, graphics, and copy is also helpful – Communicating effectively with advertising suppliers – Being cognizant of technology changes in hardware or software Electronic Marketing: Integrating Electronic Resources into the Marketing Process, 2e 4/1/2016 2004 Joel Reedy and Shauna Schullo The Marketing Duties of a Web Site Manager • Elements for setting up online presence continued… – Being able to judge if new equipment or applications would improve a site’s performance – Familiarity with HTML editing, linking hyperlinks, and acquaintance with frames and tables page construction – An appreciation of customer service and conflict resolution are pluses – A general proficiency in basic communications • The Web master has many duties in maintaining the ecommerce site, and a sense of organization is absolutely necessary Electronic Marketing: Integrating Electronic Resources into the Marketing Process, 2e 4/1/2016 2004 Joel Reedy and Shauna Schullo Choosing an Internet Service Provider • An ISP is a company that can provide you with a connection to the Internet as well as Internet-based services • There are also many types and levels of ISPs: – ISPs can be part-time hobbyists who are inexpensive but not well equipped to handle a business Web site – Some ISPs are small businesses that are quite successful and can be well equipped to handle a business Web site that receives moderate traffic – Large ISPs often provide many services to businesses and can have in-house technical support • The downfall to using a large ISP is that they may not be as flexible • Large providers will most likely have the equipment and the fastest connections to the Internet Electronic Marketing: Integrating Electronic Resources into the Marketing Process, 2e 4/1/2016 2004 Joel Reedy and Shauna Schullo Choosing an Internet Service Provider • A commercial provider such as AOL, CompuServ, MSN, and Prodigy – These services may not be flexible enough to run the business the way the marketer wants and within the approved budget • To find an ISP: – Search on the Web – Ask others in your area – Look in the yellow pages – Check an ISP reference service Electronic Marketing: Integrating Electronic Resources into the Marketing Process, 2e 4/1/2016 2004 Joel Reedy and Shauna Schullo Choosing an Internet Service Provider • Considerations when investigating which one to use will depend primarily on why the marketer wants an ISP – If marketer wants one for personal use, a local small business might be better as they may be more helpful – If marketer wants one for business purposes, reliable service is going to be a major issue Electronic Marketing: Integrating Electronic Resources into the Marketing Process, 2e 4/1/2016 2004 Joel Reedy and Shauna Schullo Choosing an Internet Service Provider • Some questions that the marketer might ask when looking at ISPs: – Are you able to communicate with the service representative of the ISP? – Are personal and business goals understood? – What type of reputation do they have? Electronic Marketing: Integrating Electronic Resources into the Marketing Process, 2e 4/1/2016 2004 Joel Reedy and Shauna Schullo Choosing an Internet Service Provider • More Questions… – Are you able to do everything that you want with this ISP? • E-mail access • Host Web sites • News groups • Scripting – What is the pricing structure? Electronic Marketing: Integrating Electronic Resources into the Marketing Process, 2e 4/1/2016 2004 Joel Reedy and Shauna Schullo Choosing an Internet Service Provider • More Questions… – What type of connection does the ISP provide? – What software is provided by the ISP? – What type of technical support is available? • Make sure support is available when and how it is needed • See if they offer on-site support Electronic Marketing: Integrating Electronic Resources into the Marketing Process, 2e 4/1/2016 2004 Joel Reedy and Shauna Schullo Choosing an Internet Service Provider • Once the marketer has chosen an ISP to host the Web pages, there are still a few things the marketer needs to be aware of: – What are the limitations set by the ISP on the size of the Web site? – If the site is accessed often, check for limitations and additional fees for excess hits on your pages – How will the files be transferred to the ISP and what type of access will you have for editing those pages once they are in place? – See if scripts are allowed, or if they are provided by the ISP Electronic Marketing: Integrating Electronic Resources into the Marketing Process, 2e 4/1/2016 2004 Joel Reedy and Shauna Schullo Choosing an Internet Service Provider • Things to be aware of continued… – Is the provider capable of handling the security necessary for your type of site? – What statistics are available from your ISP, how easy are they to obtain and in what form will they be provided? – Make sure that you have ownership of the design and content of your pages and that you have thoroughly read the contract your ISP should happily provide you Electronic Marketing: Integrating Electronic Resources into the Marketing Process, 2e 4/1/2016 2004 Joel Reedy and Shauna Schullo Promoting the Web Site • The twist in online promotion is that no one has a long history doing it right and doing it well, so much experimentation in promotion is ongoing • The confusion in promotions is that the Web: – “Reads” like a newspaper, but it is not. – The Web is like television, but where are the programs? – It has sound like the radio, but where is the music? – Promoters of Web advertising speak of billboards, but try to find one of the huge structures along the information highway. Electronic Marketing: Integrating Electronic Resources into the Marketing Process, 2e 4/1/2016 2004 Joel Reedy and Shauna Schullo Planning and Organization • Prepare a solid marketing plan focusing on the promotional element to expose the product and display the discipline to follow • What are the elements of the online communications marketing plan (your road map to marketing on the Web)? – Online marketing plan – Online promotional program • Identify your consumer or business-to-business targets Electronic Marketing: Integrating Electronic Resources into the Marketing Process, 2e 4/1/2016 2004 Joel Reedy and Shauna Schullo Tactical Online Targeting • The means which the marketer will use to communicate with his primary targets are established online vehicles such as e-mail and discussion groups – Search engine optimization – Mail servers and e-mail – Electronic or virtual storefronts – Advertising – Electronic publishing – Hard copy publishing Electronic Marketing: Integrating Electronic Resources into the Marketing Process, 2e 4/1/2016 2004 Joel Reedy and Shauna Schullo Tactical Online Targeting • Means of communication continued.. – Conferences venues – “Cookies” – Sig files – FAQs – Usenet newsgroups – “Cross fertilization” between your Web site and your traditional marketing media to increase the success of your Web presence Electronic Marketing: Integrating Electronic Resources into the Marketing Process, 2e 4/1/2016 2004 Joel Reedy and Shauna Schullo Tactical Online Targeting • The marketer can increase visibility through the following actions: – Register your site with Web search engines, listings, and catalogs – Participate in discussion lists and Usenet newsgroups and the use of informative .sig files – Make online announcements and use news releases – Study FAQs – Use cross-linking of your page to other relevant pages Electronic Marketing: Integrating Electronic Resources into the Marketing Process, 2e 4/1/2016 2004 Joel Reedy and Shauna Schullo How Can the Marketer Get Web Surfers Hooked? • After the initial visit, activity and interactivity will encourage your visitor to return to your site – Curiosity – Item turnover – Indispensable tool or resource – Unique event or resource – Stickiness Electronic Marketing: Integrating Electronic Resources into the Marketing Process, 2e 4/1/2016 2004 Joel Reedy and Shauna Schullo How Can the Marketer Get Web Surfers Hooked? • The Internet gives advertising and marketing professionals many resources that are very dynamic, helpful, and informative. – NetPlus Marketing Inc. http://www.netplusmarketing.com/resources.cfm – Advantage Solutions – Dataquest – NetMarket Group – Modem Media Poppe Tyson Advertising Electronic Marketing: Integrating Electronic Resources into the Marketing Process, 2e 4/1/2016 2004 Joel Reedy and Shauna Schullo The Present State of Online Commerce • What are the dynamics of consumers actually buying online? – 89.3% of the GVU tenth WWW User Survey respondents reported that they have “ordered a product or service by filling out a form on the Web” – Respondents were usually U.S. males familiar with Internet activities – Technology consumers are most comfortable in the online environment – The internet population is homogenizing and the purchase patterns are changing Electronic Marketing: Integrating Electronic Resources into the Marketing Process, 2e 4/1/2016 2004 Joel Reedy and Shauna Schullo The Present State of Online Commerce • What are the trends in consumer purchases that ebusinesses selling online should be aware of for the immediate future? – Computer and accessories – Entertainment – Securities trading services Electronic Marketing: Integrating Electronic Resources into the Marketing Process, 2e 4/1/2016 2004 Joel Reedy and Shauna Schullo The Present State of Online Commerce • E-commerce markets with the best growth potential are those closely tied to shifting demographics such as – Financial instruments – Health – Travel – Gardening for aging Boomers – Apparel, music and entertainment for GenXers Electronic Marketing: Integrating Electronic Resources into the Marketing Process, 2e 4/1/2016 2004 Joel Reedy and Shauna Schullo