Professional Documents
Culture Documents
INTERNET MARKETING
Introduction
Internet marketing is one of the hottest subjects on the internet, with almost
endless websites devoted to the subject. More and more people are realising
that there is a lot of money to be made online through legitimate businesses,
such as selling on Ebay, promoting affiliate products, and developing and
selling your own products.
The major attraction of internet marketing is that there are almost no barriers
to entry. You don't need any substantial capital to set yourself up, as you
would in the offline world. For example, you can immediately start selling
unwanted household items on Ebay, or you could sign up as an affiliate for a
company and start promoting their products on the numerous sources of free
ads, such as free classified ads sites, safelists and traffic exchanges, and earn
a commission for each sale.
Most of the resources that you need to start making money online can be
found cheaply, or indeed free in some cases. I recommend creating your own
website if you want to increase your earning potential, but again this can be
done cheaply if you are on a limited budget. Registering a domain name can
cost less than $10, and the cost of web hosting varies, and although I
recommend finding a quality web host, it is possible to find free web hosts
that will host your site.
To build your site, there are various free tools that will simplify the whole
process by using simple, easy to understand editors, so this needn't be
daunting either. A good way to get started is simply by creating your own
blog, using a service like Blogger, for example, who will host your site on
their server for free.
As you can see it's obvious why internet marketing is now so popular, and
will only continue to grow in the future. However, if you want to be
successful marketing online there is a steep learning curve, and a lot of
people simply give up after a few weeks because they haven't made any
For example, Unilever is starting to use the Internet as part of brand building
for its new products. In 1998 it launched its Mentadent toothpaste in the United
States using traditional media campaigns and also offered samples in response
to users clicking on an advert placed on health-related web sites. It received
more than 40,000 requests for samples, far exceeding its expectations for this
new medium. If businesses do not understand and start to apply the new
marketing techniques and technology in this way, then they may not only miss
an opportunity, but may even cease to exist.
This book will cover all the different ways in which the Internet can be used to
support the marketing process. Many organisations have begun this process
with the development of web sites in the form of electronic brochures
introducing their organisations products and services, but are now enhancing
them to add value to the full range of marketing functions.
When reading this book, we would encourage a healthy cynicism in the reader;
to adopt a questioning approach. When referring to the case studies and
estimates of growth, ask what are the tangible benefits that have been delivered
and what are the growth estimates are based on?
Remember, also that for every success story, there may be unrecorded instances
of companies failing to deliver the foreseen benefits. The case study
INTERNET: Europe sales 'could top $1,990bn' highlights the reasons for
growth in Internet sales to both other businesses and consumers and describes
some of the barriers which make estimation of the level of sales difficult.
The marketing concept should lie at the heart of the organisation, and the
actions of directors, managers and employees guided by its philosophy.
Internet are indicated by the traditional marketing strategic grid for targeting
new markets and products (Figure 1-1). The Internet can be used to achieve
each of the four strategic directions as follows:
1. Market penetration. The Internet can be used to sell more existing products
into existing markets. This can be achieved by using the power of the Internet
for advertising products to increase awareness of products and the profile of a
company amongst potential customers in an existing market.
2. Market development. Here the Internet is used to sell into new markets,
taking advantage of the low cost of advertising internationally without the
necessity for a supporting sales infrastructure in the customers country.
3. Product development. New products are developed which can be delivered
by the Internet. These would typically be information products such as market
reports which can be purchased using electronic commerce.
4. Diversification. In this sector, new products are developed which are sold
into new markets.
Staff monitoring web sites find that the most common method of people
visiting a web site are search engines or directories, so it is important that
each company is listed with such directories. Search engines and directories
that are now commonly referred to as portals or Internet gateways are described
in more detail in Chapter 4. Many larger companies now place adverts with
news services, search engines or other widely used sites to attract customers to
their sites.
Sites are also reached by users typing in the location or web address of the site
which they will be aware of through offline promotion methods. A web address
such as http://www.ftmanagement.com is technically referred to as a URL or
universal resource locator. The format of web addresses are described in
Chapter 3.
<Search engines>
Search engines are a special type of web site that provide an index of all words
stored on the World Wide Web. Keywords typed in by the end-user are matched
against the index and the user is given a list of all corresponding web pages
containing the keywords. By clicking on a hyperlink the user is taken to the
relevant web page.
Advertising
Since the Internet is a new medium, marketing staff are still undergoing a
learning curve in terms of exploiting its full potential and integrating it with
their offline promotional activities. Essentially, users have the choice of two
options for advertising on the web. The first is to set up a web site and through
this communicate key messages, images and buying information to the web site
visitor. Such sites can incorporate interactive activity and sounds. The second
option is to use banner ads which can increase brand recognition and
communicate / reinforce brand values as well as providing a link to the web
site. Banner ads can be placed against reserved key words on search engines
(entering the search keyword "car", for example might display a banner advert
for the Avensis") or can be placed on media sites with more tightly defined
niche audiences. Banner ads are relatively unsophisticated and do no more than
provide exposure to a message. The banners can provide opportunities for
interaction and provision of further information Additional messaging can be
contained on the advertisers own web site. While some Internet advertising is
fairly primitive compared with other media, many have good creative execution
and are integrated fully with their off line campaigns. For maximum impact,
adverts on the web should be researched and planned as carefully as on any
other medium. When combined with a promotion, the proportion of people
clicking on the page (the click through rate) may increase from 2% to 10%. The
latter figure has been achieved by when combined with a discount offer or
competition.
Sales promotion
Public Relations
Public Relations activity on the web offers organisations scope for corporate
communications, sponsorship, publicity and a direct vehicle for communicating
press releases. The Internet provides scope for two way interaction, clear
targeting of key opinion formers and journalists and the potential for
communicating strong corporate brand messages. Several PR agencies are
investigating the potential for organisations to further exploit the potential for
electronic Public Relations.
Most press agencies now use the Internet as a primary source of information.
Press releases can be sent by E-mail to agencies you are registered with and
also made available on your web site.
With this new method of PR, a key difference is that a company can talk direct
to the market via the corporate web site. Third party agencies and physical
Direct marketing
Direct marketing is currently one of the fastest growing fields of marketing.
The techniques it utilises can be spread across all the elements of the
promotional mix. The following extract clearly identifies the purpose and scope
of direct marketing.
Direct marketing on the Internet offers significant potential for customisation of
products and services and personalising a message. The utilisation of databases
and the interactivity of the Internet enable organisations to engage in one to one
dialogue. As indicated above, the real benefit of direct marketing is its potential
to use data to develop relevant dialogue and relationships with consumers. The
Internet is currently not fulfilling its potential in this area with users of the
Internet, but we will look at some examples of companies exploiting the
potential for relationship marketing activity.
Electronic commerce
Electronic commerce has become the standard term recognised for business
transactions conducted on the Internet. It is a term that encompasses a range of
business activities such as selling online, online bill payments, home
shopping/banking and improving efficiency in dealings with suppliers and
clients (Hoffman and Novak, 1996). Some authors such as Zwass(1998) extend
the meaning of electronic commerce to incorporate all marketing
communications. For clarity, in this book, a narrower definition is used :
electronic commerce is used to refer to paid-for business transactions.
15, examples are provided of how electronic commerce has been used in the
business-to-business and business-to-consumer market.
Services marketing
The Internet provides both a communication and distribution channel for the
provision of
faster and more effective service delivery. Access to organisation resources and
information, the interactive nature of the Internet and the linkage of Internet
technology to other information technology hardware provide a wide range of
opportunities for marketers to improve the service delivery process. An
example of improved service delivery via the Internet is shown when the Royal
Mail launched a web site which provides rapid access to information such as
different types of postal services and a postal rates calculator where you can
enter your packages weight and its destination to find out how much it will cost
to send the package using each service. Users can request further information
by entering their E mail and postal address. Legal and General was one of the
first UK insurers to set up a web page site. Now it has added a package of on
line financial products and services (Interplan) and plans an extranet for its
representatives and agents. Account holders are able to access their accounts on
the web site, make lump sum payments and increase/decrease monthly
payments and withdraw any reserves. The company hopes to persuade more
customers to link into Interplan to perform basic customer service such as
notify changes of address.
The potential to develop improved customer service online can provide
customers with significant added value. Federal Express has developed a site
that is not directly designed for revenue generation but rather for convenience
and cost saving to its customers. The company provides a tracker service for
every parcel it transports and this service has now been included on its web site
(Figure 1-6). Customers can now communicate on line and identify exactly
where their parcel is at any time. The service whilst being efficient has also
substantially reduced the number of phone calls that Federal express received.
Most organisations can introduce customer care lines and customer information
facilities that can easily be placed on line. Cost savings, ease of access and
immediacy of response are three potential benefits offered from improving
online customer service.
Summary
1. The growth in use of the Internet for marketing has been dramatic since the
inception of world wide web browsers in the early 1990s. KPMG estimated in
1998 that the European electronic commerce market would be worth nearly
$2,000 billion by 2001.
2. The Internet is used to develop existing markets through enabling an
additional communications channel with potential customers. It can be used to
develop new international markets with a reduced need for new sales offices
and agents. Companies can also add new products using the Internet.
3. The Internet can support the full range of marketing functions and in doing
so can help reduce costs, facilitate communication within and between
organisations and improve customer service.
4. Interaction with customers, suppliers and distributors occurs across the
Internet. If access is restricted to favoured third parties this is known as an
search engines
directories
banner adverts placed in online media
links from other sites
typing in a web address (URL)
Case Study
eBay
Online shopping website
About eBay
Price
When you think about selling on e-Bay, one of the last things that usually
come to mindis pricing strategies. After all, e-Bay is an auction site. You list
your item and wait forcompetitive bidding to drive the price up.
Unfortunately, its not that simple.Pricing the items you sell on e-Bay is an
important part of the selling process, even on e-Bay. Many sellers dont give
pricing too much consideration and their auctions usually show
it.
People are looking for bargains, especially on e-Bay. They will bid only on
items wherethey see a value for the price they are willing to pay. Naturally
sellers are concernedabout getting a fair price, too. Often, they have money
invested in the item they are tryingto sell. They cant go below a certain
price or they risk losing money.So, how do pricing strategies work on eBay?
There are essentially three types of pricing you need to be concerned with:
Starting bid
Reserve price
Buy-It-Now price
Each of these methods has important factors to consider
Benefits of eBay
Malls and department stores are not the only ones reaping profits over
wholesale and retail sales nowadays. While some of these stores have online
versions where people can browse through their catalogs and make their
purchases over the internet, there is one online shopping site that offers a
whole range of items from multiple vendors. eBay is the one-stop-shop for
millions of Americans doing their shopping online.
One of the greatest benefits is the wealth of inventory it has on its pages.
Pages after pages of listings of various items are available for the online
shopper.
It is almost guaranteed that whatever item you are looking for, it is available
on here. Common items like clothing, furnishings and gift items are plentiful
as well as odd ones like celebrity memorabilia and rare collectibles. There
are unlimited products that you can choose from on. No need to go through
racks or shelves, all you have to do is to type in your desired item in the
search box.
Another benefit of shopping on eBay is the affordability and convenience of
it all. Since it is an auction site, it allows you to purchase items listed on
their pages for the amount that you are willing to spend for that particular
item. If the closing price is way beyond your means, then someone else with
a higher bid is more likely to end up with it. You are not forced to make the
purchase nor derailed in sticking to your budget.
As there is a huge amount of items on sale on eBay, there are also a lot of
vendors selling their wares. You get to choose from which vendor you want
to buy your item from. No more tiresome and time consuming rack combing
or shop hopping in the mall. You can also choose to deal with the vendor
that gives the best deal. It is important, though, that you check out the
specifications of the product being offered to make sure that it is exactly
what you are looking for. Also check for other fees and charges you may
have to pay. It is a bummer to win a bid on an item only to find out that you
will be charged horrendous fees for shipping and handling or that your item
will not be shipped for quite some time for one reason or another. Make sure
you are dealing with a reputable seller by checking out each seller's
feedback.
eBay is user-friendly. All you have to do to make a transaction on eBay is to
go through a one-time registration process absolutely free of charge. The
private registration page asks you for basic information like name, address
and telephone number plus a number of user identity verification data such
as desired user name, password, and a security question and its
corresponding answer. An email confirmation will be sent to you with a link
to confirm your membership. Once your membership is confirmed, you can
make any number of bids for as many items you wish to buy.
Shopping on eBay is convenient, budget-friendly and practical. For the best
deals on the internet, try the ultimate online shopping site eBay.
About Google
1. Introduction
The web creates new challenges for information retrieval. The amount of
information on the web is growing rapidly, as well as the number of new users
inexperienced in the art of web research. People are likely to surf the web using
its link graph, often starting with high quality human maintained indices such as
Yahoo! or with search engines. Human maintained lists cover popular topics
effectively but are
subjective, expensive to build and maintain, slow to improve, and cannot cover
all esoteric topics. Automated search engines that rely on keyword matching
usually return too many low quality matches. To make matters worse, some
advertisers attempt to gain peoples attention by taking measures meant to
common spelling of googol, or 10100 and fits well with our goal of building
very large-scale search engines.
1.1 Web Search Engines -- Scaling Up: 1994 2000
Search engine technology has had to scale dramatically to keep up with the
growth of the web. In 1994, one of the first web search engines, the World
Wide Web Worm (WWWW) [Mc Bryan 94] had an index of 110,000 web
pages and web accessible documents. As of November, 1997, the top search
engines claim to index from 2 million (WebCrawler) to 100 million web
documents (from Search Engine
Watch). It is foreseeable that by the year 2000, a comprehensive index of the
Web will contain over a billion documents. At the same time, the number of
queries search engines handle has grown incredibly too. In March and April
1994, the World Wide Web Worm received an average of about 1500 queries
per day. In November 1997, Altavista claimed it handled roughly 20 million
queries per day. With the increasing number of users on the web, and
automated systems which query search engines, it is likely that top search
engines will handle hundreds of millions of queries per day by the year
2000. The goal of our system is to address many of the problems, both in
quality and scalability, introduced by scaling
search engine technology to such extraordinary numbers.
1.2. Google: Scaling with the Web
Creating a search engine which scales even to todays web presents many
challenges. Fast crawling technology is needed to gather the web documents
and keep them up to date. Storage space must be used efficiently to store
indices and, optionally, the documents themselves. The indexing system
must process hundreds of gigabytes of data efficiently. Queries must be
handled quickly, at a rate of hundreds to thousands per second. These tasks
are becoming increasingly difficult as the Web grows. However, hardware
performance and cost have improved dramatically to partially offset the
difficulty. There are, however, several notable exceptions to this progress
such as disk seek time and operating system robustness. In designing
Google, we have considered both the rate of growth of the Web and
About Facebook
Facebook is a social networking website, very popular among college
students. It was originally developed for university students,
faculty and staff, but has since expanded to include everyone,
including high school, corporate and geographic communities.
The name of the site is based on the paper facebooks that colleges
give to incoming students, faculty, and staff depicting members of
the campus community.
History of Facebook
Chris Hughes had joined Zuckerberg to spread the website. Within two
months, Facebook expanded to the rest of the Ivy League and a few other
schools. By December 2004, the number of registered users exceeded one
million.
As the website's popularity rose and advertising revenue grew, Zuckerberg
and Moskovitz left Harvard to run Facebook fulltime, while Hughes
remained at Harvard to work as the site's spokesperson. Zuckerberg and
Moskovitz moved to Palo Alto in June 2004, established an office and hired
a staff of eight, including Sean Parker, Matt Cohler, and James Pereira.
Stories about Facebook became commonplace in online and print media.
Simultaneously, several competitor sites appeared attempting to capture
some of the limelight. While at Harvard, Zuckerberg's project competed with
a student portal by Aaron Greenspan known as houseSYSTEM, whose
Universal Face Book was launched in October, 2003, before Facebook
existed. [6]. Greenspan would later fold houseSYSTEM into a new product,
CommonRoom. In late 2004, the owners of the website ConnectU (Divya
Narendra, Cameron Winklevoss, and Tyler Winklevoss), another social
networking website targeted towards college students, filed a lawsuit against
Facebook, alleging that Zuckerberg had stolen source code intended for their
website while in their employ [7][8].
Wikinews
Wikinews has news related to this article:
Facebook's funding
In September 2004, Facebook received around $500,000 from PayPal cofounder Peter Thiel in an angel round. In May 2005, Facebook raised $12.7
million in venture capital from Accel Partners [9] .
In late August 2005, it was announced on the main website that the domain
name facebook.com was acquired from Aboutface Corporation, and the
website moved domains and dropped the "the" from the site name effective
August 23, 2005. The purchase price for the domain name was $200,000
according to people familiar with this deal[citation needed]. Also included in
the move was a site overhaul, making profile pages more "user-friendly",
according to Zuckerberg. Zuckerberg has since added more universities to
Facebook (with an emphasis on forgotten schools in Canada as well as in the
United States), but unlike in the past, the new sc
About facebook
So too can social networking sites offer these same types of benefits. You
connect with your friends already, why not stay in front of them in a
business capacity? Use the powerful tools within networking sites to explain
what you do to friends and family, to keep them abreast of the latest trends
and technologies in your own industry.
Facebook in particular offers great group features. Facebook allows you to
create a group about whatever topic or topics you want. Most recently I've
created the Web Design and Programming group and invited many
classmates, friends, even teachers into the group where I hope to discuss
problems and topics in web design or programming, offer help, build an
online community for everyone.
In creating such a group I have created value for the individuals that are
apart of the group, I have connected with a number of like-minded, skilled,
potential sales people, and finally it is a network of valuable talent, resources
and skills that I can tap into later, perhaps as employees or referral sources.
Harnessing the power of Web 2.0 doesn't necessarily mean you have to
spend copious amounts of money on web ads. Instead, I've found
tremendous value in molding the connection features offered by these social
networking sites into my own business.
Do you have a unique (guerilla) marketing technique that harnesses the
power of Web 2.0 or uses a commonplace feature of a favorite website to
drive sales and traffic?
Zachary Katkin is the founder of Naples Web Design Firm, Unique ID Web
Design. Zach can be contacted via the company's web site.
You can read Zach Katkin's personal blog, theNapkin for more information
on running and marketing a small business online