eMarketing

Marketing Strategies on the Web

Marketing Strategies on the Web- an Overview

Covering four main ideas:For Manufacturing companies:(1) Understanding why marketing on Internet

is differentFor all organizations with a Web presence:(2) How a manager should develop his/her

Web site: a) design, b) functionality, and c) hosting

(3) Attracting visitors to that site(4) Global issues

(1) Marketing on the Internet is Different

From the perspective of Manufacturers getting involved in direct sales as part of E-B

Offers new possibilities and dangers! Every customer now has instantaneous,

documented, direct contact with every member of the firm (and vice versa)

Potential customers are world-wide a manager and his/her competitors are now

transparent and on the record Technologies on Web change what message

and service a manager can provide and how

Marketing on the Internet is Different

New 4th ChannelChannels are a means of making a product or service available for use or consumption by the consumer or a business

External channels allow manufacturers to focus on their core business and allows others to act as intermediaries

These are “middlemen” and consumers pay a premium for their services (location, storage, knowledge, varied quantities, related goods…)

Marketing on the Internet is Different

New 4th Channel (cont.) TB has 3 channels to communicate and sell Traditional channels: face-to-face; mail; and

phone The Web represents a new 4th channel

available to EB that has both advantages and potential drawbacks over the other three

Marketing on the Internet is Different

New 4th Channel (cont.) Web as a channel offers interesting

possibilities As with the other 3, manufacturers have the

option of providing direct sales with consumers and avoiding the use of an outside channel

Limitations to the other three have traditionally kept manufacturers out of this business…there are reasons you can’t buy directly from Ford

Marketing on the Internet is Different - New 4th Channel (cont.)

Two basic problems for manufacturers: 1) Not their core business 2) Channel conflicts (cannibalization)- Lose

advantages of other providing: Locations (close to where product is needed) Storage (provide place for unsold items besides

warehouse) Knowledge (understands consumers needs;

product in context, etc.) Varied quantities (ability to break down cases,

etc.) Related goods (other manufacturers products

avail.)

Marketing on the Internet is Different

Ways to deal with Channel Conflict- If you choose to not sell directly to consumers-

Have a catalogue only List MSRP and product details Provide links to suggested retailers

If you do sell- Give subsidy to retailers based on lost sales Sell at very high price to discourage direct purchase Offer only unique goods/services on Web site

Marketing on the Internet is Different

New 4th Channel (cont.) For most traditional manufacturers, selling

via the 4th channel was in response to demand

Customers are demanding they be able to buy online so Web-commerce for these goods are required

So there is a need for firms to evaluate how to integrate a new sales interface into their distribution strategy

(2a) Developing a Web Site—Design Issues First issue: Content is more important

than appearance—managers shouldn’t let anyone fight to find information they are seeking

Second issue: Traditional Graphical User Interface or GUI (a.k.a., gooey) rules apply to Web apps—we are merging two worlds; IS and Marketing

Site Design—GUI Rules Managers shouldn’t drown people in

eye candy in lieu of information—people won’t come back unless it is useful

But a picture is still worth a thousand words

Managers shouldn’t just take graphical material and brochure layouts from his/her traditional print media

GUI Rules—transferring graphics Traditional graphics won’t

translate well: large files make pages slow

Too many colors/details won’t be readable in Web formats

Graphics aren’t readable by search engines and text readers (WAP and speech software)

GUI Rules—transferring graphics (cont.) Symbols might not translate

worldwide (will discuss more global issues later)

Prevents pregnancy?Not to be taken bypregnant women? Different cultures haddangerouslydifferent perceptions.

GUI Rules—transferring graphics A manager should make sure that

his/her application looks good to as many people as possible Does it look good on a B&W printout? On a TV screen (huge dot pitch) On a palm pilot?

XML-based documents anyone?

GUI Rules—textual layout This is hypermedia

Don’t force people to read through linearly…expectations are higher

Each page clearly summarized in first paragraph and in title: <title> GUI Rules </title>

All information should be three clicks away—make “channels”

Text should be 33% more dense

GUI Rules—General Site Design

Rules for Web application (collection of pages) = traditional GUI rules Consistency throughout (should be

recognized as his/her image too)…enforce with everyone!

Limit colors and use same in each page Navigation bars on each page distinctive

from other content Don’t have too many items on page (7+/-

2)

GUI Rules—General Site Design Humor should be avoided unless it

is part of the brand message…jokes aren’t funny the 3rd time

Most important content goes in top left (in West)

Group like things with lines or boxes

(2b) Developing a Web Site—Functionality

Now we know basically how to design GUI and layout…what functions are needed behind the front end?

Build system to be rapidly adaptable Web technologies should be used to

do 1-to-1 marketing (before competitor do)

Functionality—Rapidly Adaptable System Changing prices & products Competitive offerings—managers

should scan the competition…because s/he is being scanned!

The Web should be scanned to combat bad PR

New functionality Scalability

Functionality—1-to-1 Marketing Five functions available through

Web technologies(1) Interaction(2) Identification(3) Tracking(4) Differentiation(5) Customization

1-to-1 Marketing—Interaction

Web technology enables personal, fast, and useful interaction FAQs (to avoid repetition and wasted $) Newsgroups (to let customers talk

among themselves…corporate representative should take part)

E-mail (by topic; each answered quickly) chat/video (used to meet traditional

shopping needs) Online surveys (with incentives)

1-to-1 Marketing—Identification Web technology allows a manager

to identify each customer to track and understand Login IDs and passwords Cookies IP addresses Digital Certificates

1-to-1 Marketing—Tracking

With unique ID, can get and store data Can track every purchase and page

view Demographic data Number of page views Sequence of views What they bought, what combination,

when, for whom

1-to-1 Marketing—Tracking (cont.) Combine with interactions for

valuable info (i.e., interactions can be kept and mined)

Site can be modified based on satisfaction measures

1-to-1 Marketing—Differentiation

By tracking a company can differentiate To treat everyone personally To offer pre-selected goods,

information, services Up-sell Cross-sell

1-to-1 Marketing—Customization A manager can take differentiation one

step further and change what is sold…customization!

A company should look for what it sells and see if it can’t break it into components

Assemble as needed for each customer Easiest for electronic offerings. Harder

for physical goods (but being done)

(2c) Developing a Web Site—Hosting Decisions Related to design issue: where

does it all live? Site can’t live without a host server

connected to or owned by ISP Should be based on four criteria:

reliability, performance, tech support, and price…

Hosting Decisions—Four Criteria Reliability: Site needs to be

running (and adaptable) 24/7/365 Performance: speed—get 3rd party

measures Tech support: Quality? Availability? Price: value in combination with

above?

(3) Attracting Visitors to a Site A site exists…”so what?” if nobody

comes to see it or they never return

Ways to attract visitors or be “sticky”: Promotion tricks to get people Suggested offerings to keep them

Attracting Visitors to a Site—Promotional Tricks There are some basic tricks to

promote a site to be found Affiliate Networks Event Marketing Choose a good domain name Announce site Banner ads Direct marketing

Affiliate Networks Syndicate content/services on other

sites Pages can pay to get on portals and

hooked in as back end to other resellers Can offer channels to allow narrow

placement on each Can allow front-end customization

by resellers

Event Marketing Victoria’s secret shut down the ‘Net Attracted with a single ad on TV

(albeit with a pretty enticing, well targeted event)

Company should something unique that can’t be had via other media or won’t be worth download time or trouble

Choosing a Domain Name

www.companyname.com if possible Well known brand should be able to sue for brand

name in URL Not well known should choose something close or

logical noun (www.ponies.com and www.chicken.com owned by ISPs—can be bought I am sure)

Should buy name rights (don’t have registered to ISP) Should use other domains which have meaning (.fi

gives expectation of Finnish language) Should have many names push to a centralized page

Announcing a Site Company should put URL everywhere

in other media promotions Should put in search engines (register

and fix <meta> tag info) Should call the press Put on business cards and letterhead Shouldn’t announce until fully ready!!!

Banner Ads Should exchange banner ad space with

other related sites Should make banners that don’t annoy,

are professional, that use older technology to be compatible

Shouldn’t be cute…shouldn’t be slow to load…links should be verified to work…shouldn’t be put on slow pages to avoid guilt by association

Direct Marketing—E-mail To spam or not to spam…

Shouldn’t be done Causes bad PR Gets more angry responses than sales Hard to find good responses in the

deluge Unethical and possibly illegal

Alternatives: Opt-in e-mails & tasteful signature files

Direct Marketing—Mailing Lists/Newsletters/Discussions Companies should use 1-to-1 marketing

to build opt-in mailing lists Should create a newsletter and include

reasons why people would want them (incentives; valuable info)

Should get employees involved in discussion groups and provide value to community (and have them sign with their URL there).

Attracting Visitors to his/her Site—Sticky Suggestions

There are some basic tricks to keep a customer coming back Fresh content Free content Personal content Online/offline content Good cross-marketing/cross-selling Good search capabilities Being a community and interactive

Fresh Content Gives people a reason to come

back Fresh content of value A date on the page convinces

customers of freshness and accuracy Indicates to employees to update

content

Free Content Free information, products,

services to all visitors Currency rates, news briefs, stock

portfolios Lotteries, coupons Calculators, games

$34 to get a new customer…it pays to keep them

Free Content – example, MSN Zone

Free Internet Gaming Site. Supports game sales but also place for free games. Why?Sticky site. Banners sold to others. Banners for own sites. Requires use of .Net “Passport” to create market for that service (used at Citibank.com and ESPN).

Free Content – example, MSN Zone (cont.)

Proprietary client allows control over banners and extended viewing

Personal Content Incentives should

be given to identify for tracking

Related to free content: personalized free information, products, services

Online/Offline Content Offline reading should be

supported Multiple formats should be offered

including downloadable (pdfs) and printable versions (text only)

Push technologies offered to send customized, new content

Good Cross-marketing/Cross-selling Company should implement a system that

effectively promotes related products Should collect aggregate data on what else

people bought when they bought a good Should keep a good database of

complementary products Should remember what was bought before

and lead with an appropriate offer

Good Search Capabilities Everything should be easy and

pleasant to find Navigation should be tested and

streamlined

Be a Community/be Interactive

Corporate site can be a destination by being a chat community…should implement discussion groups

Have employees be a member of the group and give help or suggest interpretations (but need integrity)

Should make it easy and enjoyable to talk to anyone in the company (with a database for standardized answers)

(4) Global Issues A manager should be aware that

everything done can be seen everywhere even if s/he doesn’t mean to sell abroad

Should target their audience but have content with world audience in mind

Shouldn’t offend if possible Messages, text, icons, etc. may not

translate well Professional should make sure meaning

translates

Global Issues (cont.) Culture is more than just language…

culture is a way of thinking Applications should be sensitive to local

behaviors and beliefs Software use Time perceptions Sense of communities Buying norms Expectations about service Expectations about screen layout

Global Issues (cont.) Locals should make local content International laws may apply

local tax/privacy laws are different data entry may need to be

customized to allow for relevant local information

Public Relations and Developing a Dark Site

Reasons for Crisis Management Disaster Recovery Digital Complaint Services Strategic Planning

Developing a Dark Site - Reasons for Crisis Management

Dark site is a secret server set up to replace the regular server to display content in times of crisis

Help manage legal crisis in real time and on global basis

Use to limit impact of emergencies & recalls Companies turn them on (w/in 30 min) and contact the

press They should have backups on CD to send to ISPs in

emergency in case of problems with primary site

Developing a Dark Site - Disaster Recovery If there is a defect or emergency, the dark

site may contain confidential data (product or personal) that needs to go public fast

Can also be used to counter misunderstanding & rumor

Gives consumers the company’s side of a story

Alternatively, consumers will get details from other Web sites (in 1999 there were 20,000 links to www.flamingfords.com even though the issue was resolved in a 1995 recall)

Developing a Dark Site - Online Experience Two outcomes of different

responsiveness: Intel: Pentium chip bug and Pentium III

privacy PR disaster. Both handled badly and slowly and with expensive impacts

Odwalla: 90% of existing customers still willing to buy their product after E-coli outbreak. Had dark site up in 12 hours.

Developing a Dark Site – Example, Pilgrim’s Pride Lunchmeat (10/14/02)

First day of recall, site was given major overhaul to inform customers and soothe investor fears. Links clear on homepage

Developing a Dark Site - Strategic Planning

8 steps: Regular Risk Audit Identify and delegate responsibilities prior to crisis Keyword monitoring: can pay service to do this Develop crisis manual and put on Intranet Develop dark site Run crisis simulations (ala fire drills) Know who to contact in press and public ahead of time Maintain the above to be current

Conclusion Marketing on the Web provides a

mechanism for doing business that is unique

Allows one-to-one marketing with advantages of automated processes and unprecedented information

The best page is worthless if it isn’t seen Global availability of Web applications

offers new opportunities and concerns