|
Benefits of Online Marketing
Benefits to Consumers:
(1) Convenient— customers can shop 24 hours a day from anywhere
without going to the store physically.
(2) Interactive & Immediate— consumers can interact with the seller's
site to find the information, products,
or services they desire, then order
or download them on the spot.
Benefits to Marketers:
(1) Customer Relationship Building— companies can interact with customers
to learn more about their
needs and to build customer databases.
(2) Reduce Costs & Increase Efficiency— avoid the expense of maintaining
a physical store, costs of rent,
insurance, and utilities. Digital catalogs
cost less to produce than printing and mailing paper catalogs.
(3) Greater Flexibility— unlike a paper catalog whose products and prices
are fixed until the next printing,
an online catalog can be adjusted daily or
even hourly, adapting product availability, prices, and
promotions to match changing market conditions.
(4) Access to Global Markets— The Internet is a global medium, which allows
buyers and sellers to click
from one country to another in seconds.
Four Ways to Conduct Online Marketing:
(1) Creating an Electronic Storefront— companies can buy space on a commercial
online service or it can
open its own Web site. These sites are designed to engage
consumers in an interaction that will move
them closer to a purchase or other marketing outcome.
(2) Placing Ads Online— companies can place online ads in three ways:
(a) classified ads in special sections of major commercial online services
(b) ads in certain Internet newsgroups set up for commercial purposes
(c) buy online ads that pop up while people are surfing the web. Such ads
include banner ads, pop-up
windows, "tickers" (banners moving across screen),
and "road-blocks" (full-screen ads that users
must go through to get to other screens they wish to view)
(3) Participating in Internet Forums, Newsgroups, or Web Communities—
companies may participate in or
sponsor Internet forums, newsgroups, and bulletin boards
that appeal to specific special interest groups
(4) Use Online E-mail or Webcasting— companies can send out customer newsletters,
special product or
promotion offers based on customer buying histories. Webcasting
or "push" programming delivers
information of interest to consumers' desktops
|
