Effectiveness of E-Marketing

Effectiveness of E-Marketing Virtual Era- New Features In Marketing Cap Synopsis Aim: The purpose of this study is to analyze the current practices going on in the Indian market in terms of using the virtual market and virtual marketing as tool to enhance bottom top line and for a better penetration. It would also throw light on various marketing strategies can be synchronized with web marketing for better and optimum results. Objective: The study would predominantly give an idea about the effectiveness of E-Marketing in contemporary scenario wherein most of the companies are using it as the most effective tool to ensure that their product or services are being reached to masses, because of the pervasive nature of web market its another feather in the cap of market. This thesis depicts how a small sized Business-To-Business company can create an e-marketing plan. For this purpose, this thesis would incorporate most of the industries that are into the business of serving customers with their product services. The thesis first carries out a literature study to explain the concepts and methods related with the e-marketing activities. Furthermore, the case company is introduced. Since an e-marketing plan is similar to a marketing plan, the products, target markets and competitors are also introduced among others. During the case study, the advices and the strategies are proposed. Since the thesis has a â€Å"hands-on implementation† feature, some of the strategies are implemented by sticking to the â€Å"action plans† in an iterative way. Doing so, thesis depicts evaluation for the recommended strategies. Finally, conclusions and areas for future work are presented along with the â€Å"Lessons Learned† during the project. Methodology: The method used for finding the relevant information for the research is mentioned below: 1) Secondary Research a. Internet Assistance b. Books, Articles working papers c. Magazines Journals 2) Primary research Primary research would predominantly look on analysis part of consumer behavior to track their behavior of web marketing. a. General Observation on site I. Closer observation on shoppers Behavior II. Functionality of Industry III. Impact of E-Marketing b. Questionnaire I. Sample size would be 100 II. Multi-dimensional Sampling III. Factor Analysis c. Focus Group Interview I. General Discussion with customers d. Interview I. Extensive Meetings with Industry people.Based on this I will conclude that whether consumers are being affected by the ways of web marketing of industries or not or what should be the modus operandi of companies to allure their target audience. Virtual market Forty nine of the Worlds leading food, beverages, and consumer products companies have joined hands to form the largest business to business e-Market place Transora.com. The new company is the first of its kind owned by the consumer products industry. Transora will help consumer products companies across the world to streamline business transactions with their buyers, suppliers and distributors through the internet. Transoras services will span the entire supply chain-from suppliers to manufactures to retailers-and provide procurement, vendor, and product catalogues, online order management, supply chain collaboration, and financial services. The companies have committed nearly us $ 250 million for funding Transora (CBI News Bulletin, July/august 2000) The buzz word viral marketing and coral advertising and virtual marketing refers to marketing techniques that use pre-existing social networks produce increase in brand awareness or to achieve other marketing objectives (such as product sales) through self replicating viral processes, analogues to the spread of pathological and computer viruses. It can be word of mouth delivered or enhanced by the network effects of the internet. Viral promotions may take the form of video clips, interactive flash games, Adver games, EBooks, brand able software, images, or even text messages. The goal of marketers interested in creating successful viral marketing programs is to identify individuals with high social networking potential and create viral messages that appeal to this segment of the population and have a high probability of being taken by another competitor. The term viral marketing or virtual marketing has been also used pejoratively to refer to stealth marketing campaigns- the unscrupulous use of astroturfing on line combined with under market advertising in shopping centers to create the impression of spontaneous word of mouth enthusiasm. Internet marketing Internet marketing also referred to as marketing, web marketing, online marketing or eMarketing is the marketing of products or services over the internet. The internet has brought media to a global audience. The interactive nature of internet marketing in terms of providing instant response and eliciting responses is a unique quality of the medium. Internet marketing is sometimes considered to have a broader scope because it only refers to the internet, email, and wireless media, but it includes management of digital customer data and electronic Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system. Internet marketing ties together creative and technical aspects of the internet, including design, development, advertising, and sales. Internet marketing also refers to the placement of media along with different stages of the Customer Engagement Cycle through search engine Marketing(SEM), Search Engine Optimization(SEO), banner ads on specific websites, email marketing, and web 2.0 strategies. In 2008 the New York Times, working with co score, published an initial estimate to quantify the user data collected by large internet based companies. Counting four types of interactions with company websites in addition to the hits from advertisements served from advertising networks, the authors found the potential for collecting data upward of 2500 times on average per user per month. eMarketing EMarketing is a subset of e business that utilize electronic medium to perform marketing activities and achieve desired marketing objectives for an organization. Internet marketing, interactive marketing, and mobile marketing for example, are all the form of e marketing. eBusiness EBusiness means utilizing electronic medium in everyday business activities. There are several levels of involvement in when it comes to EBusiness. For example where one organization relies completely on e business the second one way chooses a mixed presence and means of doing business. Difference Difference between eBusiness, eCommerce, and eMarketing †¢ eBusiness is a very broad entity dealing with the entire complex system that comprises a business that uses electronic medium to perform or assist its overall or specialized business activities. †¢ eCommerce is best described in a transactional context. So for example an electronic transition of funds, information, or entertainment falls under the category handled by principles of eCommerce. Technically e commerce is a part of e business †¢ eMarketing is also a part of e business that involves electronic medium to achieve marketing objectives. E marketing is set on a strategic level in addition to traditional marketing and business strategy. Difference between e marketing and interactive marketing eMarketing is a broader term that describes any marketing activity performed via electronic medium. Interactive marketing is generally a sub of eMarketing that involves a certain level of interaction. Difference between eMarkeitng and internet or web Marketing: There is no real difference between eMarketing and internet or web marketing. However, with the arrival of mobile technologies such as PDAs and 3G mobile phones, as well as interactive television, both terms would see eMarketing and internet or web marketing as subtly different, for example chaffy; Internet {or web} marketing is achieving marketing objectives through applying digital technologies. eMarketing is achieving marketing objectives through use of electronic communications technology. 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. Advantages of eMarketing Following are some of the advantages of e marketing: à ¼ Reduction in costs through automation and use of electronic media. à ¼ Faster response to both marketers and the end user. à ¼ Increased ability to measure and collect data. à ¼ Opens the possibility to a market of one through personalization. à ¼ Increased interactivity. Disadvantages of eMarketing Following are some disadvantages of eMarketing: à ¼ lack of personal approach , à ¼ Defensibility on technology, à ¼ Security, privacy issues, à ¼ Maintenance costs due to a constantly evolving environment, à ¼ Higher transparency of pricing and increased price promotion, à ¼ Worldwide competition through globalization. eMarketing Plan eMarketing plan is a strategic document developed through analysis and research and is aimed at achieving marketing objectives via electronic media. eMarketing plan represents a sub set of organizations overall marketing plans supports the general business strategy. Every good eMarketing plan must be developed in line with the organizations overall marketing plan. In a broad sense e marketers generally start by analyzing the current micro- and macro economic situation of the organization. eMarketers must observe both internal and external factors when developing an e marketing plan as trends in both micro environment elements are: pricing, suppliers, customers. Examples or macro environment are: socio economic, political, demographics and legal factors. In order to reduce a viable e marketing solution, e marketers must first understand the current situation of the company and its environment, profile, segment the target market and then strategically position the products as to achieve optimal response with the target market. This is generally achieved through SWOT analysis. By assessing organizations strengths and weaknesses and looking at current opportunities and threats one can devise an e marketing strategy that can improve the organizations bottom line. eMarketing(in brief) eMarketing is essentially a part of marketing. But à ¼ What is the difference between eMarketing and internet or web marketing? à ¼ What are the eMarketing tools? And how do marketers plan for eMarketing? The American marketing association 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 e marketing by its very nature is one aspect of an organizational function and a set of process 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 eMarkeitng and eCommerce, since eCommerce is simply buying and selling online: What are the eMarketing tools? The internet has a number of tools to offer to the marketer. à ¼ A company can distribute via the internet e.g. amazon.com, à ¼ A company can use the internet as a way of building and maintaining a customer relationship e.g. Dell.com, à ¼ The money collection part of a transaction could be done online e.g. electricity and telephone bills, à ¼ 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, à ¼ 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 to looking it; à ¼ An existing organization may embark upon some eMarkeitng as part of their marketing plan. à ¼ 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 session} Situation analysis for VIRTUAL marketing The situation analysis for eMarketing bridges the internal audit and competitor research. It answers the question where are we now in terms of our marketing (internal v/s external perspective)? The analysis literally considers your eMarkeitng 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 5ss of internet marketing, the customer life cycle, and the application of SWOT analysis. The Customer Life Cycle (CLC) The customer life cycle is a tool that 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. 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. SWOT analysis-Power SWOT SWOT analysis is a marketing audit that considers an organizations strengths, weaknesses opportunities and threats. Our introductory lesson gives you the basics of how to compete your SWOT as you begin to learn about marketing tools. As you learn more about SWOT analysis, you will become aware of a number of potential limitations with this popular tool. This lesson aims to help you overcome potential pitfalls. Some of the problems that you may encounter with SWOT are as a result of one of its key benefits i.e. flexibility since SWOT analysis can be used in a variety of scenarios, it has to be flexible. However this can lead to a number of anomalies. Problems with basis SWOT analysis can be addressed using a more critical power SWOT. Power is an acronym for personal experience, order, weighting, emphasizing detail, and rank priorities. This is how it works. How do you the marketing manager fit in relation with the SWOT analysis? You bring your experiences, skills, knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs to the audit. Your perception or simple gut feeling will impact the SWOT. Often marketing managers will in adversely reverse opportunities and strengths, and threats and weaknesses. This is because the line between internal strengths and weaknesses, and external opportunities and threats is sometimes difficult to spot. For example, in relation to global warming and climate change, one could mistake environmentalism as a threat rather than a potential opportunity. Too often elements of a SWOT analysis are not weighted. Naturally some points will be more controversial than others, so weight the factors. One way would be to use percentages e.g. threat a=10%, threat b=70%, and threat =20 %{ they total 100%} Detail, reasoning, and justification are often omitted from the SWOT analysis. Where one tends to find is that the analysis contains lists of single words. For example, under opportunities one might find the term technology. This stage word does not tell a reader very much. What is really meant is: Technology enables marketers to communicate via mobile devices close to the point of purchase. This provides the opportunity of a distinct competitive advantage for our company. This will greatly assist you when deciding upon best to score and weight each element. Once detail has been added, and factors have been revived for weighting, you can then progress to give the SWOT analysis some strategic meaning i.e. you can begin to select those factors that will most greatly influence your marketing strategy albeit a mix of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threatens. Essentially you rank them highest to lowest, and then prioritize those with the highest rank e.g. where opportunity c= 60% opportunity a= 25% and opportunity b = 10% you marketing plan would address opportunity c first, and opportunity b last. It is important to address opportunities primarily since your business should be market oriented. Then match strengths to opportunities and look for a fit. Address any gaps between current strengths and future opportunities. Finally attempt to rephrase threats as opportunities (as with global warming and climate change above), and address weaknesses so that they become strengths, Gap analysis would be bridge the gap between them. Competitor research for Virtual marketing (External perspective) As you plan for eMarketing and during the plans implementation, one needs to play careful attention to the activities of competitors, so competitors 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 e business and market. Here are some key tools of competitor research for eMarketing. à ¼ Use search engines. Ø General topics such as Google, yahoo And msn Ø Type names of competitors Ø Type industry, product or term Ø Search ‘down in to a directory structure e.g. yahoo Ø Search a competitors web site Ø Product information , press released, job opportunities Ø Pricing information Ø Distribution information such as where to buy. à ¼ Hunt for trade associations Ø Search for personal pages or blogs Ø Different perspective e.g. fans, ex-employees. Ø e.g. v www. blogger. com , v www. myspace. com, v www. youtube. Com. à ¼ Ask your target market. Ø Send question to named personnel, newsgroups, personal pages, mailing lists. Ø Conduct a survey using. Ø Buy secondary reports e.g. data monitors, mintel. à ¼ Newsgroups and post queries, Ø newsgroups on bulletin boards or forums Ø Deja. com(Google) Ø Read online financial information Ø research public companies Ø iii.co.uk ample up Ø ft.com up à ¼ Read online competitive information. Ø e.g. hoovers.com paid for, inus à ¼ Study demographic reports Ø statistics.gov.uk/ census in up Ø census.gov inus à ¼ Original source material Ø Business source elite, newspapers, Kellys compass. à ¼ Monitor special interest material Ø Business source elite, newspaper, Kellys, compass. à ¼ Monitor special interest material. Ø E.g. marketing week (BSE), campaign (BSE), marketing (BSE). à ¼ Use a professional researcher EMarketing Mix The eMarketing mix is essentially the same as the marketing mix. it is simply the adaption 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 organizations own product, service, brand, or solution. E marketing price 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. E Marketing Place {Place tactics as part of the eMarketing mix.) The e marketing space consists of new internet companies that have emerged as the internet has developed, as well as those pre-existing companies that new 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 of place. Pre Existing companies that have adopted eMarketing These are traditional companies that trade on the internet, Banking and financial services e.g. HSBC bank. Banks and financial services have benefited tremendously from the popularity of internet usage. There is a mixture of new online banks and traditional banks, both offering online banking services. Essentially banks no longer need to invest in high cost, high street selling unit i.e. old fashioned town-based banks. Labor costs have also been reduced since much of the traditional banking bureaucracy is done using it and the use of overseas call centers has meant that salaries are much lower. Software also means that customers can be retained by using Customer Relationship Management (CRM) eMarketing approaches. E marketing product 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 and equally applicable to the context of e marketing and can be easily applied to include e marketing and product. For example a product marketed solely online will go through a life cycle in the same unpredictable way as a product marketed through any traditional channel (PLC). Products marketed online will have a core benefit tot eh customer, be an actual tangible product, with augmentation that ads value such as insurance, warranties and so on three levels of a product). Although tools actually specify the term ‘product, they can be easily adapted to include brands. Services or solutions. E marketing product/business matrix (depicted below should be used in conjunction with Product Life Cycle (PLC) and the three levels of a product. It represents additional tools for audit that bridges existing businesses and new online start-us, and existing products and new products. It allows marketers to categories those marketing on the internet as an online extender, an online alternative, an online innovator (existing business), and Oran online innovator (online start-up). Let us look at it in more detail; A- Online extender An on line extender is an existing business that has a strategy whereby it extends its marketing activities to the internet. It could be any traditional, terrestrial organization that has historically grown through using traditional channels of distribution to get existing products, brands, services, or solutions to market. B- Online alternatives The online alternative is a new start-up that uses the internet as an original channel of distribution to get products, brands, services or solutions, currently available elsewhere, to, arekt. Some segments may be better targeted with this online alternative for example remote or fragmented markets. C and d- Online innovators Online innovators come in two forms; C- Online innovators are existing businesses that see a benefit to launching new and innovative products, brands, services or solutions online by leveraging new technology. Existing businesses have a wealth of knowledges and learning that underpin their moves onto the web. Remember, the internet is not a business paradigm shift (at last not yet) and so current business approaches are often adapted for the internet. Existing businesses have experience. D- Online innovators are start-ups that seize the opportunities to launch new and innovative products, brands, services, or solutions online. Deposit not having as much knowledge and learning as some of their competitors, they are flexible and can move much more quickly. Start-ups often experience. We have already considered product as part of the marketing mix. Two previous tools for product decision- making have been introduced product life cycle and the three level of a product. E marketing promotion Ø It 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. Ø It looks at ways of increasing the popularity of your website by looking at external sources of internet advertising. Ø Lesson internet marketing and promotion: internet advertising. Ø This lesson looks at ways of increasing the popularity of your website by looking at external sources of internet advertising. Ø Pay per click advertising Ø Google ad words. Google ad words are a Cost per Click (CPC) online advertising program. Identically that means that you decide upon key word that relates closely to your product or service. Using Googles tools, you price how much it would cost your per click for your chosen keyword- this could be lucent, $1.50 or more, depending on the popularity of the keyword. So the keyword marketing would be more expensive than the keyword marketing cheese china because of its level of popularity. You then allocate a budget, and pay Google by credit card. You can control the length of your campaign, or end it as soon as the money in PPC management (Pay per Click Management) or recruit a verified Google awards professional. Adverts appear alongside Google search results- so go to Google and search for marketing. The ads appearing alongside the main search results are cps. Ads also appear on selected content websites-such as www.chichesteuk.com-look at the adverts along the top, and down the right hand column- this is where ads based upon the keyword chic ester would appear. You only pay for adverts that get clicked- not for page views- so you pay nothing if your advert is simply viewed. There is also an opportunity for ‘Smart pricing whereby you pay more for the advert if a sale is guaranteed e.g. you have a website based upon fishing- you write a review of a new type of fishing rod, the visitor then sees an ad for the same rod in an ad words text ad running on the same page then clicks on it and buys from the advertiser. Adwords is a very targeted and controllable way of online advertising hence the huge rises in income and profit for Google over recent times. EMarketing Price (Pricing tactics as part of the eMarketing mix.) The eMarketing mix is simply an adaption of the traditional marketing mix and ‘P for price. However the internet has influenced how online businesses price in a number of ways. International pricing and competition give consumers access to the lowest price for any generic good. For example, British consumers benefit when buying products from the United States since there is almost two dollar to the pound. Conversely this makes British goods more expensive to the American consumer. So it is cheap to buy spectacles from a us website and then to import them into the UK (even including transport costs and import taxes) Online auctions are a popular and innovative way of pricing, for example ebay. Here you register with the online auction company as a seller and/or a buyer. You can place an item into auction where buyers bid against each other. The highest bidder wins. The auction websites takes a commission. The commission is factored into the price you pay. Greater access to pricing information, more quickly and in a format that makes pricing comparable and transparent. There are a number of sites that will compare and contrast prices for the same or similar goods and services e.g. prices on car insurance. Pricing could also include the cost of an online advertising medium such as Google ad words. Here an online supplier would buy a keyword located in a text or image based advert onto Googles own search engine or onto a website belonging to a Google publisher. For example you search term hair straightness on Google and you are directed to a site about hair dressing. On this site is plenty of information about hair straightening, placed next to some contextual adverts. You click on the advert and you are taken to a site selling hair dressing supplies. You buy the hair straightness and your supplier pay a small ‘Pay-Per-Click fee which is split between Google and their publisher. This is factored into the price you pay. Traditional pricing tactics used in eMarketing Of course the internet marketers still has a whole selection of the more traditional pricing approaches to choose from that can be adapted to eMarketing scenarios: Premium pricing e.g. selling music via iTunes. à ¼ Penetration pricing e.g. giving away free subscription to land grab market share for new start ups such as youtube.com and myspace.com. à ¼ Economy pricing e.g. selling basic products and services online likes basic design or paperclips. à ¼ Price skimming e.g. new product launches online such as albums or games. à ¼ Psychological pricing e.g. products and services sold at 99p or $99.99 (price point perspective). à ¼ Product line pricing e.g. subscription 1 @ free, subscription 2 @ $10.00(with added value) and subscription 3 @ $49.99 for 10 year. à ¼ Pricing variations e.g. budget airlines selling tickets online where the first tickets bought are the cheapest, and the last ones bought tend to be more expensive. à ¼ Optional product pricing e.g. selling a holiday online with travel insurance. à ¼ Captive product pricing e.g. once you buy virus software from one brand, your updates must also come from them. à ¼ Product bundle pricing e.g. buying internet access which comes with free online phone calls. à ¼ Promotional pricing e.g. betting incentives, such as free dollars to gambles online for current customers that gamble on football games to tempt them to play online pocker, or vouchers with codes sent by email as rewards e.g. Amazon.com. à ¼ Geographical Pricing e.g. Microsoft pricing in different currencies in different international markets. Search marketing {Overture and yahoo} Overture is the yahoo equivalent of Googles ad words. Now known as yahoo Search marketing, overture has a series of sub-products that make up its internet marketing program. Here some examples: 1) Sponsored search: Displays your advert at the top of the search engine results. So your potential customers search for a ‘keyword and your advert appears at the top of the results page. Again, as this ad words, the advertisers bid against each other to obtain the position that will generate the most convertible traffic to their site. Popular keywords will cost more-obviously. 2) Local advertising: Gets your business listed in yahoos business directory. So if you wish to promote products in specific regions next to specific search keywords, this is a much targeted geographical services. Overture h Effectiveness of E-Marketing Effectiveness of E-Marketing Virtual Era- New Features In Marketing Cap Synopsis Aim: The purpose of this study is to analyze the current practices going on in the Indian market in terms of using the virtual market and virtual marketing as tool to enhance bottom top line and for a better penetration. It would also throw light on various marketing strategies can be synchronized with web marketing for better and optimum results. Objective: The study would predominantly give an idea about the effectiveness of E-Marketing in contemporary scenario wherein most of the companies are using it as the most effective tool to ensure that their product or services are being reached to masses, because of the pervasive nature of web market its another feather in the cap of market. This thesis depicts how a small sized Business-To-Business company can create an e-marketing plan. For this purpose, this thesis would incorporate most of the industries that are into the business of serving customers with their product services. The thesis first carries out a literature study to explain the concepts and methods related with the e-marketing activities. Furthermore, the case company is introduced. Since an e-marketing plan is similar to a marketing plan, the products, target markets and competitors are also introduced among others. During the case study, the advices and the strategies are proposed. Since the thesis has a â€Å"hands-on implementation† feature, some of the strategies are implemented by sticking to the â€Å"action plans† in an iterative way. Doing so, thesis depicts evaluation for the recommended strategies. Finally, conclusions and areas for future work are presented along with the â€Å"Lessons Learned† during the project. Methodology: The method used for finding the relevant information for the research is mentioned below: 1) Secondary Research a. Internet Assistance b. Books, Articles working papers c. Magazines Journals 2) Primary research Primary research would predominantly look on analysis part of consumer behavior to track their behavior of web marketing. a. General Observation on site I. Closer observation on shoppers Behavior II. Functionality of Industry III. Impact of E-Marketing b. Questionnaire I. Sample size would be 100 II. Multi-dimensional Sampling III. Factor Analysis c. Focus Group Interview I. General Discussion with customers d. Interview I. Extensive Meetings with Industry people.Based on this I will conclude that whether consumers are being affected by the ways of web marketing of industries or not or what should be the modus operandi of companies to allure their target audience. Virtual market Forty nine of the Worlds leading food, beverages, and consumer products companies have joined hands to form the largest business to business e-Market place Transora.com. The new company is the first of its kind owned by the consumer products industry. Transora will help consumer products companies across the world to streamline business transactions with their buyers, suppliers and distributors through the internet. Transoras services will span the entire supply chain-from suppliers to manufactures to retailers-and provide procurement, vendor, and product catalogues, online order management, supply chain collaboration, and financial services. The companies have committed nearly us $ 250 million for funding Transora (CBI News Bulletin, July/august 2000) The buzz word viral marketing and coral advertising and virtual marketing refers to marketing techniques that use pre-existing social networks produce increase in brand awareness or to achieve other marketing objectives (such as product sales) through self replicating viral processes, analogues to the spread of pathological and computer viruses. It can be word of mouth delivered or enhanced by the network effects of the internet. Viral promotions may take the form of video clips, interactive flash games, Adver games, EBooks, brand able software, images, or even text messages. The goal of marketers interested in creating successful viral marketing programs is to identify individuals with high social networking potential and create viral messages that appeal to this segment of the population and have a high probability of being taken by another competitor. The term viral marketing or virtual marketing has been also used pejoratively to refer to stealth marketing campaigns- the unscrupulous use of astroturfing on line combined with under market advertising in shopping centers to create the impression of spontaneous word of mouth enthusiasm. Internet marketing Internet marketing also referred to as marketing, web marketing, online marketing or eMarketing is the marketing of products or services over the internet. The internet has brought media to a global audience. The interactive nature of internet marketing in terms of providing instant response and eliciting responses is a unique quality of the medium. Internet marketing is sometimes considered to have a broader scope because it only refers to the internet, email, and wireless media, but it includes management of digital customer data and electronic Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system. Internet marketing ties together creative and technical aspects of the internet, including design, development, advertising, and sales. Internet marketing also refers to the placement of media along with different stages of the Customer Engagement Cycle through search engine Marketing(SEM), Search Engine Optimization(SEO), banner ads on specific websites, email marketing, and web 2.0 strategies. In 2008 the New York Times, working with co score, published an initial estimate to quantify the user data collected by large internet based companies. Counting four types of interactions with company websites in addition to the hits from advertisements served from advertising networks, the authors found the potential for collecting data upward of 2500 times on average per user per month. eMarketing EMarketing is a subset of e business that utilize electronic medium to perform marketing activities and achieve desired marketing objectives for an organization. Internet marketing, interactive marketing, and mobile marketing for example, are all the form of e marketing. eBusiness EBusiness means utilizing electronic medium in everyday business activities. There are several levels of involvement in when it comes to EBusiness. For example where one organization relies completely on e business the second one way chooses a mixed presence and means of doing business. Difference Difference between eBusiness, eCommerce, and eMarketing †¢ eBusiness is a very broad entity dealing with the entire complex system that comprises a business that uses electronic medium to perform or assist its overall or specialized business activities. †¢ eCommerce is best described in a transactional context. So for example an electronic transition of funds, information, or entertainment falls under the category handled by principles of eCommerce. Technically e commerce is a part of e business †¢ eMarketing is also a part of e business that involves electronic medium to achieve marketing objectives. E marketing is set on a strategic level in addition to traditional marketing and business strategy. Difference between e marketing and interactive marketing eMarketing is a broader term that describes any marketing activity performed via electronic medium. Interactive marketing is generally a sub of eMarketing that involves a certain level of interaction. Difference between eMarkeitng and internet or web Marketing: There is no real difference between eMarketing and internet or web marketing. However, with the arrival of mobile technologies such as PDAs and 3G mobile phones, as well as interactive television, both terms would see eMarketing and internet or web marketing as subtly different, for example chaffy; Internet {or web} marketing is achieving marketing objectives through applying digital technologies. eMarketing is achieving marketing objectives through use of electronic communications technology. 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. Advantages of eMarketing Following are some of the advantages of e marketing: à ¼ Reduction in costs through automation and use of electronic media. à ¼ Faster response to both marketers and the end user. à ¼ Increased ability to measure and collect data. à ¼ Opens the possibility to a market of one through personalization. à ¼ Increased interactivity. Disadvantages of eMarketing Following are some disadvantages of eMarketing: à ¼ lack of personal approach , à ¼ Defensibility on technology, à ¼ Security, privacy issues, à ¼ Maintenance costs due to a constantly evolving environment, à ¼ Higher transparency of pricing and increased price promotion, à ¼ Worldwide competition through globalization. eMarketing Plan eMarketing plan is a strategic document developed through analysis and research and is aimed at achieving marketing objectives via electronic media. eMarketing plan represents a sub set of organizations overall marketing plans supports the general business strategy. Every good eMarketing plan must be developed in line with the organizations overall marketing plan. In a broad sense e marketers generally start by analyzing the current micro- and macro economic situation of the organization. eMarketers must observe both internal and external factors when developing an e marketing plan as trends in both micro environment elements are: pricing, suppliers, customers. Examples or macro environment are: socio economic, political, demographics and legal factors. In order to reduce a viable e marketing solution, e marketers must first understand the current situation of the company and its environment, profile, segment the target market and then strategically position the products as to achieve optimal response with the target market. This is generally achieved through SWOT analysis. By assessing organizations strengths and weaknesses and looking at current opportunities and threats one can devise an e marketing strategy that can improve the organizations bottom line. eMarketing(in brief) eMarketing is essentially a part of marketing. But à ¼ What is the difference between eMarketing and internet or web marketing? à ¼ What are the eMarketing tools? And how do marketers plan for eMarketing? The American marketing association 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 e marketing by its very nature is one aspect of an organizational function and a set of process 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 eMarkeitng and eCommerce, since eCommerce is simply buying and selling online: What are the eMarketing tools? The internet has a number of tools to offer to the marketer. à ¼ A company can distribute via the internet e.g. amazon.com, à ¼ A company can use the internet as a way of building and maintaining a customer relationship e.g. Dell.com, à ¼ The money collection part of a transaction could be done online e.g. electricity and telephone bills, à ¼ 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, à ¼ 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 to looking it; à ¼ An existing organization may embark upon some eMarkeitng as part of their marketing plan. à ¼ 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 session} Situation analysis for VIRTUAL marketing The situation analysis for eMarketing bridges the internal audit and competitor research. It answers the question where are we now in terms of our marketing (internal v/s external perspective)? The analysis literally considers your eMarkeitng 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 5ss of internet marketing, the customer life cycle, and the application of SWOT analysis. The Customer Life Cycle (CLC) The customer life cycle is a tool that 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. 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. SWOT analysis-Power SWOT SWOT analysis is a marketing audit that considers an organizations strengths, weaknesses opportunities and threats. Our introductory lesson gives you the basics of how to compete your SWOT as you begin to learn about marketing tools. As you learn more about SWOT analysis, you will become aware of a number of potential limitations with this popular tool. This lesson aims to help you overcome potential pitfalls. Some of the problems that you may encounter with SWOT are as a result of one of its key benefits i.e. flexibility since SWOT analysis can be used in a variety of scenarios, it has to be flexible. However this can lead to a number of anomalies. Problems with basis SWOT analysis can be addressed using a more critical power SWOT. Power is an acronym for personal experience, order, weighting, emphasizing detail, and rank priorities. This is how it works. How do you the marketing manager fit in relation with the SWOT analysis? You bring your experiences, skills, knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs to the audit. Your perception or simple gut feeling will impact the SWOT. Often marketing managers will in adversely reverse opportunities and strengths, and threats and weaknesses. This is because the line between internal strengths and weaknesses, and external opportunities and threats is sometimes difficult to spot. For example, in relation to global warming and climate change, one could mistake environmentalism as a threat rather than a potential opportunity. Too often elements of a SWOT analysis are not weighted. Naturally some points will be more controversial than others, so weight the factors. One way would be to use percentages e.g. threat a=10%, threat b=70%, and threat =20 %{ they total 100%} Detail, reasoning, and justification are often omitted from the SWOT analysis. Where one tends to find is that the analysis contains lists of single words. For example, under opportunities one might find the term technology. This stage word does not tell a reader very much. What is really meant is: Technology enables marketers to communicate via mobile devices close to the point of purchase. This provides the opportunity of a distinct competitive advantage for our company. This will greatly assist you when deciding upon best to score and weight each element. Once detail has been added, and factors have been revived for weighting, you can then progress to give the SWOT analysis some strategic meaning i.e. you can begin to select those factors that will most greatly influence your marketing strategy albeit a mix of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threatens. Essentially you rank them highest to lowest, and then prioritize those with the highest rank e.g. where opportunity c= 60% opportunity a= 25% and opportunity b = 10% you marketing plan would address opportunity c first, and opportunity b last. It is important to address opportunities primarily since your business should be market oriented. Then match strengths to opportunities and look for a fit. Address any gaps between current strengths and future opportunities. Finally attempt to rephrase threats as opportunities (as with global warming and climate change above), and address weaknesses so that they become strengths, Gap analysis would be bridge the gap between them. Competitor research for Virtual marketing (External perspective) As you plan for eMarketing and during the plans implementation, one needs to play careful attention to the activities of competitors, so competitors 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 e business and market. Here are some key tools of competitor research for eMarketing. à ¼ Use search engines. Ø General topics such as Google, yahoo And msn Ø Type names of competitors Ø Type industry, product or term Ø Search ‘down in to a directory structure e.g. yahoo Ø Search a competitors web site Ø Product information , press released, job opportunities Ø Pricing information Ø Distribution information such as where to buy. à ¼ Hunt for trade associations Ø Search for personal pages or blogs Ø Different perspective e.g. fans, ex-employees. Ø e.g. v www. blogger. com , v www. myspace. com, v www. youtube. Com. à ¼ Ask your target market. Ø Send question to named personnel, newsgroups, personal pages, mailing lists. Ø Conduct a survey using. Ø Buy secondary reports e.g. data monitors, mintel. à ¼ Newsgroups and post queries, Ø newsgroups on bulletin boards or forums Ø Deja. com(Google) Ø Read online financial information Ø research public companies Ø iii.co.uk ample up Ø ft.com up à ¼ Read online competitive information. Ø e.g. hoovers.com paid for, inus à ¼ Study demographic reports Ø statistics.gov.uk/ census in up Ø census.gov inus à ¼ Original source material Ø Business source elite, newspapers, Kellys compass. à ¼ Monitor special interest material Ø Business source elite, newspaper, Kellys, compass. à ¼ Monitor special interest material. Ø E.g. marketing week (BSE), campaign (BSE), marketing (BSE). à ¼ Use a professional researcher EMarketing Mix The eMarketing mix is essentially the same as the marketing mix. it is simply the adaption 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 organizations own product, service, brand, or solution. E marketing price 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. E Marketing Place {Place tactics as part of the eMarketing mix.) The e marketing space consists of new internet companies that have emerged as the internet has developed, as well as those pre-existing companies that new 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 of place. Pre Existing companies that have adopted eMarketing These are traditional companies that trade on the internet, Banking and financial services e.g. HSBC bank. Banks and financial services have benefited tremendously from the popularity of internet usage. There is a mixture of new online banks and traditional banks, both offering online banking services. Essentially banks no longer need to invest in high cost, high street selling unit i.e. old fashioned town-based banks. Labor costs have also been reduced since much of the traditional banking bureaucracy is done using it and the use of overseas call centers has meant that salaries are much lower. Software also means that customers can be retained by using Customer Relationship Management (CRM) eMarketing approaches. E marketing product 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 and equally applicable to the context of e marketing and can be easily applied to include e marketing and product. For example a product marketed solely online will go through a life cycle in the same unpredictable way as a product marketed through any traditional channel (PLC). Products marketed online will have a core benefit tot eh customer, be an actual tangible product, with augmentation that ads value such as insurance, warranties and so on three levels of a product). Although tools actually specify the term ‘product, they can be easily adapted to include brands. Services or solutions. E marketing product/business matrix (depicted below should be used in conjunction with Product Life Cycle (PLC) and the three levels of a product. It represents additional tools for audit that bridges existing businesses and new online start-us, and existing products and new products. It allows marketers to categories those marketing on the internet as an online extender, an online alternative, an online innovator (existing business), and Oran online innovator (online start-up). Let us look at it in more detail; A- Online extender An on line extender is an existing business that has a strategy whereby it extends its marketing activities to the internet. It could be any traditional, terrestrial organization that has historically grown through using traditional channels of distribution to get existing products, brands, services, or solutions to market. B- Online alternatives The online alternative is a new start-up that uses the internet as an original channel of distribution to get products, brands, services or solutions, currently available elsewhere, to, arekt. Some segments may be better targeted with this online alternative for example remote or fragmented markets. C and d- Online innovators Online innovators come in two forms; C- Online innovators are existing businesses that see a benefit to launching new and innovative products, brands, services or solutions online by leveraging new technology. Existing businesses have a wealth of knowledges and learning that underpin their moves onto the web. Remember, the internet is not a business paradigm shift (at last not yet) and so current business approaches are often adapted for the internet. Existing businesses have experience. D- Online innovators are start-ups that seize the opportunities to launch new and innovative products, brands, services, or solutions online. Deposit not having as much knowledge and learning as some of their competitors, they are flexible and can move much more quickly. Start-ups often experience. We have already considered product as part of the marketing mix. Two previous tools for product decision- making have been introduced product life cycle and the three level of a product. E marketing promotion Ø It 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. Ø It looks at ways of increasing the popularity of your website by looking at external sources of internet advertising. Ø Lesson internet marketing and promotion: internet advertising. Ø This lesson looks at ways of increasing the popularity of your website by looking at external sources of internet advertising. Ø Pay per click advertising Ø Google ad words. Google ad words are a Cost per Click (CPC) online advertising program. Identically that means that you decide upon key word that relates closely to your product or service. Using Googles tools, you price how much it would cost your per click for your chosen keyword- this could be lucent, $1.50 or more, depending on the popularity of the keyword. So the keyword marketing would be more expensive than the keyword marketing cheese china because of its level of popularity. You then allocate a budget, and pay Google by credit card. You can control the length of your campaign, or end it as soon as the money in PPC management (Pay per Click Management) or recruit a verified Google awards professional. Adverts appear alongside Google search results- so go to Google and search for marketing. The ads appearing alongside the main search results are cps. Ads also appear on selected content websites-such as www.chichesteuk.com-look at the adverts along the top, and down the right hand column- this is where ads based upon the keyword chic ester would appear. You only pay for adverts that get clicked- not for page views- so you pay nothing if your advert is simply viewed. There is also an opportunity for ‘Smart pricing whereby you pay more for the advert if a sale is guaranteed e.g. you have a website based upon fishing- you write a review of a new type of fishing rod, the visitor then sees an ad for the same rod in an ad words text ad running on the same page then clicks on it and buys from the advertiser. Adwords is a very targeted and controllable way of online advertising hence the huge rises in income and profit for Google over recent times. EMarketing Price (Pricing tactics as part of the eMarketing mix.) The eMarketing mix is simply an adaption of the traditional marketing mix and ‘P for price. However the internet has influenced how online businesses price in a number of ways. International pricing and competition give consumers access to the lowest price for any generic good. For example, British consumers benefit when buying products from the United States since there is almost two dollar to the pound. Conversely this makes British goods more expensive to the American consumer. So it is cheap to buy spectacles from a us website and then to import them into the UK (even including transport costs and import taxes) Online auctions are a popular and innovative way of pricing, for example ebay. Here you register with the online auction company as a seller and/or a buyer. You can place an item into auction where buyers bid against each other. The highest bidder wins. The auction websites takes a commission. The commission is factored into the price you pay. Greater access to pricing information, more quickly and in a format that makes pricing comparable and transparent. There are a number of sites that will compare and contrast prices for the same or similar goods and services e.g. prices on car insurance. Pricing could also include the cost of an online advertising medium such as Google ad words. Here an online supplier would buy a keyword located in a text or image based advert onto Googles own search engine or onto a website belonging to a Google publisher. For example you search term hair straightness on Google and you are directed to a site about hair dressing. On this site is plenty of information about hair straightening, placed next to some contextual adverts. You click on the advert and you are taken to a site selling hair dressing supplies. You buy the hair straightness and your supplier pay a small ‘Pay-Per-Click fee which is split between Google and their publisher. This is factored into the price you pay. Traditional pricing tactics used in eMarketing Of course the internet marketers still has a whole selection of the more traditional pricing approaches to choose from that can be adapted to eMarketing scenarios: Premium pricing e.g. selling music via iTunes. à ¼ Penetration pricing e.g. giving away free subscription to land grab market share for new start ups such as youtube.com and myspace.com. à ¼ Economy pricing e.g. selling basic products and services online likes basic design or paperclips. à ¼ Price skimming e.g. new product launches online such as albums or games. à ¼ Psychological pricing e.g. products and services sold at 99p or $99.99 (price point perspective). à ¼ Product line pricing e.g. subscription 1 @ free, subscription 2 @ $10.00(with added value) and subscription 3 @ $49.99 for 10 year. à ¼ Pricing variations e.g. budget airlines selling tickets online where the first tickets bought are the cheapest, and the last ones bought tend to be more expensive. à ¼ Optional product pricing e.g. selling a holiday online with travel insurance. à ¼ Captive product pricing e.g. once you buy virus software from one brand, your updates must also come from them. à ¼ Product bundle pricing e.g. buying internet access which comes with free online phone calls. à ¼ Promotional pricing e.g. betting incentives, such as free dollars to gambles online for current customers that gamble on football games to tempt them to play online pocker, or vouchers with codes sent by email as rewards e.g. Amazon.com. à ¼ Geographical Pricing e.g. Microsoft pricing in different currencies in different international markets. Search marketing {Overture and yahoo} Overture is the yahoo equivalent of Googles ad words. Now known as yahoo Search marketing, overture has a series of sub-products that make up its internet marketing program. Here some examples: 1) Sponsored search: Displays your advert at the top of the search engine results. So your potential customers search for a ‘keyword and your advert appears at the top of the results page. Again, as this ad words, the advertisers bid against each other to obtain the position that will generate the most convertible traffic to their site. Popular keywords will cost more-obviously. 2) Local advertising: Gets your business listed in yahoos business directory. So if you wish to promote products in specific regions next to specific search keywords, this is a much targeted geographical services. Overture h