Online Marketing Bluefield College November 23, 2010

Online Marketing Marketing and the Internet: Company efforts to market products and services and build customer relationships over the Internet. Marketing and the Internet: Usage continues to grow with Internet household penetration equaling 72.5%. 33% of American consumers chose the Internet as the second-most-essential medium in their lives. Online marketing efforts are expanding.

Online Marketing Click-only companies: Click-and-mortar companies: So-called dot-coms, which operate only online without any brick-and-mortar presence. Types of click-only firms: E-tailers (Amazon). Search engines and portals (Google). Transaction sites (eBay). Content sites (ESPN). Click-and-mortar companies: Traditional brick-and-mortar companies that have added online marketing to their operations. Click-and-mortar business trends: Almost all traditional companies have set up their own online sales and communication presence. Many click-and-mortar firms are having more online success than their click-only competitors.

Online Marketing Domains

Online Marketing Business-to-consumer (B2C) online marketing: Businesses selling goods and services to consumers. Trends: Online buying continues to grow. The Internet influences 35% of total retail sales; 50% of US shops online. B2C consumers differ from off-line consumers because customers initiate and control the Internet exchange process. Business-to-business (B2B) online marketing: Use of B2B Web sites, e-mail, online catalogs, online trading networks, etc. to reach new customers, serve current customers more effectively, and obtain buying efficiencies and better prices. Most major B2B marketers offer online product information, purchasing, and support.

Online Marketing Consumer-to-consumer (C2C) online marketing: Online exchanges of goods and information between final consumers. Auction sites such as eBay offer marketplaces to buy or exchange goods. Blogs and forums facilitate information interchanges. Marketers are tapping into blogs as a medium for reaching carefully targeted consumers. Firms should monitor blogs for what is being said. Consumer-to-business (C2B) online marketing: Online exchanges in which consumers search out sellers, learn about their offers, and initiate purchases, sometimes even driving transaction terms.

Marketing in Action GetSatisfaction.com has created a user-driven customer-service community where can discuss product and service problems.

Online Marketing Corporate web sites: Marketing web sites: Designed to build customer goodwill, collect customer feedback, and supplement other sales channels, rather than to sell the company’s products directly. Marketing web sites: A web site that engages consumers in interactions that move them closer to a direct purchase or other marketing outcome.

Setting Up for Online Marketing

Online Marketing Online marketers should pay careful attention to the seven Cs of effective Web site design: Context. Content. Community. Customization. Communication. Connection. Commerce. Constant change helps encourage repeat visits.

Fuel For Thought Visit the www.nps.gov web site. How well does this web site fulfill the 7 “C’s” of effective web site design?

Online Marketing Placing ads and promotions online: Forms of online advertising (follow link for examples): Banner ads. Interstitials. Pop-up or pop-under ads. Rich media ads. Search-related ads (contextual advertising).

Online Marketing Placing ads and promotions online: Other forms of online promotion: Content sponsorships (sponsoring special content). Alliances and affiliate programs (work with firms to promote each other). Viral marketing (Internet version of word-of-mouth). Burger King’s Subservient Chicken campaign was a huge success. OfficeMax’s ElfYourself.com viral web site logged 193 million visits with no promotion at all. One-third of the site’s visitors were influenced to shop at OfficeMax.

Online Marketing Creating or participating in online social networks: Also called web communities. e.g., Facebook, YouTube. Marketers can participate in existing online communities or set-up their own. More focused niche social networks are emerging which can be used to target special interest groups. Using e-mail: 79% of all direct marketing campaigns employ e-mail. Enriched e-mail messages can grab attention. Spam accounts for 90% of all e-mail sent. Permission-based e-mail marketing is key.

Public Policy and Ethical Issues in Direct Marketing Irritation, unfairness, deception, and fraud: Direct marketing excesses may offend consumers. Direct marketing has been accused of taking unfair advantage of impulsive or less sophisticated buyers. Internet fraud and phishing are growing concerns. Internet shoppers have online security concerns. Marketers often find it difficult to restrict access by vulnerable or unauthorized groups.

Marketing in Action Internet fraud has increased dramatically in recent years. The FBI’s Internet Crime Center provides consumers with a convenient way to alert authorities to suspected violations.

Public Policy and Ethical Issues in Direct Marketing Invasion of privacy: Database marketing allows customers to receive offers closely matched to their interests. Critics worry whether marketers know TOO much about consumers. Online privacy (particularly for children) is of particular concern. If marketers don’t prevent privacy abuse, legislators may step in.