CHAPTER 7

The Tools of Electronic Marketing Resources

Chapter Objectives

• To introduce the tools and software applications of electronic marketing

• To anticipate the problems associated with maintaining a marketing Web sites.

• To present the advantages and disadvantages of electronic marketing tools in implementing online marketing programs.

The Electronic of E-Commerce

• Electronic marketing has been introduced 10 year ago, and most significantly, it has been designed to communicate from a mass marketer to market of one, as in individual purchasers or prospects:

• The focus of electronic marketing resources includes electronic tools, which marketers can use for communication, segmentation, or memory enhancements of customer preferences:

» Videography» CD-ROM» Interactive kiosks» Pagers» Optical scanners» Smart cards

The Data Warehouse and Enterprise Reporting

• It must be seen a medium of communication.• It may be viewed as the next paradigm for distribution

of marketing information.• It is interactive way of captivating the audience.• It introduces a massive volumes of incoming and

outgoing data:• Including e-mail addresses.• Your machine/computer.• Length of time on the site.• Mouse clicks.• Your most recent session with information already from other visits

on the Web.

E-mails

• It is a communication tool for local, national and international messages.

• Low-to-no cost e-mail providers.• It helps to reach internal and external groups and

audiences.• External communications links to customers, business

partners and prospects:• The list can be private.• Messages are posted to the site without supervision.• It may be anonymous.• It is a quick and efficient response.• Survey questions and data capture.

E-Mails (cont.)

• Research findings:• They may be accessed from home-25%.

• One e-mail account-42%

• More than one e-mail account-56%

• Europe-30% Vs. USA-20%

• Use from work only-Europeans

• Older audience using from home-56%

• Single-74%

The Internet’s Interconnections

• Origin of Internet:• It began as government defense project in late 1960s.

• The goal was to prevent interruption of telephone and satellite communication’s links in case of war or nuclear disaster.

• It is later turned over to the NSF for use by the researchers and universities.

• The Mosaic browser developed at the University of Illinois, and now represented by the various versions of Nestcape Navigator and Internet Explorer.

The New Reality

• The Internet:• Create demand.

• Provide information.

• Enables customer transactions.

• Focus on learning about market/audience.

• Deliver messages/information in a timely and relevant manner.

• Cater to customer’s self-identified needs.

WWW

• A new marketing and communications resources that was introduced in 1991.

• It uses monitors, modems, sound cards along with Web experts.

• Web sites have come alive with addition of motion and sound as well as color and graphics.

• Information retrieval system on Yahoo, etc.• The advantages:

• Flexibility how the customers can interact with Web sites.• Updated as often as the marketer wishes.• Growing interest for world-wide applications and usage.

Offline Advertising Efforts

• Segmented postcard mailings:• Splits to identify audience group

• Print ads that lead readers to unique URL.

• Incentives and services that persuade the audience to supply e-mail addresses or information.

Driving Traffic to the Web Sites

• A tiered approach:• Gather names/e-mail addresses.

• Determines which names are most likely to convert to sale.

• Creates site segments that target visitors in different sections of the sales cycle.

• Creating a richer user experience:• As you collect information, you can deliver:

» Messages that are relevant to what has already been learned about each customer.

» Varying levels of communication and interactive functionality

Success Scenario

• Know Your Customers• Offer Your Customers Something That No

Other Company Can• Don not Alienate While You are Driving

Traffic To the WebsiteSource: Presentations of B2B groups, Inc. at

the Professors’ Workshop of Direct Marketing Association.

Robot Shopping Agent

• Price comparison may result in large amount of saving, but it is not worthy for low price products.

• Automatic shoppers are a great convenience to the consumer, but it is inconvenience or a sale-robbing threat to the e-merchant.

• Same merchants refuse to participate with shopping robots.Exp.CDNow.

The Benefits of Database and Other Software Marketing Tools

• Small firms use Microsoft Access for customer records

• Large companies use Oracle Developer 2000 or oracle data Warehouse.

• Data management tools must used to ease the situation:

• Hire in-house software developer.

• Engage an outside software development company.

Communications Networks

• It addresses to service specialized audience such as employees, vendors or clients, no longer to mass audiences.

• Intranet, a private access communication network designed most frequently for the employees within an organization:

• Addresses issued to the company’s constituencies.• Intranet can contain information including work schedules and

company notices.

• Extranet is a private access communication network that includes selected external suppliers:

• It coordinates projects or participants that are distant in geography.

Reporting and Planning Systems

• Business requires clear and concise decision-making and reports.

• Reports must be easy to read and understand.

• Software systems must be able to access, analyze, and develop accurate assessment for making strategic decision.

Optical Scanners

• Incorporated into new and varied services to save time at the checkout in retail stores and manufacturing plant.

• It counts unit sold for inventory control and used for tracking sales promotions, price checks and various market research activities.

Web Portal Sites

• Web super site, the portal is the entry point that offers a broad array of resources and services such as e-mail from the Web site, forums, a variety of search engines, news broadcast, personal Web pages and online shopping malls.

• It is very attractive to online retailers and other marketing oriented companies

• AOL is still the largest and more successful portal in history as one-step service to access the best on the Web.

Web Portal Sites (cont.)

• Marketer might look at advertising exposure on several portal sites as he would analyze programming on a television network.

• The well known search engines, Infoseek, Excite, Lycos, and Yahoo, are offering e-mails and home pages.

The Limitations of Electronic Marketing Resources

• With every improved business practice or convenience there is tradeoff usually cost.

• Software and hardware needs should be investigated for future growth.

• The low penetration of WWW into American household.• Lack of faith in financial transaction over the Web

(legalized e-signature).• For international marketing, limitations are language,

laws, currency and cultural differences.• In order to balance the requirements, software and

hardware needs, and budged should be estimated.

The Problems With the Web Sites

• Takes too long to download pages.• Broken links and dead Web pages.• Content on the Web. Unethical behaviors and

pages.• What equipment does the user own to access

various Web sites (modem speed, etc.).• Impact on customer service capabilities (color,

motion and sound clips).