Internet Marketing

Online Community

Net Gain or Silicon Snake Oil

Positives and negatives of the Internet

Optimists

Innovative communicationsMessage boards and chat rooms

Social interactionCommunity building ICQ Business-to-business builds on existing

community

Changing role and control of marketers

Pessimists

Isolate individuals and cheapen communicationsTone of voice

Harm social involvement

Community Characteristics

Internet communication tools

Rules that define community membership

Collaborative production of material by members

Repeat use by members

Online Tools

CategorizingCommunication rings - direct

Send messages directly to individualsContent trees - indirect

Use a central point to collect and store information

Rules

Strong and weak membership rulesStrong communities require strong rulesWeak community is a problem for online

marketers

Escalating membership rulesHelps build large groups with strong

cohesion – frequent flyer programs and online role-playing games

Rules and Focus

Focus is crucial

Maintaining focus as the group grows

Content focus helps search engines locate a site

Collaboration

Desirable features of member content Low cost Current Creative Credible

Contributions are skewed Tilt to heavy users

Online tools expand discussion networks Who do you talk to?

Community, Private and Public Goods

Public and private goodsPrivate – owned and excludablePublic – enjoyed by all

Public goods undersupplied

Jointness of supplyHard to launch a service but easy to grow

one

Launching Online Communities

Merge published and member content Develop focus and attention that starts growth Combine private and public good ideas

Challenges of mixing content Balance between quality and member freedom Brand reputation of sponsor Legal problems Real-time vs delayed posting Level of editorial involvement

Virtual Trade Shows

Identifying prospects

Servicing current customers

Introducing new or qualified products

Enhancing corporate image

Testing new products

Improving corporate morale

Gathering competitor information

Selling at the show

Benefits

Forrester ResearchBroader marketing reach – 81% Increase in sales – 23%Access to industry information – 15%

ContinuousLower costLeverage face-to-face meetingsPre-qualify contacts and deliver information

Professional Forums

Strong membership criteria Guarantees quality of contribution Guarantees homogeneity Prevents spamming

Rapidly changing & complicated probs Need for chat Need to discuss alternative ideas

Local or regional markets No competitive constraints Distributed knowledge

Emphasize Growth First

Increasing returns and community Content attractiveness, member loyalty, member

profiles and transaction offerings

Content Attractiveness Loop Initial content draws more and encourages people

to stay

Member loyalty Supports personalization and customization

Loops

E-Commerce LoopCommercial foundation for virtual

communitiesValue of vendors to build community

Member ProfileLinks community information to transaction

activity