Effectiveness of E-Marketing

Published Date: 22 Feb 2018

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 “hands-on implementation” feature, some of the strategies are implemented by sticking to the “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 “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 World's 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. Transora's 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 PDA's 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:

ü Reduction in costs through automation and use of electronic media.

ü Faster response to both marketers and the end user.

ü Increased ability to measure and collect data.

ü Opens the possibility to a market of one through personalization.

ü Increased interactivity.

Disadvantages of eMarketing

Following are some disadvantages of eMarketing:

ü lack of personal approach ,

ü Defensibility on technology,

ü Security, privacy issues,

ü Maintenance costs due to a constantly evolving environment,

ü Higher transparency of pricing and increased price promotion,

ü 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 organization's overall marketing plans supports the general business strategy. Every good eMarketing plan must be developed in line with the organization's 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 organization's strengths and weaknesses and looking at current opportunities and threats one can devise an e marketing strategy that can improve the organization's bottom line.

eMarketing(in brief)

eMarketing is essentially a part of marketing. But

ü What is the difference between eMarketing and internet or web marketing?

ü 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.

ü A company can distribute via the internet e.g. amazon.com,

ü A company can use the internet as a way of building and maintaining a customer relationship e.g. Dell.com,

ü The money collection part of a transaction could be done online e.g. electricity and telephone bills,

ü 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,

ü 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;

ü An existing organization may embark upon some eMarkeitng as part of their marketing plan.

ü 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 5s's 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 organization's 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 plan's 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.

ü 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.

ü 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.

ü 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.

ü 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

ü Read online competitive information.

Ø e.g. hoovers.com paid for, inus

ü Study demographic reports

Ø statistics.gov.uk/ census in up

Ø census.gov inus

ü Original source material

Ø Business source elite, newspapers, Kelly's compass.

ü Monitor special interest material

Ø Business source elite, newspaper, Kelly's, compass.

ü Monitor special interest material.

Ø E.g. marketing week (BSE), campaign (BSE), marketing (BSE).

ü 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 organization's 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 knowledge's 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 Google's 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 ad's appearing alongside the main search results are cps. Ad's 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 ad's 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 Google's 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.

ü Penetration pricing e.g. giving away free subscription to land grab market share for new start ups such as youtube.com and myspace.com.

ü Economy pricing e.g. selling basic products and services online likes basic design or paperclips.

ü Price skimming e.g. new product launches online such as albums or games.

ü Psychological pricing e.g. products and services sold at 99p or $99.99 (price point perspective).

ü Product line pricing e.g. subscription 1 @ free, subscription 2 @ $10.00(with added value) and subscription 3 @ $49.99 for 10 year.

ü 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.

ü Optional product pricing e.g. selling a holiday online with travel insurance.

ü Captive product pricing e.g. once you buy virus software from one brand, your updates must also come from them.

ü Product bundle pricing e.g. buying internet access which comes with free online phone calls.

ü 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.

ü Geographical Pricing e.g. Microsoft pricing in different currencies in different international markets.

Search marketing {Overture and yahoo}

Overture is the yahoo equivalent of Google's 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 yahoo's 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 has many other similar services such as search submit, product submit, travel submit and director submit that could be considered.
Affiliate Marketing

Affiliate Marketing is where an organization offers and incentive to other web based organizations to market the products or services that it offers. So a company selling surfboards could have affiliate destinations. The affiliate program is supplied by one organization - whereas the affiliate is the website that promotes on behalf of the supplying organization.

Put simply - affiliate marketing is a basic agency arrangement. There is rarely and pay per click cash, but affiliates tend to take a commission on any goods sold as a result of the click. What does it look like? Affiliate marketing sees a banners advert or a text advert placed upon an affiliate's website. When the advert attracts a click, the visitor is taken through to the site that originated the affiliated program. No cash changes hands until there is a sale, but affiliate rewards tend to be higher than regular pay per click.

Commission Junction (CJ) is a well known example of an affiliate marketing company. CJ acts as an intermediary between affiliate programs. Suppliers of all types and sizes. So if you have a successful website, that does well in the search engines and is popular with visitors, you such old register with CJ and place affiliate add on to your site.

Offline promotions strategies.

Of course to promote website you should also consider offline promotion strategies such as those used by non internet businesses. Our lesson store contains lessons on promotion (as part of the marketing mix) and also marketing communication (and its own mix) here selection of other suitable approaches to offline promotion:

ü Create a media release or announce a media conference regarding your website.

ü Advertise using other media such as TV, billboards, radio, newspapers, and magazines, or the cinema.

ü Send out direct mail shots and run campaigns.

ü Print your domain name and e-mail contact addressed upon all of your corporate material.

ü Offer free products and services. Free is one of the most powerful words marketing.

ü Provide free material e.g. fact sheets or guides that could be posted or e-mailed to customers.

ü Offer competitions or quizzes.

A. Existing online retail brand e.g. Wal-mart, took advantages of this new mode of distribution by extending products and services to consumers via the medium of the internet. eMarkeitng enhances their traditional marketing.

B. Direct distribution channel e.g. New York Yankees' shop. Organizations have access to consumers worldwide. So brand loyal consumers such as sports fans are now able to buy directly from their preferred club, which pockets the entire profit without having to give a cut to intermediaries.

C. Wholesalers e.g. C and S wholesale grocers. It allows retailers to order directly from their wholesale partners via their website. Retailers can shack stocks and look at current promotions. This approach is more effective than depending entirely on merchandisers.

D. Agents e.g. Avon representatives. There are a number of different types of agents. One well known example is that Avon cosmetics and their workforce of extremely loyal representatives. The representatives are in reality agents. eMarketing allows customers to choose between the services of their traditional Avon rep or the Avon online shop i.e. using an agent or going direct.

E. Franchises e.g. KFC. There are many examples of franchises. The online equivalent of a franchise a network of affiliates that display goods, services, or solutions on the affiliate websites. A commonly cited example is that of amzon.com. So if you are a golf enthusiast, and you have developed a site that give tips on how to play better golf, then you can apply to amazon.com for an affiliation that allows you to [place tailored Amazon as boxes on your site. They can be adapted to sell golfing books and you as the site owner can adapt the ads to match the feel of your site. For every golf book sale that your leads generate, you are paid a commission.

F. Vending and automated retailers e.g. coke machines. Vending is very much based upon the physical location of machines near to where they are most likely to sell product. However, vending machines can use it and the internet to communicate with a central server, giving information on what is currently selling well, or what might need replacing.

Internet marketing and promotion: website optimization.

This is 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.

Build your traffic: content is king. Write good quality content that visitor's value and that keeps them coming back. This is a golden rule. Try to make sure that you have substantial content before putting your site online. No site is better than one that is poorly prepared. Make the content easy to read and digest. Keep it focused upon keywords, and keep content up-to-date. Site is not an online brochure or gimmicky sales promotion. On the other hand, in order to save the trouble, many companies simply employ the services of a SEO consultant. Your domain name should be innovative and does not necessarily have to say what your site does. For example British airways has an online ticket websites called opodo.com.

When building the site, keep the design simple. Flash, java, and JavaScript look great but have been known to confuse spiders. Keep it short and simple. Remember that not all visitors will have fast internet connections much of the world still uses 56k modems. Search engine optimization is important. This will help search engines to read your pages. There are many ways to do this- try to include keywords in your little, in your description tag, in your heading tag, in your urn-if possible- and some would also say try to represent your keyword in content- in bold, in italics, and high in the page. Word density- your keyword should not represent more than 20% of your total wordage. Try to link between your pages. This is call ‘cross linking.' so if one of your pages attracts high numbers of visitors through search engine, then link to less exposed pages around your site. Then add links to the top pages of your site a.k.a. ‘root' pages. Try not to be more than two clicks away from root pages. This makes it easier for visitors to stick around.

Submit t search engines where you can. However this is becoming more difficult. Today it is more likely that the search engines will find you- when you obtain in links, spiders and bots will come through your site as they follow outbound links from other sites. You could also try to get listed in directions such as dmoz.

Once your site is online monitor it progress. This is how you control your online presence. You need a stats package that monitors every detail of your site's logs including inbound links, keyword searches, page views, visitor number, and page popularity-data needs to be available for every day of the year.

Links to your site-especially from higher-ranking sites-are very important. Links need to be from sites that have similar keywords to those of your pages. This is time consuming and you need to build slowly. Contact sites and offer to exchange links. Links in text are better that stand alone URL's so put links from your site in paragraphs of text that allow visitors need to be kept on your site as long as possible.

Alternative strategies could include:

ü Encourage other sites to reprint your content(with credit given to you, and links back to your main site),

ü Post information about your site in communities, forums and chat groups,

ü Set up your own affiliate programme, and pay commission

ü Encourage visitors to bookmark your site.

ü Create a mailing list and send newsletters. Betters still, create a dynamic site that encompasses a CRM strategy.

ü Hire professional to code your site, and to manage search engine optimization (SEO)

Seven Cs

There are seven design elements 7 Cs that should be considered when creating a website intended for commerce and sales, customers shop online for several reasons that most important are the convenience, cost large selection and the allure of control over their purchases. Customers can easily shop around from anywhere they have an internet connection; this gives companies and even greater imperative to create a website that will drive traffic to their website, appeal to their target markets, and create a lasting experience that will create return customers.
Activity - ecotourism and attracting a customer base

“Ecotourism is environmentally responsible travel and visitation to relatively undisturbed natural areas, in order to enjoy and appreciate nature (and any accompanying cultural features - both past and present) that promotes conservation, has low negative visitor impact and providers for beneficially active socio economic involvement of local population”

Activity

Design your own ecotourism resort

A. Choose a destination. Where will your resort will be located? Why this place? How will your resort make as limited an impact as possible on the site? How will energy be provided for the site? What are some conservation measures your site will use?

B. Choose an animal you want to highlight at your destination. Perform research about your chosen animal, including their habitat, physical characteristics, and caused of death, as well as efforts to protect them.

C. Decide who is your target market (or markets), be as specific as possible.

D. How will the local community benefit from your resort?

E. Create an explanation of your website that will include all of the design elements that drive customer experience.

F. Get out some paper and draws a map of what your destination site will look like ad what amenities you will be including. That is some of the activities your visitors can partake in and how do these relate to your eco-mission.
Internal audits for eMarketing

Where we are now: The starting point for any eMarketing planning is the internal audit. We are seeking to answer the question, where are we now? Form an internal perspective. This is a consideration of internal resources and the effectiveness of our e business based upon a number of factors, as such as those that follow:

Resources;

ü Labor (motivated, retained, trained) Men,

ü Capital (investment/cash flow) Money,

ü Equipment (servers/back up/software) Machinery,

ü Time (plan of project) Minutes,

ü Raw materials or components (depends on your business) - Materials. Current Effectiveness;

ü Page views/hits/views/income/page views.

ü Trends/potential new customers,

ü Customers - e.g. how many are online? are there new channel segments emerging?

ü Competitors- whom are they? What is their online proposition? How successful are they online?

ü Distributor -are new, online intermediaries emerging while old off-line distributors are being wiped out. What are the potential channel conflicts?

ü Current product market strategies of competitors i.e. audit with Ansoff's matrix.

Develop an e-marketing plan

Developing eMarketing plan or we can say that Implementing e-marketing: how it works that we will look in the further discussion; in it there are basically three stages which are play a pivotal role to design or implementing eMarketing campaign;

1. Evaluation of the marketing option

1. Email - great for building relationships and keeping your customers up to date with offers, and is less intrusive than telephone marketing. However, growing concerns about spam mean you need to make sure you adhere to government regulations. For more information, legal considerations in e-marketing.

2. Websites - a hugely flexible option to meet any marketing need. However, with so many other websites, you need a strategy for getting yours noticed and used.

3. SMS (short messaging service) - almost everyone has a mobile phone, so marketing via text messaging is a viable option. However, the personal relationships people have with their phones means marketing needs to be carefully considered.

2. Plan the rollout phase

· Look at training implications, especially of building and running a website and think about thecosts involved.

· Decide which staff will require training and allow time for them to adjust to the new system.

· Do you need to review your customer contacts database? Before beginning a new marketing campaign it can be a good time to reorganise your data.

· If we are building a website,

o How are we going to promote it?

o Will submit it to search engines?

o Which directories should you promote it in?

o Are you using blogs and online PR?

o Is it worth paying an agency to boost your rating?

It might be wise to start with a soft launch- perhaps just to existing customers to see how the website beds down before you begin to give it stronger marketing support.

3. Implement e-marketing

· Encourage staff involvement and feedback. This will help to smooth implementation, as staff buy-in can make or break a technology project.

· Roll out any necessary training.

· Continually review your practices against e-marketing regulations.

· Consider setting up a cross-departmental taskforce to manage the implementation process- it will help with staff buy-in and ensure that implementation works business-wide.
Business models

Internet marketing is associated with several business models which are as follows and which will help us to understand the virtual marketing in detail that how it works;

· Publishing — it is the sale of advertising.

· lead-based websites — it is an organization that generates value by acquiring sales leads

· e-commerce —as we have discussed earlier it is where goods are sold directly to consumers (B2C) or businesses (B2B)from its website local internet marketing - this is the process of a locally based company traditionally selling belly to belly and utilizing the Internet to find and nurture relationships, later to take those relationships offline.

· affiliate marketing — this is process in which a product or service developed by one person is sold by other active seller for a share of profits. The owner of the product normally provides some marketing material (sales letter, affiliate link, tracking facility).

· blackhat marketing - this is a form of internet marketing which employs deceptive, less than truthful methods to drive web traffic to a website or affiliate marketing offer. This method sometimes includes spam, cloaking within search engine result pages, or routing users to pages they didn't initially request.

There are many other business models based on the specific needs of each person or the business that launches an Internet marketing campaign.

One-to-one approach

The targeted user is typically browsing the Internet alone therefore the marketing messages can reach them personally. This approach is used in search marketing, where the advertisements are based on search engine keywords entered by the user. And now with the advent of Web 2.0 tools, many users can interconnect as "peers."

Appeal to specific interests

Internet marketing and Geo marketing places an emphasis on marketing that reveals to a specific behavior or interest, rather than reaching out to a broadly-defined demographic. "On- and Off-line" marketers typically segment their markets according to age group, gender, geography, and other general factors. Marketers have the luxury of targeting by activity and Geo location.

For example, a Kayak company can post advertisements on kayaking and canoeing websites with the full knowledge that the audience has a related interest.

Internet marketing differs from magazine advertisements, where the goal is to appeal to the projected demographic of the periodical, but rather the advertiser has knowledge of the target audience—people who engage in certain activities (e.g., uploading pictures, contributing to blogs) — so the company does not rely on the expectation that a certain group of people will be interested in its new product or service

Geo Targeting

· Geo Targeting (in internet marketing) and geo marketing are the methods of determining the Geo location (the physical location) of a website visitor with Geo location software, and delivering different content to that visitor based on his or her location, such as country, region/state, city, metro code/zip code, organization, Internet Protocol (IP) address, ISP or other criteria.

Automated different content

· With automated different content in Internet marketing and Geo marketing, the delivery of different content based on the geographical geo location and other personal information is automated.

Different content by choice

· A typical example for different content by choice in Geo targeting is the FedEx website at fedEx.com where, users have the choice to select their country location first and then they are presented with a various site or article content depending on their selection.

Advantages

· Internet marketing is relatively inexpensive when compared to the ratio of cost against the reach of the target audience.

· Companies can reach a wide audience for a small fraction of traditional advertising budgets.

· The nature of the medium allows consumers to research and purchase products and services at their own convenience.

· The strategy and overall effectiveness of marketing campaigns depend on business goals and cost-volume-profit (CVP) analysis.

· Therefore, businesses have the advantage of appealing to consumers in a medium that can bring results quickly.

· Internet marketers also have the advantage of measuring statistics easily and inexpensively.

· Nearly all aspects of an Internet marketing campaign can be traced, measured, and tested.

· The advertisers can use a variety of methods: pay per impression, pay per click, pay per play, or pay per action.

· Marketers can determine which messages or offerings are more appealing to the audience.

· The results of campaigns can be measured and tracked immediately because online marketing initiatives usually require users to click on an advertisement, visit a website, and perform a targeted action.

· Such measurement cannot be achieved through billboard advertising, where an individual will at best be interested, then decide to obtain more information at a later time.

· Because exposure, response, and overall efficiency of Internet media are easier to track than traditional off-line media—through the use of web analytics for instance—Internet marketing can offer a greater sense of accountability for advertisers.

· Marketers and their clients are becoming aware of the need to measure the collaborative effects of marketing (i.e., how the Internet affects in-store sales) rather than soloing each advertising medium. The effects of multichannel marketing can be difficult to determine, but are an important part of ascertaining the value of media campaigns.

Limitations

· From the buyer's perspective, the inability of shoppers to touch, smell, taste, or "try on" tangible goods before making an online purchase can be limiting.

· There is an industry standard for e-commerce vendors to reassure customers by having liberal return policies as well as providing in-store pick-up services.

· Internet marketing requires customers to use newer technologies rather than traditional media.

· Low-speed Internet connections are another barrier.

· If companies build large or overly-complicated websites, individuals connected to the Internet via dial-up connections or mobile devices experience significant delays in content delivery.

· A survey of 410 marketing executives listed the following barriers to entry for large companies looking to market online: insufficient ability to measure impact, lack of internal capability, and difficulty convincing senior management.

Security concerns

Information security is important both to companies and consumers that participate in online business. Many consumers are hesitant to purchase items over the Internet because they do not trust that their personal information will remain private. Encryption is the primary method for implementing privacy policies.

· Recently some companies that do business online have been caught giving away or selling information about their customers. Several of these companies provide guarantees on their websites, claiming that customer information will remain private. Some companies that purchase customer information offer the option for individuals to have their information removed from the database, also known as opting out. However, many customers are unaware if and when their information is being shared, and are unable to stop the transfer of their information between companies if such activity occurs.

· If we look at different perspective then another major security concern that consumers have with e-commerce merchants is whether or not they will receive exactly what they purchase. Online merchants have attempted to address this concern by investing in and building strong consumer brands (e.g., Amazon.com, eBay, Overstock.com), and by leveraging merchant/feedback rating systems and e-commerce bonding solutions. All of these solutions attempt to assure consumers that their transactions will be free of problems because the merchants can be trusted to provide reliable products and services. Additionally, the major online payment mechanisms (credit cards, PayPal, Google Checkout, etc.) have also provided back-end buyer protection systems to address problems if they actually do occur.

Effects on industries because of the virtual marketing

· The number of banks offering the ability to perform banking tasks online has also increased. Online banking is believed to appeal to customers because it is more convenient than visiting bank branches. Currently over 150million U.S. adults now bank online, with increasing Internet connection speed being the primary reason for fast growth in the online banking industry. out of those individuals who use the Internet, 44percent now perform banking activities over the Internet.

· The effect on the advertising industry itself has been profound. In just a few years, online advertising has grown to be worth tens of billions of dollars annually. PricewaterhouseCoopers reported that US$16.9 billion was spent on Internet marketing in the U.S. in 2006.

· Internet auctions have gained popularity. Unique items that could only previously be found at flea markets are being sold on eBay. Specialized e-stores sell items ranging from antiques to movie props. As the premier online reselling platform, eBay is often used as a price-basis for specialized items. Buyers and sellers often look at prices on the website before going to flea markets; the price shown on eBay often becomes the item's selling price. It is increasingly common for flea market vendors to place a targeted advertisement on the Internet for each item they are selling online, all while running their business out of their homes.

· This has had a growing impact on the electoral process. In 2008 candidates for President heavily utilized Internet marketing strategies to reach constituents. During the 2007 primaries candidates added, on average, over 500social network supporters per day to help spread their message. President Barack Obama raised over US$ 1million in a single day during his extensive Democratic candidacy campaign, largely due to online donors.

Broadband-induced trends

• Online advertising techniques have been dramatically affected by technological advancements in the telecommunications industry. In fact, many firms are embracing a new paradigm that is shifting the focus of online advertising from simple text ads to rich multimedia experiences. As a result, advertisers can more effectively engage in and manage online branding campaigns, which seek to shape consumer attitudes and feelings towards specific products. The critical technological development fueling this paradigm shift is Broadband.

• As a result, all 199 million members of this burgeoning market have the ability to view TV-like advertisements with the click of a mouse. And to be sure, online advertisers are working feverishly to design rich multimedia content that will engender a “warm-fuzzy” feeling when viewed by their target audience. As connection speeds continue to increase, so will the frequency of online branding campaigns.

• In March 2005, roughly half of all American homes were equipped with broadband technology. By May 2008, broadband technologies had spread to more than 90% of all residential Internet connections in the United States. When one considers a Nielsen's study conducted in June 2008, which estimated the number of U.S. Internet users as 220,141,969, one can calculate that there are presently about 199 million people in the United States utilizing broadband technologies to surf the Web.
Virtual Marketing Basics for Small Business

In today's era even small scale industries and business also want to be the part of the virtual marketing, which can be detailed as follows;

It has become increasingly more difficult to promote a business using e-mail. Spam clogs up in-boxes and most people are quick to delete without reading the deluge of mail they receive.

Nonetheless, e-mail marketing, if done correctly, can be an inexpensive and quick way to reach a large audience. The key is to get people to want to receive your mailings. To do this, you need to do permission mailing, which means having people either sign up on your Web site for such mailings or provide their e-mail addresses when they purchase something from your company. In this way, you can collect e-mail addresses without buying a list that may be created and/or sold illegally.

E-mailing advertisements, sent with the express permission of the recipient, can still become redundant, and therefore ineffective, unless you:

· Offer new discounted products or services regularly

· Provide very targeted mailings

· Offer some content

Even two or three sentences of original content can provide a reason to read your e-mail. It can also support the advertising that otherwise may be deleted. Short bits of information, such as five tips for a healthy lawn from a landscape company or suggestions for "dressing for success" from a clothing retailer are ways to keep your audience interested in your e-mails. Establishing your own newsletter, which may only be a few paragraphs, can draw the attention of your readers.

When e-mailing customers, you also need:

· A catchy headline

· A recognizable company name in the "from" box so they'll know it's from your business

· A simple one-click manner in which they can get more information

· A catchy headline

· A recognizable company name in the "from" box so they'll know it's from your business

· A simple one-click manner in which they can get more information on specific products or services

· A means of reaching customer service

Since you may only have one second to capture the reader before he or she hits delete, it's to your benefit to highlight an interesting item in your subject line or immediately in the body of the text. This window can literally provide you a "window of opportunity" to grab their attention. Make this about them.

Unlike a press release, this gives the media your business news, e-mail marketing needs to focus on benefits to the customer. Once you've got them reading and have drawn attention to these customer benefits, you can include as much as you'd like about your company. They can elect to read it or not. Nonetheless, the farther down the reader scrolls, the more advertising, and marketing information he or she will have absorbed.

A few e-mail marketing rules of thumb:

· Make sure that everyone on the list has agreed to be there — don't add names

· Reassure readers that their information will not be shared

· Give readers an opportunity to opt off of the list

· Keep information concise, to the point, and focused on their needs

· Don't blitz — e-mailing more than once or twice a week is annoying

· Provide a choice of HTML or TEXT version

Landing pages are also important. Readers should be able to get more information by clicking on various places on the initial marketing e-mail or newsletter. Don't send them to a home page and make them search for the specific information that brought them there. For example, on Amazon.com if you click on a specific book, you'll get a page with details and reviews of that book and suggestions of similar books. That landing page provides information including pricing or purchasing and then leads to a sales page or shopping cart. Your promotional e-mails should do the same thing and give the reader an opportunity to go to your home page.

A new company that does not conduct business directly over the Internet may want to take advantage of the interactivity of the Internet to provide readers with something to do, such as a quiz, questionnaire, survey, or short article. This puts your name in front of the reader and gives them a chance to interact. It is also a way of monitoring how many people visit your site.

Article

Here an article is being presented by Ziqi Liao to go in detail virtual marketing which will give the understanding of the same:

AN EXPLORATORY STUDY ON ELECTRONIC MARKETING ON THE NET IN CONCENTRATED MARKETPLACE
Management of Engineering and Technology, 1999.

Technology and Innovation Management. PICMET apos; 99.

Portland International Conference on
Volume 1, Issue, 1999 Page(s):340 vol.1 -
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/PICMET.1999.808333

Summary:-

This article presents a regression model to quantify the impact of a number of different aspects in relation to the willingness of consumers to shop on the Internet based on a survey conducted in Singapore. The research results suggest the following observations with regard to the local consumers' perceptions on electronic marketing and their willingness to participate in virtual shopping.

Ø The regression model produces a sign consistent with demand theory. If cost in the form of retail price offered over the Internet increases, the individual's willingness to purchase would decline.

Ø Transaction security is found to be a significant factor because the willingness to shop on the net is negatively affected by this concer