Chapter 1

Learning Objectives

What important role does the Internet play in the customer-centric multichannel marketing concept?

One of the most important role the Internet plays in the customer-centric multichannel marketing is the close relationship a business can get with the consumers that are buying their products and services.  With the use of customization, the company can do many things that will allow them to better understand the people they sell their products or services to.  The Internet also allows a company to become an international competitor almost instantaneously, because of the access around the world to the Internet.  The Internet has allowed company's to provide better customer service and quality control, by interacting with the customer on the new social media or through their own websites with such things and live chat, blogs, or surveys.

What are the main differences between Internet marketing, e-marketing, digital marketing, e-commerce, and e-business?

Internet marketing refers to the strategy, goals, and guidelines a company has set forth in order to achieve their plans for the business.  The term e-marketing also is a reference to Internet marketing, but only on a broader scale, which might include emails, websites, digital media, or other means of communication to their consumers to achieve the goals of the company. The use of digital marketing is the type of digital channels a company will use to achieve the overall Internet marketing strategy they set forth.  This could be the use of a website, ads, social media, or other types of digital media. E-commerce is the management of transactions between the customer and the company.  This might include customer service, quality assurance, or the sales transaction. The last term, e-business, is the management of the businesses processes that have to take place to run and enhance the overall business and it helps to solidify the overall Internet marketing goals.

What is the main advantage of digital marketing?

The main advantage of using digital marketing is the relationship a company can get with their customers.  Digital marketing allows the company's to get their messages about their products and services to the people that use or need these products or services. Building of relationship with the customer gives a company a competitive advantage and allows them to track the trends of their customers with ease.  By better understanding their customers, a business can create better products or services, which lead to a better bottom line.

What are the key differences between the traditional marketing models and the Internet marketing model?

One key difference between the traditional marketing and the Internet marketing models is the personalization and customization a business can get when trying to get a message about their products or services to the consumers that want and need.  A lot of the Internet marketing model allows a business to obtain a better persona of the consumers that are buying their products or services.  This kind of knowledge is vital to the quality and overall value of the product or service the company provides. With traditional marketing models, one can not get this kind of detail about their consumers, because they don't get the same interaction with the people that want an need their products or services.

What are 5 ways the Internet can be used to market a product or service?

The first way the Internet can be used to market a product or service is through the new and exciting social media platform.  The business can setup marketing campaigns on social media websites such as Facebook, LinkedIn, or others similar sites.  The interaction allows a business to obtain a closer relationship between their customers. This relationship allows the business to obtain more information about who is using their products or services, why they are using their products or services, and who is using the products or services.

The second way the internet can be used to market a product or service is through search engine marketing. This type of marketing allows the business to setup ads on search engines that encourage consumers to click on these ads. The company can control who is seeing these ads by specifying when the ad will be displayed through phrases the users are typing into the search engines.  Every time a user enters a specific phrase, the ad will be displayed on the page and the users have an option to click the ad and go to the website.

The third way the internet can be used to market a product or service is through online partnerships with third party websites.  In this type of marketing, the company forms a partnership with websites other than their own and display ads that consumers can click on to purchase the businesses products or services.

The fourth way the Internet can be used to market a product or service is through viral marketing. This type of marketing includes ways for the companies to spread the message about a product or service to their customers either through word of mouth, email, or other ways to drive the demand of the product or service up. Many time a business will rent space in an email newsletter or find other ways to get consumers to their products and services.

The fifth way the Internet can be used to market a product or service is through opt-in email marketing.  When customers sign up to buy or use a service, the company allows the customers to sign up for an email that will be sent out on a regular basis. The email newsletters are written and distributed to a list of the customers that have signed up for them and company's can either pay for an ad or spot in the newsletter or they can create their own.  This gets customers engaged in what the company is doing with the product or service.

Questions For Marketers

How significant is Internet as a marketing tool?

In today's world, the Internet is a very important part of a good marketing strategy for a company. The Internet allows a company to reach a broader range of consumers, than in the post-Internet world. It allows company's to better interact with their customers, whether for research, gathering marketing data on their customers, or for interacting directly with customers to get feedback from them on how their products or services are being used by their customers. They can gather information on their customers almost instantaneously, which allows the company to insure they understand what their customers want and need from their products or services.  With the information they gather on their customers, they can insure that the products or services are meeting the needs of their customers and allows the company to stay healthy. 

How does Internet marketing relate to e-marketing, e-commerce, and e-business?

The term e-marketing refers to the use of marketing strategies on the Internet to obtain objectives set by the Internet marketing strategies by way of electronic communications technology.  In other words, by using electronic communications technologies, a company can reach the goals they have set when creating an Internet marketing strategy.  E-Commerce is how the company manages the information gathered through the interaction with customers and the financial transactions that take place through the Internet.  This includes things such as the database, which might hold customer sales transactions or other such information. This information can be used to understand the sales cycle or to further understand how their customers are using their products. Finally, e-business answers the "how" the business is being done on the Internet.  It deals with the management of the business processes related to the business and how they will use these processes to better their products or services. 

What are the key benefits of Internet marketing?

Internet marketing has several key benefits that make it different from the more traditional forms of marketing.  It allows a company to interact with their customers on an almost real-time basis and allows better exchange of information between the company and their consumers.  The better exchange of information allows a company to better understand their customers, which leads to a better quality of products or services.  It eventually leads to better quality of products or services to their customers. Internet marketing also allows company's to research what customers are really saying about their products or services. This research, then gives a company better understanding of how their products or services are effecting their customers in real world environments and who is buying the services or products.  Unlike many traditional forms of marketing, Internet marketing allows a company to better customize the messages they send out to customers.  This allows them to tailor the specific messages for each individual that sees the ads they might be putting out there.  Next, Internet marketing allows company's to better interact with their customers.  This allows them to get immediate feedback from customers, whether it is coupons or other forms of immediate discounts that customers can immediately use.  Lastly, the company can use Internet marketing to reach customers that are beyond their physical location easier.  This allows the company to retain a market that normally they would not have been able to get to.

What differences does the Internet introduce in relation to existing marketing communication models?

There are many differences between Internet marketing and the traditional marketing communication models. With Internet marketing, a company can get more "bang for their buck".  Unlike traditional forms of marketing communication, Internet marketing can use customization to get their marketing message to a specific set of consumers. This becomes more effective, because the company can spend their money on focused groups of consumers that want or need their products or services.  This results in better quality and a better understanding what the customer wants and needs.  Another difference is that with the traditional marketing communications the company might not reach the consumers that might need their products or services.  The Internet has allowed companies to reach world wide consumers, because once a company has placed their products or services online, they are an instantaneously international business. Older marketing communications models might not reach all of the potential consumers and might cost more to reach out to these consumers.