Chapter 6 - Relationship marketing using the Internet

Learning objectives

What is the importance database marketing on the Internet?

Database marketing is very important on the Internet. It allows businesses to gather data about their customers and then it creates a way for the business to understand the customer better. When the company better understands the customers, customers will purchase more. Database marketing can be used in several ways. The first is to allow the business to send to the customer, promotions that pertain to the customer. The second way the database marketing is important is that it allows businesses to create e-newsletters, which can contain information on how to use the products, or how what is new in the products. They can be very useful in keeping customers engaged.

What kind of technology can a business use to create a one-to-one relationship with their customer?

There are many types of tools that can are created to help with the one-to-one relationship with customers. One such tool would be online chat. This technology can be used for many different aspects by a business to grab the attention of their customers. One way for chat to be used to for customer service. A business can setup a live chat area where customers can get a hold of customer service representatives online at anytime of the day. This will create a satisfaction by customers, because they have a way to easily contact a company without delay. Another thing chat is used for is for sales representatives to help customers while they are online. When a customer comes online, the sales person connects to the customer by asking them if they need any type of help. This can be convenient for customers if they have any questions.

What are the characteristics of the tools that are required to create a one-to-one relationship with customers?

Some of the tools that are required to create one-to-one relationships must be smart enough to understand what the customers needs are. For instance, Amazon has implemented a special program that tells people, once you have purchased from there several times, what other people have bought with the purchases the customer is about to buy. This creates a satisfaction between the customer and the business, because they understand what it is the customer really wants. 

Questions for marketers

How can the Internet be used to support the different stages of the customer lifecycle?

There are many different ways that a company can use the Internet to support the different stages of the customer life-cycle. One such way is to use web analytics to track the customer as they go through the website. It can create a way for the business to track how where the customer is going, where they are coming from, if they are new to the website, or many other statistics. These statistics can then be used to figure out how where the customers go as they enter the sales cycle. This can be very important to a business, in that it allows the business to see the trends of a website.

How do I implement permission marketing?

One such permission marketing is the opt-in options. The opt-in option is placed on a website where, in most cases, the customer enters their personal data as a profile. When the opt-in option is checked, the customer is agreeing to the terms that they want to receive information in the future. In most cases is emails, but they can also include postal, or other forms. Permission marketing also allows a business to categorize customers, by allowing them to check what they like to do in their spare-time or how many people are in their company. This allows businesses to segment these customers to create a more one-to-one relationship with the customers.

What do personalization and mass customization mean and how should I apply them in my marketing? 

There are many different forms of personalization or customization on the Internet. These allow customers create a product or user interaction on the website in a more personable way. For instance, Dell allows customers to create a computer that they want by selecting what they want on the computer or how it looks. These types of personalization allows customers to be satisfied, it also allows the business to save money by creating the product at the time it is ordered.