The Importance and Future of
Internet Marketing
"Internet marketing is nothing more than another
aspect of channel promotion management within the marketing mix." In the early 90''s, Tim Berners-Lees developed an Internet based global
information initiative and released it to the Internet Community. It didn''t take long and the World Wide Web (WWW) began to bloom. Companies were being told incessantly that they needed to be on the web. So companies soon began to create a web presence by using some clipart graphics, a couple of construction signs, and some contact information and then said, "Hey look, we''re on the
World Wide Web." Since this introduction, technology has rapidly expanded and more and more people have adopted technology in their everyday lives. Thanks to the development of browsers such as Netscape and Explorer, and to their multimedia characteristics, the
WWW has become extremely popular for commercial and personal publishing and has expanded the potential of the
WWW and the Internet as a medium for marketing. Increasingly
businesses are using the Web and e-commerce to gain a competitive advantage over real world businesses. Statistics show that in
Australia 25% of households have Internet access and that 44% of adults accessed the Internet in 2000 .
In today''s fiercely competitive business environment, there is a strong need for an organisation to become globally competitive. E-Marketing provides us with a means of doing this. It is clear that there are fundamental differences between the operation of business on the Internet and in the real world. Indeed it would be surprising if this were not the case. Still there is widespread expectation that business will operate on the Internet in much the same way it operates in the real world. Unlike the real world the Internet is not based on scarcity but on abundance, there is an abundance of information and anyone can trade in it. Traditionally marketing has been defined as ''the process of planning and executing the conception, distribution, promotion and pricing of ideas, goods, and services to create exchanges that satisfy individual and organisational objectives.'' using mass communication, a one to many process, using mediums such as billboards, television and newspapers. The introduction of the Internet offers many new and unique opportunities and challenges to marketers.
Internet marketing has not completely revolutionised the concept of Marketing, but has incorporated it and expanded the opportunities available to marketers. Internet Marketing still uses the traditional concepts of the
marketing mix (4 P''s), but the logic of them has changed. Consider ''Promotion'', with traditional marketing businesses used a one to many process, by using mass media to transmit their advertisement to their customers. This involved no interaction with the customer. Internet Marketing changes this by using a many to many communication process, enabling customers to interact with the medium, with each other and also provide content to the medium. Thus, marketers must reconstruct advertising models for the interactive, many to many medium underlying the web . This is perhaps one of the major changes from the traditional methods of marketing.
One of the most obvious advantages that Internet marketing provides is the removal of barriers in regards to location. Businesses can now reach a much wider audience, customers that were considered unreachable can now be targeted. Also businesses need not operate from a physical location (shop front) any more, they are able to provide all the information that a customer needs on their web site eg using catalogues, pictures, video clips etc. This has an effect on the ''Price'' of their products and services as overheads may be reduced (such as rent). A disadvantage of thmust be aware of what customers want, as the marketspace is now much wider. In the twentieth century we have gone from a situation of scarcity of product to today having an abundance of choice. With many choices available to buyers, having a competitive advantage is vital to the company that wants to thrive. Knowing the competition is one part of understanding competitive advantage and this relies on information. Consider the corner grocery store, they need only to approximate what their customers really want because the convenience factor brings in their business. But when you eliminate this advantage, as customers can use the WWW to go anywhere to get what they want, you need to know exactly what they are looking for. You also need to ensure that your website has good design and is able to firstly attract customers to your site and also to encourage them to revisit. Many sites use the ''honey pot'' system to do this eg offer discounts on their second purchase, freebies etc.
Various mediums are used to communicate with their current and potential customers. There are a number of benefits for both firms and customers in using the web as a medium for marketing.
• Consumers : availability of large amount of information, provision of search mechanisms, on line product trials.
• Companies : interactive, effective distribution channel.