Well over one third of consumers who have Internet access in their homes report using the Internet to make purchases. (Devang, 2007)
It seems that everyone wants to be on the Internet and for good reason. It is safe to say it is the most important new method for conducting business in the last 50 years if not longer. Unfortunately, many marketers jumped in with little knowledge of how to do it right. Internet marketing experts agree that anyone who is interested in doing business on the Internet should take time to learn about what it is they are getting into. Well before you take the leap you may want to take a look here.
Internet marketing can also be seen in various formats. One version is name-your-price (e.g. Priceline.com). With this format, customers are able to state what price range they wish to spend and then select from items at that price range. With find-the-best-price websites (e.g. Hotwire.com), Internet users can search for the lowest prices on items. A final format is online auctions (e.g. Ebay.com) where buyers bid on listed items.
The Internet has become part of our lives, utilizing the Web becomes a business decision critical to all businesses. Small businesses are moving online with Web sites, e-mail marketing, and in some cases, e-commerce transaction sites. Yet, many businesses are unsure how to use the Internet to effectively market and grow their businesses. Costs, resource allocation, and return on investment can seem daunting when dealing with a business Web site, e-mail, and e-commerce in addition to the daily pressures of managing a business.
According to eMarketer, a leading Internet research firm, 78% or 5.9 million of all small businesses are connected to the Internet and nearly half have active Web sites.
With each passing season, the Internet continues to change and evolve. Who would have guessed that nearly half of all e-mail would be SPAM? Most of us attempting to do business online not only send out a great deal of e-mail to other people, but we are also receiving a lot of it. And, you do not want your email confused with SPAM. In order for your email message to stand out from the ever maddening crowd of e-mail messages, it must be different, unique, and interesting. If not, it will wind up getting deleted before it is even read. What you need to email is the, “Perfect E-mail Ad”.
The focus of this paper is to present a brief survey of Internet marketing through the E-mail the marketing online. Section I deal with the importance of E-mail, while section II discuses the ways to track websites visitors. Section III presents the key to any site’s success.
I-Make the Most of E-mail
E-mail is the single most effective electronic tool for strengthening customer relationships, reports Forrester Research, a leading technology research firm.
Forrester estimates that by 2007, more than two-thirds of the e-mails sent to customers will be geared towards keeping present customers, rather than acquiring new customers.
As a unique communications and marketing tool, e-mail can be used to address customer relationship management needs, such as responding to a request for warranty information or confirming when a shipment will arrive. Some e-mail responses may be as simple as directing a customer to a particular page on your Web site, while other e-mails will lead to a phone conversation between customer and service rep to answer complicated questions.
1. E-mail provides immediate access, anywhere.
E-mail is so popular because it can be used by anyone, anywhere. Business travelers can log on at hotels and airport business centers; people without computers can use free e-mail services like Hotmail and Yahoo and log on at public libraries, community centers, and cyber-cafes.
Universal access to e-mail is a double-edged sword. When customers see that you are available via e-mail, they assume that you are checking your e-mail frequently. They’ll expect you to respond promptly. Companies that deliver on their promise to respond to e-mail queries within an appropriate timeframe are at a distinct advantage over those that do not. Prompt responses capture a customer’s attention, loyalty, and orders.
2. Utilize key e-mail functions.
Some of the most common Internet browsers used for e-mail are Netscape, Microsoft’s Outlook and AOL.
E-mail functions are also being added to sales support software programs that let you screen, file, and organize e-mail. If your company is small, or if you have relatively few clients, you may not need much more than the simple database functions embedded in these e-mail programs to manage your customer contacts. The most common functions include:
-Multiple personalities. Set up different e-mail accounts for specific brands, locations, or projects. This enables you to automatically forward e-mails to a specific person in your company assigned to answer them. The specific e-mail addresses can be posted at the appropriate places on your Web site.
-In-boxes. Even if you don’t use filters, you can still build archives of e-mails on particular topics, or projects, or from certain people, by creating internal in-boxes. These are useful for keeping track of “conversations” you have with clients, and ensures that you can refer back to requests and your responses. If you want to broadcast an e-mail to everyone who has corresponded with you on a particular topic, you can use the topic-specific in-box as a de facto e-mail list.
-Templates. Called “stationery” by some, this function lets you create boilerplate messages and simply plug in the recipient’s e-mail address.
This is excellent for answering standard questions, such as driving directions to your office. However, if you find that certain questions are asked often, you may want to post the answers on a frequently-asked-questions (FAQ) list on your Web site.
-Auto-respond. This function bounces back a canned answer to an e-mail. Most basic browser e-mail functions will only let you send out an “I’m not here” message that explains why you’re not going to respond to the e-mail. More sophisticated programs let you craft different auto-responds that are tailored to the customer’s request or order history.
-Embedded links. Use the “link” function to connect customers with a Web page within your site or at another site. The e-mail will be sent in HTML format and the customer can click on the highlighted link to be transported immediately to that page. This is an easy way to direct customers to a particular page on your site that they may not have been able to find.
No matter how you organize the e-mail that flows into your business, consider what type of response customers are likely to expect. If they’re making a routine inquiry, such as asking if you carry a certain brand or item, short and snappy is fine. But if you’re staking your reputation on customized, high-ticket products or services, be sure to give a “you’re special” tone to your responses.
3. Make “rich text” e-mail an option.
Most Internet users are accustomed to receiving e-mail in plain text format. But as Web sites have become more sophisticated, so has e-mail. Options such as graphics, embedded video and audio that are enacted with a click and the ability to respond without going back to the original Web site have become the cutting-edge in Internet marketing.
Enhanced, or “rich,” e-mail is most useful to customers with fast Internet connections. “Rich” e-mail may be rich text or HTML e-mail. If many of your customers don’t have fast connections, offer the option of receiving either a text or rich format e-mail when they initially sign up.
Trip.com, a travel Web site, has a simple, easy-to-understand format for helping visitors choose which format they prefer text or rich e-mail for its newsletters. Most people are more impressed by an e-mail message that specifically addresses their needs than with fancy technology, unless that technology makes their communication with you significantly easier.
4. Give customers opt in/opt out options.
People will become increasingly selective about which e-mails they will read. Response rates will drop dramatically for e-mails that are considered irrelevant, too pushy, or too intrusive.