E-Marketing

The application of eBusiness to marketing is generating a lot of excitement in business across the world. It is establishing a new frontier that holds the promise of providing the most powerful way to gain business leverage. Its potential is open-ended, cost effective, and highly efficient. In America, e-Marketing is fast becoming a primary driving force behind business growth.

Highly Effective & Efficient Interface with your Customers -- The magic lies in the establishment for each customer [or sales prospect] of a matching pair of 'Personalised Business Control Pages' [sometimes called Portlets], one for the customer (or sales prospect) and the other for the business. These are automatically-generated web pages that implement a direct B-Web channel between the customer and the business. They represent the fulcum of a continuously-evolving customer relationship, centralising the current status of the relationship and the integrated functionality for marketing, sales, deployment, and support to that customer. Immediate, pertinent, and timely communications flow both ways enabling a win-win situation. Businesses are able to establish an integrated embodiment of their relationship with each of their prospects/customers. Never before in the history of business has there been such a powerful business device. It can be used to secure customer loyalty and to fence out competitors in order to gain a stable competitive advantage in a fast-moving business climate.

More Marketing Channels -- Based on Personalised Business Control Pages, a well-designed e-Marketing support infrastructure can be established. Businesses are able to open up more marketing channels to reach new customers, to reach into their life-space, and to build a strong relationship with prospects to lay the foundation for future brand loyalty and repeat sales.

Targeted Marketing -- As a decisive competitive edge, businesses are also able to use their E-Marketing infrastructure to support the personalisation of marketing. Instead of marketing strategies based on 'broadcasting', businesses are able to more effectively reach their customers by 'narrowcasting'. Using a automatically-generated Personalised Business Control Page, businesses are able to provide their customers with simple, clean, highly efficient, and friendly interfaces through which to receive only relevant offers, do business, and receive prompt service.

Stable Competitive Edge -- E-Marketing enables businesses to stake stronger claims to 'marketplace real-estate' and establish a stable competitive edge in a fast-moving business climate.

Building Customer Relationships Incrementally -- E-Marketing has the great advantage of enabling businesses to incrementally establish relationships. (In contrast, a TV ad has only a brief moment to capture your attention and cajole you into action.) By virtue of the opening up of direct customer channels, e-Marketing strategies enable you to take small initial steps that incrementally develop the trust of a potential customer. Over time, a strong relationship can be built. A courtship strategy can be implemented where trust is established step-by-step.

Phases of E-Marketing? -- E-Marketing is using the Internet to drive new marketing strategies and to enhance existing marketing strategies. It breaks down into the following phases --

• "Prospecting" -- The Internet is used to find potential customers. There are three main approaches --
• Search Engine Exposure -- This involves raising the exposure of your websites and portals in various Internet Search Engines.
• Viral Networking -- The Internet is used to support referrals by existing customers or prospects.
• Cross-Pollination -- This involves business partners exposing their prospects and existing customers to your products/services.
• Mass Emailing -- This involves acquiring lists of prospect emails and emailing them offers and information about your products/services.
• Relationship Building -- Once a prospect is found, a Personalised Business Control Page is created (automatically) to interface with them. This 'portlet' becomes the most powerful marketing device in your business. It represents the embodiment of the business relationship with the prospect, enabling incremental relationship building to support the selling of the prospect. In addition, it becomes the vehicle and channel for two-way communication, sales transactions, customer support, and repeat sales.

How does it change things? -- Personalised Business Control Pages fundamentally change marketing. Because, in the past, businesses have had small windows of opportunity to catch the attention of their prospects and sell them on their products/services, they have had to resort to 'immediate action'-type sales strategies in order to make sales (e.g., 'Call-Today'-type TV commercials). Consumers today are very resistant to this sort of hyped 'broadcast' approach.

• Trust Equation & Incremental Marketing -- With a Personalised Business Control Page in place, designed to be enthusiastically welcomed by the consumer, 'narrowcast' marketing strategies can be formulated that build the trust of the consumer and enable incremental marketing over time. By empowering the consumer to communicate their preferences uninvasively, the right products/services can be finely targeted and be receptively received.
• Reaching into the Consumer's World -- In addition, because it is based on standardised technologies, the consumer's portlet can be used to reach into the customer's world and interface with it. The result is a strong long-term bond.
• Synergy with Existing Marketing -- By interfacing E-Marketing with existing marketing strategies, new synergies can be realised. Traditional advertising can be used to bring in prospects without the use of expensive brochures.
• Lower Sales & Marketing Costs -- Because the Internet's support of the above processes is free, e-Marketing can significantly lower Sales and Marketing costs.