Marketing in a Digital Age

marketing fundamentals -- part 14 -- summary

The Digital Age

Four major forces underlie the digital age:

1. digitalization and connectivity
2. the explosion of the Internet
3. new types of intermediaries
4. and customization and customerization

Much of today's business operates on digital information, which flows through connected networks. Intranets, extranets, and the Internet now connect people and companies with each other and important information. The Internet has grown explosively to become the revolutionary technology of the new millennium, empowering consumers and businesses alike with the blessings of connectivity.

The Internet and other technologies have changed the ways that companies serve their markets. New Internet marketers and channel relationships have arisen to replace some types of traditional marketers. The new technologies are also helping marketers to tailor their offers effectively to targeted customers were even to help customers customize their own marketing offers. Finally, the New Economy technologies are blurring the boundaries between industries, allowing companies to pursue opportunities that lie at the convergence of two or more industries.

E-business

Conducting business in the New Economy will call for a new model of marketing strategy and practice. Companies need to retain most of the skills and practices that have worked in the past. However, they must also add major new competencies and practices if they hope to grow and prosper in the New Economy. E-business is the use of electronic platforms to conduct a companies business. E-commerce involves buying and selling processes supported by a electronic means, primarily the Internet. It includes e-marketing (the selling side of e-commerce) and E-purchasing (the buying side of e-commerce).

E-commerce benefits both buyers and sellers. For buyers, e-commerce makes buying convenient and private, provides greater product access and selection, and makes available a wealth of product and buying information. It is interactive and immediate and gives the consumer a greater measure of control over the buying process. For sellers, e-commerce is a powerful tool for building customer relationships. It also increases the sellers speed and efficiency, helping to reduce selling costs. E-commerce also offers great flexibility and better access to global markets.

Companies of all types are now engaged in e-commerce. The Internet gave birth to the click-only dot-coms, which operate only online. In addition, many traditional brick and mortar companies have now added e-marketing operations, transforming themselves into click and mortar competitors. Many click and mortar companies are now having more online success than their click only competitors.

Companies can conduct e-marketing in any of four ways:

1. creating a web site
2. placing ads and promotions online
3. setting up or participating in Web communities
4. or using online e-mail or webcasting

The first that typically is to set up a web site. Corporate Web sites are designed to build customer goodwill into supplement other sales channels, rather than sell the company's products directly. Marketing web sites engage consumers in and interaction that will move them closer to a direct purchase or other marketing out come. Beyond simply setting up a site, companies must make their sites engaging, EZ to use, and useful in order to attract visitors, hold them, and bring them back again.

E-marketers can use various forms of online advertising to build their Internet brands or to attract visitors to their web sites. Beyond online advertising, other forms of online marketing include content sponsorships, microsites, and viral marketing.

E-commerce continues to offer great promise for the future. For most companies, online marketing will become an important part of a fully integrated marketing mix. For others, it will be a major means by which they serve the market. Eventually, the "e" will fall away from e-business or e-marketing as companies become more adapt at integrating e-commerce with their everyday strategies and tactics. However, e-commerce also faces many challenges. One challenge is Web profitability -- surprisingly few companies are using the Web profitably. The other challenge concerns legal and ethical issues -- issues of online privacy and security, Internet fraud, and the Digital Divide. Despite these challenges, companies large and small are quickly integrating online marketing into their marketing strategies and mixes.