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There are vast differences that separate the old
business model from the new E-Model now being formed, in what author Chuck
Martin calls the Net Future*. You need to include E-Marketing in your business
plan. The companies that adapt will survive and those that don't will become
another statistic.
If you are starting a business today you should
first inquire as to the availability of an Internet domain name before you even
name your company. You do not want to select a company name, then when you want
a website find out you cannot use this name for the website.
Printed
marketing materials have long been the mainstay of a company's marketing
program. They are almost secondary to a good web site today. A paper document
is something you can hand to a client in a meeting, hand out at trade shows, or
mail to a prospect. In this new environment of E-Marketing the Information
Technology (IT) department of a company begins to drive the marketing and
sales. You have more power to control the value of your marketing simply
because you can change what the viewer sees to suit their immediate needs or
yours. E-Marketing has over taken the traditional marketing methods.
Many web sites remain static but serve a good marketing purpose. They are a
good medium for prospects looking for products or services or even potential
employees looking to check out the nature of your company. You want to create a
profile of the company and include current information on your products and
services. The operative word here is “current.”
A dynamic
website should be integrated into your total marketing plan. Dynamic in that it
needs to be constantly updated. The Internet is now a viable sales channel and
needs to be treated as an important adjunct to your marketing and sales
efforts. Why? Simply put, people are now looking to the Internet for business
and contact information before they go to the Yellow Pages. Having a good web
site today is as important as having a good business card. Too many people
apologize for either their business card, their website or both. “Apology
NOT accepted, thank you. Get serious about your
business.”
The underlying power of E-Marketing is the ability to
change your website instantly to suite a specific marketing need, even to build
a web page for a specific client to look at before a meeting. You can easily
create a new web page and refer the client directly to this page. A
personalized electronic brochure, if you will. This can be a recent article you
had published, photos of a new product, a current case study, copies of a
recent presentation - any imaginable information you need to get to someone
quickly.
Your website should contain materials like copies of magazine
write-ups, white papers, or documentation of your services and/or products;
sort of an on-line, but interactive, brochure. Unlike a printed brochure, the
electronic version can be easily changed as your business develops and as the
need arises. To be more effective, give people a link to send you an e-mail and
provide a fill-in form to request information.
Adding to Adaptive
E-Marketing is the time sensitive introduction of new products and services
through a website. This is inexpensive and fast. You can get a feel for the
acceptance of a new product before you spend money on major printed marketing
campaigns. You can send an e-mail with a clickable link directly to the URL of
the featured page. This is a great promotional tool. Overnight, you will gather
instant feedback on the viability and salability of the new introduction.
By referencing your URL in press releases you give editors a chance to
look at your offering at their leisure, but on your terms. To make it easy for
editors to publish your notice, you can supply a text file they can download
and even include magazine reproduction quality photographs for download, right
off the website page. Your press release and new introduction will work for you
24 hours a day.
Good referrals are your best prospects. In E-Marketing
having your site linked to good “value” sites is just as important.
People who find you through a value oriented website are better prospects than
those who stumble onto your site.
To quote a phrase from Wired
magazine, “When the digital revolution rolls over you, you are
either part of the steam roller or part of the road.” The reality
is that the digital revolution has forever changed the way we do business. To
survive and stay in business you must be part of the digital steam roller and
adapt your philosophy to the paradigm of E-Marketing in the Net Future.
*Net Future by Chuck Martin is published by Mc-Graw Hill
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