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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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