Online Marketing, • The Online Consumer

• Rapid Growth of Online Marketing
Although still in their infancy, Internet usage and online marketing are growing explosively.
Electronic commerce is the general term for a buying and selling process that is supported by
electronic means. This would include electronic marketplaces (these are “market spaces” in
which sellers offer their products and services electronically, and buyers search for information,
identify what they want, and place orders using a credit card or other means of electronic
payment).
• The Online Consumer
The Internet user is not a pasty-faced computer nerd. As a whole, Internet users are an elite
group. They tend to be younger, more affluent, better educated, and more male than the general
population. However, female usage almost equals males. Net users come from all age groups,
about half are 40 years or older, they differ psycho graphically from the general population, and
they differ in their approaches to buying and in their responses to marketing. Teens are still a
targeted group. The seniors group is also expected to grow in the next several years.
• Creating Online Marketing
Marketers can conduct online marketing in four ways:
1).By creating an electronic online presence.
Using this method, a company can:
a). Buy space on a commercial online service.
b).Company can open its own Web site.
2). Web sites vary in purpose and content.
a).The most basic type is a corporate Web site. These sites are designed to handle
interactive communication initiated by the consumer. They seek to build customer good will and
to supplement other sales channels rather than to sell the company’s products directly.
b).The marketing Web site is designed to engage consumers in an interaction that will
move them closer to a purchase or other marketing outcome.
With this form of site, the marketer initiates communication and interaction.
3).Creating a Web site is one thing; getting people to visit the site is another. The key is to
create enough value and excitement to get consumers to come to the site, stick around, and come
back again. High involvement products (such as new cars, computers, or financial services) have
greater success than do lower involvement products.
The second method is to place advertisements online. Companies can place online
advertisement in several ways:
1) The company can put online ads that pop up while subscribers are surfing online services
or Web sites.
2). Content sponsorship allows a company to sponsor a specific report on one of the
services.
The third method is to participate in Forums, Newsgroups, and Web Communities.
1). Forums are discussion groups located on commercial online services.
2). Newsgroups are the Internet version of forums.
3). A Bulletin board system (BBS) is specialized online services that center on a specific
topic or group.