Online Marketing

Online Marketing

While the Internet is a dynamic, highly-effective marketing medium, its ability to return a profit has, for the most part, been unproven. One possibility is to combine on-line and off-line marketing strategies. This article describes a practice-oriented model that could enable marketers to achieve that goal. On-line and off-line tactics can not only complement each other but also achieve a distinct synergy that can have a direct impact on marketing costs.

BENCHMARKS OF ONLINE MARKETING

According to marketing consultant Al Ries, on-line marketing is most appropriate in four cases: when the offering is a service; when pricing is very important; when the offering is a non-fashion product; and when the costs of delivering the product (e.g., groceries) are not significant. For example, the Internet’s interactivity makes it a highly suitable medium for customized offerings like travel and financial services, given the high volume of queries generated by consumers searching for those services.
On-line marketing can build a strong base of loyal consumers who could also bring in more consumers through referrals. For example, on-line auctioneer eBay has found that consumers tend to rely on people who have referred them to its site rather than turn to eBay’s support staff for advice and guidance.
These factors that support loyalty could be more important in on-line marketing than in physical, off-line marketing. Amazon.com has created adequate trust and credibility among consumers, and most people provide the company with adequate information about themselves so that they can conduct their repeat purchases with significant ease. Fabmart, an Indian on-line marketing company which started by selling books and music, has added an innovative service—supplying groceries to parents of Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) abroad. Given the high purchasing power of these young NRI professionals, the company was sensitive to the warmth and caring feelings these professionals have towards their parents. The company started a service that enables NRI consumers to buy and arrange for the delivery of groceries to their parents in India. Fabmart is perceived as a brand that can be trusted to carry out the service.
On the flip side, on-line retailers marketing mundane, fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) may have to concentrate on building brand personality rather than attempting to provide value on the offering, given the frequent off-line sales promotions and bargain deals.

Marketers selling durables like cars, refrigerators and television sets need to know that, apart from providing in-depth information on features and benefits and comparisons among brands, they need to use on-line marketing tools that draw consumers to the retail outlet, since “feel” aspects are still important for most durable goods. The “feel-think-buy” model is one that consumers have been used to for several years with regard to durables. Changing this behaviour radically with on-line strategies like huge price discounts or freebies for Net shopping could create dissonance among consumers of high-involvement purchases (products which have significance to buyers due to their functional or symbolic/status appeals). Consequently, there is a strong need to use both on-line and off-line strategies for durables to ensure appropriate brand-building.