Internet Offers Potential Customers Three Major Benefits example essay topic

There are many advantages of using Internet technology in a marketing strategy. The Internet offers potential customers three major benefits. The first is convenience. With the Internet, customers can order products any time of the day and from any location. Secondly, customers can find lots of information about companies, products and competitors without leaving their office. Due to this increased information source, objective criteria such as prices, quality and performance can all be compared much easier.

Finally, with online services customers don't have to face salespeople or open themselves up to persuasion and emotional factors (Kotler, 1997). The Internet also offers benefits to the marketer. Quick adjustments to market conditions, lower costs, relationship building and audience sizing are all advantages that marketers can use when considering a marketing strategy. Therefore, marketers will be able to find, reach, communicate and sell over the Internet. Both large and small firms can use online marketing. Therefore SME businesses will be able to gain the benefits of using the Internet.

Online marketing has no real limit on advertising space with costs being significantly lower than that of print and broadcast media. Given the online marketing opportunities, companies have to decide how to go online, with what products and for what audiences. There are four main ways that marketers can use Internet technology. However, not all of these methods can be used by SMEs. Some of these methods involve costs that some businesses may not be prepared to meet.

An 'electronic storefront' can provide descriptions of the company and its products. It can be used as a catalogue, describing the company's products and features along with the company's news and financial standings. It can also offer the choice of placing an order. Product sales on commercial online services are between $100 million and $200 million each year (Doyle, 2002). Getting potential customers to visit the electronic storefront is the most expensive of all the processes required. Customers can be attracted through e-mail, mailing lists and magazine adverts to name but a few.

For companies to be successful at this, they must continually update their home pages to keep them fresh and exciting. This however involves time and expense, a factor that some SMEs may not be in the position to give. SMEs can however gain valuable advertising and credibility by participating in forums, newsgroups and bulletin boards that appear on the Internet. Here, the company's participation may increase their visibility also. To participate in these aspects of Internet use, subscribers' incur only a minimal cost and can get maximal publicity. An engineering company could particularly benefit from such use of the Internet because the business it is in is one of knowledge and understanding.

If a company can give a good solution to a particular problem and offer its services to help out with it, then this will impress potential customers who are also participating in the forums. This along with the low cost incurrence that this type of Internet use affords is a good way that a SME in the engineering sector could gain credibility and with it customers. Placing adverts online is another way that the Internet can be used. Due to the fact that the Internet is available to such a wide audience, SMEs can gain valuable advertising from such sources. This again is not as expensive as advertising in a well-known magazine or newspaper and the potential to attract more customers is much greater. Perhaps the best way that SMEs can use the Internet is by offering customer support and a way for potential customers to be able to contact the company with any queries, requests or even complaints.

This is most easily done through e-mail. This can then enable customer support representatives to respond in a very short period of time. Having gathered names and e-mail addresses of potential customers, SMEs can then send out periodic or special information in order to maintain a sense of relationship marketing. If there is continuous contact between a customer and a company, when that customer needs something done, the first company that will spring to mind shall be the one that has kept them informed of their prices and services.

E-mail affords a SME company that ability to keep in contact with potential buyers and advise them of their services without incurring the great costs that come with maintaining a web page. For e-mail to be successful however, the company must have a large database of potential customer information otherwise they will not be able to reach them. Advertising and attracting potential customers to a particular company is not the only way that Internet technology can be used. SMEs can use the Internet to keep track of competitors and gain information about customer's requirements. An SME in Europe might come across a successful SME in the US and wish to keep track of its policies and methods. By doing this, the company can then apply the same principles and attract regional customers that want a company that is close at hand.

The Internet is a large space for advertising and informing customers on a companies products and services. It is a resource that is available to many and for this reason it is important to use this technology. The degree at which a company may choose to use the Internet is not always the same. SMEs will try and find the most cost-effective method of advertising and this is E-mail.

Creating a web page is probable too costly for such companies and may not be required, especially for an engineering company. In this instance, credibility is the key, and this can be gained through Internet forums and newsgroups. A different use of the Internet that marketers can make use of is keeping track of competitors and researching ideas. Due to the fact that almost every company has some information about itself on the Internet, competing companies can keep track of them and attempt to come up with a competitive strategy.