Develop an e-marketing plan
The benefits of e-marketing
E-marketing gives businesses of any size access to the mass market at an affordable price and, unlike TV or print advertising, it allows truly personalised marketing. Specific benefits of e-marketing include:
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Global reach - a website can reach anyone in the world who has internet access. This allows you to find new markets and compete globally for only a small investment.
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Lower cost - a properly planned and effectively targeted e-marketing campaign can reach the right customers at a much lower cost than traditional marketing methods.
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Trackable, measurable results - marketing by email or banner advertising makes it easier to establish how effective your campaign has been. You can obtain detailed information about customers' responses to your advertising.
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24-hour marketing - with a website your customers can find out about your products even if your office is closed.
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Personalisation - if your customer database is linked to your website, then whenever someone visits the site, you can greet them with targeted offers. The more they buy from you, the more you can refine your customer profile and market effectively to them.
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One-to-one marketing - e-marketing lets you reach people who want to know about your products and services instantly. For example, many people take mobile phones and PDAs wherever they go. Combine this with the personalised aspect of e-marketing, and you can create very powerful, targeted campaigns.
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More interesting campaigns - e-marketing lets you create interactive campaigns using music, graphics and videos. You could send your customers a game or a quiz - whatever you think will interest them.
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Better conversion rate - if you have a website, then your customers are only ever a few clicks away from completing a purchase. Unlike other media which require people to get up and make a phone call, post a letter or go to a shop, e-marketing is seamless.
Together, all of these aspects of e-marketing have the potential to add up to more sales.
Subjects covered in this guide
- Introduction
- The benefits of e-marketing
- Stages in developing your e-marketing plan
- The importance of brand and image
- Building relationships with your customers
- Getting the technology right
- Implementing e-marketing
- Monitoring the effectiveness of your e-marketing campaign
- Legal considerations in e-marketing
- Here's how I developed and implemented an e-marketing plan
