Internet Marketing Essay, Research Paper

Mankind is currently standing on the verge of the greatest change in lifestyle, which he has ever undertaken. All around the globe, businessmen and other enterpenuirs are racing to cash in on the future of marketing. Tradition is being turned on its head as all of free enterprise begins plans to phase out age-old methods to, more effective, and most cost-conscious world of the Internet. Their logic is not too difficult to understand. Last year, American businesses spent billions of dollars advertising their products by magazine, newspaper, radio, television, and mass mailers. They flooded the homes of America, targeting every breathing carbon-based life form they could find, with countless jingles, images, song and dance in an attempt to peddle their often unwanted goods. This type of nuclear marketing (dropping a powerful load at a random percentage of the population) has been the backbone of corporate America. Times, however, are changing. With the deregulation of the Internet in 1991, the federal government opened the doors of industry to the potential of advertising twenty-four hours a day, almost free of charge to anyone in the world who accessed their link. While it is true that this new advertising is not seemingly as direct, it does provide a marketing tool that directly targets interested parties. The largest problem with traditional marketing stems from the fact that, in order to determine who is interested in a product, the business would have to ask everyone. Changes in information access are forcing the game to evolve. Now, businesses can enjoy presenting their product to those who seek them out. Moreover, this new media revolution costs almost nothing to set up. It is clear that traditional marketing is approaching a revolution. It is a twitching dinosaur who is awaiting his doom. As the world continues to interline itself, business will alter the way in which it reaches its customer. Those who evolve will prosper. Those who do not shall perish.

What is the internet? The Internet is a worldwide network of tens of thousands computers, all connected. Individuals and businesses get on the Internet by getting an Internet account through a local Internet Service Provider, offering access to e-mail and the World Wide Web. The “Web” allows potential customers to “visit” a business’s storefront to the world, and view the company’s on-line color brochure stored in “pages” or files which can be viewed in both text and picture

How do businesses use the Internet? This form of advertising is used to build a company’s image, provide customer support, make available technical and troubleshooting information, develop a prospect list, conduct customer surveys, offer products, and take orders

The Internet network is becoming increasingly popular among businesses as an avenue for marketing their products and services. The system is growing rapidly, with twenty-five million users in ninteen-niney four and fifty million by nineteen nintety-eight; a fifty percent rise in only four years. What implications and effects are in store for the future of marketing with such a rapid advance in technology? Experts express both concerns and breathless anticipation. This computerized information boom has enormous potential to boost economies world-wide, but it also has the possibility of being exploited. Advertising and marketing on the Internet makes obtaining huge profits possible. Id Software Inc., for example, sold several thousand copies of its Doom cliff-hanging software game the first weekend they it made the game available on the Internet. The company now has sold about ten million dollars worth of software via the net, while avoiding the costs of overhead that generally consume profits. Sellers, though, are not the only ones to reap benefits from the internet. Purchasing products over the net is also beneficial. It is faster than the traditional process of mail ordering, and the on-line support forums provide advice that is not found in manuals, catalogs, or brochures . To have marketing success on the internet does not require the abandonment of traditional marketing methods; innovation and placement are the prime components in the formula for acquiring internet revenues. Those businesses who devise a successful marketing plan are guaranteed a large profit for their efforts To make the network work to their advantage, direct marketers have more to consider than just developing a sound financial plan of action. Internet experts lay out several suggestions to generate profit and be a net success. Marketers should avoid being intrusive or sending unwanted messages, for practically noting else annoys internet users more. Instead, an affective approach is to use the internet for building higher levels of relationships with consumers through diaglog. Furthermore, Mather Direct has developed six rules for advertising on the Internet: consumers should only be given information which they have requested, data derived from a consumer interaction should never be resold, advertising should be limited to pre-specified newsgroups and list servers, promotion and direct selling must be preceded by full disclosure, consumers must be informed of end uses of market research, and communications software must not contain hidden functions. What does all of this mean for the future of marketing? The internet, as of now, is a free enterprise network. Neither government nor big business owns or regulates its content or procedures, thus allowing for a liberal dissemination of information. The costs for marketers or purchasers to use the net is very low, thus enabling both groups to make or save money. There are, however, problems to consider in this cyberspace wonderland. Commercial interests are flocking to the internet, and are directing their aims to the distribution of services and information to mainstream commercial audiences. Marketers should, experts of the net worn, be more cautious before starting internet sites and pages. Rather than automatically assuming the benefits of the medium, they should realize that many Internet sites offer poor data. They are much less accessible than interactive TV services, and they often include outdated information. Marketers should experiment with the medium but not blindly embrace it for the sake of their image.

Rushing to set up shop on the web could be disastrous without the proper research and attitude, because the technology lacks such mission critical features as management, backup, security, and performance management. Some businesses, such as Pizza Hut, simply may not have internet-using customers; however, the low cost of setting up on the internet still remains a good argument in favor of doing so anyway. A good gauge of what advertisers should focus upon comes from what type of audience they are playing to on the Internet. Net users want advertising to be informative. A reason for this advertising approach focuses upon an Internet user profile with notes that Internet users are predominantly educated, discerning individuals. A survey of internet users by a commercial marketing firm found that eighty-seven percent possess a college degree and sixty-seven percent earn more that 50,000$ per year What are the best ways for business to market goods and services on a computer network occupied by such individuals? Experts on the use of the Internet, some of whom have played major roles in linking its twenty-five million users, are uncertain. Some experts stress the unique cultural norms, which are evolving among Internet users as the best way for business to develop an Internet customer base. Among the major barriers to successful marketing are security concerns and the absence of a definitive look and feel that will appeal to consumers. While the net is viewed as more user friendly than interactive TV, transactions are, as yet, few because of technology hurdles. For one, the net is not a closed system, which raises concerns of security. In addition, the differing computers and networks that comprise the net make developing transactions difficult. The Internet also requires increased competitive effort from entrepreneurs because government bureaucrats and their associated tax payer-supported groups will not provide the best information superhighway. This leads to widespread concerns that the Internet will become breeding

Ground for monopolies as groups struggle to gain the most control and profit from the net.