Internet Marketing

TASK 1

1.1 E-commerce, E-business, digital marketing and internet marketing

E-commerce is a commonly used term today in the business scenario all over the globe. Qin, (2010), defines e- commerce as commercial or mostly business to business activities that are conducted online i.e. over the internet (Qin, 2010). It deals in trade of various products and services over the Internet using mobile commerce and involves electronic funds transfers too. Others define the terms as interchanging of information between two enterprises for the purpose of business. It uses more different technologies for transactions and involves usage of techniques like World Wide Web and Internet. It is all about buying and selling products over the internet and includes concepts of retailing and maintaining contacts through social media.

According to Cheshe, Kaura and Linton, (2002), E-business is term that describes the activities of coordinating various business functions and processes like design, supply, manufacturing, selling and distribution etc. with the help of appropriate communication technologies and internet over the computers. This involves applying communication and information technologies for better operations of the business (Chesher, Kaura and Linton, 2002). It manages all activities of a business dealing in exchange of products and services and doing the business with the help of Internet resources.

Internet marketing and digital marketing are further other terms used now a days in terms of utilizing digital technologies in marketing. This would involve the business to apply search marketing through set mechanisms, involve in online and offline communications, interactive advertisements and social media marketing with the help of digital technologies to promote the products. Internet marketing is another term that has been used in concept of marketing where different mechanisms used for promotions are search engine marketing, social media marketing, content marketing, e-mail and mobile marketing (Chris, 2014). All these are built based on advertising the products for marketing through the Internet. Both these terms sound similar in their functions still held few significant differences. While digital marketing deals in marketing with the help of digital technology that may include campaigns over the television, mobiles etc, internet marketing is different. Under the internet marketing concept, the company involved in marketing its products need to have an internet connection, utilize the online sources for research as well market and promote them online.

1.2 Describing product, its marketing and environmental analysis

In terms of understanding a product or service that could be purchased through Internet, online booking system can be a service that can be selected in terms of studying the marketing, selling and delivery of products over the Internet. This online booking system may involve various aspects like booking tickets for traveling, hotel tickets and reservations systems (Marous, 2014). This defines that facility that businesses have provided by engaging themselves in e-business and allowing the customers to book their tickets and reserve places by sitting at a remote place, through internet. This helps the people to book their railways, bus and flight tickets through the Internet that is very helpful in saving time and money. Further people just get their tickets on their email ids that they can carry easily without the headache of moving to office and standing in queues (Chaffey, 2013).

Marketing, selling and delivery of the tickets can be understood as company’s involve in providing better discounts and offers to the customers that could help in attracting them towards the online booking site (Preez, 2003).

Marketing: Online Ticket booking and other services would require giving efficient access to the customers along with better support to convince them. This involves promoting the tickets with the help of schemes or offers to attract the customers booking tickets online for hotels or travels.

Selling: This is further significant to understand that selling requires better skills among the salesperson and would thus require the complete marketing team to develop better sources to sell its product to the customers. The ease and convenience that it provides can be the USP of promoting its sales. Further selling also involves providing packages and better flexibility in options by providing options for payment and getting the hard copies of ticket.

Delivery: Delivery of products must ensure that they reach to the customers on time and have a physical evidence and value to develop trust among customers.

Macro and micro environment of the online ticket booking can be understood by undergoing PESTLE analysis and understanding various stakeholders related with the product respectively.

Macro environment analysis (PESTLE):

Political: In considering tickets booking systems, the service can be available across the boundaries too as it is online. This may hinder generation of revenues due to different policies and tax structures of government in different countries.

Economic: There are certain policies or economic constraints related with demand and availability that may affect the overall business of booking tickets online.

Social: The people are key constraints of business that must be satisfied with the service and thus need to develop trust in the service, as less faith will affect its business.

Technological: There are certain new technologies that must be implemented in the ticket booking systems to make it more customized and useful for the customers. This will require the system to be updated with latest trends for example availing this service on mobile phones can be more effective.

Legal: There are certain legislations and laws that control the business and online activities and thus this system must have clarity of following them.

Environmental: The online tickets are better options as they are contributing to the environment in some way in terms of saving the stationary and thus depletion of natural resources that foster this business to grow.

Micro environment can be understood by analyzing various stakeholders or related people in dealing with online ticket booking system. This involves:

Suppliers: In booking tickets online the companies operating may have various people involved in activities of their business like people associated with transactions, ticket booking and customer service. These people are to be hired on better salaries as they may easily switch to other companies (Bandyopadhyay, 2001).

Customers: The customers purchasing the tickets have higher demands as they have many options for booking over the Internet and thus choose the one that provides efficient service at reasonable price.

Marketing intermediaries: This involves various other factors in the market like substitutes that may affect the business. Here the substitute for this business is physical stores that are operating and may affect the overall operations of online booking (Winzar, 2003).

Competitors: These are another significant factor of the environment that may affect the business of booking tickets online. Here competitors in the industry may compete amongst each other with price strategy and thus create a strong competition among people (Zeng, Wen and Yen, 2003).

This sample explains about all the elements of internet marketing

1.3 Elements of internet marketing

There are several elements that can be included in the concept of Internet marketing for its effective functioning.

These can be understood with that of marketing mix elements that is product, price, place and promotion.

Product: The product i.e. tickets online, must be such that they fulfill the expected requirements of the customers. The use of search engine and pay per click ads must be done to explain the specifications of the product.

Price: This is another factor that may require setting price of the products by understanding the demand and possible margins to convince customers buy these tickets online rather than from physical stores set for the service.

Place: This is another factor defining that these tickets service must be made available to almost all regions having a better reach towards the customers.

Promotion: This is one of the most significant elements that require customizing the complete online website to convince the customers. This would require marketing the tickets making their information available through e- mails.

Web site and content marketing: Further the content of the website is also significant. Better marketing can be facilitated with the help of concept of search engine optimization that allows faster results in getting access to the company in searching over he search engines.

Mobile marketing and emails: This can also be used as an element of internet marketing to promote the tickets and its services to the customers using internet either through e-mails or by sending promotional messages to the mobiles.

TASK 2

2.1 Define the following terms

Search engine marketing: The term search engine marketing is the most common form of the Internet marketing that significantly involves in promoting the e-business website. This promotion is done on the basis of developing a better visibility through search engine results page by more advertising. This involves the expert to control the traffic over the internet and search engine and enable better visibility of the products in the search results. This can also use the concept of search engine optimization for the marketing of website and may include rewriting the contents or improving the site for achieving higher ranking to acquire a position to appear in search engine results (Rowley, 2002).

Search engine optimization: This is another concept that is used in promotion of web sites by affecting their visibility on the web page or search engine’s search results. This includes the companies to involve in searching its options in the list more easily. Under this concept the companies improve their content and marketing to an extent that they could earn a better rank and position so as to appear in the top results of search engine. This will provide a better access and make the website visible to customers more easily. For this the websites need to improvise their ranks by effective content that places them on higher ranking position and thus getting visible to the users of search engine. It can also focus on keeping itself visible through searches on the web through image search or academic and video search that can get many different ways of getting to the customers (Glynn, 2011). Search engine optimization is all about making a website visible by effective marketing over the Internet and more access so as to become visible to people over the Internet.

Paid search engine marketing: This is further another constraint in search engine marketing where the various search engines charge fees from the websites in terms of making them visible in the search results. The companies having their websites under paid search engine marketing can display themselves in the main area of the search results. Here the concept is almost similar to search engine marketing, just it involves is adding up concept of paid search and advertising that generates better revenues through per click or access over the website. This also involves earning more revenues with the system of pay per click (Holliman and Rowley, 2014).

Pay per click advertising: This is another concept that is used in Internet marketing where the websites are visible in the search engines and can earn revenues by getting pay per click of the visitors. These advertisements usually appear on mobiles that may involve charging customers on number of clicks they make over an advertisement. These are online advertising models that show their ads for their products and services here people searches for ads online and are also charged when user clicks on the ads. In this system the advertiser need to pay better amounts to appear on the top of the search results and thus can earn better customers for their products.

E- Mail marketing: This is another form of marketing where the message is directly communicated to customers through e-mails (Dave, 2008). Here the email messages are sent to group of potential customers as advertisements, business requests or offers and discounts to attract them and promote the products. This is one of the most important forms of marketing where already existing customers are contacted that develops loyalty and awareness among them and thus also helps in managing better relationships with the potential customers. This concept can simply understood as every mail or message that is being sent to the potential or loyal customers of company and lies under the concept of e-mail marketing.

2.2 Online public relations and digital media communities

Online public relations:

There are various options over the Internet that can help in promoting public relations online. Concerning the entertainment industry it has been necessary for the people to understand that new music launches and albums are sold through better approach towards customers and mainly with the help of managing public relations online (Jones, 2008). According to the given case study, artist like Lady Gaga have been constantly been a part of social networking sites like Facebook and YouTube to promote the music and interacting with the fans that further helps in development of customers. These online public relations help in convincing the music lovers towards the purchase of new videos and albums. These public relations can be improved with the help of newer technologies of communication and maintaining contacts with customers. The word of mouth, email marketing or even search engine optimization can be used in the entertainment industry to develop better public relations online. Lady gaga has been gaining popularity more of this social media along with word of mouth over this media that has promoted relations with fans.

Digital media communities:

These are other options that can be seen in the entertainment industry, where there are many communities that provide options of file sharing as an option towards managing better relations among people in the industry and make them communicate with each other by providing communities that provide sharing of files and video (Mercer, 2011). YouTube is one such site that allows free download of videos and also by social media, artists like social media communicate with each other. This concept includes better advertisements and campaigns including documentaries and video over the internet and media like YouTube that have been promoting lady Gaga and her albums. Further the complete entertainment industry is promoting the music and stars with the assistance of these digital media communities.

TASK 3

3.1 Internet marketing plan

This would involve performing environmental analysis and SWOT analysis that will cover all the aspects of segmentation of market for online banking service and thus understand the factors that are most likely to affect the business (Baum, 2012).

Environmental analysis:

Political: This involves various policies and factors of the government that affect the banking industry and thus the online business too. There are various permission and certifications that banks would require to take in terms of providing online services. Further the online payment systems and transactions are also factors affecting the business.

Economical: This is another factor that most likely affects the complete banking industry. This will involve change in tax rates and transaction charges that are likely to affect the behaviour of customers towards choosing online banking service due to extra charges that may be cut through transactions during funds transfers or online bill payments.

Social: This is another factor that may affect the online banking industry in the way that people must see some benefits and facilities with this that will motivate them to utilize the service of online banks (Ryan and Jones, 2011). The banks must provide better assistance and service to customers and helps in satisfying them.

Technological: Technology is another factors that determine that banking industry must be aware of the latest trends and techniques that they can implement in its online banking services to provide more customized services to its people.

Legal: This is another factors that is related with laws and regulations that are included in internet banking and online businesses that includes better legislations for authentication and privacy issues

Environmental: This factor hardly affects the business but in terms help the banks in contributing to environmental preservation by limiting the use of stationary i.e. paper (Holliman and Rowley, 2014).

After analysing the external environment factors that have been affecting the marketing over the internet, the internet marketing plan needs to include information related with market segmentation too. The market that the online banking is aiming to cover is all the developing countries along with entrepreneurs running their businesses. These people are taken as target customers as they need frequent access to banking services. Further segmentation is done over the demographic characteristics with people having under certain income groups and those require frequent access to banking services. Further the users of the internet are also covered as users of the product i.e. online banking service. Market segmentation for this product is also based on the distribution channels that analyse the possibility of implementing this product in particular areas and then promoting them over that place. Thus the internet marketing of Online banking service would be planned as per its demands and presence in the market and require identifying the key threats like security and usability so as to manage it successfully.

CONCLUSION

There are different operations and businesses that are moving towards going online in terms of building better options for growth. It has been becoming a trend where the companies are choosing an option of adopting e- business facility for the business. This undertaken report brings out clear explanation about e- business and e- commerce and consider various terms that are being used in the concept of internet marketing. The advertising and promotions are done with the help of search engine optimization and pay per click advertising concepts that are used by websites. Further this report also studies the ways that artists in entertainment industry would take up to manage better online relationships. Final sections of this report include study of online banking industry and developing an internet marketing plan for the industry by conducting a primary and secondary research.

REFERENCES

• Bandyopadhyay, S., 2001. COMPETITIVE STRATEGIES FOR INTERNET MARKETERS IN EMERGING MARKETS. Competitiveness Review: An International Business Journal.
• Daniel, E. and Wilson, H., 2002. Adoption intentions and benefits realised: a study of ecommerce in UK SMEs. Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development.
• Daniel, E., 2003. An exploration of the insideout model: ecommerce integration in UK SMEs. Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development.
• Glynn, M., 2011. The Relationship Marketer: Rethinking Strategic Relationship Marketing. Journal of Product & Brand Management.

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