Web marketing taking off as viable alternative
Austin Business Journal - by Melissa Gaskill Special To The Austin Business Journal
These days, every company seems to have a Web page. But simply having a presence on the Internet isn't any more effective than merely having a phone number, if a business doesn't make good use of it.
"The Web is another way to present yourself to the customer," says Nancy Nichols, an account manager at the Austin marketing firm of Staats, Falkenberg & Partners. "But ultimately it has to be about results, just like any other kind of marketing."
Nichols sees the Internet as a single tool to be used in an overall, strategic approach to marketing. She says the Internet offers a variety of options for marketers, from the ubiquitous advertising banner, to corporate Web sites, to online sales and more.
More importantly, the Internet offers companies the ability to target specific markets.
Nichols encourages her clients to think strategically about using the Internet for marketing and advertising purposes, and to start by clearly defining the audience the company wants to reach.
"If the audience is clearly defined, the company can sponsor a newsletter that reaches that group specifically, for example, or send an email blast only to that target group," she says.
Within the Internet, company Web sites are another potentially powerful marketing tool.
But companies need something more sophisticated than a site that is little more than an online version of the company brochure, stresses Lisa Garza, director of marketing for Austin's The Internet Design Firm, which offers corporate Web site services.
Companies need a polished, professional site to present the business and explain what it does. And it is critical, Nichols adds, to promote the Web site. She often recommends promotions that involve Web-specific offers such as campaigns that require the customer to respond on the Web.
Nichols has executed direct mail campaigns, for example, that provide incentives for recipients to download software products from the Web.
Internet technology also allows companies to track audience response so that marketing efforts can be adjusted accordingly.
At The Internet Design Firm, an agreement with iLux Corp. gives clients the ability to analyze the behavior of visitors to the company Web site.
The software can track where visitors are geographically located, what platform and browser they are using, and whether they come back to the site, among other things. The information is used to target messages to a particular visitor, as well as to look for strategic alliances with other companies. Those alliances might result in reciprocal mentions on a Web site, reciprocal banners, links or other cross promotions.
Garza says the Internet allows a company to take old-fashioned cross-selling to new technological heights. This high tech cross-selling, or "e-commerce partnering," gives companies another revenue stream, she says; one that doesn't cost them anything.
One example is an apartment leasing site that also highlights furniture and moving trucks.
Austin's Myriad Development Inc. is compiling and mining data to support such partnerships.
"The Internet gives us the technology to collect more detailed information about our customers, their shopping habits, and their buying preferences than has historically been possible, in real time," says Myriad CEO Mike Whittington.
With this information, companies can unify product offerings and relationships with multiple partners.
"Multiple sites can intelligently respond to the unique needs of different types of customers," Whittington says. "Customers can be qualified for additional services at the moment they are most likely to make a purchase decision."
Myriad helps companies form revenue-sharing agreements, generate lead and referral fees and bring in more targeted, high-value customers.
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