What are market benefits?

Answer 1

THE BENEFITS

It is no exaggeration to describe e-marketing as a revolution for the marketing industry. For the first time, it 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:

GLOBAL REACH

If you build a website you can reach anyone, anywhere in the world, provided they have internet access. This allows you to tap new markets and compete globally with only a small investment. This can be particularly useful for niche providers, companies whose products can be posted easily, or businesses who are looking to expand geographically but cannot afford to invest in new offices or businesses.

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. You can build a website for as little as a few hundred pounds or send e-mail for a fraction of a penny.

TRACKABLE, MEASURABLE RESULTS

Marketing by e-mail or banner advertising makes it easier to establish how effective your campaign has been. If someone clicks on a banner advert, or a link in an e-mail or on a website, you can see how they arrived at your website. This detailed information about customers' responses to your advertising allows you to assess the effectiveness of different campaigns.

24-HOUR MARKETING

With a website your customers can find out about your products even if your office is closed.

SHORTER LEAD TIMES

If you have a website or an e-mail template, you can react to events much more quickly - giving your marketing a much more contemporary feel. If one of your products is in the news or something important happens in your industry, you can capitalise on it without having to print or post anything.

A LEVEL PLAYING FIELD

With a well-designed website, you can show yourself to be as professional and credible as your larger competitors.

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. A great example of this is Amazon's website which suggests products based on your and other people's previous purchases.

ONE-TO-ONE MARKETING

E-marketing lets you reach people who want to know about your products and services instantly - you don't have to wait until they come home from work and switch on the TV or open their mail. People have a different, more personal relationship with most new technologies. For example, many people take mobile phones and PDAs wherever they go, and a surprising number feel lost without their e-mail. Combine this with the personalised aspect of e-marketing, and you can create very powerful and targeted campaigns.

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. One of the great successes of e-marketing has been film companies letting people download trailers for forthcoming movies. Other small companies have picked up this idea - a radio controlled car company sends customers designs or photos of new products in development while clothing

companies send out sneak previews of the new season's range.

BETTER CONVERSION RATE

If you have got 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. The change from reading an e-mail to buying on a website is negligible - no special effort is required, meaning that your call to action can be much more direct. Together, all of these aspects of e-marketing add up to one thing:

more sales.