Internet Marketing

With the spread of the Internet, a new marketing media was born. On the one side the Internet is a new platform for existing marketing techniques (advertisements, direct mail, newsletters, press information, brochures, etc.) and on the other side it gives access to new methods (Web site, Internet communities, online discussions and newsgroups, etc.).

The biggest advantages of Internet marketing are efficiency (cost and time savings), easy and cheap up-date of information and 24hours access. With the steep increase of availability and completeness of information on the Web, the Internet replaces increasingly the traditional information research media like library catalogues, paper directories (they are accessible on the Internet) or telephone inquiries.

Hence, companies and organisations not visibly represented on the Web risk to loose potential clients. A Web site also demonstrates commitment to new technologies and innovation. In some industries, a company that does not have its own Web site appears outdated, unprofessional or not trustworthy.

What are the steps to promote your institution and its activities on the World Wide Web?

a)    Develop a Web Site for your institution

The Web site supplements your brochures describing your institution and its services and products. A Web site gives the opportunity to include new information whenever you wish to and it allows for more direct interactivity with people interested in your institution.

Your Web Site should contain:

·    The Institution Name and Logo

·    Information about the Institution (Vision, Mission, Objectives, History, Contact Persons, Map)

·    Presentation of programmes and services and upcoming events

·    Information about quality management and accreditation

·    List of publications and products with short content description and information how to buy them

·    Membership information

·    Partnerships and alliances information

·    Bookmarks and links

·    Classifieds, especially job advertisements

·    Email response buttons and feed-back opportunities for site visitors

The Web site should be easy to understand and click through. Visitors will remember or “bookmark” your site if you can offer them more than the presentation of your institution. Interesting Web sites are those where the visitor gets something immediately, e.g. downloadable articles, statistics, e-mail newsletter subscription, event registration online, etc.

Tip 13 Attracting visitors to your Web site

The International Trade Centre has developed a Model Web site for support institutions that follows the above recommendations. It includes e-mail newsletter functionality, event registration, online ordering of publications and tools and automatic news updates. Furthermore, support institutions will be able to manage a member area where they can post materials, news, reports and tools for members. The member area supports interactive communication in form of working groups and discussion forums.

ITC’s Model Website “SupportNet” will be delivered as a full implementation pack on CD ROM. The Website only needs to be adapted to the institution’s corporate design and filled with the respective content. Please contract Mr. Ian Sayers at the International Trade Centre for more details (mailto:Sayers@Intracen.org , telephone: +41-22-7300-260).

Websites are hosted with an Internet Service Provider (ISP). This means the application (= software containing your Web site) is not running on a computer in your institution. It will be saved, updated and maintained on a server of the ISP. ISP’s distinguish between dedicated server and shared server. “Dedicated server” means that the institution leases or buys a server for its own. This makes only sense if your Web site contains big and/or complex databases and therefore needs a lot of memory. “Shared server” means that the Web site is put on a server together with many other Web sites and software applications running on the Internet. This solution is cheaper and in most cases sufficient for the Web sites of support institutions.

The Internet Service Provider should offer the institution other important services, like making back-ups of the Web site which means that every day the Web site and all attached documents and databases are saved on a disk. The disk is safely stored in case the server breaks down or is attacked by viruses. ISP’s also compile monthly user statistics (standard reports on number and characteristics of visitors, software problems, download performance, etc.) and manage the domain name in order to prevent steeling and abuse of it.

Requirements and specifications for a contract with an ISP can be seen in the attached sample.

Questions you should ask your ISP can be taken from the checklist

Source: 501Click Corporation

c)    E-mail newsletter

E-mail newsletters are brief emails that inform a group of interested people about the latest news of your institution’s activities. E-mail newsletters are a form of direct marketing as they help to establish an ongoing relationship with your (potential) clients and members. Ensure that they contain Web links that lead the reader to your Website and/or press releases, etc on a regular basis.

Keep a database of all clients’, members’ and potential clients’ email addresses and send the email newsletter to them. Give them the opportunity to unsubscribe the newsletter. Allow on your Web site for subscription to the newsletter, like for example on the ITC’s model Web site “SupportNet”.

E-mail newsletters can also be used for specific target group(s). See also “direct marketing" on how to write direct mail and induce your target group to react on your message.

d)    Participation in online discussions and newsgroups

The support institution might think about participating in online discussion of well known organisers in the professional field in order to extend its PR outreach. The participation in e-discussions and conferences proves that the institution keeps up-to-date with technology and innovation. Furthermore, the discussion contributions might be put open to public and therefore again contribute to the visibility of the institution’s work. Discussion participants could also become interesting prospects or sales leads.

e)    Internet advertisement

The effectiveness of Internet advertisements in the form of banners, pup ups, mass emails (“spam”) and others is widely discussed. Given the overflow of ads and “spam”, these are more and more neglected by the users. E-mail services like yahoo, hotmail and others already provide the possibility to automatically store mass emails in a separate bulk mail or spam folder.

As stated before, promotion is most effective if it focuses on the benefits for the target group(s) and decision taker(s). Therefore, untargeted mass advertising does not make sense for professional support institutions that normally have smaller and clearly defined target groups. The guide proposes to focus more on direct marketing measures, like e-mail newsletters, direct mail, membership, etc.

If you use Internet advertisements for your products and services they should be posted in areas that are often frequented by the target group(s) and that contain quality information. For example, post ads on new training courses on your own Web site and on sites dealing with offers of professional training in your area. Advertise your services and products on the Web sites of your partners or alliances (like universities, industry associations, other professional support institutions in neighbouring countries, etc.).

Whenever you want to post an advertisement consider the “how to” described under “Advertisements ” in this guide.