Awareness – Interest – Evaluation – Trial – Adoption – internalization

Concept of diffusion process: a communications model that consists of 4 elements:

- the innovation

- communications channel

- time

- social system: innovation is spreading

The concept shows a process that is normally distributed around a population mean.

Pervasive computing: this concept implies that a single person has access to myriad computing devices to assist in performing all sorts of daily tasks. According IBM, pervasive computing aims to enable people to accomplish an increasing number of personal and professional transactions using a new class of intelligent and portable devices.

Marketers must seize the opportunities presented by the changing technological environment and develop new products and services that successfully take advantage of it.

Strategic drivers:

- context: providing necessary information when and where the customer needs or wants it.  Localization: through various geographic systems, the location of the user can be identified and information specific to that location can be provided.  Personalization: the customer can select the type of information desired but also the frequency of information of information provision.

- time sensitive: information must be provided at the time appropriate to the customer.

- high value: the coupon will have to have a reasonable value in order to make it welcome in the wireless context.

- voice activation: solution for mobile devices and driving.

- one-click payment mechanisms: a system in which payment is easily and securely authorized and billed to a single account will be necessary to enable frequent use of m-commerce services.

- security: users must be assured that data transmissions are secure. and authentication services must be provided in a way that is suitable for the devices.

- privacy:  protecting personal data; providers of content and services will have to be sensitive to download times, lack of storage, and the fact that users are paying for airtime.

- expanded permission marketing: marketers must find out what kind of information consumers are willing to receive, how often they are willing to receive transmissions, and where they are willing to receive it.

Data (qualitative or quantitative; raw, unprocessed) – analyze – information (in a form useful to decision makers) – combine with expertise – knowledge (to make workers more productive and automate systems)

Knowledge management in Marketing:  marketers are interested in a narrower set of activities that focus on integrating front-and-back-office services and delivering information to customer service personnel and decision makers when and where they need it.

Customer data into usable knowledge:

- to enable human agents to do their work better, faster, and in a way that provides maximum customer satisfaction

- to create automated systems that perform at least as well as the most skilled human agent

Create knowledge from information – incorporate tacit knowledge.

Traffic data describes activity on the site.  These data include metrics such as the number of visitors, sessions, and page views.

Hit counter is a piece of software inserted onto a web site that measures the number of visits to the site.  An html code placed on each page that the owner wants to measure, shows  the number of page views, return visits and unique visitors.

server log files: each time a browser requests a file in order to build a web page, it generates an entry in the server request log; a hit is counted for each file on the page. “server side”

coded pages: a new method of collecting data.  The tag is part of the page requested by and served to the user’s browser.  The file is than send back to the server.  works with cookies. “user’s side”

Coded pages “user’s side”:

- works with cookies

- data more accurate

- real time processing and viewing of site metrics

- uses cache web pages, allowing them to be recalled without going back onto the internet

Server logs “server side”

- data must be transferred to a separate analytics system for batch processing; made available quickly but not in real time.

Panel data: generates site effectiveness

1st step is to recruit a statistically representative panel of internet users who agree to participate in data collection.  The size of panel is determined by traditional statistical criteria.  Specialized software is downloaded onto the participants computer to record the clickstream data.  The software is polled out regular intervals to upload the data.

3 main benefits:

- source data is unambiguous

- a person who uses the internet from both home and work is two separate people according to server logs, but carefully planned and maintained panel data can overcome this issue.

- the measurement firm can collect demographic and behavioral data from the panel households that can be very useful in reporting analytics.

Traffic measures document site activity:

- hits: the number of files requested

- impressions: the number of times an ad banner is requested by a browser

- page views or deliveries: the number of times a web page is requested

- sessions: the amount of activity on a site during a specified period

- click-throughs: the number of times visitors come to the site by clicking on an ad

Traffic always implies general information about the site activity while audience always implies information about the demographics and behaviors of visitors to the site.

Audience measures provide data about the people who visit the site; visitors: the number of people who visit a website

- total (include multiple visits) or unique (different people) during a specified time frame

- unidentified  (anonymous) or identified (registered or customer)

Unduplicated audience: the visitors that unique to a website

Behavior on the site

- number of page views

- session time

- path through the site

- shopping cart abandonment

- entry page (many visitors do not enter through the home page)

Campaign measures provide data about the effectiveness of marketing efforts

- by communications channel: email, mail, online banners

- by offer: free shipping versus 25% off, for example

- search effectiveness by keyword

Report Dashboard – customizable display of summary data on a computer screen. Because the summary data are always present on the specified screen, it prevents the user from having to activate a function or program or visit another Website to obtain data.

Marketing Campaign Reports – Marketers are able to select reports to view. They have the option of viewing any day, week, or month. They can also compare two reports to each other.

Browser-Based Reports – Users subscribe to the service, enter the page in the site and data will be displayed. The data that are overlayed on the page represent the percentage of visitors who see the page, how much time they spend, where they came from, and where they go when they exit the page.

Path-Analysis – Shows the paths that consumers go on. Shows when the consumer returns back to the home page, or backtracks, means that they are experiencing navigational problems. Or when they are exiting the site, they may still be looking for the product they want.

Segmentation by Behavior and Channel – Being able to segment visitors by their behavior pattern or by information provided by the visitor.

Identify – Differentiate – Interact – Customize

Foundations of CRM:

- marketing

- sales force automation

- customer service

Transactional marketing: is centered around products and single economic exchages

relational marketing: focus shifts to customers and their relationships cycles with the organization.

Customer Service

Customer service evolution:

- live customer service, e.g. telephone call centers

- web-enabled customer service: with live assistance, automated

- anticipatory customer service: before the customer even asks , perhaps even before the customer is aware of needing it, the aim is to prevent problems, not just resolve them once they occur. (rules-based automation, push technology that allows preselected data to be distributed to the user’s computer at the preselected time intervals.)

Pillars of strategic customer care:

Stage 1: profiling customers

Stage 2: Segmenting customers, understanding customers’ specific needs

Stage 3: investing in technology that delivers solutions, a\managing customers in a consistent manner

John McAteer, industry director of retail at google, says that the majority of its business will continue to involve supporting physical store sales.  He states that any retailer makes 92% of their revenue from the brick-and-mortar channel.   The highlight of this article is how online marketing for retailers can have an in-store success. According to McAteer as retailers start to figure things out, they will most likely spend more of their marketing money online.

 http://www.emarketer.com/Article.aspx?id…

According to the article this segment goes online primarily to seek for information.  Marketers can now reach more people between the ages of 32 and 43.   They like to express themselves through blogs and social networks and speak about their interests such as, shopping, parenting and news.

link:

 http://www.emarketer.com/Article.aspx?id…

According to the article, Toyota is trying to do two things: influence their parents’ car purchases and maybe grow up with some Toyota brand loyalty.  According to Toyota the promotion was working:

• ten days into the campaign visitors to the site had used the word “Scion” in online chats more than 78,000 times
• hundreds of virtual Scions were purchased, using “clams,” the currency of Whyville
• the community meeting place “Club Scion” was visited 33,741 times

Scion owners customized their cars, drove around the virtual Whyville and picked up their friends for a ride.

This is a great example on how online communities are used for marketers to advertise their products.

Article URL: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/14/busine…

Whyville URL: http://whyville.net/smmk/nice

Image from article:

I made my own character:

• Context
• Community
• Customization
• Communication
• Connection
• Commerce

Context: the look and feel of a screen to face customer interface.

• Dimensions of context: functions and aesthetics
• Function: Factors critical in site layout- section breakdown, linking structure and navigational tools.  Performance of site: speed, reliability , platform independence, media accessibility and usability.
• Aesthetics: color scheme and visual themes

Content refers to any digital information included on a website, e.g. audio, video, images and text. Dimensions of context: offering mix, appeal mix, multimedia mix, and content type.

Sense of community can encourage customers to return to a website primarily because- community can create attractive content, community can make certain activities possible or easier, thus satisfying needs not attainable individually.

Customization: to better address individual needs, a site can be altered by the user or by the organization. Dimensions of customization: Personalization and Tailoring.  Personalization login registration, cookies, personalized email account, content and layout configurations, storage and agents. Tailoring based on past behavior or behavior of other users with similar preferences.

Communication refers to the dialogue that is initated by the firm.  Dimensions of communication :

1. Broadcast: mass mailings, FAQ’s, email newsletters, content update notifications, broadcast events
2. Interactive: e-commerce dialogue, customer service, user input
3. Hybrid: combination of broadcast and interactive

Connection is the degree to which a given site is able to “link” to other sites through a hypertext jump, or hyperlink, from one webpage to another.

Dimensions of connection:

• Links to sites
• homesite background
• outsourced content
• percentage of homesite content
• pathway of connection

Commerce capabilities are those features of the customer interface that support the various aspects of trading transactions.

Dimensions of commerce:

• registration
• shopping cart
• security
• credit card approval
• one-click shopping
• orders through affiliates
• configuration technology
• order tracking
• delivery options

In order not to be considered a spammer, the marketer must obtain permission from the customer or prospect before sending an email.  4 levels of permission:

1. Opt-out: the visitor did not refuse to receive further communications from the marketer.  This is an improvement over spam, but it does not represent a high level of commitment on the part of the visitor.  Email address are often collected via registration forms. (don’t send anything)
2. Opt-in: visitors have actively chosen to receive further communications, usually checking a box on a registration form.
3. Double opt-in: is a technique by which visitors agree to receive further communications, and are then sent an email asking them to confirm their consent by replying to the email.
4. Confirmed opt-in: is somewhere in between opt-in and double opt-in.  The visitor actively acquiesces to receiving email, he or she is sent a follow up email confirming permission, no reply is required.

Basics of Email Marketing

1. Gather customer data
2. desire customer insight
3. suggest proactive action
4. evaluate response

Critical Email Principles

R: relevance, respect, recipient control

• Relevance: all content should be applicable to the recipients needs and lifestyle
• Respect: relevant content cannot be generated without in-dept information about the recipient.  In order to get information and keep the trust of the recipient, the sender of emails must guard data from unwarranted and frivolous use
• Recipient control: go beyond obtaining permission, make the recipient an active partner in deciding what content he/she wants to receive and how often.

• Awareness: content or products can be obtained via the internet.
• Search Behavior: Goal oriented- user has an objective, such as task completion or pre-purchase deliberation.  Experiential- not task oriented but are guided by the process itself, such as building an information bank, opinion leadership and recreation.
• Task Completion: Content/Information Acquisition, Purchase, Abandonment.  One successful outcome of the consumer behavior process as acquiring info, whereas in the physical world, we define it only as purchase. In the internet environment, it is wise to define a single purchase only as an intermediate step. A successful outcome from the marketer’s perspective is not achieved until the user becomes a repeat user or, better, a loyal customer. Abandonment of virtual shopping carts is an aspect of online purchasing activities that has received considerable attention. Two reasons that recur in research on cart abandonment is difficulty in using the website and shipping and handling costs.
• Repeat Visit: Occasional; Frequent
• Use/Consumption Behavior: Consumption of info does not destroy the info in question as consumption of a physical product does.  On the internet, useful info is often shared with a group of friends, or colleagues, thereby increasing its value.
• Loyalty: Is most often measured by repeat purchases in the physical world, we can add frequent visitors to the site in internet space as a behavioral measure of loyalty.

Internet User Segments

Demographic: Teens spend much more of their internet time communicating with peers through instant messaging, blogs, and social networking sites.  They see email as a way to communicate with adults.  They play games, get news, make purchases, and get health info, they are heavy consumers of music and related merchandise.  Seniors- less than one third of people older than 65 have ever gone online.  Health info is popular among them.

Digital Divide- the manifestation of the gap in technology access between the rich and poor. The Dept. of Commerce did tracking studies of the demographic characteristics that described access, or lack thereof to the internet.  Chief variables tended to be age, income, education and rural/urban residence.   As internet has gone mainstream and prices for technology have decreased, the income gap in internet access has tended to disappear.  Most people who want access to the internet can get it in most developed nations.  The real gap now is between those who have broadband access and those who do not.

Internet Consumer Data

Customer interactions data like response to an email campaign, although not unique to the web, has achieved great importance there and can be collected by the enterprise or by the supplier of the service (eg. an email marketing supplier).  All data must be incorporated into the central database or data warehouse if marketing programs are to be successful, this provides a “360 degree view of the customer.”

Online data capture is the natural evolution of the database marketing practiced by direct marketers.  It has been expanded and modified by the capabilities of the web. The marketer’s need for information about consumer behavior on the internet be completely satisfied by publicly available data.  This causes marketers to turn to their own data collection, either by means of online marketing research or by online capture of data about consumer use of the internet and of the marketer’s own web site and the capture of data generated by transactions and by customer interactions with the enterprise.  (online data capture is data generated by transactions and customer interactions with the enterprise.)

Online marketing research is comparatively quick and low in cost.  The speed and quality of data preparation and analytics can also be greatly improved.  The quality of results can also be enhanced by the use of techniques unique to the web, such as computerized product renderings ans the use of streaming media to present promotional material.