Business-to-Business Internet Marketing, Fourth Edition - Lifecycle ...

The Age of the “e” 27
– Is your Web site capable of order entry, processing, and tracking?
– Do you have a marketing database that can be integrated with
the Internet? Have you started to use database-driven Internet
marketing?
– Is your organization planning investments to make all of this
happen?
2. Make the move to Internet direct marketing. Do not let the assessment
process deter you. Understand your current state of readiness
and recognize where you are today—and where you will
need to be soon. Study what your competitors are doing and make
sure you are keeping up or, better yet, at least a step ahead of
them. Integrate the Internet with your use of traditional media
and conventional direct marketing. This book will help you understand
how to do that by showing you successful strategies and
tactics used by other b-to-b marketers.
3. Prepare your management for the Internet-dominated future. The
Internet has already captured top-of-mind awareness among senior
management at many companies. Make sure your company
is one of them. Help your management prepare for the electronic
future by sharing Internet direct marketing information from authoritative
sources. Don’t let the dot-com disasters color your
organization’s long-term strategy. There has certainly been some
fallout, but the Internet will continue to have a permanent impact
on marketing and business. You can’t afford to be left behind.
4. Develop an Internet marketing action plan. If you are in a position
to do so, participate on or chair a committee in your organization
that is charged with developing an implementation plan
for using the Internet as a strategic marketing tool. You may find
that there is an even larger issue—using the Internet as a strategic
business tool, and even becoming an e-business. If management
is already on that course, so much the better. Then Internet marketing
and electronic commerce can be positioned as a logical
subset of your organization’s e-business plan.