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

48 BUSINESS-TO-BUSINESS INTERNET MARKETING
chosen, ideally using the same or similar sources as for the direct mail
campaign. The Web response form should be designed for the campaign
specifically to qualify respondents. E-mail should not be broadcast to
individuals who do not want it but rather targeted to prospects who
demonstrate an interest in the product and gave permission to communicate
with them via e-mail.
When you use the Internet in the same careful, precise, and efficient
way as you use direct mail or telemarketing, it becomes Internet direct
marketing.
Internet direct marketing can be targeted, tested, controlled,
and measured—just like direct mail marketing.
Because of the current economics of Internet usage, Internet direct
marketing can be even more cost-effective than traditional direct mail
lead generation. After all, there are no materials or postage costs.
There is an added bonus to Internet direct marketing: There is nothing
to physically produce, so your production timeline is compressed.
Instead of waiting to print and mail something, you can get on the Internet
very fast, and you can make modifications to programs just as fast.
That means you can see the results of your efforts quickly as well.
Although the Internet can be proven to enhance the traditional media
used in your lead generation programs, it is probably premature to
assume that the Internet can replace direct mail or telemarketing entirely.
For one thing, the Internet is not yet a precision medium for targeting.
It has not reached the level of maturity of direct mail in terms of
your ability to hone a prospect list by using key criteria to select exactly
the right individuals for a mailing program.
In addition, access to individual names and titles via the Internet is
problematic. As you will see in Chapter 3, prospecting via the Internet
presents a whole set of unique challenges to the b-to-b marketer.
You must also consider the fact that Internet lead generation and
qualification is still not mature as a marketing practice. Some target
audiences may be comfortable with it; others may not. The acceptance
of the Internet as a means of self-qualification will vary from
prospect to prospect. Nevertheless, augmenting traditional lead generation
media with the Internet is something successful b-to-b marketers
are doing today.