Marketing Management, Millenium Edition - epiheirimatikotita.gr

328 CHAPTER 17 MANAGING DIRECT AND ON-LINE MARKETINGDespite the ubiquity of banner ads, the “click-through rate” (the number ofusers who click on an ad to get more information) has plummeted below 1 percent.However, users who don’t click may still see and absorb the banner ad message, notesChristopher Escher of Talk City (www.talkcity.com), an on-line community site: “Ourfocus groups tell us that people see our banner ads. Sometimes they click. Sometimesthey don’t. But the banner ads make them more likely to visit at another time.” 23Accustomed to measurement techniques for traditional media, advertisers want bettermeasures of on-line advertising impact. For now, Web advertising is playing a supportingrole in the promotion mixes of most advertisers. 24Forums, Newsgroups, Bulletin Boards, and Web CommunitiesOn-line buyers increasingly create product information, not just consume it. They participatein Internet interest groups to share product-related information, with theresult that “word of Web” is joining “word of mouth” as an important buying influence.To benefit from this trend, companies may participate in or sponsor Internet forums,newsgroups, and bulletin boards that appeal to special interest groups.Forums are discussion groups that are usually located on commercial on-line services.A forum may operate a library, a “chat room” for real-time message exchanges,and even a classified ad directory. Some firms are adding proprietary chat roomswhere visitors can go to discuss that company’s offerings or interact with customer servicereps. IGoGolf.com (www.igogolf.com), for example, made a $12,000 sale after acustomer (who logged onto the U.S. site from Egypt) chatted with a customer servicerep who recommended the right golf equipment. 25Newsgroups, the Internet version of forums, are limited to people who post andread messages on a specified topic. Thousands of newsgroups deal with every imaginabletopic: healthy eating, caring for Bonsai trees, exchanging views about the latestsoap opera happenings.Bulletin board systems (BBSs) are specialized on-line services that center on a specifictopic or group. Over 60,000 BBSs deal with numerous topics, such as vacationsand hobbies. Marketers that participate in newsgroups and BBSs must take care toavoid a commercial tone in their messages.Web communities are commercially sponsored Web sites where members congregateon-line and exchange views on issues of common interest. One such communityis Agriculture Online (www.agriculture.com), where farmers and others can find commodityprices, recent farm news, and chat rooms of all types.E-mailThe most targeted method a company can use to communicate directly with prospectsand customers is via e-mail. Using inbound e-mail, the firm can invite people to e-mailthe firm with questions, suggestions, and even complaints so customer service reps canrespond and cultivate the relationship. E-savvy companies also develop Internet-basedelectronic mailing lists for outbound e-mail, sending out customer newsletters, specialproduct or promotion offers based on purchasing histories, reminders of servicerequirements or warranty renewals, and announcements of special events.However, in using e-mail as a direct-marketing vehicle, companies must be extracareful not to develop a reputation as a “spammer.” Spam is the term for unsolicited e-mail. Consumers who are accustomed to receiving junk mail in their real mailboxesare often enraged to find unsolicited marketing pitches in their e-mail boxes. In fact,several states, as well as the federal government, have proposed legislation to limit orprohibit spam broadcasting.