Internet marketing

1. The role of branding in marketing the promises a company makes for its consum
ers through its branding image A logo or brand stands for your business and conn
ects your product with the consumer. Your brand is an asset and should be treat
ed as such. The creation of a brand is far more demanding than a simple naming
me. Using a brand is known to Represent your business professionally

ga

Stay in the memory of the target audience

Inspire customer confidence
Every brand, like every person and business, has a unique personality. No two b
rands can have the same personality. A brand must
Invent its own style of communication
Prove its difference (why is this product better than competitor) Regularly inve
st in communications
A brand requires a promise to the consumer that holds true to the experience it
can reliably deliver consistent quality excellence, great customer experience et
c. A brand promise is the commitment to deliver made between that brand and its
audience. It s made, of course, in order to encourage that audience to buy. Ultima
tely of course a promise lives or dies on whether it is believed and delivered o
n no surprises there
but the promise itself is shaped by a range of factors: the
nature of the offering; the capabilities and capacity of the brand; the rival p
romises of competitors. What s often overlooked is that the character of the promi
se itself changes depending on the sector. Let me give an extreme example: a ret
ail-style promise made by a professional services firm would fail. Imagine if a
patent attorney promised her customers that they would love how our intellectual
property advice makes you feel . Sure, it s hardly a distinctive promise anyway, but
clients would be laughing all the way to the door. (Equally, a professional ser
vices firm s approach applied to selling domestic vacuum cleaners would be awkward
to say the least.) That s because the style and nature of the promise and the com
mitment itself needs to align directly with the priorities of, and influences on
, the decision maker. And that to my mind is where too many brand promises go wr
ong. They overlook how different the decision making processes are. Each process
, and the factors that drive it, should decide the premise of the promise. Busin
ess to consumer promises are most effective when they focus on excitement. Thoug
h the excitement factor itself may differ, retail brands and luxury marques gene
rally make promises intended to make the pulses of buyers quicken
be that becaus
e buyers believe they re getting a bargain, or they love the way something sounds
or looks. The promises of retail brands, for the most part, need a high level of
feel-good to be effective. Brands from Coke to Rolex understand this only too wel
l. Very, very different promises
but the goal sentiment is to raise interest. A
brand making a business-to-business promise must focus on the key priority for t
hat audience which is maximized value. Often the promise that best addresses tha
t need is one focused on minimizing risk. Again, the promise aligns with the dec
ision process. While for consumers, the decision driver is often one of spontane
ity and thrill, for a business audience, the key drivers in evaluating a promise
are around fulfilling business needs and representing an acceptable risk to the
business model. Reputations, personal and corporate, are at stake along with do
llars. For that reason, the B2B promise needs to revolve around reassurance
the
work will be delivered and the results will have both a positive bottom line imp
act and also help boost reputation.
5 steps of brand building
Customers experience your brand in numerous ways: products, packaging, price, ma
rketing, sales personnel, etc. Each of these contacts or touchpoints molds the c
ustomer's impression of the brand. Some of these touchpoints are obvious, like p
roduct performance, and one-on-one customer interactions. Other touchpoints, suc
h as the product manual, monthly statements or post-sales support, may be subtle
r in their brand effects. Your brand image creates expectations. It defines who

you are, how you operate, and how you're different from your competitors. In ess
ence, your brand image is a promise - a promise that must be kept. If the brand
is a promise you make, then the customer experience is the fulfillment of that p
romise. The customer experience can't be left to chance. It should be actively d
esigned and controlled in a manner that enhances your brand image. It must consi
stently reinforce the brand promise across every customer touchpoint or the valu
e of the brand itself is at risk. Here are five easy steps to building a strong
brand and an optimized customer experience: 1. Identify your reasons-to-believe.
Your brand promise is irrelevant if your customers do not believe it. Therefore,
your promise must be supported by reasons-to-believe. This will automatically a
dd substance to the promise and define specific expectations for the customer. F
or example, an automobile manufacturer promises potential customers that Car XYZ
is an "intelligent choice for serious drivers." What makes it an intelligent ch
oice? Why should the customer believe this promise? To address this question eff
ectively, the manufacturer could frame its promise with two reasons-to-believe..
. sporty performance and safety. These two reasons in essence define "intelligen
t choice" and clearly set customer expectations. They also give the company spec
ific direction for designing the customer experience through tangible customer t
ouchpoints like vehicle design features, advertising campaigns, dealer sales app
roaches, and customer service activities. 2. Identify customer touchpoints.
Each individual step in your business process contains a number of touchpoints w
hen the customer comes in contact with your brand. Your ultimate goal is to have
each touchpoint reinforce and fulfill your marketplace promise. Walk through yo
ur commercial processes. How do you generate customer demand? How are products s
old? How do your customers use your products? How do you provide after-sales sup
port? This comprehensive trace of your marketing, selling, and servicing process
es allows you to create a simple touchpoint map that defines your customers' exp
eriences with your brand. 3. Determine the most influential touchpoints.
All touchpoints are not created equal. Some will naturally play a larger role in
determining your company's overall customer experience. For example, if your pr
oduct is ice cream, taste is typically more important than package design. Both
are touchpoints, but each has a different effect on our customers experiences as
a whole. To determine the touchpoints driving your customers' overall experience
, your organization can use a wide array of techniques ranging from quantitative
research to institutional knowledge. The methods you use will depend on the com
plexity of your products, commercial processes, and your existing knowledge base
. 4. Design the optimal experience.
Once you have completed the above three steps to building a brand, you should be
able to design your optimal customer experience. Here's how:
Determine how to express each reason-to-believe at each key touchpoint. For exam
ple, how can you reinforce sporty performance (a reason-to-believe) in product d
esign, at the dealership, and in marketing campaigns (the influential touchpoint
s)? 5. Align the organization to consistently deliver the optimal experience. A
holistic approach to aligning your organization to consistently deliver the opti
mal experience is essential. Identify the people, processes, and tools that driv
e each key touchpoint. Look beyond employees that have direct contact with your
customers. The impacts of behind-the-scenes employees are less obvious but no le
ss important. Similarly, the impact of workflow processes and tools (i.e. techno
logy systems) on the customer experience may be less intuitive but crucial to co
nsistent delivery. Identify which activities don't align with your envisioned cu
stomer experience. Determine how to address them so that these components can be
brought into alignment. The Final Word
Every product or service you bring to market yields a customer experience. Is it
the experience you intend? Does that experience fulfill the promise you've made
to the marketplace? By identifying the people, processes, and tools that drive

your customer experience, you can actively design and control your own, unique,
optimized experience. The brand promise you make to the marketplace will be kept
day in and day out across every key customer touchpoint, building a strong bran
d.
2. The role of internet and digital media for promotional channels such as adver
tising and PR. The Internet and information technology have dramatically changed
the environment for business. Marketers new ability to convert all types of comm
unications into digital media has created efficient, inexpensive ways of connect
ing businesses and consumers and has improved the flow and the usefulness of inf
ormation. Businesses have the information they need to make more informed decisi
ons, and consumers have access to a greater variety of products and more informa
tion about choices and quality. The defining characteristic of information techn
ology in the 21st century is accelerating change. New systems and applications a
dvance so rapidly that it is almost impossible to keep up with the latest develo
pments. Startup companies emerge that quickly overtake existing approaches to di
gital media. When Google first arrived on the scene, a number of search engines
were fighting for dominance. With its fast, easy-to-use search engine, Google be
came number one and is now challenging many industries, including advertising, n
ewspapers, mobile phones, and book publishing. Despite its victory, Google is co
nstantly being challenged itself by competitors like Yahoo! and Baidu. Baidu is
gaining ground with 75 percent of the Chinese search engine market. Baidu has al
so announced it will create its own mobile technology to challenge Google s more t
han 40 percent market share in mobile operating systems in China. 3 Social netwo
rking continues to advance as the channel most observers believe will dominate d
igital communication in the near future. Today, people spend more time on social
networking sites, such as Facebook, than they spend on e-mail.
Digital media are electronic media that function using digital codes
Di
gital marketing uses digital media to develop communications and exchanges with
customers
Electronic marketing, or e-marketing, refers to the strategic p
rocess of distributing, promoting, pricing products, and discovering the desires
of customers using digital media and digital marketing.
Social networks
are meeting places where users connect with one another by creating profiles an
d searching networks for people to add as friends or followers.
The Intern
et allows marketers to communicate with consumers, reach new markets, and target
markets more precisely. 1.
It is important that marketers incorporate
multiple digital media into their marketing strategies. 2.
It is a grow
ing area that is quickly changing.
The most important benefit of e-mark
eting is the ability of marketers and consumers to share information. The Intern
et has changed how marketers communicate with consumers, suppliers, and employee
s.
Digital marketing is essential, for many businesses, in attaining and
retaining a competitive advantage.
Advertising
Advertising is a means of communication to a target audience using mostly paid m
edia such as television, radio, the Internet and print publications. Successful
advertising programs include themes that communicate company mission, branding a
nd services as well as specific product information. The media for advertising a
re chosen based on what market research has identified as the most successful wa
y of reaching a target audience and the financial resources that can be applied
to advertising based on the marketing budget. Public Relations
Public relations is a communication method used by businesses to convey a positi
ve image to a target audience and the general public. Public relations methods c
an include press releases, community involvement and speaking at public forums o
n issues important to a target audience. Small companies with small advertising
budgets can use public relations as an inexpensive medium to establish the compa
ny name and communicate a brand image. Successful public relations programs high
light company accomplishments and positive contributions to community. The formu

lation of the digital marketing plan is likely to be informed by four signi

d interdependent elements.48

cant an

1 Strategic alignment of digital promotional activities with corporate, marketin

g and marketing communication strategies is important as it should ensure develo
pment of a potentially successful digital marketing plan. This process should al
so help de ne the purpose of the digital marketing activities.
2 The value proposition should emphasize the unique advantages created by the us
e of digital technologies for example, choice (amazon.com offers the world s wides
t and deepest range of books at very low prices), convenience (tesco.com offers
round-the-clock shopping), community (Facebook brings people together around the
world). The value proposition created through the relative advantage afforded b
y digital technologies should reinforce core brand values and be clearly articul
ated to target audiences. It will also determine the extent to which organizatio
nal change is required. 3 Organizational change is likely if the digital marketi
ng plan is to be delivered successfully. A good example to consider is how retai
lers like Tesco and Sainsbury s have developed unique logistical solutions to supp
ort online ordering. E-commerce initiatives can involve applying a wide range of
digital technologies: Internet, EDI, email, electronic payment systems, advance
d telephone systems, mobile and handheld digital appliances, interactive televis
ion, self-service kiosks and smart cards. Consequently, utilizing such technolog
ies may require signi cant changes to operations and working practices in order to
ensure that the right skill sets (capabilities) and resources are available when
required.
4 Implementation of the plan should be executed in a timely manner. Additionally
, the success of the digital marketing plan is likely to be affected by senior m
anagement commitment, availability of appropriate resources and the appropriaten
ess of the strategic vision that is guiding the implementation. The signi cance of
the digital marketing plan for a company s overall strategy will also largely be d
ependent upon levels of technology adoption, investment and integration.
In addition, analysis of the environment should take place in order to determine
the likely relevance of digital marketing. When assessing a target audience the
following information will be useful.49
1 Customer connectivity: the proportion of the target markets that has access to
relevant technologies.
2 Customer channel usage: how often target market participants use online channe
ls and how they use the particular digital channel/platform (e.g. purchase or re
search?). For instance, for each customer segment and digital channel (e.g. Inte
rnet, interactive digital TV or mobile), a company should know the proportion of
the target market that: makes use of and has access to a particular channel
browses and, as a result, is in uenced by using the channel for pre-purchase resear
ch and evaluation
buys through the particular channel.
3 Online media consumption: how many hours each week are spent using the Interne
t in comparison with traditional media such as watching TV, reading newspapers o
r magazines, or listening to the radio?
3.How can your website support the inbound telemarketing efforts of your company
?
Inbound Telemarketing
When we become an extension of your company! Call Center and Telemarketing Solutio
ns by OceanConnects Customised Telemarketing Solutions
How we use inbound telemarketing for your business
IVR (Interactive Voice Response) interactive set of menu options directing calle

rs to the appropriate department so they can have their queries handled faster a
nd more accurately Live Answering Service: we take the calls when you cannot, so
that no calls are left unanswered, no client is greeted by a voicemail and so t
hat you receive all messages accurately and completely Customer Service- taking
care of your customers before, during and after the purchasing of a product or s
erviceOrder taking:whenever a customer visits your website, comes across your br
ochure, hears or sees your add, making a phone call is often the first choice fo
r contacting you. This allows the customer to speak to a live person and receive
the required information and clarification about the product.Answering calls ge
nerated by direct response television / radio / newspaper advertising campaigns
Catalogue or Information Requests: tell us how you want your calls answered. We
will just need you to provide us with information about your company and product
s and our agents will familiarize themselves with all you want your customers to
know. Event and Conference Registration: if your organizing an event or a confe
rence, not only can we assist you in promoting the event, but we can also provid
e Live Agent Registration. This way, in addition to registering, the registrants
can also ask for more information. Managing complaints
effective complaint mana
gement and problem resolution process allows organizations to obtain customer fe
edback and data, which is then used to: - improve the services/products
- increase customer satisfaction and loyalty
- increase profits
Customer service and support solutions it is common knowledge that retaining a c
ustomer is much more profitable than finding a new customer, make sure they are
well looked after. We can provide your company with both contact centre and help
desk support solutions so that you can rest assured that all customer issues and
queries are dealt with in real time and professionally. Competition line
have y
ou launched a competition or are you planning to and need assistance handling al
l calls and/or gathering entering details from participants? We have the knowled
ge and skills to take this task on and deliver accurate information back to you.
Breakdown service if your employees need to be on call 24/7 to rapidly assist y
our customers when they call your number, we could save you the trouble of havin
g one person in the office just waiting for a call to come in. How can we do tha
t? Because we are in the office at all times passing on your customer s message to
your on call employees so that your company can do its job. Once the task is comp
leted just let us know and we fill in the report and have it sent to you. Afterhours call handling
when people call your company after hours looking for inform
ation about your services and there is no one there to answer to phone your comp
any could be missing out on potential business opportunities. Why take that chan
ce when you could make the most of every opportunity? We would be delighted to l
earn everything about your company and products so that we can pass that informa
tion on to your prospective clients! will support your customer acquisition effo
rt by verifying all information captured and communicated relevant to your servi
ce offerings...while your customer is on the phone! We custom tailor programs to
meet and exceed client objectives. Our order taking system allows AMERITEL to c
ustom script your program with logical call progression and work from your datab
ase to look up customer information and update accordingly. Our system effective
ly facilitates even the most complex up sell, cross sell, and special offer init
iatives. Accurate totals with applicable shipping and handling and taxes can be
communicated. AMERITEL records all calls taken for quality assurance purposes.
4. How can your database support your one to one marketing efforts on the intern
et? One-to-one marketing. One-to-few or one-to-one communications with individua
lized message and medium for each highly targeted market or individual customer.
There are four key steps for putting a one-to-one marketing program to work: Ide
ntifying your customers. To launch a one-to-one initiative, your company must be
able to locate and contact a fair number of its customers directly, or at least
a substantial portion of its most valuable customers. It's critical to know cus
tomers in as much detail as possible: not just their names and addressable chara

cteristics(such as addresses, phone numbers, or account codes), but their habits

, preferences, and so forth. And not just a snapshot - a one time questionnaire.
You need to recognize the customer at every contact point, I n every medium use
d, at every location, and within every division of your company, no matter which
product line is involved. Remember, however, that the "customers" who benefit f
rom your one-to-one program may not he limited to the end users of your product
or service. If, for example, you are a manufacturer selling to retailers, then y
ou will also want to apply the principles of one-to-one marketing to create bett
er relationships with your channel members and other intermediaries in your dema
nd chain. Differentiating your customers. Broadly speaking, customers are differ
ent in two principal ways: they represent different levels of value and they hav
e different needs. Once you identify your customers, differentiating them will h
elp you to focus your efforts so as to gain the most advantage with the most val
uable customers. You will then be able to tailor your company's behavior to each
customer in order to reflect that customer's value and needs. The degree and ty
pe of differentiation in a company's customer base will also help you decide on
the appropriate strategy for a given business situation. Interacting with your c
ustomers. Improving both the cost-efficiency and the effectiveness of your inter
actions with customers is a critical component of a one-to-one marketing program
. Cost-efficiency improves by directing customer interactions toward more automa
ted and therefore less costly channels. For example, a company that provides hel
pful, up-to-date information at its Web site won't need to spend as much as it o
nce did supporting a more expensive call center. Effectiveness improves by gener
ating timely, relevant information, providing either better insight into a custo
mer's needs or a more accurate picture of a customer's value. Every interaction
with a customer should take place in the context of all previous interactions wi
th that customer. A conversation should pick up where the last one left off, whe
ther the previous interaction occurred last night or last month, at the call cen
ter or on the company Web site. Customizing your enterprise's behavior. Ultimate
ly, to lock a customer into a learning relationship, a company must adapt some a
spect of its behavior to meet that customer's individually expressed needs. This
might mean mass-customizing a manufactured product, or it could involve tailori
ng some aspect of the services surrounding a product-perhaps the way the invoice
is rendered or how the product is packaged. In any case, the production or serv
icedelivery end of your business has to be able to treat a particular customer d
ifferently based on what was learned about that customer by the sales, marketing
, or any other department. In rushing to reap the rewards of relationship market
ing, it's easy for a business to overlook this critical fourth step, leading man
y to misunderstand the entire discipline as simply an excuse for direct mail and
telemarketing.
5. How can a company personalize the interactive web sessions with specific cust
omers
THE PERSONALIZATION VALUE SPACE
When we talk about personalization we assume we are addressing a whole range of
information types and possible values to customers and businesses. For example,
various projects within IBM Research are aimed at "knowing the user" on an indiv
idual level and as a member of some category of users (e.g., expert web user). T
hese efforts include everything from identifying product preferences (through ex
plicit questions), to inferring current goal intention (through gaze or click st
ream), to attempting to identify emotional state (though facial expression Techn
ologies vary in computational complexity, including various rule engines or user
model based calculations. Our research was not aimed specifically at identifyin
g a single "best technique". We do not believe this is a reasonable goal because
our work suggests that (1) the value of techniques to any customer will vary wi
th the role of the customer at any given time, (2) the value of a technique to a
business will depend on the kind of business objectives they have, and (3) ther
e are likely to be interactions between techniques resulting in a package of tec
hniques that would be optimally effective. Our research will explore this Person

alization Value Space (PVS) through an examination of personalization policies (

e.g., permission marketing, levels of identity), feature categories (e.g., colla
borative filtering, click stream analysis), user characteristics (e.g., predispo
sition to trust, interaction goal), and business context (e.g., product offering
, business goals). We believe that the effectiveness of personalization efforts
are a function of these four components (i.e., Effectiveness = f (policy, featur
e, user context, business context)).
This conception of personalization does not stand alone; we view personalization
as closely tied to Privacy and Security research. While Privacy deals essential
ly with users controls over information about themselves, personalization is con
cerned with the value that might be realized by a customer and provider from sha
ring information with one another. In general, Security research has to do with
the confidence that data cannot be compromised or taken by unauthorized sources.
We believe that both Customers and Providers view security as essential to proc
eeding with any interaction between them. Extending this, we view Trust as an im
portant element of the value propositions for both customers and providers in an
y interaction. Customer trust of an e-business develops through their perception
that the data they provide is secure, will be used only as they allow, and prov
ides them value.
Chat Enables Interactive Conversations for Online Customers Many customers initia
l explorations of a brand s product or services occur on the brand s web site. This
is the time for brands to ensure that online visitors receive the support they n
eed and to provide a positive web experience. Chat conversations provide the fol
lowing benefits: Improve customer confidence. Accurate responses to questions enha
nce customers experience and result in a favorable view of the brand by the custo
mer.
Engage customers more fully. Customers often surf the web looking for product info
rmation and services. Interactive sessions keep potential buyers involved, leadi
ng to higher sales and customer satisfaction.
Provide faster response times. Autom
ated web chat provides information directly to customers and deflects traffic fr
om assisted support. This reduces traffic flow and decreases handling times for
those customers who seek assisted support.
Simplify customer experience. The transfer of an automated chat session to a live
chat agent or phone conversation minimizes customer effort and contributes to th
e Customer s Lifetime Value. It makes it easy for customers to receive quality sup
port and results in a positive customer
The three distinctive steps for building online consumer relationships are: Get
Consumers to Come (Pre-Purchase)
Once There, Add Value (Purchase), and
Get Them to Come Back (Post-Purchase)
In any of these three phases, consumers have different objectives, scopes, inten
tions and shopping habits. In order to achieve and build a more efficient online
consumer relationship, a different personalization technique is suggested for e
ach of the three phases described above. The figure below presents a framework o
f understanding for personalization methods complementarities through the variou
s phases of building online consumer relationships as well as the optimum use of
personalization techniques per phase. Figure 1: Building online consumer relati
onships using personalization Techniques
6. How can a company use cloud services to personalize the service experience of
customers? Explain in terms of 3 levels of services of cloud computing?
Cloud computing is Internet-based computing, whereby shared servers provide reso
urces, software, and data to computers and other devices on demand, as with the
electricity grid. Cloud computing is a natural evolution of the widespread adopt

ion of virtualization, service-oriented architecture and utility computing. Deta

ils are abstracted from consumers, who no longer have need for expertise in, or
control over, the technology infrastructure in the cloud that supports them. Cloud
computing describes a new supplement, consumption, and delivery model for IT se
rvices based on the Internet, and it typically involves over-the-Internet provis
ion of dynamically scalable and often virtualized resources. It is a byproduct a
nd consequence of the ease-of-access to remote computing sites provided by the I
nternet. This frequently takes the form of web-based tools or applications that
users can access and use through a web browser as if it were a program installed
locally on their own computer. Cloud Software as a Service (SaaS)--The capabili
ty provided to the consumer is to use the provider s applications running on a clo
ud infrastructure. The applications are accessible from various client devices t
hrough a thin client interface such as a web browser (e.g., web-based email). Th
e consumer does not manage or control the underlying cloud infrastructure includ
ing network, servers, operating systems, storage, or even individual application
capabilities, with the possible exception of provider-defined user-specific app
lication configuration settings Cloud Platform as a Service (PaaS)--The capabili
ty provided to the consumer is to deploy onto the cloud infrastructure consumercreated or acquired applications created using programming languages and tools s
upported by the provider. The consumer does not manage or control the underlying
cloud infrastructure including network, servers, operating systems, or storage,
but has control over the deployed applications and possibly application hosting
environment configurations Cloud Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)--The capabi
lity provided to the consumer is to provision processing, storage, networks, and
other fundamental computing resources where the consumer is able to deploy and
run arbitrary software, which can include operating systems and applications. Th
e consumer does not manage or control the underlying cloud physical infrastructu
re but has control over operating systems, storage, deployed applications, and p
ossibly limited control of select networking components
The idea behind any cloud computing proposal is for you to pay only for what you
use, scaling up or down according tobusiness needs. Vendors supporting cloud co
mputing can interpret this statement differently, providing varying levels of se
rvices to achieve this result. The three approaches to cloud computing are Infra
structure as a Service (IaaS), Software as a Service (SaaS), and Platform as a S
ervice (PaaS). This excerpt from the recent publication Windows Azure Step by St
epwill elaborate.
Infrastructure as a Service
Some vendors provide the infrastructure to build solutions, and you rent the har
dware such as servers, load balancers, a firewall, and cables. You then configur
e these remotely and install your solutions on them. You can scale up by request
ing more servers and reconfiguring the load balancer without purchasing more har
dware. You can scale down at any time by reconfiguring the infrastructure you re
nted from the cloud service provider. This vendor approach is called Infrastruct
ure as a Service (IaaS) because a customer can rent the infrastructure without h
aving to forecast and provision for the highest possible demand in advance. In t
his approach, you are responsible for correctly configuring the rented infrastru
cture.
These are the most important points to remember about IaaS:
The lower levels of the stack are managed by the vendor.
Very few vendors actually provide an operating system. You are still responsible
for managing everything, from the operating system to the applications. The obv
ious benefit of IaaS is that it frees you from the concerns of provisioning many
physical or virtual machines.
Software as a Service

In another approach, you can rent a service offered by the vendor and then confi
gure the service by using the interface provided by the vendor, without having t
o know what infrastructure the vendor uses to provide that service. This approac
h is called Software as a Service (SaaS) because you pay to use defined services
. For example, Microsoft Exchange Online carries a per-mailbox charge. To config
ure it, you use a web application supplied by the vendor to request mailboxes, a
nd name and dimension them. You receive a password for that user and nothing els
e is necessary users can access their mailboxes immediately.
This proposed interface has little in common with the on-premises version of Mic
rosoft Exchange. In an SaaS model, you do not have control over nor are you resp
onsible for the hardware on which the service is installed. Similarly, you have
no control over the operating system that runs the service, nor any control over
the software apart from what the web user interface exposes to you. In other wo
rds, a vendor provides everything required to run the application, shielding you
from all the underlying components.
Platform as a Service
The third approach is Platform as a Service, or PaaS. In this approach, you rent
a platform on which you deploy your applications without configuring the infras
tructure and without the limitations of the SaaS approach.
The Wikipedia definition for PaaS is as follows (Wikipedia, Platform as a Servic
e, 2011,http://en.wikipedia....rm_as_a_service):
...the delivery of a computing platform and solution stack as a service. PaaS of
ferings facilitate deployment of applications without the cost and complexity of
buying and managing the underlying hardware and software and provisioning hosti
ng capabilities, providing all of the facilities required to support the complet
e life cycle of building and delivering web applications and services entirely a
vailable from the Internet.
PaaS offerings may include facilities for application design, application develo
pment, testing, deployment and hosting as well as application services such as t
eam collaboration, web service integration and marshaling, database integration,
security, scalability, storage, persistence, state management, application vers
ioning, application instrumentation and developer community facilitation. These
services may be provisioned as an integrated solution over the web.
The Windows Azure platform fits best in the PaaS category, because it doesn t prov
ide access to the underlying virtualization environment or operating system deta
ils such as the network interface, IP configuration, and disk management.
The key concepts to remember when dealing with PaaS are:
The platform vendor provides and manages everything, from the network connectivi
ty to the runtime. PaaS offerings reduce the developer burden by supporting the
platform runtime and related application services. Developers can begin creating
the business logic for applications almost immediately. PaaS, compared to tradi
tional hosting solutions, offers the potential for significant productivity incr
eases, because the cloud provider manages all the hardware and operational aspec
ts of the cloud platform.
Software as a Service
Software as a Service (SaaS) delivers business processes and applications, such
as CRM, collaboration, and e-mail, as standardized capabilities for a usage-base
d cost at an agreed, business-relevant service level. SaaS provides significant
efficiencies in cost and delivery in exchange for minimal customization and repr

esents a shift of operational risks from the consumer to the provider. All infra
structure and IT operational functions are abstracted away from the consumer. Pl
atform as a Service
Platform as a Service (PaaS) delivers application execution services, such as ap
plication runtime, storage, and integration, for applications written for a prespecified development framework. PaaS provides an efficient and agile approach t
o operate scale-out applications in a predictable and cost-effective manner. Ser
vice levels and operational risks are shared because the consumer must take resp
onsibility for the stability, architectural compliance, and overall operations o
f the application while the provider delivers the platform capability (including
the infrastructure and operational functions) at a predictable service level an
d cost. Infrasrtucture as a Service
Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) abstracts hardware (server, storage, and netw
ork infrastructure) into a pool of computing, storage, and connectivity capabili
ties that are delivered as services for a usage-based (metered) cost. Its goal i
s to provide a flexible, standard, and virtualized operating environment that ca
n become a foundation for PaaS and SaaS.
IaaS is usually seen to provide a standardized virtual server. The consumer take
s responsibility for configuration and operations of the guest Operating System
(OS), software, and Database (DB). Compute capabilities (such as performance, ba
ndwidth, and storage access) are also standardized.
Service levels cover the performance and availability of the virtualized infrast
ructure. The consumer takes on the operational risk that exists above the infras
tructure.
7. Describe the components of SOSTAC Model and show how they can support the
keting strategy of the firm? SOSTAC Model was invented by Paul Smith, who is
estselling marketing author, international speaker and consultant. He is the
ginator of the planning system used by the entire world. SOSTAC focuses on 6
t important elements of any business

mar
a b
ori
mos

Situation analysis, asking what is the current state of the business Objective,
helps list an overview of goals for the business Strategy helps provide a big pic
ture plan to achieve the goals. Tactics breaks down the big picture strategy into s
maller details. Action helps assign responsibility and deadlines for certain tas
ks. Control, offers an easy way to track the progress of the plan.
Each of these 6 elements contributes an essential piece of the overall marketing
plan. They are now used by blue chips Corporation around the world and also by
many small business and organizations. Traditionally the task of putting togethe
r a decent business or marketing plan has been enough to strike fear into many a
n aspiring junior manager or budding entrepreneur: "You want a marketing plan? I
ncluding financials? By the end of next week? Of course, no problem... (Oooer..
how on earth am I supposed to do this?..)" The young planner then cocoons himsel
f or herself away for a week after asking friends and relatives for examples of
good planning documents, none of which is any use whatsoever, and trying to gues
s what exactly the boss (orbank manager) actually needs. Of course most of the t
ime the boss hasn't got the first clue about how to write a decent plan either it's all a big game - moreover most of the bosses who do know what they want do
n't have the sense to coach the terrified underling as to what the plan should l
ook like. So the inevitable reams and reams of pointless calculations and hypoth
eses ensue, much midnight oil is burned, and a needlessly complex business plann
ing document is produced. Happily not so with PR Smith's SOSTAC tool. Common sens
e prevails, and we can safely get on with producing a proper useful working plan
ning tool, instead of something that will attract a jolly good bollocking for th
e unwitting planner, and then be tucked away into a deep drawer never to see the

light of day again. Incidentally when accrediting the SOSTAC model the official
attribution is PR Smith (there are thousands of Paul Smiths..), and it is certai
nly appropriate to use the symbol, which I do here on this page rather more free
ly than normally because so many people have come to think that SOSTAC just sort
of grew on a wall or something, or was devised by someone else who thought they'
d fancy taking the credit for it.
here are some tips on how to use SOSTAC based on my experience of applying it in
companies and seeing how students apply it in assignments. 1. Use SOSTAC to revie
w your process
Before looking at how you apply SOSTAC at each step to create a marketing plan, m
y first tip is to use it to review your planning process and how you manage your
marketing. Ask yourself critically about the activities you personally and your
organisation are good at. Maybe you spend too much or too little time reviewing
the situation. Perhaps you re not so good at setting SMART objectives, or develop
ing strategies to support them or the control stage of assessing how effective y
our strategies and tactics are and adjusting them? 2. Get the balance right acro
ss SOSTAC
Oftentimes, there is too much time spent on analysis within a plan and not enoug
h on setting the strategies. I d also say that for a student assignment, it s best t
o make reference to AC relatively brief, incorporating them into other sections.
So as a rule of thumb, this is how your balance of content could look: S (20%)
O (5%) S (45%) T (30%) = 100%
3. Summarise your Situation in a TOWs matrix form of SWOT
To give focus to your situation analysis I recommend this form of SWOT analysis.
This helps integrate SWOT with strategy. 4. Make your goals SMART and link them
to your analytics/control process Since digital marketing is so measurable, it
makes sense to be specific as possible about your goals by developing a funnel c
onversion model. You should also setup specific goals in Google Analytics. But i
t s worth thinking about the full range of goals indicated by the 5Ss. 5. Integrat
e the different elements of your SWOT
Oftentimes in a plan or report there isn t good flow relating sections. To help th
is I recommend summarising your entire SOSTAC plan within a table.
8. In relation to SEO, describe 5 concepts, processes, and best practices Search
engine optimization is a complex subject, especially when you consider all the
information and misinformation readily available online. The basic principles a
re fairly constant and building a solid foundation in SEO understanding will car
ry you much further that trying to exploit the tactic du jour. That said, SEO ca
n be generally categorized into 5 different aspects: Keyword research
Search engine friendly site development
On-page SEO
Link Building
Analytics
Each of the above is important and they all work together. The whole s greater t
han the sum of the parts. Let s talk about each of the above in more detail. 1. Ke
yword Research
Everyone would like their pages to rank #1, which begs the question rank for wha
t? Not all keywords and keyword phrases are equal. Some are typed into a search
engine more often and some are more likely to lead to a sale. You don t need or wa
nt to optimize for every possible keyword or phrase. For example say you sell re
al estate in Des Moines, Iowa. You might think it important to rank well for the
phrase real estate, but is it? Someone looking to buy property in New York or Los
Angelesisn t going to be interested in the homes you sell in Des Moines. Why spen
d time and money trying to get those people to your site. You d do much better to
target phrases that include Iowa and even better Des Moines. As a web designer y

ou might think it important to rank well for the phrase web design, but again is i
t important? Are people searching for the phrases web design looking to hire a web
designer or are they looking for information about web design, perhaps a defini
tion? There are 3 types of queries someone might type into a search engine Infor
mational queries searching for information from general to specific Navigational
queries searching for a specific site or page Transactional queries
searching w
ith an intent to purchase You probably don t want to spend time ranking a blog pos
t of information for a transactional query and you probably don t want people typi
ng informational queries to land inside your shopping cart. All three types of q
ueries are important and each could ultimately lead to a sale. Someone finding h
elpful information on your site may very well come back later and buy something.
The important thing to understand is that what a person types into a search eng
ine reveals something about their intent and that based on the searcher s intent y
ou d want different pages of your site ranking for different queries. Developing A
List Of Keywords To Target
The first step in developing a keyword list is brainstorming. Take some time and
write down as many words and phrases as you can think of that relate to your si
te with the understanding that this is simply the start of your research. You sh
ould be able to build a list of 50
100 phrases without much trouble. As you cont
inue to brainstorm phrases some themes should being to emerge. Do you only offer
web design or do you also offer web development? Maybe you also offer WordPress
development and Drupal development. You might specialize in ecommerce design or
small business web design. Perhaps you also offer web hosting. Each of these wi
ll likely become a keyword theme around which you ll build a more detailed list. B
rainstorming will only yield so many words so your next step should be to expand
your list through some keyword tools. Here are a few freebies to get you starte
d. Google AdWords Keyword Tool
SEO Book Keyword Tool
WordTracker
Keyword Discovery
The last two also have paid options that will return a lot more phrases and have
additional features for research. There are also a variety of more advanced key
word research tools should you desire them. Don t worry about the absolute numbers
with keyword tools. The numbers are estimates. For example when I typed web desi
gn into the free WordTracker tool, 8 of the top 20 phrases were specific to North
Dakota web design. It s unlikely that so many people are searching for web design
in North Dakota and more likely that one or more web design firms in North Dako
ta are searching for those phrases a lot to see how well they rank. Consider the
numbers more in relative terms in comparison to each other. If all of the above
tools show that more people search for web design than website design, it s proba
bly true. Just don t count on the absolute numbers to hold true, especially as a p
rediction of future searches for the phrase. A few tips about building keyword l
ists:
Find the words and phrases your customers use instead of industry jargon. It s gre
at that you develop with progressive enhancement. How many of your clients do yo
u think search for progressive enhancement or even know what it means Look for s
ynonyms Similar to the above seek the words potential clients will use. You call
ite-commerce. They might type ecommerce. Is it web design or website design? Ad
d qualifiers Our Des Moines Iowa real estate agent might add Des Moines, Iowa, o
r both to most every phrase. As a web designer your services might be affordable
or professional. Optimizing for professional web design services also optimizes f
or web design services Services would also be a qualifier. Qualify your qualifiers
You might be tempted to add a qualifier like free since so many people use the wo
rd. However someone searching for free anything isn t looking to buy. Unless you re
offering something for free it s probably best to stay away from free as a qualifier
. Look to your analytics package to see what phrases are currently brining peopl
e to your site. These can tell you what you re already ranking well for and give y

ou ideas about similar phrases you can also likely rank well for. Keyword Resour
ces
The above barely scratches keyword research. Here are some free resources to add
to your knowledge of researching and selecting keywords Keyword Research and Se
lection (PDF)
One of the best PDFs for understanding the process of keyword rese
arch and keyword selection Keyword Research Guide (PDF)
Real experts offer thoug
hts on keywords for a fictional company Summary
It s important to remember that SEO, while capable of providing a valuable source
of traffic, is still only one way to attract potential clients and customers to
your site. Think of SEO as part of your marketing strategy instead of your whole
marketing strategy. Don t lose sight of the forest staring at a handful of trees.
SEO is an iterative process that can begin anywhere. Most of the time it will b
egin with keyword research, especially if you ve yet to build your site or create
the initial content. Keywords help you define who your market is and what that m
arket is looking for. They ll also lead the way when it comes to how you develop y
our site, what content you choose to create, and how that content is written.
9. Describe the 4 marketing activity of CRM and how each maybe applied to IM?
CRM is an approach in building and sustaining long term business with customers.
CRM comprises of four marketing activities :
Customer selection
Customer acquisition
Customer retention
Customer extension
Managing the sales process, this can be achieved through e-commerce sites or in
a B2B context by supporting sales rep by recording the sales process SFA (sales
force automation) Campaign management- ad, direct emails, and other campaigns. A
cquire and retain customers through a multichannel buying process and customers
life cycle. Improving customer s knowledge, targeting, service delivering and sati
sfaction.