Master of Business Administration – MBA Semester 4

MK0008 – E-Marketing -
Assignment Set- 1

Q.1 a. What is e-marketing? What are its benefits? (6 marks)

 eMarketing or electronic marketing refers to the application of marketing principles and
techniques via electronic media and more specifically the Internet. The terms eMarketing,Internet
marketing and online marketing, are frequently interchanged, and can often be considered
synonymous.
eMarketing is the process of marketing a brand using the Internet. It includes both direct response
marketing and indirect marketing elements and uses a range of technologies to help connect
businesses to their customers.
By such a definition, eMarketing encompasses all the activities a business conducts via the
worldwide web with the aim of attracting new business, retaining current business and developing its
brand identity.

-marketing gives businesses of any size access to the mass market at an affordable price and, unlike TV
or print advertising, it allows truly personalised marketing. Specific benefits of e-marketing include:

 Global reach - a website can reach anyone in the world who has internet access. This allows
you to find new markets and compete globally for only a small investment.
 Lower cost - a properly planned and effectively targeted e-marketing campaign can reach the
right customers at a much lower cost than traditional marketing methods.
 Trackable, measurable results - marketing by email or banner advertising makes it easier to
establish how effective your campaign has been. You can obtain detailed information about
customers' responses to your advertising.
 24-hour marketing - with a website your customers can find out about your products even if
your office is closed.
 Personalisation - if your customer database is linked to your website, then whenever someone
visits the site, you can greet them with targeted offers. The more they buy from you, the more you
can refine your customer profile and market effectively to them.
 One-to-one marketing - e-marketing lets you reach people who want to know about your
products and services instantly. For example, many people take mobile phones and PDAs wherever
they go. Combine this with the personalised aspect of e-marketing, and you can create very
powerful, targeted campaigns.
 More interesting campaigns - e-marketing lets you create interactive campaigns using music,
graphics and videos. You could send your customers a game or a quiz - whatever you think will
interest them.
 Better conversion rate - if you have a website, then your customers are only ever a few clicks
away from completing a purchase. Unlike other media which require people to get up and make a
phone call, post a letter or go to a shop, e-marketing is seamless.
b. List the key features of the web. (4 marks)

The web leverages the key features of the Internet and makes them

widely accessible to the public. Key features of the web in particular are
its ease of use, universal accessibility, and ability to be quickly searched:

 Ease of use. The web can be immediately used by anyone already

familiar with a computer window. The only special features
are links, which are as natural and intuitive to use as pressing a
button. This ease of use enabled the rapid adoption of the web in
the 1990's, and led to the establishment of the Internet around the
world.

 Universal access. The open design of the web makes it easy to build
web browsers for a wide range of devices. Web browsers have been
deployed on cell phones and personal organizers, and the web is
now the standard interface for providing access to information.

 Search capabilities. The development of search sites greatly

multiplied the power and usefulness of the web by providing the
capability to effectively search the content of millions of web pages
in seconds. Search sites significantly enabled the web to
realize Vannevar Bush's vision of an automated library system.

Q.2 a. Give a note on internet privacy. (3 marks)

he issue of online privacy – the degree to which publishers are allowed to capture and use information derived
from consumer online behavior – has been an undercurrent of concern since the very early days of the Internet.
What is the right balance that allows the web to be used for marketing and commerce … but that also allows for
an acceptable degree of consumer privacy?
The privacy issue has gathered steam in recent years. Today, proposed legislation affecting EU countries would
dictate that web cookies (snippets of computer code) cannot be placed on a user’s computer unless it is strictly
necessary for the purposes of enabling the use of a service explicitly requested by the user.
If such legislation is enacted, the implications for web publishers would be far-reaching. After all, cookies are
currently used for many purposes, including web analytics, session management, content management,
personalization, managing preferences, and calculating advertising revenues.
Cookies are the means by which all of these functions give the web its commercial foundation and functionality.
Without them, the web would be little more than another broadcast medium for viewing non-customized
information on a computer screen instead of on paper or on a TV screen.
And now those same privacy discussions are beginning to happen among U.S. lawmakers. Legislation is being
crafted in Congress that may restrict the use of cookies along with other forms of “personally identifiable”
information.
Is this a good development, or not?
It’s certainly true that some unscrupulous web sites and publishers have used cookies as a means to engage in
nefarious behavior. But in an attempt to eliminate those exceptions, is it wise for legislation to wipe away all of
the very real benefits web users derive from services that utilize cookies as the means to deliver them?
It’s pretty clear that one of the obvious impacts privacy legislation would have is on publishers who earn
revenues from advertising. The inability to utilize cookies when serving online ads would affect the way the ads
perform. Without cookies, ad servers are unable to perform the most basic functions such as fraud analysis and
frequency capping (limiting the number of ads shown to a viewer).
In addition, publishers would lose the ability to measure “conversion” rates – tracking specific actions tied to ad
revenue calculation such as downloading a white paper or to make a purchase – that is the foundation for many
ad compensation packages. Or to serve a specific ad to someone who has expressed prior interest in a topic or
product.
The data that these and other cookie-enabled actions provide is the basis of most online advertising programs.
Without cookies, advertisers would have to purchase far more impressions served to swaths of people who may
or may not be interested. Web analytics would also become more challenging; third-party services such as Web
Trends and Google Analytics tap into cookies as a way to provide information and answers.
The claim that without legislation, people don’t have ways to limit the proliferation of cookies on their computers
is just not accurate. Not only do many publishers provide ways for consumers to opt out of targeting techniques,
surveys show that a significant proportion of Internet users — perhaps one third — routinely delete cookies from
their computers. And ~10% have them permanently blocked.
It’s good for lawmakers to be looking at the privacy implications of the Internet. After all, the web continues to
evolve at a quick pace, with new functionalities coming to the fore every day that may have implications on
consumer privacy. But at the same time, it’s important to really think through the full ramifications of laws that,
while well intentioned, would have negative consequences on everyone if enacted.

b. Discuss the challenges of e-marketing in future? (7 marks)

E-commerce has grown by leaps and bounds and continues to set new marks every year. As comfortable as you
and I might be using the Internet, it is really only in its infancy. As huge as Google is, it was only created in 1998.
My, how far we have come!
s the Internet continues to grow, the future of online marketing is a much discussed subject. There is little doubt
the future is bright. As more people join up with digital revolution, e-commerce continues to grow. Still, one can’t
help but acknowledge Internet users are becoming more sophisticated, particularly as a younger generation
moves into adulthood.

Online marketing is currently a bit of a mess. Remnants of the old, such as banner ads and email marketing, are
clearly one their way out. Banner ads produce horrific click through rates because people are wary of getting
stuck on a site they can’t get away from. Email marketing is tainted by problems such as spam, phishing scams
and identity theft concerns. Personally, I delete all email that isn’t from a person I know or coded to show me an
inquiry directly off Marketing Titan for a consultation. It is just too risky.

The dominant models now are pay-per-click advertising and search engine optimization. Search engine
optimization will be around as long as people use search engines. The promise of free traffic is simply too
glorious to ignore. Since it is fairly difficult to commit fraud in search engine optimization, it is difficult to see any
future legal issues threatening it. 

Pay-per-click advertising [“ppc”] has a less clear future. The primary problem is click fraud. Click fraud occurs
when a ppc ad is artificially. The only intention of the clicker is to cost the advertiser money. Some estimate the
percentage of fraudulent clicks on ppc platforms runs as high as forty percent. If true, this theoretically means
you could take forty percent of your advertising budget, use it as toilet paper and get the same sales results.
Pretty scary, eh?

So, what is the future of online marketing in light of the above comments? In my personal view, search engine
optimization will remain the dominant online marketing method. PPC will also continue, but will be modified into
something used to conquer click fraud. I also think information publishing in the form of free copyright articles
will become more and more dominant.
Combined, these three platforms represent the future of online marketing. Of course, nobody could have
foreseen the explosion of EBay ten years ago, so we may all be surprised by where things stand in five or ten
years.

Q.3 Explain the following terms used in e-marketing: Intellectual property, Safe
Harbor principles and Click-wrap agreement. (10 marks)

Intellectual property rights can be very valuable commercial rights for

inventors, creators and researchers. Intellectual property rights are legalrights to do certain
things in relation to an invention orcreation. In general
terms, intellectual property rights are infringed if someone exercises an
intellectual property right without the permission of the owner of the right
One constant factorin the development ofnew technologies has been the

cost and difficulty of the process of putting new technologies on the market.The technical

merit or scientific brilliance of an invention is only one aspectof actually bringing a new

technology to the public in a useful practical form.This can be a costly and complex process.

Normally, it is not possiblewithout arange of differentpartnerships and relationships – as

sourcesoffunding, expertise and other resources.

Intellectual property protection needs to be properly managed so that it
facilitates this process, and doesn’t itself become a burden.
The problems of getting worthwhile benefits fromthe patent system - even

ago makes clear: Patenting was unnecessarily and unwisely expensive, and

thepoor patentee was left almost without any aid or guidance. Intellectual

property rights recognize innovative and creative activities, and are intended
to reward useful and valuable contributions to society. But they are not
direct rewards in themselves. All they do is to create an opportunity for the
inventor or creative person to seek rewards for their invention or returns
from their investment in the research.
In short, obtaining registered intellectual property rights can be expensive,
and do not in themselves make you any returns for your investment. Patents
can be costly liabilities to you, your business or your research institut
 Master of Business Administration – MBA Semester 4
MK0008 – E-Marketing - 2 Credits
Assignment Set- 2

Q.1 Give an account of customer behaviour in a B2B e-marketing.

There are many different levels in sophistication of targeting for email marketing. In this post I’ll
run through some of the most common examples used by retailers since I think they can often be
applied to companies who don’t sell online like relationship-building or B2B companies.

Here, I’ll outline what I see as the 6 most common segmentation approaches. More details are
available in my book Total Email Marketing and the more recent Econsultancy Best Practice
Guide to Email Marketing.
Although this post gives email marketing examples, the segmentation approaches here can be
used to other forms of online targeting through digital marketing, particularly website
personalisation or display ad network remarketing.

Often the different targeting options can be combined through layering the segmentation as
shown in this approach used by eBay UK shared at a recent email marketing conference:

To implement this level of email marketing needs a capable email marketing system that
supports event-triggered marketing and dynamic content insertion where rules are used to drop
different offers and email messages into a container as described last week’s post on how to
manage event-triggered or automated email marketing.
These are the six targeting options.

1. Customer profile characteristics (demographics).

2. Customer value – current and future.

3. Customer lifecycle groups.

4. Customer behaviour in response and purchase (observed and predicted).

5. Customer multi-channel behaviour (channel preference).

6. Customer personas including psychographics

Q.2 a. What are the targeting strategies involved for e-marketing?

 Target internet marketing is accomplished using a variety of media types and each
needs different strategies. Today's internet is so full of product eBooks, coaches, and
video courses that you really need to have some effective marketing knowledge and to
develop a slight edge. Putting these pieces of you marketing plan together will not only
help build your list, but be a great benefit to grow your internet business.

To achieve this goal, you'll need to know where you want to go, and how to get there.
So unless you are an advertising professional, targeted internet marketing may be a new
skill you will need to learn. And especially if you are completely new to internet
marketing, you must understand that each type of media will require a willingness to
learn, applying the new skills, and testing the market repeatedly.

By doing some research you can learn what your targeted market wants to know or
needs. Join a couple of forums, ask some questions, and gather information. When you
keep these answers in mind you will undoubtedly come up with an effective internet
marketing plan. You may have the best product available, but if you can't get the word
out, you simply don't stand a chance making an online income.

These are just a few marketing techniques, with a little helpful information to get you
started.

CLASSIFIED AD MARKETING:

Marketing with online classified ads is very popular because it is cost effective (many
offer free ad placement) and it does work. They work as long as they have all the
correct, informative parts, and are placed where your prospective customers search for
the specific items they are looking for, which is what you have to offer. Before you get
started with classified ad marketing, you want to make sure you get it right the first
time. Nobody, not even ad writing professionals, can put together a money making
classified ad in minutes and nobody gets it perfect on their first try. Keep in mind that
you will want to create several variations of each ad that are well written, full of valuable
content, attract attention, and give them a desire to click through.

ARTICLE MARKETING:

Article marketing is also a good source to use for your targeted niche. Writing articles is
actually easier than you think. Generally they need to be at least 400 words, and by
doing some targeted research it is easy to come up with ideas. And each time you learn
something new, whether it is a review of a product or a new found area of your market,
you can write an article on what you learned. As for articles, you might not see an
immediate market reaction, but think about it. Every article submitted and accepted will
be available for many years, and every article has a specific topic that will be viewed by
someone somewhere that is looking for what you have to offer.

SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING:

Social media marketing is a more broad type of marketing than searching for the specific
customers that want your product. Because of the "social" aspect of sites, such as
Twitter, Facebook, and LinkdIn, you will start out with your specific niche market, but in
a more relaxed back yard barbeque atmosphere. However, remember your followers will
have followers, and any one of them may be looking for the same thing. Don't forget,
word of mouth or even word of website, is the best form of advertising, period.
b. What do you mean by e-CRM? (3 marks)

eCRM Electronic CRM concerns all forms of managing relationships with customers making use

of Information Technology (IT). eCRM is enterprises using IT to integrate internal organization
resources and external marketing strategies to understand and fulfill their customers needs.
Comparing with traditional CRM, the integrated information for eCRM intraorganizational collaboration
can be more efficient to communicate with customers.[1]

Q.3 Analyse the distribution function in e-marketing.

In common with traditional marketing strategy, strategic analysis or situation analysis for e-marketing involves review of
the:

- internal resources and processes of the company and a review of its activity in the marketplace;
- immediate competitive environment (micro-environment) including customer demand and behaviour, competitor
activity, marketplace structure and relationships with suppliers and partners.
- wider environment (macro-environment) in which a company operates including the social, legal, economic, political
and technological factors.

In this section we will highlight the key aspects of the internal and external environment that need to be assessed when
developing an e-marketing strategy.
Internal resources

These are of particular importance for e-marketing:

- Portfolio analysis and stage models – Considers the sophistication of online services offered to prospects and
customers. From basic ‘brochureware’ sites with no interaction through those offering online catalogues to fully
transactional sites offering full support for all stages of the customer lifecycle from acquisition, retention to extension and
all stages of the buying process.

- E-marketing effectiveness – How effective is the organisation at converting browsers to visitors and visitors to
prospects and buyers? Analysis of web logs using diagnostics such as those available fromwww.marketing-
insights.co.uk is important here.

- Financial resources and cost/benefit – in particular the breakdown for costs of running the online presence between
site development, promotion and maintenance. Many organisations still do not have good visibility of these costs and
the benefits such as those described in the objective setting section.

- Service quality – human resources and software assistance for answering customer queries and dispatching goods.

- Technology infrastructure resources – availability and performance (speed) of web site and service level agreements
with the ISP.

- Structure – what are the responsibilities and control mechanisms used to co-ordinate Internet marketing across
different departments and business units. We return to this topic next month.

- Strengths and Weaknesses – SWOT analysis can be readily applied to e-marketing specific issues.