e-Marketing or Online Marketing is the application of a broad range of information technologies that can be applied to various business situations.
For example: Transforming marketing strategies to give more value to the customer through: Product, Place, Promotions and Price, also known as the “The 4 P’s”.

By using Online Marketing techniques, you as the business manager can receive a higher efficiency in planning, conception and distribution of your marketing efforts, that is, your goods and services.
Last, you can create satisfying exchanges that will satisfy your customers as well as your partners and/or suppliers.

Important to understand is that Online Marketing goes hand in hand with your e-Business Strategy. These two must compliment each other in order for you to take advantage of the synergy they can create.

The first step is to build an Online Marketing plan. First, what is an Online Marketing plan? It is a blueprint for formulating a strategy on how to market your goods and services using technology. It is a guiding and dynamic document that links your firms's e-Business strategy (e-Model) with technology driven marketing strategies. It serves as a road map to guide the direction of your firm's resource allocation and how to measure performance. The Gartner Group has identified that up to 75% of all new e-Business projects would fail due to fundamental flaws in the planning process. To avoid mistakes, as much as possible, we recommend using a six step process when developing an Online Marketing plan:

1. Situational Analysis
2. Link e-Business with e-Marketing
3. Objectives
4. Develop an implementation plan
5. Financial Budgeting
6. Evaluation Plans

The main issues for companies are:
1. How to use Online Marketing and technologies?
2. What will it solve and what can it do?
3. Future? What will the market be like?

We will begin exploring these questions by looking at the
BIG PICTURE.
It is easy, cheap and quick access to information. Second, if you want your business to stay competitive you must adapt to new means of technologies. Everyone uses technology, the economy, businesses, governments and our society, and so should you. By utilizing technology and e-business, you are contributing to more jobs, higher efficiency, access to information and communication throughout the world.

So what?
Online Marketing enhances processes and activities across your entire organization, no matter how small or how big your business is. You might ask where the benefits to your organization fits in.

Increased customer service
New business developments
Greater Brand awareness
Faster response time to market a new product or service
Supply Chain Management – Link your buyers and suppliers together.
Higher quality
The first generation of e-Marketing was like a gold rush. New companies blossomed everyday with an Internet presence but disappeared just as fast. In early 2000 one estimate listed 21 firms with a 12-month sales growth between 100% and 500%, but they all had negative profits. The Gartner Group predicts that a true e-business model will emerge, and by 2008 the “e” will be dropped, making electronic business just part of the way things are done. (Source: Strauss, e-Marketing 3rd Edition 2003).

The marketing environment is changing everyday, thus it is important to keep up with it developing new products and services and new communication channels to communicate with customers. A frame work model, called ESP has been developed. It is a framework for understanding e-Marketing’s role in the business environment. ESP means Environment, Strategy and Performance. It involves Environmental factors such as legal, technology, e-mail, competition and security. Strategy factors such as what business model to use, and how to implement them to receive a high return on your investment. Last is Performance and it measures your success. [ Contact us Now for more information ]

Implications in our new technological advanced society include a power shift from seller to the buyers. Through the Internet, buyers do more research and price comparisons before they buy a product.

What can e-Marketing do with the “4 P’s”?
Price – dynamic bidding, live data and comparison-shopping
Promotion – e-mail, new media to promote goods and services
Place – Use supply chain management systems to lower costs and increase your value to your customers. Create linkages between buyers and suppliers in which adds value to your business.
Product – Create new products faster than your competitors.

The 4 P’s have changed into the 4 C’s.
Cost – Price enhancements
Communication – Promotion enhancements
Convenience – Place enhancements
Customer – Product enhancements

The Future
Regardless of the economy today, businesses continue to expand and exciting new areas will soon emerge. Fortune Magazine has identified seven trends that will help businesses move forwards into e-Marketing during the next few years. (Source: Strauss, e-Marketing 3rd Edition 2003).

1. Integrating IT software
2. Boom in Web services
3. Collaboration Software
4. Dealing with too much data (develop CRM systems)
5. Data Security
6. Wireless is here to stay
7. Growth in portable computing