by Troy Janisch
A market-led approach to Internet media provide target market individuals with a personal brand experience by combining the benefits of mass marketing with those of customer relationship marketing (CRM). The goal of mass marketing is to constantly acquire new customers by differentiating your company, and its products, from competitors. This results in a strong brand identity, but does not always adapt well to Internet media. Mass market oriented messages are often too general to meet the needs of information-seeking Internet users.
The goal of customer relationship marketing, by contrast, is to continually increase the volume of business with existing customers by offering a range of personalized services and products. This results in good customer service but does not adequately differentiate your organization from its competitors among potential customers.
A Market-Led Approach
Internet media content needs to guide target markets from discovery, through exploration and interaction, toward action.
The first 10 seconds your target markets spend on your organization's Web site are among the most crucial. Site visitors determine whether they will become site users as soon as they discover it. They perceive the value of your site.
They form first impressions about your organization and predict the likelihood of finding useful information. Individuals farthest from your target market will leave the site during their discovery. Others will explore your site.
Site users explore your organization's Web site for information. During exploration, each page of content has less than a minute (According to Neilsen/NetRatings data for November, 2001.) to communicate with target markets. As they explore, users form lasting impressions about your company, its products, and its level of service. The amount of time users spend exploring, and their perception of value of the time being spent, varies based on their ability to progress towards the desired buying decision.
Users interact to form opinions about your products and services. This includes comparing the information provided by your organization with information received from other sources. Getting customers involved through interactive elements is an effective method for cultivating strong customer relationships while gathering additional insights.
Users discover, explore, and (typically) interact anonymously with your organization's Web site. Nevertheless, the effectiveness of your organization's Web site is founded in its ability to have your target markets act on the information you've provided. For example, the ability to immediately purchase your organization's products or request your organization's services online.
Actions are the means used to connect your target markets with your organization's offerings. Since many in any given target market may be unwilling to buy products or services online, even after they reached a buying decision, Internet media should always include a range of actions to help target markets buy products and services offline. For example, the ability to call a salesperson, find a local distributor or retail location, or request a free trial.
