The e-Marketing Research
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Our expertise in market
research in the health, pharmaceutical
and publishing industries can help you
define e-marketing goals and opportunities, e-marketing metrics and
user/viewer action criteria.
Because the
web is
a relatively new media, I would like
to take a moment to paint a picture of what a holistic marketing plan is all
about. Holistic plans integrate the best of traditional marketing strategies and media buys
with the more recent and fast growing e-marketing components. In order to deliver a comprehensive marketing plan, you now need to know
not only the traditional marketing metrics and criteria for visual aid
testing, focus groups, demographic spreads, direct mail programs, etc., but it
is equally and perhaps more important to
understand that each of these elements is mirrored on the web -- but with
important differences.
The web (e-market paradigm) is a different culture than
traditional media; it is fluid (it's always changing, and fast), and it is an
interactive environment in which consumers have very different expectations
than with traditional media. Traditional methodologies, cultures and paradigms
do not apply in this mirrored world. While it is true that conceptually there
are similarities in marketing strategies in the two worlds, the
execution, measurement and verification in the e-marketing world requires a different set of understandings.
This perspective provides the first step toward delivering a clear,
well-executed holistic marketing plan.
The Holistic Marketing
Strategy is an organic and
inter-related process that builds on team-oriented approaches to achieving organizational goals. At GRA, we provide expertise that helps you define
appropriate market metrics (how you measure), research requirements, vehicles
for measurement and appropriate media buys that will help you to achieve your
market goals. We offer integrated
holistic market planning and support, including a wide spectrum of services
comprising all the major slices of the holistic marketing pie. Some of
these are: organizational goal setting, content generation/testing, end to end
product, visual aid, web-visual testing, and usability studies.
E-World
considerations
There are two important components in the e-world that we should take a few moments
to consider.
The first is the human
viewer/user’s impression of the
media itself -- its utility, touch and feel, the content and its message.
These qualities pertain to the content-based portion of the media and they
affect how individuals process the information they receive.
A second component of the media is the machine as the viewer/user, or perhaps better
stated, the vehicle of the media itself. Historically, when we test media it
is in one medium – television, print or radio. This medium is more or less
ubiquitous in the way it is delivered. While it is true that fidelity differs
on different stereos and image quality differs from one T.V. set to the next,
for general purposes these differences are predicated to a base-line standard
with very few exceptions. On the web, however, the
e-marketer must market not only to the human,
but also in essence to the machine. For example, there are multiple
browser platforms with multiple versions, with multiple bandwidth access, and
the list goes on and on. In addition, these media are delivered on multiple
devices in entirely different environments -- PDA’s, desktop computers,
web TV, mobile connections and more. The metrics of
visibility and utility change from one environment to the next. In
other words, what a user might do on a PDA may be different than on a desktop,
all other things being equal, which is rarely the case.
In addition to these machine-oriented platform issues is the interactive
technical aspect. Technical factors include media visibility to machine, web
spider visibility, plug-in support, meta-tagging, XML portability, bandwidth
requirements, load-n-view times, and so forth. At this point you might be
asking, how would we ever find our way through this environment? But before you lose heart, there are ways through this;
please read on.
Clearly, these issues have a huge range of impact
on the success of e-marketing strategies. While it is true that the web is a
multi-fingered, multi-metric environment, it is also true that it is growing
at the speed of light and advertising revenue is moving to interactive media.
While recent reports show slowing in some areas, we believe web marketing and
second- and third-generation e-marketing plans are here to stay and will
comprise a large part of the advertising dollar.
The Holistic Marketing Team
As a result of the changes in media environment,
the successful marketing team is no longer
the same. E-marketing is technology
driven, and market-based technologies
are the wave of the present and the future. We believe that a holistic marketing team is now required to address
the complex issues of marketing on the web in conjunction with conventional
media. This
team needs to consist of real time interaction between media
developers, web masters, marketers, project managers, Customer Relationship
Management (CRM) and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) intra-organizational
systems, and the management team. Each of these individuals brings a piece of
a necessary interactive discussion to the table. In the web’s infancy, web
developers were suddenly relegated to writing ad copy and marketers found
themselves in foreign terrain in terms of media issues (such what is available
in the new media, what bandwidth is needed and viewer/user demographics).
Today we are entering a more mature second-generation web. This is a web where
the ‘hype bubble’ has burst and making definitive decisions that have positive
effects on long-term customer relationships as well as ROI are key.
How
we can help you?
Capabilities:
Help you define appropriate market metrics that are consistent with
your e-marketing goals. Not every revenue
model, whether it is subscription-based, a point of purchase model, or the
more qualitative branding goals, have the same measurement requirements. In
this environment simply deciding what to measure and why can be an ordeal. By
“appropriate,” we mean a plan that follows critical
basic rules. Web and content development need to interact organically
and recursively with each component of the holistic marketing strategy.
Strategies need to be developed that are based on clear understandings of
market-based technologies as well as organizational goals and cross media
portability. The metrics you need to utilize are specific to your revenue
model (one size does not fit all) and your organizational goals. They need to
match your predominate media platforms, and they need to match your technical
capabilities as well as your budget. In addition they need to follow three
basic steps.
1.
Establish the specific goal or goals
2.
Determine an appropriate method of measurement (marketing without
measuring is like throwing money down a black hole)
3.
Determine how this translates into ROI and other bottom line
criteria
When you need a
team of dedicated people who understand the complexity of
e-marketing in the health, pharmaceutical, or publishing industries, then it
is time to turn to GRA.
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