Internet Marketing

Course Description

The main aim of this course is to learn about the alternative marketing choices to consider in planning a marketing program that may involve the Internet. The Internet can play many important roles within a traditional marketing effort and it can also serve as the foundation of a firm's marketing effort. Although the Internet is increasingly prominent in successful marketing programs, recent developments have shown that it is not an easy ticket to success.

Marketing and ecommerce professionals today need a good understanding of which marketing objectives that can be achieved using electronic tools and which objectives are best approached by traditional means. Marketing is about anticipating and satisfying buyers' needs. The purpose of this course is to acquaint you with the special behavioural considerations for buyers that emerge when the Internet plays a role in the firm's marketing.

Target Audience

Middle- and senior-level managers from marketing, e-commerce, sales and operations, strategic planning and general management. Senior technology and information managers who support marketing, e-business programs, Product, brand, e-marketing and advertising managers. Finance managers responsible for customer profitability measurements and analysis Sales and service managers.

Course Contents

• What should be done with a Web site to gain audience interest.
• Explain how an e-business can develop desire from its target market.
• List what is important in motivating an audience to take action.
• Explain how e-business communication can be used in industrial markets.
• Contrast the strengths and weaknesses of using the Internet as an advertising medium.
• E-Business Distribution Systems
• Explain why distribution systems change.
• Describe the nature of distribution systems.
• Compare and contrast traditional distribution systems and e-business based distribution systems.
• Outline how channel relationships are changing.
• Describe how each distribution function is handled in an e-business based distribution system.
• Discuss how power is shifting in distribution channels.
• Explain how middlemen's roles are changing in the distribution channel.
• E-Business Value Strategies
• Be able to explain the seven strategies e-businesses are using to create value for customers.
• Understand how e-commerce is being used as a strategic tool by e-retailers as well as traditional retailers.
• Be able to perform a benefit analysis of alternative sales channels.
• Explain how digital communication adds value to a business.
• Describe how the delivery of services are changing because of new technologies.
• Be able to explain how the business process is changing through the use of the Internet, Extranets, and EDI systems.
• Be able to describe how a market-of-one strategy will impact businesses.
• Explain how auctions are used to facilitate commerce.
• Be able to describe the impact of e-business strategies on pricing.
• Gain an understanding of the determinates
• Understand the limitations to international e-commerce.
• The Individual and the Diffusion of Innovations
• Define an innovation.
• Discuss how to speed the acceptance of an innovation.
• Outline how the individual adoption process works.
• Explain what a product lifecycle is and how this concept relates to new and older technologies.
• Describe how online communities are targeting individuals and what it takes to make a successful online community.
• Discuss why some cultures may be slow in accepting technological change and the associated implications.
• Explain how innovations diffuse in a business and what role change agents play in that process.
• Information Collection and Use
• Describe how businesses are using data to gain competitive advantages.
• Explain the flow related to marketing information systems.
• List the sources of information for a business.
• Explain how a business uses information to discover new knowledge.
• Describe the role that databases play in organizational knowledge.
• Explain how a business can incorporate organizational knowledge into its decision making process.
• E-Business Strategy
• Outline the steps involved in strategy development.
• Explain the major drivers of e-business strategy and their impact.
• Explain the importance of an e-business value chain.
• Discuss the roles of alliances and acquisitions to strategy development.
• Identify the major strategies e-businesses are using to differentiate themselves.
• List the advantages that a pioneering firm can gain.
• Explain the importance of brand names for e-businesses.
• Describe the strategic role of portals.
• Identify the alternative competitive arenas where e-businesses can find opportunities.
• Describe the measures that businesses can use to judge e-business success.
• E-Business Management
• List the pillars of success for innovative businesses.
• Explain how management systems can create value for a business.
• Discuss the interplay between the management components of the e-business value chain.
• Describe the role that leadership and organizational culture play in giving an e-business a distinctive advantage.
• Outline the role that organizational learning plays in giving an e-business a distinctive advantage.
• Discuss how e-businesses are organizing themselves to compete.
• Recommend the steps that a business would need to take to restructure to be competitive in an e-business environment.
• Identify which new management positions and duties are used to meet e-business needs.
• The Political, Legal, and Ethical Environment
• Explain the role that some governments are taking to foster the growth of the Internet and e-business.
• List and explain the major legal issues related to e-business.
• Outline the major types of fraud undertaken online and what is being done to limit fraud.
• Discuss how each of the intellectual property areas are impacting e-business.
• Explain why jurisdiction is a problem for legal authorities
• List and explain the ethical considerations impacting the Internet.
• Discuss why privacy is an issue in Internet use and what e-businesses can do about it.
• Compare and contrast the economic welfare concerns related to the Internet.