Product Description

Marketing remains one of the business functions most effectively performed over the Internet, marketers who have worked in traditional media still often lack Internet experience, and marketers with Internet experience often lack an understanding of traditional techniques and methods. This complete marketing resource shows how to plan, implement and assess an on-line presence. It also shows how to apply rigorous classic marketing methods to the Internet, and how to integrate Internet marketing activities into a company's general marketing plan. A three inch software disk, supplied with the book acts as a blueprint for an Internet marketing plan. It contains sets of checklists, templates and document outlines.

Product Details

• Published on: 2000-02-01
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 432 pages

From the Back Cover
The increasing costs and resources needed for the Web make it more critical than ever before to develop a comprehensive marketing plan to manage your Internet presence more effectively. Written by marketing communications expert Kim Bayne, this book provides all the forms, worksheets, templates, and models that you'll need to create a plan and put it into action immediately! You'll learn which data you'll need to gather in order to make informed decisions, how to analyze Internet market statistics, how to address budget issues, and much more. Offering practical guidance, this book also takes you through the necessary steps to implement your plan. You'll examine how the Internet fits into your overall marketing program including advertising and direct mail campaigns, public relations programs, trade shows, and other activities. And you'll learn how to evaluate different Internet marketing measurement tools, what you can do to ensure a successful launch of your program, and how to choose your internet service options. The CD-ROM provides you with all forms and templates from the book and bookmarks to useful sites.

About the Author
Kim M. Bayne is the co-creator, head writer, and host of the syndicated radio talk show "The Cyber Media Show with Kim Bayne," heard weekly on traditional public radio and on the Web. She is a former high tech marketing communications executive, a frequent speaker at industry conferences, and a writer on Internet marketing for a variety of trade publications. As moderator of the first email discussion group for technology marketers and a pioneer in online promotion, she was among Jim Sterne's first expert guests at his groundbreaking Internet marketing seminars in 1994

Excerpt
Chapter 1: Writing the Internet Marketing

Plan: An Introduction

Practically every traditional marketing project you undertake will have a beginning, a middle, and an end. You write copy for a piece of sales literature. You have it designed, typeset, and printed. Finally, you arrange for literature distribution. You'll probably experience this same exact project over and over again for the life of each particular product. Most important, the final result, the printed data sheet, brochure, or direct-mail circular, is a tangible piece of marketing evidence that you have indeed completed an activity. Not so with the Internet.

The nature of the Internet is volatile. It not only lends itself to frequent, sometimes hourly, updates and revisions, but it demands it. It's a work-inprogress that is constantly evolving. It is very rare that a Webmaster says with confidence that he or she has completely finished. If a Webmaster does say that, it may mean that he or she has gotten a better offer and starts the new job on Monday. There will always be one more change that is worth making, regardless of how happy everyone is with the so-called final result. That is why creating a written Internet marketing plan is so important. An Internet marketing plan will improve your ability to manage your Internet marketing presence more effectively, not only for your own sanity but also for that of your company's.

Practically every traditional marketing project you undertake will have a beginning, a middle, and an end. You write copy for a piece of sales literature. You have it designed, typeset, and printed. Finally, you arrange for literature distribution. You'll probably experience this same exact project over and over again for the life of each particular product. Most important, the final result, the printed data sheet, brochure, or direct-mail circular, is a tangible piece of marketing evidence that you have indeed completed an activity. Not so with the Internet.

The nature of the Internet is volatile. It not only lends itself to frequent, sometimes hourly, updates and revisions, but it demands it. It's a work-inprogress that is constantly evolving. It is very rare that a Webmaster says with confidence that he or she has completely finished. If a Webmaster does say that, it may mean that he or she has gotten a better offer and starts the new job on Monday. There will always be one more change that is worth making, regardless of how happy everyone is with the so-called final result. That is why creating a written Internet marketing plan is so important. An Internet marketing plan will improve your ability to manage your Internet marketing presence more effectively, not only for your own sanity but also for that of your company's.

Step 4. Add an e-mail comment form for immediate feedback. Step 5. Get back to work. You have a plan to execute! One more thing: Keep the text of your plan as readable as possible. As you use new terms that may or may not be familiar to the readers of your plan, define them in the simplest terms possible. You really have nothing to gain by emulating someone intent on overwhelming staff members with a newly attained command of online vocabulary.

About Writing the Plan

Whether it is for traditional or new media, writing a marketing plan requires time, research, and patience. An Internet marketing plan, like the World Wide Web that it discusses, is a constantly changing document. The execution of that plan involves updating the plan's content and adapting to the changing marketplace and technology that drives the online world. Don't be surprised when you find yourself revising and adding new sections to the plan to improve it. After all, the Internet marketing plan is your working document for success.

How to Use This Book

* Read the articles.
* Look at the illustrations and figures.
* Visit the Web sites mentioned in the chapters and included in the accompanying bookmark file.
* Explore how each company used information to create or enhance its presence.
* Explore how your company can use this information to create or enhance its presence.
* Take copious notes.
* Complete the worksheet(s) and/or activities in each chapter.
* Open a duplicate copy of the Internet Marketing Budget found on the disk file budget.xls. Insert cost data as you discover it.
* Open a duplicate copy of the Internet Marketing Plan template found in Appendix A, which is a basic outline for your plan. Insert each section of the plan as you complete it.

Customer Reviews

Best for Beginners
I thought the 2nd edition would be more high level, as well as include RFP templates etc. However, the book is still very basic and really only appropriate for those with little to no knowledge of web site development and promotion. That should be made clearer in the desciption.

Lots of blah, blah
I was very disappointed in this book. It helped me very little when working on our iMarket Plan. There is a lot of text, but very little concrete, substantive information.

For entry-level marketers
This book may have some potential for a marketer fresh out of college but it will seem simplistic for the veteran marketer.