The Internet Revolution [Archives:2003/06/Business & Economy]

The Road Ahead
BY RAIDAN A. AL-SAQQAF
r_saqqaf@hotmail.com
Throughout history, many inventions have changed the way people work. First
came the steam engine, which set off the first Industrial Revolution. Then came electricity, which did the second. Now comes the Net, and with it
the explosion in telecommunications.
The Internet has promised to change many things: from improvements in convenience, quality and choice of services to e-commerce and Internet banking. It has also promised to be a revolution in marketing and advertising as it facilitates better communication between businesses and customers.
Yet, that is only to be expected. The Internet is hardly considered as an alternative delivery channel and another tool to improve a company’s operational effectiveness. But still, marketers don’t consider it an effective media for marketing yet, at least not in Yemen
Still, if you happen to consider Internet advertising and marketing for your products and services, you have to approach it only after preparing a marketing strategy. Otherwise you will be fighting an uphill battle to get people to know about and buy your products and services.
The secret of any successful Internet advertising strategy is to sustain and increase traffic of targeted customers to your website, and build a “customer-for-life” database. The following are a few tips that can help in the process.
First, design a great website, one that addresses your customers needs. Have it speak only of the benefits to the buyer and keep it short and simple. Also make a clear pathway to keep your customers moving through the sales message to the order page, to facilitate the closing of the sale.
Remember to keep your website timely, to keep your customers coming back. Then, build traffic to your website, through email addresses and advertising to your website on search engines and sites that your target audience are most likely to visit.
After that, you can create a newsletter or email broadcasts that contain something of value to your audience, something that they look forward to receiving. Thereafter, you can personalize your sales messages to tickle your customers’ needs or even have advertisements on your newsletter if you have a big number of subscribers. But remember, you have to be consistent in holding up the interests of your target audience.
Also, publicity can also be helpful in the process. Write articles and e-journals to be published in virtual newspapers and magazines. You can also conduct virtual classes and e-courses in relation to the subject of interest. This will also help in building up traffic to your website.
Remember: The dawn of the third revolution is here and the Internet has proved to be very effective as a media for marketing and advertising. But to benefit from it, you have to build an effective strategy.

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