e-Marketing - Traditional Marketing

Although marketing is done via the web, traditional marketing should still be implemented because “most people get the majority of their marketing messages through traditional channels” (Wilson, Eight 3). Ads in trade publications, as well as public relations and news releases will help promote the web site. The key is to place the URL at the bottom of each ad, letterhead, card, and envelope the company displays.

Kenny Love suggests placing ads in “inexpensive resources known as ‘shopper’ newspapers” (Love 1). Shopper newspapers are thin, cheap tabloid-size papers distributed locally and regionally. Three benefits to shopper newspaper ads are:

• Advertising costs are extremely cheap,
• Many e-zines are published weekly, giving your message a decent lifespan on the street, and
• Shopper newspapers are filled to the brim with advertising and very little, if any, editorial content, as opposed to newspapers (Love 1).

Traditional Marketing Mix

The traditional marketing mix (product, place, price, and promotion) should blend with online site promotion. Product and promotional packaging should display the URL. Strategic placement of an ad is imperative. The product/service your web site offers needs to be advertised in appropriate venues. Make sure the URL is visible on the advertisement, whether marketing the product on billboards, buses, or in magazines. Pricing is important, because if the product is ordered online, sales tax is often subtracted, while shipping and handling charges are added. Finally, promotions can encourage first-time users to visit your site. There are many options to consider when choosing a promotion. On-line discounts and coupons encourage customers to browse and purchase from your site. These incentives can include coupons such as “buy one, get one free,” “15% off your next order,” or “$30 off a purchase of $100 or more.” Some sites offer free shipping. Joint promotions with other companies expand your target market, and if carefully chosen, benefit your reputation. For example, MSN has joined with Best Buy on their computer sales. With the purchase of a specific computer, MSN offers a free year of Internet service. MSN also paired with Radio Shack, co-branding portals with kiosks (Foster). MSN posted their name and web site on all kiosks selling Radio Shack products, strengthening consumers’ brand recognition of the MSN site. Contests are another way to boost traffic to your site, since customers are always motivated by a little competition. The first 100 people to visit the site might receive a prize. Or on MasterCard's web site, students can submit an essay to win a summer music internship. An endless variety of promotions and combinations of promotions are available to creative marketers.

The advantage of using offline marketing strategies is that it increases exposure to people who are not often on-line. These strategies can sometimes become expensive, depending on how they are incorporated onto the overall marketing plan for the site. Each marketer must evaluate his site’s content, and consider both the level of off-line marketing required and the type that best fits the constraints. Whether a site offers a product, a service, or information, traditional marketing techniques can still direct new prospects to your web site. But once they visit your site how do you keep them coming back? Get them involved with the site.