Check it out!

An article has been written on TMCnet about an organization who has won an award related to interactive marketing!

http://www.tmcnet.com/usubmit/2008/10/16/3709001.htm

Why marketing for u(s)?

The name of our blog, "Marketing for u(s)", is based on the number of companies that are now forced to compete for our attention, loyalty, and therefore retention. As the number of companies directed at providing the same products increases, our choices as consumers obviously increases as well.
Therefore, in order for us to remain loyal to a certain company, marketing efforts are becoming more individualized to attract AND keep our attention.

How Does It Work?

So now that we know what interactive marketing is, we need to know how it actually works!

Customers of today are more informed and less susceptible to sales and marketing efforts compared to previous years. Therefore, marketing of today needs to be personable, intelligent, and empathetic. Marketers need to treat their consumers as individuals and make them feel as if they have a personal relationship with the company and its workers. This can lead to customer loyalty – a most sought after commodity of any business.

There are surprisingly countless ways in which a company can participate in interactive marketing! A couple of ways in which interactive marketing can be utilized is through:

- Customer surveys
- Company blogs
- Company websites
- Help sites

A few ways companies can benefit from using interactive marketing include:

- Increased communication which will lead to a higher understanding of each consumer individually
- This higher understanding of the individual develops market research which leads to company adjustments, innovations, and success!

Trends about Internet Marketing

Trends about Internet Marketing

Mobile eCommerce Picks Up Speed (more and more consumers are viewing advertisements on their mobile phone via the internet- for example the Blackberry)

Internet serving as test bed for T.V: New shows are more and more showing their pilots of new sitcoms on the web to easily and cost efficiently, check the reaction of target fans.

Social Networking Goes Mobile: Gaming on mobile devices are becoming more frequent. And new technology is allowing interactive gaming between friends via the web on their cell phone

Voice Communication: will allow consumers to search the web using their voice (you'll pay in order to save yourself lots of thumb typing on your cell phone or regular typing on your desktop or laptop.) Which could in turn making internet use faster and more productive
Video Phone Calls Over the Internet: isn’t it fun to see the person your talking to?? That’s why this idea is taking on followers over the last couple of years… how is this possible?? Simply by cheap bandwidth and media-savvy younger demographics that are into social networking sites.

Internet Media Pricing Affects Offline Media Pricing: More and more business’s are turning to online advertising- for example job advertising via Craigslist- that they can track whether or not their ads are working?- Smart? Of course… Why pay for print advertisements in the yellowpages if you don’t know if their working when you can track your ad’s by “pay per click??”

What's the point?

Some of you may be wondering why internet marketers choose to use interactive marketing.

Simply put, interactive marketing allows marketers to efficiently support its customers which will in turn create a more loyal and engaged consumer base. In other words, it prompts interaction between marketer and consumer, while building a relationship.
By using interactive marketing over the internet (as it can be done over many different medians), marketers have a much broader reach, makes the business more discoverable, and can quickly distribute information to consumers.

Overall, interactive marketing is a fantastic way for marketers to provide customers with information more pertinent to each individual, creating a long term relationship.

The Circumstances Under Online Interactive Marketing

Online interactive marketing has many benefits for both marketers and consumers. There are some circumstances under online interactive marketing.

First, the sufficient technological situations are the most important under online interactive marketing. The organization should have the technologies of web site design, virtual information management, blog operation and so on. Also, the organization should use security technologies and methods to guard against unauthorized access, alteration, or dissemination of personally identifiable information during transfer and storage.

Second, the respectable financial situation is another considerable circumstance. The organization should have purchase good electronic facilities, such as a high technology CPU, DSP, GPU and so on. The organization also should purchase some software to operate online marketing, such as a firewall, systems software, programming software and so on. The organization should pay higher salaries to the talents.

Third, the organizations should have the ability of devising a code, which provides guidelines for conduct in online interactive marketing, such as disclosure of all substantial risks associated with a product or service, and avoidance of false or misleading advertising.

The Results of Online Interactive Marketing

In our modern society, online interactive marketing is getting more focused. Online interactive marketing is proving that interactive marketing is successful and beneficial to both marketers and consumers. The following are some facts on online interactive marketing:

· Online interactive marketing has had profound effects on the marketing industry. Activities such as downloading music, corporate blogging, and checking a bank account balance online, seem like second nature.

· Online interactive marketing offers more options to consumers. It solves the time and location issues. For example, Amorzation.com and eBay are now allowing people who live in areas of the country that marketer do not target to find products on the internet that they would not have been exposed to otherwise.

· Online interactive marketing creates brand awareness and increases loyalties of customers. It provides for wide converge and affects for better envisioning for potential customers how the product can be used and what the actual benefits are.

· Online interactive marketing increases the level of audience engagement and brings significant results. The audience interacts with the content displayed. It helps them to get better purchasing decision-making process.

· Online interactive marketing builds good relationship marketing through a way of providing much more personal caring than traditional marketing. Customers are demanding more in their expectations of how they are serviced and which levels of service they receive. So, the more personal caring, the more competitive advantage, and also the more customers.

This type of marketing offers more opportunities of consumption to customers, and it helps them to do better decision-making process. It increases the productivity and customers’ loyalty for the marketers.

B2C Interactive Marketing

Interactive marketing has only been a recent, but rapidly growing, endeavor. Companies like amazon, as mentioned before, have introduced a new and more beneficial way of targeting their customers that provide a big competitive advantage. Eventually, a more individualized approach of attracting customers will become a standard tool in marketing. There are however, already some great examples of how interactive marketing can benefit us as customers:

1. iTunes provides customers with the option of downloading songs for $0.99 per song. After songs have been downloaded by an individual, itunes is able to select similar songs to recommend for the next purchase based on patterns of other downloaders. It's easier to justify spending a dollar to listen to unfamiliar artists than making a cd purchase at a store. The included suggestions for similar songs also save time that might have been spent looking for new music, whether online, or at a store.
2. Air Canada has also developed their marketing to reflect their interaction with customers. A frequent flyer to the same destination, for instance, will be informed via email if an inexpensive flight is coming up.
   
3. Amazon cannot be left out of the equation. Because reading is not nearly as popular as it once was, few (if any) critiques are available on new authors and books. Amazon saves the trouble of seeking out this information by recommending a selection of books that would likely be enjoyed based on previous purchase knowledge.
   

The use of interactive marketing has benefited both companies and customers. Business to Customer (B2C) relationships have developed this reciprocal relationship because it simply makes sense. If a company wants to market products to those consumers likely to purchase them, interactive marketing provides the opportunity to do so. Customers are updated on products they are actually interested in, and in doing so, a more loyal relationship is developed between the them and the companies willing to take the time to market at a more individualized level.

What is interactive marketing?

What is interactive marketing, anyway?

According to Wikipedia:

The definition of interactive marketing comes from John Deighton at Harvard, who says interactive marketing is the ability to address the customer, remember what the customer says and address the customer again in a way that illustrates that we remember what the customer has told us (Deighton 1996).

Two-way interaction is what makes interactive marketing stand out, and what makes it so effective. Traditional marketing techniques focus primarily on pushing information out to potential customers. The problem with this is that the information consumers are receiving isn't quite what they want to see. Interactive marketing is a game-changer, both for marketers and consumers. It enables marketers to turn their marketing efforts into a true conversation, which thereby helps keep customers engaged and help ensure that companies will get the maximum return on their marketing dollars. For consumers, interactive marketing is a plus because it allows them to find out exactly what they want to know about products and services that interest them.

Amazon is a good example of a company that truly understands interactive marketing. Amazon recommends books and other items to them based on their purchases history. So, for example, if a customer has purchased several science fiction books, Amazon will recommend others in the same genre. This helps both parties. The customer may be exposed to some great books that they would really enjoy, and would not have heard about otherwise. For Amazon, directing their marketing in this way ensures that they are directing specific, relevant information at their customers instead of just advertising random books and hoping the customer will like them enough to purchase one. Look for a further analysis of analysis in a future post!

So, to sum it up: interactive marketing is all about keeping consumers engaged by obtaining some information from them, and then using this information to provide them with a customized message that is tailored to their wants and needs.