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What is the best way to reach your audience and create a relationship with them?
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The most common mistake, when considering the use of the Internet, is to consider only the application of generating sales from new customers. Another error is to consider only applications that use the WWW rather than also considering how e-mail and push technology can be applied.
In many cases the Internet will be totally inappropriate for new business generation but may have considerable scope for generating business from existing customers, dealing with the media, supporting the sales channel and so on. There is a long list of audiences that exert an important influence on an organization's activities including the financial community, consultants, pressure groups and existing and future employees, all of which can be targeted.
We are already seeing companies deciding that their investment in the Internet has 'failed' because a stream of new business has not materialized or their customers and prospects have been slow to utilize the technology. Winning or losing as measured against this narrow benchmark of success must not be the sole reason for dismissing the whole Internet venture. It is vital that all of the technology's possible applications are considered before coming to this conclusion.
Perhaps the most audacious example of using the Internet as a means of understanding the sentiment of the marketplace was when Larry Ellison, the head of Oracle Corp., solicited electronic mail comments from Apple shareholders, customers and employees on whether a take over of the company would make sense. An electronic mailbox was established at and individuals with an interest in Apple were invited to send their views as to whether the company would benefit from new management and what they believed should be Apple's top priority.
It is likely that this exercise had as much to do with the associated publicity that it generated as the accuracy and value of the respondents' comments.
What does this type of site say about the organization's Internet strategy? In short it suggests that no real strategic vision exists and that the site was developed for very tactical reasons. These could include; the desire to experiment with the technology, to promote an image of being a vibrant technically aware organization, or just to ensure that any business bonanza that the Internet may deliver is not missed.
These early mistakes are being realized and many sites are now being changed radically to avoid the most obvious mistakes. Any person who spends time visiting WWW sites will know that examples do still exist. A major oil company still welcomes visitors to its site by providing them with a menu which is totally organizationally focused with terminology such as 'what we do', 'what we care about', 'about us' and 'what we offer'. Unfortunately they are not alone.
Audience-centric sites This type of site reflects the fact that many types of visitor will use it and their requirements may be very different. These different needs will include the type of information they require, the format and language they use and the type of dialogue they wish to establish.
From the organization's perspective the marketing priorities and objectives for attracting and influencing these audiences will also be very different.
This approach can also give a totally false view of how competitors are behaving because of the rapid speed with which an organization's use of the Internet can change. One day the competitor's site might be offering no more than a basic repository of company data, the following it might be providing a fully functional electronic commerce facility giving customers direct access to their accounts and logistics data.
The final concern with this approach is that the competitors who are being benchmarked may not be the ones who really matter. Book retailers who decided to match each other's Internet commitment would have totally missed the emergence of the new breed of company like Amazon. COM. In many industries, the organizations that will display the greatest innovation and degree of commitment to the Internet will not come from the ranks of existing suppliers.
The central premise of this strategy still remains reactive and is conditional upon investing the minimum rather than taking control and seeking to gain real competitive advantage.
