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Sunday 12 April 2009
Saturday 11 April 2009
10 Ways to Improve E-Library
The E-library is an electronic source for journals, articles and books that are in available to Coventry University students. The aim of the electronic version is to be accessible, easier to use, more comfortable for the student and easier for students to find relevant materials than the library. The internet services should satisfy all the expectations of the website to be effective. We believe that the effectiveness of the website and its aim’s achievement could be crucial for E-library to market itself! And also building the interaction between the website and clients and clients to clients should be considered. These are 10 ways for E-library to move forward from an E-marketing prospective.
The E-library is an important tool for the students of Coventry University and it could be the difference between a student passing or failing a piece of coursework or even a course itself. We have chosen to improve the E-Library because it is fundamental to a student and in its present form it is difficult to use and a hindrance to the students.
1- Coventry University e-library could be improved in terms of being friendlier; users should use the service freely, get onto the site, navigate and get whatever information they require. Having carried out opinion poll students thought the e-library facility was poor and that it was easier to use the paper based library than the online service.
2- When doing research on databases, the gateway security are difficult and make the whole experience longer than necessary. Security on each of the databases does not bring up the whole of the requested article or journal, it asks for further passwords that decline the student status passwords.
3- The e-library could have sponsored links to certain journals or websites to make some money from the e-library and also give students links to other academic sources.
4- Have more interaction between the library and its students, for example notifying the students when new material is uploaded onto the e-library website that is relevant to their course.
5- Improve the promotion of the e-library, i.e. have a larger link on CU online and notify students that it is available for them to use. This can be done by making it more visible to the student population so that they are encouraged to use the service.
6- Link the e-library to other universities who have similar systems to allow the students to get a larger database from which to work from. This can be done through having agreements with other university to use their database of knowledge or have one single system that runs through a network of universities.
7- Have a chat system which allows students to interact when searching for similar materials. This can allow students to interact with each other and give hints or recommend particular articles that may help with coursework.
8- Search tool needs to be refined because it is very difficult to find anything relevant to your search. Have topics lists, relevant journals should be grouped together, a keyword search should be integrated into the system and there also should be a keyword indicator when the results are shown either having the word underlined or in bold.
9- When you find the journal you are looking for you cannot view the journal; it does not allow you to read it. The journal should be accessible or a link should be provided show you can view it. If neither of these is possible then it should not be on the e-library. Also when a student makes a query, the query should be responded to and not ignored. This does not build trust in the facility and it will deter the user from using the service again.
10- Link relevant material to each article as in either other journals which support the view of the article or have an opposing view. Or they show books which are relevant to the subject or article or websites that can help out also. To be more useful and satisfy customer needs.
With all the improvements that have been suggested we believe that the e-library will be used a lot more, it will be easier to use and more successful. Also by improving the interactive relationship between the users and website, the students will trust it more and find it helpful and concern!
The E-library is an important tool for the students of Coventry University and it could be the difference between a student passing or failing a piece of coursework or even a course itself. We have chosen to improve the E-Library because it is fundamental to a student and in its present form it is difficult to use and a hindrance to the students.
1- Coventry University e-library could be improved in terms of being friendlier; users should use the service freely, get onto the site, navigate and get whatever information they require. Having carried out opinion poll students thought the e-library facility was poor and that it was easier to use the paper based library than the online service.
2- When doing research on databases, the gateway security are difficult and make the whole experience longer than necessary. Security on each of the databases does not bring up the whole of the requested article or journal, it asks for further passwords that decline the student status passwords.
3- The e-library could have sponsored links to certain journals or websites to make some money from the e-library and also give students links to other academic sources.
4- Have more interaction between the library and its students, for example notifying the students when new material is uploaded onto the e-library website that is relevant to their course.
5- Improve the promotion of the e-library, i.e. have a larger link on CU online and notify students that it is available for them to use. This can be done by making it more visible to the student population so that they are encouraged to use the service.
6- Link the e-library to other universities who have similar systems to allow the students to get a larger database from which to work from. This can be done through having agreements with other university to use their database of knowledge or have one single system that runs through a network of universities.
7- Have a chat system which allows students to interact when searching for similar materials. This can allow students to interact with each other and give hints or recommend particular articles that may help with coursework.
8- Search tool needs to be refined because it is very difficult to find anything relevant to your search. Have topics lists, relevant journals should be grouped together, a keyword search should be integrated into the system and there also should be a keyword indicator when the results are shown either having the word underlined or in bold.
9- When you find the journal you are looking for you cannot view the journal; it does not allow you to read it. The journal should be accessible or a link should be provided show you can view it. If neither of these is possible then it should not be on the e-library. Also when a student makes a query, the query should be responded to and not ignored. This does not build trust in the facility and it will deter the user from using the service again.
10- Link relevant material to each article as in either other journals which support the view of the article or have an opposing view. Or they show books which are relevant to the subject or article or websites that can help out also. To be more useful and satisfy customer needs.
With all the improvements that have been suggested we believe that the e-library will be used a lot more, it will be easier to use and more successful. Also by improving the interactive relationship between the users and website, the students will trust it more and find it helpful and concern!
References:
Chen,Ming M.,(2009) 'Personalized E-learning system with self-regulated learning assisted mechanisms for promoting learning performance.' academic search complete 36(5)8816-8829
Donna f. (2009) 'west tech tips for every librarian.' Computers in Libraries 29(4)46-47
Aram,Stephen (2009)'Virtual Worlds, Real Libraries: Librarians and Educators in Second Life and Other Multi-User Virtual Environments.' Information today 26(4)42-43
Preview CPA Technology Advisor(2009) 'Build Your Firm Website Development and Internet Marketing.'Acasemic search complete 18(8)42
Chen,Ming M.,(2009) 'Personalized E-learning system with self-regulated learning assisted mechanisms for promoting learning performance.' academic search complete 36(5)8816-8829
Donna f. (2009) 'west tech tips for every librarian.' Computers in Libraries 29(4)46-47
Aram,Stephen (2009)'Virtual Worlds, Real Libraries: Librarians and Educators in Second Life and Other Multi-User Virtual Environments.' Information today 26(4)42-43
Preview CPA Technology Advisor(2009) 'Build Your Firm Website Development and Internet Marketing.'Acasemic search complete 18(8)42
Monday 30 March 2009
Trust us!
Building trust is key for a business. If a customer finds that a company is trustworthy customers are more likely to buy from them and trust the advice that the business gives. Firstly trust needs to be established and then once this is established then a company can be seen as trustworthy.
Building rapport leads to building trust between customers and the company. In building rapport you must be patient and observe the other person. It needs to be subtle using these techniques to build rapport. Once rapport is built you can start changing people’s viewpoint more in line with your own. The key to building trust is to build a rapport with your customer.
One of the primary reasons that customers do not buy from a company is the lack of trust of the company. Even if the product has a superior quality, an excellent service or have the latest technology, if there is no trust in the company there will not be a sale. Trust is a major factor in whether a business will get the customers money.
There are a number of factors involved in building trust within a business. Firstly the company needs to be reliable, basically the company needs to do what it says it is going to do. Reliability itself can attract customers. The second factor is openness, this means giving the customer a truthful, candid answers to all their questions. Truthfulness is key to building trustworthiness and trust in a company.
The third factor is showing concern for customer asking question to show that you actually care about them. The company needs to show that they have a long term interest in the customer and their business. The final factor is being competent, this basically means the product or service must perform as expected. If it doesn’t then there will be no trust in the product or company. Google have become the biggest media company on the planet through simply doing its job well, helping people to find the information they need. It does this without bias to any one website. They don’t spend any money on advertising but they have a loyal base of user due to the fact they are good at their job.
Establishing trustworthiness can improve a company’s standing in the marketplace and also its marketshare. Trust is a key element; if a customer feels a company is trustworthy they will tell 3 people about it. But on the flipside if they feel the company isn’t trustworthy they will tell as many people as they can about it. Credibility is key for a company. Customer feedback sections are an excellent way that a company can build its trust with customers. It allows new users to get an idea for what the company is like and how it operates. The credibility is built up over time a repeatedly meeting customer expectations and even surpassing them.
In relation to a website the key element to building trust is to make the customer feel that they are safe on the website and they will not be ripped off. This can be done through secure access when paying for items and using such things as pay-pal and secure pay. Also they layout of a website can also be a factor in the credibility of a website. If it has clear and easy to use functions it will become more popular. This is because as more people use the internet for shopping and they expect to see certain links on the page. For example they expect to see the product in its relevant product category or brand and these categories to be listed on the home page. Also a keyword search is essential to allow the customer to search within your website and find the product they want quickly and easily. If you make the design and layout familiar to the customer they are more likely to shop on your website. Most of the more successful websites have a similar look but they have their own unique identity. Also minor improvements in the website can improve the credibility of a website, it shows that the site is always maintained and looked after well such as adding the time a date when the website was last updated. Also the speed of the website is key to the credibility of a website. The speed of the website is very important for the user. If there is a problem with the uploading of the website or it takes an age for the website to upload, the user will not return to the website. Customers do not want to wait for the website to purchase items.
For the website to be credible it needs to be findable, if a search engine cannot find your website then it may as well not exist.
Football website analysis
Liverpool Football Club- www.liverpoolfc.tv
Liverpool FC are one of the most famous football teams on the planet, with a worldwide fan base. They have a website to keep all their fans updated on the club. We are going to analyse the clubs website. We are going to find out what the layout is like, how much information is giving and the quality of the information and how often is the website updated. Also what is available on the website, such as club merchandise and ticket’s for matches.
Firstly we will look at the design of the website; its opening page gives the different areas of the website and other links regarding the club. It is done in the colour of the kits of the club red for the home kit and grey for the away kit. It also has the clubs crest in a prominent position on the page. It has links to its television channel, shop for merchandise, a link to its museum and tour and also a link to its twitter page. It has a very professional look with all the links easily accessible and the website is very fast. It has easy access and it is simple so the information you require is easily accessible.
Secondly we will look at how often it is updated. It seems to be updated very often because it has the latest results for the team and also it has the results for its players that are playing for their respective national teams. It has all the latest information on players, match results, league tables and the latest news on the team’s new stadium.
The services that are provided are there is a shop to buy Liverpool FC merchandise, there is a video section where the user can watch Liverpool matches from the past and recent matches. The online shop is easy to use and has a range of Liverpool merchandise and you can register in three easy steps.
The website is very fast which makes it very easy to use. The user can move to different part of the website very quickly and easily. Also the registering process is quick and simple after three easy steps you are registered and a conformation email is sent within seconds.
The problems with the site apart from it being about the scum from Liverpool! The size of the characters are very smaller and are difficult to read. There is no real range of football stories it concentrates on the positive aspects of the club and no negative news at all. Also there is no news on other football matters just Liverpool FC, which doesn’t allow for a balanced view but we believe that this was the aim of the creators of the website.
References
Building rapport leads to building trust between customers and the company. In building rapport you must be patient and observe the other person. It needs to be subtle using these techniques to build rapport. Once rapport is built you can start changing people’s viewpoint more in line with your own. The key to building trust is to build a rapport with your customer.
One of the primary reasons that customers do not buy from a company is the lack of trust of the company. Even if the product has a superior quality, an excellent service or have the latest technology, if there is no trust in the company there will not be a sale. Trust is a major factor in whether a business will get the customers money.
There are a number of factors involved in building trust within a business. Firstly the company needs to be reliable, basically the company needs to do what it says it is going to do. Reliability itself can attract customers. The second factor is openness, this means giving the customer a truthful, candid answers to all their questions. Truthfulness is key to building trustworthiness and trust in a company.
The third factor is showing concern for customer asking question to show that you actually care about them. The company needs to show that they have a long term interest in the customer and their business. The final factor is being competent, this basically means the product or service must perform as expected. If it doesn’t then there will be no trust in the product or company. Google have become the biggest media company on the planet through simply doing its job well, helping people to find the information they need. It does this without bias to any one website. They don’t spend any money on advertising but they have a loyal base of user due to the fact they are good at their job.
Establishing trustworthiness can improve a company’s standing in the marketplace and also its marketshare. Trust is a key element; if a customer feels a company is trustworthy they will tell 3 people about it. But on the flipside if they feel the company isn’t trustworthy they will tell as many people as they can about it. Credibility is key for a company. Customer feedback sections are an excellent way that a company can build its trust with customers. It allows new users to get an idea for what the company is like and how it operates. The credibility is built up over time a repeatedly meeting customer expectations and even surpassing them.
In relation to a website the key element to building trust is to make the customer feel that they are safe on the website and they will not be ripped off. This can be done through secure access when paying for items and using such things as pay-pal and secure pay. Also they layout of a website can also be a factor in the credibility of a website. If it has clear and easy to use functions it will become more popular. This is because as more people use the internet for shopping and they expect to see certain links on the page. For example they expect to see the product in its relevant product category or brand and these categories to be listed on the home page. Also a keyword search is essential to allow the customer to search within your website and find the product they want quickly and easily. If you make the design and layout familiar to the customer they are more likely to shop on your website. Most of the more successful websites have a similar look but they have their own unique identity. Also minor improvements in the website can improve the credibility of a website, it shows that the site is always maintained and looked after well such as adding the time a date when the website was last updated. Also the speed of the website is key to the credibility of a website. The speed of the website is very important for the user. If there is a problem with the uploading of the website or it takes an age for the website to upload, the user will not return to the website. Customers do not want to wait for the website to purchase items.
For the website to be credible it needs to be findable, if a search engine cannot find your website then it may as well not exist.
Football website analysis
Liverpool Football Club- www.liverpoolfc.tv
Liverpool FC are one of the most famous football teams on the planet, with a worldwide fan base. They have a website to keep all their fans updated on the club. We are going to analyse the clubs website. We are going to find out what the layout is like, how much information is giving and the quality of the information and how often is the website updated. Also what is available on the website, such as club merchandise and ticket’s for matches.
Firstly we will look at the design of the website; its opening page gives the different areas of the website and other links regarding the club. It is done in the colour of the kits of the club red for the home kit and grey for the away kit. It also has the clubs crest in a prominent position on the page. It has links to its television channel, shop for merchandise, a link to its museum and tour and also a link to its twitter page. It has a very professional look with all the links easily accessible and the website is very fast. It has easy access and it is simple so the information you require is easily accessible.
Secondly we will look at how often it is updated. It seems to be updated very often because it has the latest results for the team and also it has the results for its players that are playing for their respective national teams. It has all the latest information on players, match results, league tables and the latest news on the team’s new stadium.
The services that are provided are there is a shop to buy Liverpool FC merchandise, there is a video section where the user can watch Liverpool matches from the past and recent matches. The online shop is easy to use and has a range of Liverpool merchandise and you can register in three easy steps.
The website is very fast which makes it very easy to use. The user can move to different part of the website very quickly and easily. Also the registering process is quick and simple after three easy steps you are registered and a conformation email is sent within seconds.
The problems with the site apart from it being about the scum from Liverpool! The size of the characters are very smaller and are difficult to read. There is no real range of football stories it concentrates on the positive aspects of the club and no negative news at all. Also there is no news on other football matters just Liverpool FC, which doesn’t allow for a balanced view but we believe that this was the aim of the creators of the website.
References
Pratt. N, (2006)'Travel Trade Gazete: build web loyalty by giving honest facts.'Feature sitemakers ,Hugo Burge
Wisniewski J., (2008) 'online credibility.' Internet librarian 24(2) p.57
liverpoollfc (2008) www.liverpoolfc.tv
MikoĊaj M. ,(2009)"New Algorithms for Mining the Reputation of Participants of Online Auctions." Academic Search Complete 52(1)95-112(accessed March 29, 2009)
Wisniewski J., (2008) 'online credibility.' Internet librarian 24(2) p.57
liverpoollfc (2008) www.liverpoolfc.tv
MikoĊaj M. ,(2009)"New Algorithms for Mining the Reputation of Participants of Online Auctions." Academic Search Complete 52(1)95-112(accessed March 29, 2009)
Wednesday 25 March 2009
Friday 20 March 2009
MARKETING THROUGH ONLINE COMMUNITIES.
A virtual community, e-community or online community is a group of people that primarily interact via communication media such as newsletters, telephone, email, internet social network service or instant messages rather than face to face, for social, professional, educational or other purposes. If the mechanism is computer network, it is called an online community. Virtual and online communities have also become a supplemental form of communication between people who know each other primarily in real life. Many means are used in social software separately or in combination, including text-based chatrooms and forums that use voice, video text or avatars. Significant socio-technical change may have resulted from the proliferation of such Internet-based social networks.
(http://www.bbc.co.uk/chatguide/socialising/communities.shtml)
Online communities are very popular, peoples look for friends, group of interest in the Internet and the answer for this demand are online communities. Online communities are challenge for e-marketing. Community members transact with each other. They share information, opinions, gossip, pictures, music and news. The community is a diary, a contact book, a business network. People within it happily trade personal and intimate details, and advertisers see this very much as the Holy Grail.
(http://www.campaignlive.co.uk/news/search/567426/Digital-Essays-sense-community/).
More than 175million active users on Face book, 3 billion minutes are spend on Facebook each day (worldwide), more than 4 million user’s fans of page each day (http://www.facebook.com/press/info.php?statistics)
Therefore this one of the reason to be interested in building awareness, improve customers loyalty, increase repeat visits to company web site by online communities.
Browser based communities Vs. Video games communities
Online video game communities have grown drastically over the years in its size and scope. Its development in to such a large phenomenon is down to the increase use of the internet. Online gaming grew out bulletin board systems and college networks in the 1970’s and 1980’s.
Quake was one of the first games to offer online gaming; it started with 16 players and then eventually offered up to 32 players per game. Gamers quickly began to get themselves organised into different groups and called themselves clans. These clans had their own marketing, rivalries, organisational structures and even their own distinctive looks.
Browser based communities are used for a variety of social and professional groups to interact over the internet. This can come in the form of newsletters, email, internet social networks or instant messages rather than any face to face communication. This can be for social, professional, educational or other purposes. Virtual communities form "when people carry on public discussions long enough, with sufficient human feeling, to form webs of personal relationships" (Howard Rhinegold.)
Online communities are a way for people who know each other in real life to supplement communication between each other. Also it is a way for people to keep in touch with each other from around the world. There are different means that are used for these communities; these can be text based chat rooms and forums. Also there are communities that use voice texts, video texts or even avatars.
The earliest forms of the virtual communities are TheGlobe.com which was established in 1994, then there was Geocities also established in 1994 and Tripod established in 1995. These communities were very basic they brought people together through chat rooms and the sharing of personal information. These sites allowed people to share their personal ideas and thoughts through blogs and chat rooms. These sites were the predecessor to the modern social networks such as Facebook, MySpace and Bebo.
Importance of virtual communities to e-marketing:
Establishing a long term relationship between the company and the customer; A virtual communities provides a point of repeated contact with the customer through various means such as interactivity, tracking personalization, customization and email accompanied with customer’s information thus enhances one to one marketing.
Virtual community is a very important source for creating a customers’ database with a high level of personalization and customization. This enables the company to satisfy various customers’ segments and individual customers since it has all the necessary information about them.
Information and knowledge sharing; Virtual communities enhance relationship commitment where by Morgan and hunt propose relationship commitment as the central for relationship marketing and the common interest exists among the members of virtual communities is the level of satisfaction therefore when this attachment becomes very strong, parties go above their normal commitment to build trust whereby trust is a crucial factor for e-commerce to take its course (http://www.hsw-basel.ch/iwi/publications.nsf/)
Marketing perspective - VCs offer the target market with reduced search costs, access to a variety range of information from other community members, economic benefits like special price, customized offers such as free delivery and better services. E-marketers benefit from access to target group with known preferences, and a global reach. Marketers can understand each member-customer as an individual in provide all related services at a single point, addressing promotional messages, and make VC a new marketing channel globally.
Virtual community helps building the store image which is essential for building loyalty. Store image is the perception of organization held in consumers’ memory. Store image is very appropriate as an online store and very different from brand image. If one has a negative store image, may not buy from your online store therefore Virtual communities play an important role in the formation of the store image through members share their experience with each other about different brands. A customer forms his/her image based on others image/word of mouth depending on the trust he/she has over other members.
Possible ways to target online communities
The first fact to reckon with is the location of these communities; they are located online and people interested in the features come to this environment (to get whatever they want). Just like on-ground marketing whereby the target audience is strategically identified in their unique environment and effectively communicated to; same applies to online communities as consumers are located in the social network they belong to. People go online for different reasons i.e. to make a purchase, to search/share information, to socialize, to play games and so on. Therefore marketers can use these various online environments to target their defined publics. Based on what people do online, they can be targeted through their usage of certain communities. The key factors for appropriate targeting however is the size of the market is in view i.e. the number of people who visit the environment. Another factor is the shared interest of these online users, because these people go particular environments to get particular information required per time. In a summary, the ways to target online communities’ members is to locate them by researching the number of people on various networks, segmenting them by their interest, and further understanding their online behaviour by following through the places they go to gather information and hoe they interact with one another.
References
Cothrel, J.P. (2000) ‘Measuring the success of an online community’. academic search complete 28, (2), 17-19
Rheingold, Howard (1993). The Virtual Community (1st. ed.). Addison-Wesley Pub. Co. ISBN 9780201608700. http://www.rheingold.com/vc/book/intro.html.
Else, Liz & Turkle, Sherry. "Living online: I'll have to ask my friends", New Scientist, issue 2569, 20 September 2006.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7942304.stm
Rollings, Andrew; Ernest Adams (2006). Fundamentals of Game Design. Prentice Hall. l.
http://www.hsw-basel.ch/iwi/publications.nsf/:Gupta S, Hee-Woong Kim, (2004), Virtual Community: Concepts, Implications and Future Research Directions,
(http://www.bbc.co.uk/chatguide/socialising/communities.shtml
(http://www.facebook.com/press/info.php?statistics)
(http://www.bbc.co.uk/chatguide/socialising/communities.shtml)
Online communities are very popular, peoples look for friends, group of interest in the Internet and the answer for this demand are online communities. Online communities are challenge for e-marketing. Community members transact with each other. They share information, opinions, gossip, pictures, music and news. The community is a diary, a contact book, a business network. People within it happily trade personal and intimate details, and advertisers see this very much as the Holy Grail.
(http://www.campaignlive.co.uk/news/search/567426/Digital-Essays-sense-community/).
More than 175million active users on Face book, 3 billion minutes are spend on Facebook each day (worldwide), more than 4 million user’s fans of page each day (http://www.facebook.com/press/info.php?statistics)
Therefore this one of the reason to be interested in building awareness, improve customers loyalty, increase repeat visits to company web site by online communities.
Browser based communities Vs. Video games communities
Online video game communities have grown drastically over the years in its size and scope. Its development in to such a large phenomenon is down to the increase use of the internet. Online gaming grew out bulletin board systems and college networks in the 1970’s and 1980’s.
Quake was one of the first games to offer online gaming; it started with 16 players and then eventually offered up to 32 players per game. Gamers quickly began to get themselves organised into different groups and called themselves clans. These clans had their own marketing, rivalries, organisational structures and even their own distinctive looks.
Browser based communities are used for a variety of social and professional groups to interact over the internet. This can come in the form of newsletters, email, internet social networks or instant messages rather than any face to face communication. This can be for social, professional, educational or other purposes. Virtual communities form "when people carry on public discussions long enough, with sufficient human feeling, to form webs of personal relationships" (Howard Rhinegold.)
Online communities are a way for people who know each other in real life to supplement communication between each other. Also it is a way for people to keep in touch with each other from around the world. There are different means that are used for these communities; these can be text based chat rooms and forums. Also there are communities that use voice texts, video texts or even avatars.
The earliest forms of the virtual communities are TheGlobe.com which was established in 1994, then there was Geocities also established in 1994 and Tripod established in 1995. These communities were very basic they brought people together through chat rooms and the sharing of personal information. These sites allowed people to share their personal ideas and thoughts through blogs and chat rooms. These sites were the predecessor to the modern social networks such as Facebook, MySpace and Bebo.
Importance of virtual communities to e-marketing:
Establishing a long term relationship between the company and the customer; A virtual communities provides a point of repeated contact with the customer through various means such as interactivity, tracking personalization, customization and email accompanied with customer’s information thus enhances one to one marketing.
Virtual community is a very important source for creating a customers’ database with a high level of personalization and customization. This enables the company to satisfy various customers’ segments and individual customers since it has all the necessary information about them.
Information and knowledge sharing; Virtual communities enhance relationship commitment where by Morgan and hunt propose relationship commitment as the central for relationship marketing and the common interest exists among the members of virtual communities is the level of satisfaction therefore when this attachment becomes very strong, parties go above their normal commitment to build trust whereby trust is a crucial factor for e-commerce to take its course (http://www.hsw-basel.ch/iwi/publications.nsf/)
Marketing perspective - VCs offer the target market with reduced search costs, access to a variety range of information from other community members, economic benefits like special price, customized offers such as free delivery and better services. E-marketers benefit from access to target group with known preferences, and a global reach. Marketers can understand each member-customer as an individual in provide all related services at a single point, addressing promotional messages, and make VC a new marketing channel globally.
Virtual community helps building the store image which is essential for building loyalty. Store image is the perception of organization held in consumers’ memory. Store image is very appropriate as an online store and very different from brand image. If one has a negative store image, may not buy from your online store therefore Virtual communities play an important role in the formation of the store image through members share their experience with each other about different brands. A customer forms his/her image based on others image/word of mouth depending on the trust he/she has over other members.
Possible ways to target online communities
The first fact to reckon with is the location of these communities; they are located online and people interested in the features come to this environment (to get whatever they want). Just like on-ground marketing whereby the target audience is strategically identified in their unique environment and effectively communicated to; same applies to online communities as consumers are located in the social network they belong to. People go online for different reasons i.e. to make a purchase, to search/share information, to socialize, to play games and so on. Therefore marketers can use these various online environments to target their defined publics. Based on what people do online, they can be targeted through their usage of certain communities. The key factors for appropriate targeting however is the size of the market is in view i.e. the number of people who visit the environment. Another factor is the shared interest of these online users, because these people go particular environments to get particular information required per time. In a summary, the ways to target online communities’ members is to locate them by researching the number of people on various networks, segmenting them by their interest, and further understanding their online behaviour by following through the places they go to gather information and hoe they interact with one another.
References
Cothrel, J.P. (2000) ‘Measuring the success of an online community’. academic search complete 28, (2), 17-19
Rheingold, Howard (1993). The Virtual Community (1st. ed.). Addison-Wesley Pub. Co. ISBN 9780201608700. http://www.rheingold.com/vc/book/intro.html.
Else, Liz & Turkle, Sherry. "Living online: I'll have to ask my friends", New Scientist, issue 2569, 20 September 2006.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7942304.stm
Rollings, Andrew; Ernest Adams (2006). Fundamentals of Game Design. Prentice Hall. l.
http://www.hsw-basel.ch/iwi/publications.nsf/:Gupta S, Hee-Woong Kim, (2004), Virtual Community: Concepts, Implications and Future Research Directions,
(http://www.bbc.co.uk/chatguide/socialising/communities.shtml
(http://www.facebook.com/press/info.php?statistics)
Thursday 12 March 2009
FUTURE ? ...MOBILE AND DIGITAL TV...
Future Internet: Mobile Phones Vs. iDTV
People around the world now access the internet not only at home but also in the public places. This makes the mobile phones and iDTV (Interactive Digital Television) priority tools for internet access now and protectively in the future. While mobile phones are preferred by some consumers, iDTV are preferred by others. Why is this so? Considering these two future proposals, it is pertinent to consider the elements of proposition for both the mobile/wireless and the iDTV assessment.
As there are visible conflict with the mobile nature of the mobile phones and the characteristics of the iDTV, this article aims at unveiling what the future holds for internet users and this would be examined as it relates to the access point and service (internet) availability, volume of information available per time, privacy, personalization, and security from the mobile/wireless proposition while the iDTV proposition focuses on access, personalization and security.
Mobile/wireless proposition
On one hand, the Wi-Fi (Wireless Fidelity) technology of Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA) is a security standard for computer users which provides end-users with the access to the internet through their mobile phones. In the UK, there are already more than 10,000 wi-fi hotspots in public places such as restaurants, hotels, cafes, libraries and airports, city centers. Shipments of WiFi-enabled mobile phones will double in volume by the end of 2010, compared to January 2008, and that growth curve is expected to continue through 2013, according to ABI Research. This data clearly shows Wi-Fi technology will continue to penetrate deeper into mobile handsets thereby increasing consumers’ awareness and demand, new operator business models, as well as augmented value for mobile phone makers.
With the ever developing technology in the mobile phone sector, mobile phone users now have easy Wi-Fi access that accepts varieties of functions. For example, this private device allows bypassing conventional networks and making inexpensive long-distance calls over the web using Voice over Internet Protocol, VoIP, geographic navigation, Dictaphone
As regards security, there is the belief that the continuous developing functionality of technology will overcome the safety concern.
The television set on the other hand was seen as the most popular form of public communication in the world today with 99.4% of households in UK having a television set coupled with BBC’s claim of 20million licence payers (BBC 2000). IDTV was introduced to tackle social exclusion as it was designed with the interactive features that have both strengths and weaknesses in terms of usage.
iDTV proposition
The feasibility of having more of an IDTV as against a mobile revolution in the future is minimal. There are substantial proofs that more businesses that larger percentage of the consumer population cannot do without like banks, retailers, and more are closing local branches and launching online services. This evidence gives more credibility to the mobile when compared to television in terms of subscribers mobility. Conventionally, television has overtime been a social focus point of the home with families and friends watching. As a weakness, the screen resolution of web television browsers is considerably smaller than the minimum obtainable from computers as well as mobile phones.
To properly assess the future intention of the IDTV, an understanding of its functionality is paramount to knowledge. IDTV is the combination of interactive television and digital television thereby enabling activities such as video on demand, home shopping & banking, internet access & e-mail. IDTV operates in three modes:
-the single mode that offers television viewing with its interactive features only and only one task at a time not the two together.
-the spontaneous viewing with the interactive function popping up while viewing is on
- and the pause mode which allows a live viewing to be paused so the viewer can participate wholly with the interactive services. All of these modes have their advantages and disadvantages such as the skipping of commercials during programme breaks.
However, figures indicate that approximately 36% of people in Britain use the Internet (which is three times more than two years ago) and 36% have a digital TV (e-MORI, March/April 2001). This is a major milestone with the uptake of digital TV equaling Internet usage for the first time. In October 2000, 6% of Internet users gained access through digital TV whilst only 5% used WAP phones. Three-quarters of users logged on from home rather than from work or elsewhere.
Conclusively, there is no doubt that the iDTV usage is increasing; nonetheless, there are limitations in the functionalities it can deliver. The main determinants of these arguments are the target audience (i.e. internet users), what they use the internet for, when they use it, where they use it and the privacy option as unique to each end user as well as the most preferred tool to access the internet. The mobile phones however remain the most dominant future access for the internet until iDTV technological constraints are conquered.
Refrences:
Ferguson s.Boulton c.(2008)“The future is mobile” eweek.com 14 jan 2008
zarr r.The Future of Mobile power potable design
BBC.com (2008) Q&A: Wi-fi explained
available on : http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4758722.stm 8 march 2008
intomobile.com (2008) ABI Research: WiFi-enabled handset shipments to double from 2008 through 2010 available on: http://www.intomobile.com/2009/02/15/abi-research-wifi-enabled-handset-shipments-to-double-from-2008-through-2010.html 8 march 2008
People around the world now access the internet not only at home but also in the public places. This makes the mobile phones and iDTV (Interactive Digital Television) priority tools for internet access now and protectively in the future. While mobile phones are preferred by some consumers, iDTV are preferred by others. Why is this so? Considering these two future proposals, it is pertinent to consider the elements of proposition for both the mobile/wireless and the iDTV assessment.
As there are visible conflict with the mobile nature of the mobile phones and the characteristics of the iDTV, this article aims at unveiling what the future holds for internet users and this would be examined as it relates to the access point and service (internet) availability, volume of information available per time, privacy, personalization, and security from the mobile/wireless proposition while the iDTV proposition focuses on access, personalization and security.
Mobile/wireless proposition
On one hand, the Wi-Fi (Wireless Fidelity) technology of Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA) is a security standard for computer users which provides end-users with the access to the internet through their mobile phones. In the UK, there are already more than 10,000 wi-fi hotspots in public places such as restaurants, hotels, cafes, libraries and airports, city centers. Shipments of WiFi-enabled mobile phones will double in volume by the end of 2010, compared to January 2008, and that growth curve is expected to continue through 2013, according to ABI Research. This data clearly shows Wi-Fi technology will continue to penetrate deeper into mobile handsets thereby increasing consumers’ awareness and demand, new operator business models, as well as augmented value for mobile phone makers.
With the ever developing technology in the mobile phone sector, mobile phone users now have easy Wi-Fi access that accepts varieties of functions. For example, this private device allows bypassing conventional networks and making inexpensive long-distance calls over the web using Voice over Internet Protocol, VoIP, geographic navigation, Dictaphone
As regards security, there is the belief that the continuous developing functionality of technology will overcome the safety concern.
The television set on the other hand was seen as the most popular form of public communication in the world today with 99.4% of households in UK having a television set coupled with BBC’s claim of 20million licence payers (BBC 2000). IDTV was introduced to tackle social exclusion as it was designed with the interactive features that have both strengths and weaknesses in terms of usage.
iDTV proposition
The feasibility of having more of an IDTV as against a mobile revolution in the future is minimal. There are substantial proofs that more businesses that larger percentage of the consumer population cannot do without like banks, retailers, and more are closing local branches and launching online services. This evidence gives more credibility to the mobile when compared to television in terms of subscribers mobility. Conventionally, television has overtime been a social focus point of the home with families and friends watching. As a weakness, the screen resolution of web television browsers is considerably smaller than the minimum obtainable from computers as well as mobile phones.
To properly assess the future intention of the IDTV, an understanding of its functionality is paramount to knowledge. IDTV is the combination of interactive television and digital television thereby enabling activities such as video on demand, home shopping & banking, internet access & e-mail. IDTV operates in three modes:
-the single mode that offers television viewing with its interactive features only and only one task at a time not the two together.
-the spontaneous viewing with the interactive function popping up while viewing is on
- and the pause mode which allows a live viewing to be paused so the viewer can participate wholly with the interactive services. All of these modes have their advantages and disadvantages such as the skipping of commercials during programme breaks.
However, figures indicate that approximately 36% of people in Britain use the Internet (which is three times more than two years ago) and 36% have a digital TV (e-MORI, March/April 2001). This is a major milestone with the uptake of digital TV equaling Internet usage for the first time. In October 2000, 6% of Internet users gained access through digital TV whilst only 5% used WAP phones. Three-quarters of users logged on from home rather than from work or elsewhere.
Conclusively, there is no doubt that the iDTV usage is increasing; nonetheless, there are limitations in the functionalities it can deliver. The main determinants of these arguments are the target audience (i.e. internet users), what they use the internet for, when they use it, where they use it and the privacy option as unique to each end user as well as the most preferred tool to access the internet. The mobile phones however remain the most dominant future access for the internet until iDTV technological constraints are conquered.
Refrences:
Ferguson s.Boulton c.(2008)“The future is mobile” eweek.com 14 jan 2008
zarr r.The Future of Mobile power potable design
BBC.com (2008) Q&A: Wi-fi explained
available on : http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4758722.stm 8 march 2008
intomobile.com (2008) ABI Research: WiFi-enabled handset shipments to double from 2008 through 2010 available on: http://www.intomobile.com/2009/02/15/abi-research-wifi-enabled-handset-shipments-to-double-from-2008-through-2010.html 8 march 2008
DataMonitor (2000), Digital Home in Europe: Perspective 2003http://www.DataMonitor.com/productdetail.asp?id=DMTC0661 Department for Trade and Industry (2000), 'Opportunity for all in a world of change', Government's White Paper on Enterprise, Skills and Innovation,http://www.dti.gov.uk/opportunityforall/ e-MORI (2001), Technology Tracker January 1997 - March / April 2001,http://www.mori.com
Wells, M. (April 16 2001), 'Digital give-away planned to kick-start the big television switch', Guardian On-Line,http://www.guardian.co.uk/Archive/Article/0,4273,4171167,00.html
Friday 27 February 2009
E-marketing in Business and Education
Marketing is no more new to businesses as it has been in practice for many years. The electronic form of marketing can however be said to be relatively new in the business environment as company’s aspire to maximize the existing opportunities in the online environment. The first form of online marketing took the face of company’s websites whereby companies put on their web pages information about their business and attract customers in that manner; other forms of online marketing that gained appearance after the website existence were e-mails, online sales representatives, viral marketing (advert placement on existing and widely used social networks such as Yahoo, Google, YouTube, Facebook among others) as designed by various companies to get feedback from their target audience.
Understanding the concept of E-marketing and its application to businesses and industries has been beneficial in time past and would remain valuable in the present time and beyond. The aim of the article is to review the importance of E-marketing and its usage in industries, assess its needs in higher learning as well as the teaching modalities.
There are various factors that make e-marketing significant, unprecedented factors such as global reach, lower cost, trackable, measurable results, 24-hour marketing, and personalisation help to create consumers’ database, one-to-one marketing (interactivity), more interesting campaigns, better conversion rate among others.
With regards to the ever growing development in the information technology (IT) sector, and the valuable development this sector offers businesses; more and more companies have had to build and improve on their product and service offerings. Divers opportunities exist online which has made businesses grow; ease of market research, identifying and segmenting target market, product or service preferred, generally consumer buying behaviour.
The practice of e-marketing vary from industry to industry; some industries engage it more than other industries and this is premise on the goals and objectives of the company, taking into cognisance what is obtainable in the business industry. For example, the retail, music and banking industries engage e-marketing more than the engineering and construction industry. Also, the growth of international business activities and online retailing has led to an increased usage of e-marketing; a good example of this is what is evident in the banking industry. The retail industry is not left out in this, e-marketing boosts the ability of traders in offering products to wider market segments and sees to a wider distribution channels. The music industry is currently developing ways of securing revenue generation by relying on the differentiation of music downloaded from the sites of music companies and from unauthorized file sharing websites .In addition, the advertising industry has also grown through online advertisements because of the intention to explore online opportunities which might not be obtainable with traditional advertising.
The knowledge of e-marketing is paramount not only in businesses but also in learning institutions. The individuals in businesses today have at a point in time have to learn the essentials of marketing and the channels of communication as the role of communication cannot be undermined in the marketing environment. With the development of new media, marketing communication strategy has been reviewed to suit the marketing industry and same has been made accessible to learning institutions. It is very important in an academic sense because students who aspire to have a marketing career need to understand the fundamentals while still under the learning umbrella. This includes having updated academic materials and methods as tools at their disposal in an attempt to bag a successful career. Education could be viewed as an exchange for certain values; therefore students expect certain degree of values to be inculcated in them for the money given to the learning institution.
E-marketing modules should be taught in manner that gives knowledge on how to build business success in an online environment taking into account tools which are most useful in this process and bringing on board examples of best and worst practice in e-marketing campaigns as well as theoretical but also practical knowledge.
The whole essence of this is to introduce students to business practice, work ethics and make them have foreknowledge of e-marketing as it relates to an organization.
How E-marketing should be taught:
· Some basics on what Marketing is and how it is vital to a business.
· Basics on the internet and its importance in the world today.
· The development of e-marketing over the years.
· How important is it in a firm’s marketing strategy? What amount of time and investment is made towards it rather than other forms of media such as TV, newspapers and magazines?
· How to use it effectively and examples of how it has been used effectively.
· How to use e-marketing to compliment other forms of marketing.
· What forms of e-marketing are there?
Summarily, with the increased usage of the internet and the ever growing technological development, e-Marketing has become key medium for business interaction such as information management, public relations, customer service and sales among others therefore, including this concept by providing appropriate knowledge of it in higher learning will further develop the growth of the marketing industry.
References:
McDaniel c., Rager G., (2001) marketing research The Impact of Internet, 5th edition published by Dave Shaut
Radin t., Calinkins M., Predmore C., (2007) “new Challenges to Old Problems: Bulding trust In E-marketing “. Business and society review 112 (3) 71-78
Marketing (E-newsletter) (2008) 'easy e-marketing '15 July 2008 p.40-43
Moris M. (2008) “The value of E-marketing” professional remodeler July 2008 24-26
Bugarski b., (2008) “Five steps to professional e-marketing success.” Franchising World p22-26
Understanding the concept of E-marketing and its application to businesses and industries has been beneficial in time past and would remain valuable in the present time and beyond. The aim of the article is to review the importance of E-marketing and its usage in industries, assess its needs in higher learning as well as the teaching modalities.
There are various factors that make e-marketing significant, unprecedented factors such as global reach, lower cost, trackable, measurable results, 24-hour marketing, and personalisation help to create consumers’ database, one-to-one marketing (interactivity), more interesting campaigns, better conversion rate among others.
With regards to the ever growing development in the information technology (IT) sector, and the valuable development this sector offers businesses; more and more companies have had to build and improve on their product and service offerings. Divers opportunities exist online which has made businesses grow; ease of market research, identifying and segmenting target market, product or service preferred, generally consumer buying behaviour.
The practice of e-marketing vary from industry to industry; some industries engage it more than other industries and this is premise on the goals and objectives of the company, taking into cognisance what is obtainable in the business industry. For example, the retail, music and banking industries engage e-marketing more than the engineering and construction industry. Also, the growth of international business activities and online retailing has led to an increased usage of e-marketing; a good example of this is what is evident in the banking industry. The retail industry is not left out in this, e-marketing boosts the ability of traders in offering products to wider market segments and sees to a wider distribution channels. The music industry is currently developing ways of securing revenue generation by relying on the differentiation of music downloaded from the sites of music companies and from unauthorized file sharing websites .In addition, the advertising industry has also grown through online advertisements because of the intention to explore online opportunities which might not be obtainable with traditional advertising.
The knowledge of e-marketing is paramount not only in businesses but also in learning institutions. The individuals in businesses today have at a point in time have to learn the essentials of marketing and the channels of communication as the role of communication cannot be undermined in the marketing environment. With the development of new media, marketing communication strategy has been reviewed to suit the marketing industry and same has been made accessible to learning institutions. It is very important in an academic sense because students who aspire to have a marketing career need to understand the fundamentals while still under the learning umbrella. This includes having updated academic materials and methods as tools at their disposal in an attempt to bag a successful career. Education could be viewed as an exchange for certain values; therefore students expect certain degree of values to be inculcated in them for the money given to the learning institution.
E-marketing modules should be taught in manner that gives knowledge on how to build business success in an online environment taking into account tools which are most useful in this process and bringing on board examples of best and worst practice in e-marketing campaigns as well as theoretical but also practical knowledge.
The whole essence of this is to introduce students to business practice, work ethics and make them have foreknowledge of e-marketing as it relates to an organization.
How E-marketing should be taught:
· Some basics on what Marketing is and how it is vital to a business.
· Basics on the internet and its importance in the world today.
· The development of e-marketing over the years.
· How important is it in a firm’s marketing strategy? What amount of time and investment is made towards it rather than other forms of media such as TV, newspapers and magazines?
· How to use it effectively and examples of how it has been used effectively.
· How to use e-marketing to compliment other forms of marketing.
· What forms of e-marketing are there?
Summarily, with the increased usage of the internet and the ever growing technological development, e-Marketing has become key medium for business interaction such as information management, public relations, customer service and sales among others therefore, including this concept by providing appropriate knowledge of it in higher learning will further develop the growth of the marketing industry.
References:
McDaniel c., Rager G., (2001) marketing research The Impact of Internet, 5th edition published by Dave Shaut
Radin t., Calinkins M., Predmore C., (2007) “new Challenges to Old Problems: Bulding trust In E-marketing “. Business and society review 112 (3) 71-78
Marketing (E-newsletter) (2008) 'easy e-marketing '15 July 2008 p.40-43
Moris M. (2008) “The value of E-marketing” professional remodeler July 2008 24-26
Bugarski b., (2008) “Five steps to professional e-marketing success.” Franchising World p22-26
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