The internet helps many ways for businesses to promote themselves online; it offers many opportunities for organisations in ways they can use in relation to communication. Below are few examples of what internet marketing provides a business in relation to communication.
· Domain Name:
Domain name is a web address that is included in the World Wide Web; it is used by businesses, computers, and addresses on the internet. It is a name that identifies a website, for individuals to gain access to. This is a way of internet marketing offering businesses a way of communication. Businesses have an advantage of having a memorable website address as the shorter the better also having the company name as the domain name makes it more simple and memorable. Most of the larger businesses have their own company name and product name as their domain name, for example ford.com, sainsbury.co.uk, etc and some businesses use memorable word like British Gas, with house.co.uk. There are many advantages to having a domain name for an organisation as a domain name can only be registered once and for one buyer only so businesses would be able to use a name that can only lead to their organisation website. Having a domain name gives organisation an identity that visitors can always recognise. Domain name shortens the URL address which is a much easier way to remember. It also adds credibility as a domain name can project a professional image of the business and it is a way of marketing.
ASOS is an organisation that is only based online so having a domain name is very important. They chose to keep it simple www.asos.com < this address is very easy to remember. ASOS is shortened for As Seen On Screen and ASOS is pronounced A-sos which helps identify the domain name easily. Also .com is set in the Top-Level domain name where they can connect local area networks to the Internet, run web sites, or create other publicity accessible Internet resources if they wish.
· Search Engines
Visitors online can find web site in other ways such as using search engines. There are many search engines available such as Google. Search engines are designed to search for information on the World Wide Web (www). Some individuals may just use words, sentences or use Boolean searches etc to find what they are looking for. The search results are usually shown in a list of results which are commonly called hits. The list of results can include web pages, information, and other types of files.
ASOS has submitted their domain name and details to search engines, so that potential customers/visitors that are looking for their web site or other related information such as ‘women jeans’ can lead to their website. It is very easy to submit the domain name and it costs nothing so for ASOS it is an advantage as it helps attract more customers which is a way of marketing without having to pay for its services. Also on their own website they have a search engines so individuals have an easy way to search what they looking for through their website. It is way for ASOS to gain an online presence for their business which can gain an easy way of being acknowledged.
· Price Comparison Websites
There are many price comparison websites on the internet where potential customers use a price engine to find a list of a product at different prices within organisations and are able to choose the best offer; this can be a useful promotional tool for an organisation but only if they compare their prices with competitors and offer the lower price. When the internet user is re-directed to the shop’s website, there would be a charge for a ‘click-through’. Some examples of a price comparison website are www.kelkoo.co.uk, www.PriceRunner.co.uk, and www.moneysupermarket.com etc.
ASOS has an advantage of using this method of a promotional tool as they are able to attract more customers through this. However, ASOS might be well known business and very popular but not all their products are lower price than competitors, but customers also go for quality and their image including brand image which does not matter when price comparing.
· Marketplaces
Marketplaces are places on the internet where businesses or individuals buy or sell goods. The most common example of a marketplace is www.ebay.co.uk. EBay is an online auction and shopping website in which people and businesses buy and sell a broad variety of goods and services worldwide. The majority of the sales take place through a set-time auction format, but subsequent methods include a substantial segment of listings in the "Buy It Now" category. This is a good way for businesses to promote their products as it can reach a wider range of audience also having to bid for a ‘unique’ product or the ‘last’ one could lead to a higher price than usual which is good for an organisation or other people. It enables sellers to reach target markets also to derive some degree of consumer trust through their place in a larger business community. Although there is a sales commission to pay to stay on the site for a certain amount of time etc there is an advantage for businesses as it is very cost-effective.
ASOS has many of their products place on eBay which is being sold worldwide etc. To view this click HERE
This is a good way for ASOS to use market place as an internet marketing strategy to build a better communication method.
· Banners, Spotlights, Pop-Ups and Sponsored Links
These are also internet marketing strategies used by organizations as it is a way of promoting a website/business/product etc on their own or other websites. These are advertised on the internet in ways where, when ‘clicked’ will open another browser window to the target website. These ways of advertisement can be shown with animation or it can be interactive and often linked with some kind of incentive to ‘click’ as it’s produced to attract more people and persuade them to click on the banner or the spotlight or the pop-ups or sponsored links.
ASOS uses these in a way to promote their business more and attract more and targeted customers. ASOS is located in some banners on other websites and also has a banner of their own website.
· Viral Marketing
Viral marketing is a way of spreading a market message by sending an email to existing customers or a target group which then can be forwarded by some of those customers to their friends and then to their friends and so on. This is a very useful tool for businesses to send special offers, new goods or services to existing customers. This is a way of using internet marketing to build a bigger communication network between the business and customers.
ASOS as mention before have social network sites such as Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, Bebo etc where they can spread their information through to build communication and attract more customers also they use existing customers email address, home address to send out special offers and their magazines etc which is used by the internet that offers opportunities in attracting more customers. This is a way of spreading information very rapidly at low cost.
Other opportunities include the use of purchase history to tailor offers to individuals and also for customers to have a much more range of customised buyer menus enabling them to have a better accurate response to customer needs and wants; use of internet. And many more...
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