Daniel's Blog

Recently completed work on a new website for the Fuelers Hot Rod Club.  A pretty simple site, powered by WordPress.

Check it out at www.fuelers.com.au

I’ve uploaded the web site I designed for University of Ballarat course ITECH2106 Webpage and Multimedia Design.

http://www.djrxr6.com.au/ITECH2106/

It was developed using simple HTML, CSS and Javascript only, no server side scripting was allowed. The focus of the assignment was on website design rather than the technology used to create them.

I chose to design this website completely from scratch and without the use of a template (as was out option to do so). I feel that coding from scratch allows greater flexibility and freedom in the design. It also helps to gain a greater understanding of HTML and CSS design and coding techniques.

1) Find an article on affiliate marketing (for example search http://www.iabuk.net ) What is the difference between affiliate marketing and PPC (Pay per click) marketing and what are the advantages and disadvantages of both?

Traditionally Pay Per Click advertising involves a third party placing an hyperlinked add for your website on thiers. When the hyperlink is clicked and the browser is directed to your site, you pay the third party. Affiliate marketing works in a similar way, advertising is still placed on a third party website, but you only pay if the resulting traffic leads to a sale. Commissions for affiliates may be a flat rate or a percentage of the final sale.

2) How is CRM relevant to affiliate marketing?

Effective CRM allows a company to establish trends and other customer data which can be used in conjunction with affiliate programs. For example, knowing what kind of interests your customers have may allow you to establish the kinds of websites they frequent. This can be used to determine the kind of websites you want to join your affiliate program.

3) Where does viral marketing fit into this mix? For an example check out the ‘Obama girl’. Who/what is the purpose of the Obama girl. Find your own links for this one!

Viral marketing involves creating a message in the form of an email, video etc that will create interest from those who see it and then tell their friends about it, the intent is that the message will spread (hence the viral) to a large audience by word of mouth. The message itself may not be directly related to the product, service or cause you’re trying to promote, it may be something funny or shocking.

4) In the powerpoint presentation there is a link to Overture which was a ‘key word’ search tool. You will find that it is no longer there – one of the ongoing issues with web resources. Yahoo bought Overture and shut it down. Do your own search and see if you can find an alternative to Overture. Also see the discussion page and share your thoughts there.

In the past I have used a number of SEO tools on the site http://www.webconfs.com/. The site contains a number of keyword related research tools as well as a number of other usefull SEO related tools.

1) What did Monster.com want to use CRM for?

The CRM implemented for Monster.com was intended to be used primarily by the companies telephone sales consultant. The software would provide the consultants with information on prospective customers which could be used to increase it’s client base and aid in the expansion of the company.

2) What were some of the issues and problems caused in the first 12 months and how were they resolved.

Issues that were encountered in the first twelve months included slow software response times which rendered it unusable and issues for salespeople using laptops which locked them out of the database. The reason for the failure of the CRM software was deemed to be poor implementation by the inexperienced consulting firm who installed it. The issues were resolved when the software developer, Siebel Systems, stepped in to assist in rebuilding the application. The experience cost Monster.com millions of dollars and taught it’s executives a valuable lesson about taking CRM vendors on their word about the benefits of CRM software. CRM software is only good if the people who need to use it deem it to be of any value to their work and the CRM vendor is experienced enough to provide the company with CRM software tailored to their needs.

The article states that ‘Simply put, CRM software is designed to help companies keep track of their customers and boost revenues by increasing customer loyalty’

3) Do some research yourself. Who were the major CRM vendors in 2002 (from the article) and are there any new players now? See the video in the powerpoint presentation as well.

The most obvious CRM vendor from this article is Siebel Systems. Siebel implemented CRM systems for large companies such as Microsoft and IBM. As of 2005 Seibel was aquired by Oracle and while the company has it’s own CRM software package it has combined the original Siebel CRM software with UpShot CRM (which it also aquired) to create a more robust interface than the original.
4) What is the main reason CIO’s (Chief Information Officer) run into trouble with the introduction of CRM systems? What is the best way to achieve a successful introduction?

CIO’s run into trouble largely because of the pressures involved in seeking a CRM solution. Company executives, eager to implement the latest technologies to increase revenues and stay competitive, place pressure on the CIO. There are also multitude of CRM consultants bombard the CIO with facts and figures that enforce the fear that not implementing a CRM solution will leave the firm falling behind it’s competitors. Like any software solution there are a number of factors that can facilitate successful implementation, the most important of which is fully understanding exactly what the software is designed to do, how it is designed to benefit the company and matching these appropriately with the exact needs and expectations of the company. To many IT projects fail because the scope is not clearly realised or defined, there must be effective communication between the software people and the people using it.
5) Find three additional references on CRM and write several paragraphs to demonstrate your understanding of the key elements of CRM.

http://www.cio.com/article/print/30163

1) In Chaffey (2008) chapter 4 three types of shopper behavior are identified. These are the tracker, the hunter, and the explorer. What are the characteristics of these customer behaviors and how in particular might you encourage an explorer to purchase online?

The tracker is searching for a specific product, they search multiple websites comparing prices, shipping costs and other product specific variables. This kind of shopper knows what they want and will likely do an in-depth comparison between a group of online retailers that sell it. The tracker will likely purchase from the retailer they deem to offer the best overall value. Since the tracker has already made the decision to buy the product, persuading them would be largely unnecessary, however, out doing the competition will be paramount.

The Hunter knows the type of product they want, but may not know what model, brand etc. Providing a helpful amount of information about the products available will aid the customer in feeling more familiar and in turn more comfortable with the product. Helping to dispel any anxieties a person has about a purchase will increase the likelihood of a sale.

The explorer has no specific product in mind. Instead they have an agenda or a need to fulfill with the purchase (gift, accessory, etc). Special offers/promotions, top sellers and fashionable items may be those which the explorer may be more inclined to purchase.

2) Given that the main fears about using the Internet are security and privacy, what can organisations do to reassure customers?

One of the first steps to alleviating customer anxieties is to have a well designed professional looking website. A poorly designed uninviting website can give an unprofessional vibe In the same way as a shabby unkempt place of business. Having an easy to find privacy statement and terms of service can also make a potential shopper feel at ease. Using recognised, widely accepted forms of payment can also be helpful as well as using third party payment systems such as Paypal, which have their own built in guarantees.

3) Onsite information processing can be divided into 5 stages. -
i) Exposure
ii) Attention
iii) Comprehension and perception
iv) Yielding and acceptance
v) Loyalty
What do you think is meant by each of these stages?

4) How can (online) customer loyalty be improved?

5) It is very cost effective to conduct online market research, but there is also potential for sampling errors. The article extract below shows that 78% of women would rather have a pet than a husband. Do you think this figure is accurate? Give reasons for your answer.

While the results of this actual survey do not surprise me, I don’t disagree that it is difficult to trust the validity and accuracy of online market research. Online polls can be manipulated and scripts used to give exploit deficiencies. Anonymity can also lead to people giving false answers. Apart from these online related shortcomings, online market research can also suffer from the same problems as traditional forms, for this reason I don’t believe that it is less reliable.

“An online poll released by DogCatRadio.com, shows more women would rather have a pet than a husband.Of the 103,900 votes cast in a period of seven days, an overwhelming 78% voted for a furry rather than a hairy companion. The poll has a sampling error of plus or minus three percentage points.While it’s been said that a dog is “Man’s best friend”, the radio station says that 87% of its listeners are women between the ages of 23-49.”

6) As more and more services can be delivered via mobile devices, there is already talk of the post-PC
consumer. What impact will this have on marketing?

7) Watch the 1800 flowers video. If you want to just watch the 2 minutes versions. How does 1800 flowers optimise fresh delivery of flowers in all states of America?

Watch the Yahoo video (or just the 2 minute version). What are the key elements of a social network that are identified?

Make sure you take notes as you watch the video and answer the following questions

When talking about Yahoo auctions, what did Seth Godin mean by ‘billion dollar decisions do not have anything to do with technology’?

What has story telling got to do with cat food?

Explain the concept of funnel marketing, and how would ‘flipping the funnel’ help the marketing of a product?

What does the term ‘remarkable’ mean in the context of purple cows?

Fashion/permission complex

Read more »

Click an image to enlarge

The role of place online has led to new ideas of distribution online
List each of the 10 types of promotion
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1) A decrease in prices is inevitable in an online marketing environment. Do you agree or disagree?

2) Disintermediation will ultimately lead to channel conflict. Discuss.

3) What are the five elements of promotion and what are some examples of combining online/offline promotion?
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I’ve completed my project of adding a WordPress blog to the Ballarat Turf Club website.

http://www.ballaratturfclub.net.au/whatson/

I have used the WordPress plugins Wordbooker and Twitter Tools to automatically add any post to the Turf Club’s Facebook wall or Twitter feed. Both plugins were easy to configure and work well.