Thesis on ICT in Marketing

Description
The theory section in the literature review looked at different methods and techniques used in delivering and evaluating the use of ICT in marketing, in terms of internet use and mobile phone use.

School of Management
Blekinge Institute of Technology
ICT in Marketing
A Study of The Use of Internet and Mobile Phones in Five
Selected Companies in ublin
Author: Alexander Oyetunde Oshunloye
(73!"7#$"%7&
oshunalex'yahoo(com
Su)er*isor: Thomas +an,org
Thesis for the Master-s degree in Business Administration
S)ring ".
Abstract
Title: ICT in Marketing: A Study of The Use of Internet and Mobile Phones in
Five Selected Comanies in !ublin
Author: Ale"ander #yetunde #shunloye
Supervisor: Thomas !anborg
Department:School of Management$ %lekinge Institute of Technology
Course: Master thesis in business administration$ F& '()*$ )+ credits ,&CTS-
Background and Problem Discussion: According to Paulina$ .eorge and /ikolaos
'001$ comanies still fall short of their target$ desite advancements in ICT
marketing2 Information and communication technologies ,ICTs- like C3M$ &3P and
Intranet are considered imortant for creating cometitive advantage2 !esite their
raid deloyment rates$ only a fe4 studies mainly from the information technology
,IT- and engineering literature have been devoted in uncovering the factors that
influence the diffusion of ne4 information technologies and their roer use 4ithin an
organi5ation2 Similarly$ emirical studies regarding the imact of ICT diffusion and
their roer use in organi5ations seem limited2
A research by %utler )66+$ indicated that the increasing oularity of the Internet as a
business tool can be attributed to its current si5e and rosected gro4th$ as 4ell as
its attractive demograhics2 The Internet7s otential to rovide an efficient channel for
advertising and marketing efforts is over4helming$ and yet no one is really sure ho4
to use the Internet for these activities2
&ven in advanced economies$ for e"amle$ Canada$ mobile marketing is still an
emerging technology ,8ineti" Media Communications 9 ,Accessed ):;0*;0uestionnaires and
intervie4s-2 Auestionnaires 4ere dra4n u and administered in selected comanies2
The data that 4ere collected seek to ans4er such >uestions as belo42
ii
!ata that 4ere collected related to the internet ,4ebsites and &=mail
marketing-;mobile hone use ,sms and mms marketing- and came in form of
>uestions like 9 ho4 often is the 4ebsite udatedB$ ho4 fast on an average does the
4ebsite do4nloadB$ ho4 is the design of the 4ebsite erceived ,4hether lain$
navigation friendly$ high designB etc2 Similar >uestions 4ere asked about mobile
hones2
Theory: The theory section in the literature revie4 looked at different methods and
techni>ues used in delivering and evaluating the use of ICT in marketing$ in terms of
internet use and mobile hone use2 This 4ill also seek to use available literature to
thro4 more light into better more informed use of the mentioned medium in ICT2 The
literature also related the imortance of internet and mobile hone marketing to C3M
in terms of eC3M ,electronic customer relationshi management-2
Analysis: !ata 4ere interreted and analysed using the aroriate statistical
methods2 This related to the initial >uestions as to ho4 the statistically derived
results reflect 4hat is being asked and suggestions given based on the available
literature as to 4here;4hat to imrove on2
Conclusion: The survey results and analysis sho4 that the comanies under study
use ICT in their marketing but not ma"imi5ed in terms of the use of emails and SMS;
MMS2 The study revealed that most of the comanies have a 4orking 4ebsite but
that a more advanced 4ebsite use is yet to be achieved in terms of the 4ebsite
resentation and caabilities2 The Internet has dynamic caabilities and desite ICT
diffusion in organi5ations it is yet to be fully e"loited to create value for money and a
cometitive advantage2
iii
Acknowledgements
I wish to thank my family – my wife, Princess and my kids, Alexis, Daniel
and Raymond for their immense support during this academic pursuit.
My kids always knew when daddy was studying and kept it uiet. My wife,
for her emotional support and encouragement.
I want to say a !ig thank you to my lecturers "the academic staff of #$%&
and the administration "non'academic staff& that made sure I got the !est
of !oth sides in the course of this study, mainly (laus )ol!erg for
pushing me to limits to gi*e my !est in the thesis and my super*isor
$homas Dan!org for his guidance throughout the study.
My thanks also go to the )wedish +m!assy, Du!lin for their timely
assistance in writing my comprehensi*e exams, where ,ecilia *on
Ment-ingen the )tudent Affairs .fficer was instrumental to its success.
I also want to thank my good friend, Patrick +taferi for chipping in some
important ad*ice e*ery now and then throughout the programme.
/inally, a !ig thanks to all those not mentioned a!o*e.
0od !lessings to you all.

Alexander Oshunloye
February 2009
i*
Dedication
I dedicate this research work to almighty God for
giving me the wherewithal, knowledge, mental, and
physical strength to complete this MBA degree.
v
List o Abbreviations
,)- ICT 9 Information and Communication Technology2
,'- eICT 9 Internet Information and Communication Technology2
,*- MICT 9 Mobile Information and Communication Technology2
,(- C3M 9 Customer 3elationshi Management2
,+- eC3M 9 &lectronic Customer 3elationshi Management2
,:- SMS 9 Short Messaging Service2
,1- MMS 9 Multimedia Messaging Service2
,uestions about the comanies under
study emirically:
)- Co4 is internet marketing ,4ebsite and email- usedB
'- Co4 is mobile hone marketing ,sms and mms- usedB
*- @hat is the ercentage use of internet marketing to mobile hone marketingB
(- Is ICT basically or ma"imally usedB
+- @hat ICT are redominantly used in the comanies and 4hyB
:- @hat are the comanies doing right or 4rong in the use of ICTB
The above >uestions 4ere ans4ered by the use of theoretical and emirical analysis$
basically ,>uestionnaires and intervie4s-2 Auestionnaires 4ere dra4n u and
administered to the selected comanies2 The data that 4ere collected seek to ans4er
the >uestions above2

!ata collected 4ill relate to the internet ,4ebsites and &=mail marketing-;mobile
hone use ,sms and mms marketing- and came in form of >uestions like 9 ho4 often
is the 4ebsite udatedB$ ho4 fast on an average does the 4ebsite do4nloadB$ ho4 is
the design of the 4ebsite erceived ,4hether lain$ navigation friendly$ high designB
&tc2 Similar >uestions 4ill be asked about mobile hones2
*
!ata 4ere interreted and analysed using the aroriate statistical methods2 This
related to the initial >uestions$ as to ho4 the statistically derived results reflected
4hat is being asked and suggestions given based on the available literature as to
4here;4hat to imrove on2
This research 4ork 4ill rove valuable in further investigating the use of certain ICT
tools like the internet and mobile technology and thro4 more light on its aroriate
use based on its literature revie42
The limitations 4ill ho4ever be because of financial constraints in samling and
travelling to comanies of interest that are far 4ay2
The delimitation is the deliberate samle si5e to avoid analysis of vast data that
may obstruct other form of studies on the course and also because of the difficulty to
get comanies large or small to ans4er surveys = unlike individuals2
*!1 BAC23%&)'D T& T#$ %$S$A%C#
There is a conundrum resented for marketing organisations that set out to use a
global medium to communicate rimarily 4ith local internet users or rosective
customers and clients$ 4ho may 4ell click for global information search using t4o
fingers$ but 4ho in reality are not roerly communicated to or over;under
communicated to2 Thus$ an imortant issue this aer addresses is 4hether ICT use
in marketing is carried out otimumly for best results of desired revenue and rofit2
In the ast years$ business and government have been using the internet$ they have
struggled to accommodate this ne4 interactive medium in their integrated marketing
communications ,Cofacker and Murhy$ )66uire ne4 customers or
ersuade e"isting customers to buy again2
• Sending emails designed to encourage customer loyalty and enhance the
customer relationshi2
• Placing your marketing messages or advertisements in emails sent by other
eole2 ,&mail Marketing 3eorts = 4442email=marketing
reorts2com;intro2htm-2

Eoel .oldstein$ president .oldstein .rou Communications$ Inc2 ,Aril '00(-$ in an
article on email marketing success ,Next marketing-$ gave some guidelines2 In his
4ords$ Jemail camaigns have become tremendously oular 4ith comanies
seeking to OmineO their in=house lists for more sales$ as 4ell as ac>uiring ne4
customers through rented lists2
The reason they7re gaining in useB They7re affordable$ targeted and effective2 %ut
email as a tactic has come under attack recently both 4ithin and outside the
marketing rofession2 &mail marketing$ 4hen e"ecuted roerlyPand legallyP
continues to generate resonse rates that rival other business=to=business
techni>ues$ at a cost=effectiveness that 4ill continue to attract marketers for some
time to comeL2 Ce 4ent on to give si" tis for succesfull email camaigns:
)2 %e sure to include multile offers;resonse tools in your emails2 If it7s a ne4sletter$
include a variety of articles$ banners and offers that might aeal to reciients on a
variety of levels2
'2 Identify offers that have the most aeal for your audience base2 For engineering
and technical audiences$ they resond articularly 4ell to offers for 4hite aers$
handbooks and other Oho4=toO information2
:
*2 Include >uote buttons or Ohave a re call meO so you7re able to generate the
highest >uality leads2 This is articularly imortant for internal list romotionM since
you already have contact information$ the goal of an internal camaign is to identify
those 4ho are ready to buy as 4ell as further build brand reference2
(2 &nsure that there is grahic and message consistency bet4een the email and the
comany7s 4ebsite and other rograms2 An email camaign that matches the
messages$ themes and grahics of direct mail$ advertising and trade sho4 grahics
acts to reinforce and add leverage to the entire camaign2
+2 &nsure Ihat the subIect line is not only relevant to the email offer ,no4 a
re>uirement of the ne4 CA/=SPAM la4-$ but is also o4erful enough to encourage
the reciient to oen the email2 Avoid certain 4ords in the subIect line$ such as 4in$
free$ s4eestakes$ or ri5e$ as email sam filters today routinely search out emails
4ith those 4ords in the subIect line for immediate deletion2
:2 Contract 4ith an outside service rovider rather than distribute the emails on your
o4n2 Mass distribution of emails in grous larger than )00$ even 4hen it7s to an
internal sales force or other internal grou$ can trigger filters at certain Internet
Service Providers that are on the 4atch for mass sam emailers2 These ISPs can ut
your entire domain name on a blackball list that reIects A?? email from that domain
address2
Eoel$ further 4rites that using these techni>ues by his agency has generated the
follo4ing resonse rates for:
):: different email camaigns that comrise romotions to both rented and internal
list:
7!89: = #verall Click=Through 3ate ,CT3-2
*1!88: = CT3 to internal email lists2
1!5;: = CT3 to rented lists2
*!;+: = Average OunsubscribeO rate2
9!++: = Average undeliverable;reIect ratePinternal lists2
@hile the intent of the recent CA/=SPAM anti=sam la4 4as to rotect consumers$
the ultimate result of the la4 is likely to have little effect2 ?egitimate business=to=
business email marketers 4ere$ in fact$ already adhering to guidelines for honest and
ethical romotion2 The mass consumer market sammers$ 4ho 4ere distributing u
to ) million emails daily offering diet aids and other un4anted offers$ 4ere not
follo4ing regulations before the la4 4as assed$ and are unlikely to do so after4ard2
For those of us adhering to roer email eti>uette and romotion$ CA/=SPAM7S
re>uirements are relatively simle to follo4 and ose no threat to the effectiveness of
email marketing2
1
According to Eoel$ Next Marketing ,Aril '00(-$ some have been redicting the
demise of email romotion$ but as Shakeseare 4ould likely have said$ 4e think
redictions of email7s death are greatly e"aggerated2 Co4ever$ three roosals are
being discussed in the industry to deal 4ith the crush of illegal sam:
< Caller (D! This system$ roosed by %ill .ates$ functions as telehone Caller I!
4orks$ so sammers can7t hide behind anonymous;unkno4n names osted in the
OFromO address field in an email2
< Sender Policy "rame6ork =SP">! A#? began testing this system$ 4hich 4orks
similarly to Caller I! 4ithin the A#? net4ork2
Q Domain2eys rom 0ahoo? This is based on a crytograhy technology that
generates a uni>ue signature to verify an email sender7s identity2 This$ ho4ever$ is
the most technically comle" of the three alternatives2 3egardless of its shae in the
future$ email marketing reresents one of the most e"citing and o4erful modes of
communication 4ith ne4 and e"isting customers$ emloyees and communities2
@hile it7s technically comle"$ the methods and rocedures that make any form of
marketing effective aly e>ually as 4ell to email2 &mail 4ill remain a marketer7s
favorite for some time to come2
@ebsite use on the other hand has no4 develoed to have various interactive
usage$ unlike 4hen it 4as Iust to give universal access to information2 @ebsites have
develoed to eCommerce usage$ social net4orking and the likes$ 4ith some
4ebsites having inbuilt alications e2g for grahic design$ online customer
customi5ation$ for e"amle$ 4442rint'(2ie and 4442dell2ie resectively2
!esite its dynamism and difussion in this ')
st
century$ 4ebsites are still under
utili5ed and left most times as Iust a symbol or logo2
@eb designers normally come accross the follo4ing >uestions:
( kno6 the (nternet is important- so 6here do ( startA
@e have a 6ebsite but itBs not generating much businessA
&ur 6ebsite is attracting high traic volumes- but e6 salesA
@eBd like to develop our online marketing skills in4house 4 can you helpAC
/o4 that you7ve recognised the increasing rominence of the Internet for business$
you need to consider ho4 your e"isting = or ne4 = business 4ill oerate online2 Fou
might 4ant to revisit the original reasons 4hy you develoed a 4ebsite in the first
lace$ or look at the 4ebsite design and its usability to see ho4 this meets the needs
of your otential customers2
/e"t$ look at your online marketing lan and ho4 effective this is2 If you7ve not done
so already$ you could test the market 4ith a ay=er=click advertising camaign or
develo the search engine otimi5ation of your site = ,@eb Marketing @orksho 9
111(1e,marketing1orksho)(com(au2marketing#solutions()h)&(
<
Sometimes$ your online and ,offline- marketing is 4orking 4ell but your 4ebsite is
failing to attract the right rosects$ or is not living u to their e"ectations2 Analysing
your visitors traffic can rovide clues on the 4ay eole are using your 4ebsite$ but
you might need to revie4 your 4ebsite usability or conduct some user research ,@eb
Marketing @orksho 9 111(1e,marketing1orksho)(com(au2marketing#solutions()h)&(
Ultimately$ you should al4ays revie4 your Internet Marketing aroach 4hich
includes email marketing$ on=line market camaigns 9 4hich suits your business7s
obIective and budget$ and carry out e"tensive site analysis and user trend2 Some
technologies this days can even let you see a video recording of ho4 a visitor uses
your site in term of ages visited$ clicks$ time sent on your ages;site etc2 = see
111(clicktale(com(

Caving a successful 4ebsite is not easy but as 4e all kno4 success doesn7t come
easy2 /onrofit organi5ations usually does not see the need for e"tensive 4ebsite
visibility2 JIf you build it$ they 4ill comeO does not aly to @eb sites ,Marketing Four
#rgani5ation7s @eb Site 3 111(coyotecommunications(com21e,de*o21e,mrkt(shtml&(
Marketing your @eb site is as imortant as designing it == ho4 4ill you get eole to
visit your marvelous information if they don7t kno4 about itB
According to Eayne Cravens of Coyote Communications ,'006-$ JFou need an
ongoing$ integrated aroachM romoting the 4eb site at a nonrofit organi5ation$
/.#$ school or other mission=based organi5ation is everyone's task$ from the erson
4ho ans4ers the hone to the e"ecutive director2 The more valuable your 4ebsite is
for your organi5ation7s donors$ volunteers$ other suorters$ otential suorters$
clients and the general ublic$ the more effective your marketing efforts 4ill be2 Also$
you don7t Iust 4ant ne4 visitorsM you 4ant 3&TU3/ visitorsL2
Cravens goes ahead to say that Jthe most effective marketing strategies for your 4eb
site actually don7t have as much to sending money as they do 4ith a mindset that
must ermeate your organi5ation == every staff member must feel o4nershi in the
4eb site and see e"actly ho4 it serves not only the entire organi5ation$ but his or her
deartment or division of 4ork in articularL2
In vie4 of this$ there are many offline and online marketing techni>ues that kee
visitors coming back 4hich translates to successfull accomlishment of the urose
of the 4ebsite2
&iledon Solutions$ ublished an article on their 4ebsite in '00+: %enefits of Caving a
@ebsite2 The )' benefits that may stimulate a comany7s best efforts in making their
4ebsite 4ork for them is listed belo4:
*! "ar Cheaper and Much More "leDible Than Print Advertising:
The Internet is e"tremely different from rint advertising in that space is cheap$ your
advertisement is accessible for a longer eriod of time$ the content can be
changed 4ithout having to ask someone to do it for you ,if you use a content
management system- and you can otentially reach a 6ider audience2
6
This is not to say that you should not use other forms of advertising at all 9 Fou can
use it to entice people to visit your 6ebsite and find out about your comany and
otentially oen t4o=4ay communication bet4een the otential customer and a sales
erson2
/! Market $Dpansion:
The Internet has allo4ed businesses to break through the geographical barriers
and become accessible$ virtually$ from any country in the 4orld by a otential
customer that has Internet access2
1! Diversiy %evenue Streams:
A 4ebsite is not Iust a medium for reresentation of your comany$ it is a orm o
media from 4hich everybody can ac>uire information2 Fou can use this media to
sell advertising space to other businesses2
A recent trend has risen 4here businesses feature their very o6n directory o
complimentary services$ 4here the visitor can search for information on a business
that 4ill enhance the use of your service2 The business sells comlimentary
businesses a listing in their directory2 A good e"amle is a catering comany
featuring a directory 4ith businesses such as event co=ordinators$ electronic
e>uiment rental comanies$ etc2
5! /54E4178:
'o more turning customers a6ay 4hen its time to close sho$ utting u a note
saying Jclosed for ublic holidayL$ or leaving an irritating message on your ans4ering
service secifying your trading hours 9 tell them to visit your 4ebsite for information
they are looking for2
8! &er Convenience:
It is ar more convenient for a erson to research a roduct on the (nternet than it
is to get in a car$ drive some4here and look for or ask someone for information on a
roduct2 Also$ a otential customer 4onKt have to Iudge a call centre agent to
determine 4hether he;she has their best interests in mind$ or Iust 4ants to make a
sale2 The otential customer can visit your 4ebsite 6henever they like in their o6n
privacy and comort$ 4ithout the stresses and distractions that e"ist in the Jreal
4orldL2
0our 6ebsite is a sel4service medium 9 for e"amle$ instead of having to 4ait in a
long cue to ay your TD ?icence$ you can no4 do it electronically through the TD
?icence 4ebsite2
7! Add ,alue and Satisaction:
%y offering convenience$ a point o reerence and that touch of individualised
customer service$ you ultimately add value to your offering and your customers
e"erience a higher level of satisfaction2
)0
Four 4ebsite can add value in other 4ays too$ by featuring tis$ advice and general
interest content you can FentertainG your customers2 This 4ill also hel them
remember you better2
E! StandardiHe Sales Perormance:
%y looking at 4hich aroaches ; itches have 4orked in the ast and those 4hich
have not$ you can produce the ultimate pitch and use it 6ith your 6ebsite$ so
that you use it on every customer2 /o more training of sales eole and 4aiting for
them to get a feel for your line of trade2
;! (mprove credibility:
A 4ebsite gives you the oortunity to tell otential customers 6hat you are about
and 6hy you deserve their trust and conidence2 In fact$ many eole use the
internet for re=urchase research so that they can determine for themselves
4hether a articular sulier or brand is 4orthy of their atronage$ and 4onKt take
them for a ride2
The Internet also allo4s for ,iral Marketing 9 4here your 4ebsite visitors sread
ositive 6ord4o4mouth about your business = your customers do your marketingR
9! Promote your FBrick InJ MortarG Presence:
.etting lost trying to find a lace can be frustrating for a otential customer2 Fou can
ublish 4hat they call a Fdummy mapG on your 4ebsite$ 4hich sho4s directions and
landmarks grahically$ and the otential customer can rint it out 4hen looking for
your J%rick NnK MortarL remises2
Fou might advertise a romotion on your 4ebsite encouraging the visitor to visit
your FBrick InJ MortarG remises ,eg2 JAt a branch near youRL-2
Also$ if you recently moved to a ne4 location$ you 4ill have to 4ait for the ne"t 7hone
directory to come out before eole figure out 4here you currently are2 %ecause a
6ebsite is leDible 9 you can change the content as you like 9 you can change your
contact details instantly and lo4er the risk of losing customers 4hen moving to a
ne4 location2
*+! 3ro6th &pportunity:
A 4ebsite serves as a great lace to refer potential investors to$ to sho4 them 4hat
your comany is about$ 4hat it has achieved and 4hat it can achieve in future2
**! T6o4@ay Communicative Marketing:
Customers can Kuickly and easily give eedback on your roduct and;or marketing
aroach2

))
*/! Aordable Market %esearch:
Fou can use features on your 4ebsite such as visitor polls- online surveys and
your 6ebsite statistics to find out 6hat your customers like more and ho6 they
eel about certain asects of your business to determine ho4 you can imrove your
roduct and the 4ay you do business2
@ebsite statistics sho4 you ho6 much traic your 4ebsite receives$ ho6 the
visitor got to your 6ebsite and 6here- geographically$ the visitor is from2 ,%enefits
of Caving a @ebsite = '00+ 3 111(eiledon(co(4a21e,marketing%"#,enefits#of#ha*ing#a#
1e,site(htm &(
In vie4 of the substantial and raidly gro4ing Internet audience$ several firms have
>uickly adoted the Internet as a means to conduct marketing communications
economically and effectively2 /onetheless$ 4hile most comanies have felt comelled
to establish an Internet resence$ they have failed to create a 4ebsite 4ith
substantive features and caabilities ,!eans$ 8enneth 32 = '00* 2)0+-2
This research 4ill in this area try to kno4 ho4 they have used and are using the
Internet in this resent time2
m(CT 9 4ill refer here$ to sms and mms use ,short message service H multimedia
message service- to communicate 4ith customers and rosects2 ?ike earlier said$ it
is essential to have consented communication 4ith customers and rosects2
@ith 4ell over a billion handsets 4orld4ide$ mobile hones have been one of the
fastest adoted consumer roducts of all time2 According to a study by Telecom
Trends International$ global revenues from m=commerce 9 that is$ transactions over
mobile net4orks 9 could gro4 from S:2< billion in '00* to over S++( billion in '00<
,%arnes Stuart$ and Scornavacca &usebio$ '00:$ 21-2
Although develoing along searate aths$ mobile communications and the Internet
have started to converge2 The roducts of the artnershi bet4een mobile devices
and the Internet are sohisticated 4ireless data services$ centering on mobile data
access and electronic messaging on mobile devices2
The market for these sevices is diverse$ and the most commonly cited alications
are in the business=to=customer =B/C> and business=to=emloyee =B/$> segments2
Such alications are built on some fundamental value roositions$ such as
ubi>uitous access to information$ the ersonal nature of the devices$ customi5ation$
and conte"tual roerties of the device and user$ such as time$ location$ ersonal
references$ and the task at hand2
In the consumer sace$ the 4ireless alications have included person4to4person
messaging$ email$ banking$ ne4s$ games$ music$ shoing$ ticketing$ and information
feeds2 In the business sace$ alications include sales force automation$ navigation$
tracking$ field force automation$ 4ireless telemetry$ and the mobile office ,%arnes
Stuart$ and Scornavacca &usebio$ '00:$ 2$ is also art of the mobile technology 4hich allo4s
mobile hones to have Internet use caabilities$ for do4nloading$ bro4sing etc2
Some comanies no4 even develo their 4ebsites to render 4ell on mobile devices$
ranging from *.$ to ihones$ P!As$ smart hones and so on2
All this has made it obvious that there is more to be e"loited in the use of this ICT
media 4ith 4ide;high business alicability 4hich can translate to huge rofits for
comanies if roerly used2

*!8 &)TL('$ &" %$S$A%C# P%$S$'TAT(&'
This research is resented in five chaters comrising of Introduction$ ?iterature
3evie4$ Methodology$ Analysis$ and Findings$ 3ecommendations and Conclusion2
%elo4 is a diagram vituali5ing the research resentation:
)*
Figure 1.0: Research Presentation
Chater one$ 4hich is already resented$ rovides an introduction to the entire
research 4ork and more imortantly states the urose of the 4ork and its
Iustification2 Chater t4o gives an overvie4 of literature and ast research 4ork
related to the subIect area 4hile roviding a setting for and connection to this current
research2 This gives background information re>uired for the understanding of the
entire 4ork2

Chater three describes and motivates the research methodology used for this
research 4hile chater four resents and evaluates the results emirically obtained
from the research2
Chater five further discusses the findings from results obtained from the research
4ork and attemts to critically e"lain them and any deviations from revious studies2
This chater also resents recommendations for further studies on the conclusions
made on the entire research 4ork2

)(
C#APT$% T@&
L(T$%AT)%$ %$,($@
“Gains in marketing knowledge without application are missed learning opportunities” -
(5oger 6( Best&
)+
C#APT$% T@&
/!+ L(T$%AT)%$ %$,($@
This chater gives an overvie4 of the literature and ast research 4ork related to the
subIect area 4hile roviding a setting for and connection to this current research2
This gives background information re>uired for the understanding of the entire 4ork2
The chater 4ill begin largely 4ith ast studies in the area of ICT as a 4hole and
then of its comonentsM namely$ Internet ,@ebsite H &mailing- and Mobile
communications ,SMS H MMS-2
/!* (CT D("")S(&'
ICT has diffused in various 4ays over the years but still have a long 4ay to go in
achieving erfection or near erfection2 In a seech at Carvard in )660$ Michael
Porter 4as insisting uon the crucial role that IT 4ould lay in the )660Ks2 According
to him$ the mastering of the rocesses$ the access and the circulation of Information
had become fundamental in the ac>uisition of a cometitive advantage across oneKs
industry = or even across industries 4hen they are cometing 4ith one another2
Moreover$ he established that there e"isted a hierarchy of the effects of the
imlementation of Information Technology2 @e described these effects belo4:
):
The resence of IT is strong in marketing 9 in the area of collecting information$
analyses$ data mining$ statistics$ market surveys$ information dissemination and
&"ecutive Information Systems and Marketing #rientated Information Systems2
These are the maIor event in the informational revolution of Marketing ,Yann A.
ourvennec! "##$%2
Caving said all that it is imortant to note the distinction bet4een Information and
Information Technology2 According to Yann A. ourvennec! "##$! because of the
revailing role that IT is laying at the end of this century$ on the changes in
behaviours on organisations$ there is a tendency to e"aggerate the imortance of
technology itself2 Technical roblems become the focal oint$ and the basics are
often shifted to the background2 /ot to mention the reason 4hy the Information
System has to be built in the first lace2
The aroach$ on the contrary$ is not to focus on the tools ,i2e2 IT- that transfer
Information$ but instead on the understanding of the big icture of the Information
System2 A holistic aroach must be alied at all times to achieve best results2
/!/ (CT (' MA%2$T('3
ICT in marketing has come of age and organi5ations of various si5es emloy various
ICT techni>ues2 According to &udith 'edoli et al.! ())*! it is 4idely acceted that both
NNinnovation in=houseKK and NNinnovative small and medium enterrises ,SM&s- co=
oerationKK re>uire for SM&s to use information and communication technologies
,ICTs-2 Moreover$ ICT e"enditures are roductivity imrovement drivers by
themselves2
That is$ the use of ICTs can be considered as key factors for innovation and
entrereneurshi2 ICTs are a must for SM&s to innovate2 In fact$ a look over the fifth
edition of the &uroean innovation scoreboard ,&IS- reveals that there is a big
innovation ga bet4een &uroe and the U2S that is not closing2
It is not surrising that most Internet marketing studies are conducted solely from the
United States7 ersective given that /orth America accounts for over '(< million
eole using the /et$ reresenting about '*2)T of all Internet users ,about )2)
billion- 9 4ith over a third of these in the United States ,www.internetworldstats.com+s
tats(.htm,americas-$ and over (0 million U2S citi5ens buying on=line ,webstatistics.
com-2
An estimate ''0 million eole use the internet in the U2S$ and Internet users in
&uroe reresents ':2*T of the 4orld usage ,www.internetworldstats.com+stats"-
.htm-2 The rate at 4hich internet users are gro4ing definitely makes it a viable tool for
marketing2 The gro4th rate bet4een '000 9 '00< in the Americas and &uroe is
'0:26T and '::T resectively2 The diagrams belo4 illustrates this:

)1
Figure 2.1: World Internet Users by World Region
Figure 2.2: Internet Users in The Americas
)<
Figure 2.: Internet Users in !uro"e
The gro4th rate in &uroe is higher than that of the Americas bet4een '000 9 '00<
but various articles and research sho4 that the kno4=ho4 is yet to be erfected2
This gro4th rate in &uroe is interesting because this study focuses on selected
comanies in one of the &uroean states ,3e2 of Ireland-$ and 4ould be nice to
kno4 if it is reflected ositively in this study2
According to .engtsson et al.! ,'001- the rocess of adoting and develoing
Internet alications in firms can be very raid because of the international diffusion
of comuter and Internet technology2 Furthermore$ stage models are derived mainly
from studies of small and medium=si5ed enterrises ,SM&s-2 Similar adotion
rocesses also take lace in large organi5ations but are 4eakly covered in the
literature2
Studies suggest that a more basic use of the Internet is adoted before more
advanced alications are develoed2 Co4ever$ they neither elaborate ade>uately on
the challenges of introducing more advanced alications$ nor on ho4 the
introduction of different innovations is stimulated or hindered2 Basic use o the
(nternet includes online presentation o the irm- its products or services- and
simple inormation eDchange via email2 Advanced use o the (nternet assumes
more sohisticated t6o46ay interaction and data processing$ and includes online
ordering and payment- collecting eedback rom customers and integrating the
homepage 6ith the irmJs internal unctions ,.engtsson et al.! - ())/-2
A number of studies have only focused on basic use of the Internet but have only
touched uon its advanced use$ or have not distinguished clearly bet4een the t4o
,.arNir et al.! ())01 2ohen et al.! "#*/1 34st et al! ())"-2
)6
Co4ever$ the distinction bet4een basic and advanced use of the Internet is signifi=
cant and has far=reaching imlications for the adotion rocess2 ?ets look at some
earlier studies in this area before moving to more secifics like$ emails and
SMS;MMS2
/!/!* A ST)D0 B0 B$'3TSS&'- $T AL
A study by .engtsson et al.! ,'001-$ analyses survey data from *16 S4edish
manufacturing firms2 The results of the analysis sho4 that comosition of factors on
4hich firms base their decision to adot advanced Internet=based marketing
oerations varies significantly 4ith firm si5e2 The aim of the study 4as thus to further
elaborate on drivers behind the develoment of advanced Internet use2 They chose
to focus on one secific advanced use of the Internet$ namely the use of (nternet
market channels2
@hile adoting the Internet for basic uroses does not re>uire maIor investments or
organi5ational changes$ adoting advanced Internet oerations as a market channel
might re>uire the firm to change its established channels of distribution and routines$
sustain short=term losses$ and also re>uire significant cometencies and financial
resources2
!ata for this study 4as collected through the samling of S4edish firms located in
four different regions2 These different tyes of industrial conte"t reresent one
metroolitan area and three rovincial regions in the south$ north and middle arts of
S4eden2 The firms are active in si" traditional industrial sectors 9 4ood$ ublishing;
rinting$ chemicals$ metal$ machinery and electrical e>uiment2 The >uestionnaire
together 4ith an e"lanation of the study 4ere mailed to the firms2 It 4as underlined
that it 4as imortant that the >uestions should be ans4ered by the erson
resonsible for marketing or the marketing manager in the resective firms2
It 4as considered that the roIect is relatively tightly connected to asects of the
Internet technology linked to marketing and that the erson resonsible for the
marketing function also normally has the greatest insight and kno4ledge about these
asects2
The 4ay the above research 4as conducted is related very much to this one in some
asects like 4ho the >uestionnaire should be administered to and the central toic
,i2e ICT in marketing-2 In this research the >uestionnaires 4ere administered to the
Marketing;IT deartment of the selected comanies2 The differences ho4ever$ 4ere
in the 4ay the >uestionnaires 4ere administered2 In this research the >uestionnaires
4ere administerd via an email link that directs to the >uestions on=line and the
samle si5e2
?argely$ the above research findings and conclusions came u 4ith: siHe is ositively
associated 4ith the adotion of the advanced Internet=based marketing oerations2
This resent research is to find out ho4 the selected comanies use ICT and for
advice to be given based on available literature in areas of short=comings2
'0
/!/!/ A ST)D0 B0 ADAM ST$@A%T- $T AL
In another study by Adam! 5tewart et al.! ,'00)-M information 4as rovided on
business use of the Internet ,/et- and @orld @ide @eb ,@eb- across three countries
vi6 Australia$ /e4 Uealand and the United 8ingdom ,U8-$ and e"lores reasons for
observed differences in use2 The study reorts that U8 firms are more likely to use
the Internet in relationshi management than are Australasian firms2 The conclusion
dra4n is that 4hile there is less sohisticated business use of the Internet by
Australasian comanies relative to U8 comanies$ this is but one reason for lo4er
household enetration of the Internet and lo4er online urchasing levels2
In this aer they comared the countries using comarable samle bases$
>uestions$ and time frames2 This comarison 4as needed because of systemic
differences bet4een countries in terms of household o4nershi of comuters$
Internet usage and online urchasing$ and it is necessary to kno4 if these differences
reflect differences in strategic Internet use by the comanies in these countries$
4hether cause or effect2 There are reasons ut for4ard for the lo4er Australasian
usage$ articularly lo4er online urchasing$ such as Odistance from maIor markets$
the early stages of eCommerce adotion$ and much higher levels of consumer
concern about Internet securityO2
This above study also sho4 that there 4as a ossible technological reason for this
difference in that only )2+ ercent of Australian households have broadband access$
comared 4ith )) ercent of households in the United States and +1 ercent of
8orean households2
There is a conundrum resented for marketing organisations that set out to use a
global medium to communicate rimarily 4ith local Internet users$ 4ho may 4ell click
for global information search using t4o fingers$ but 4ho in the main still sho on t4o
legs at the local level2 Thus$ an imortant issue the above aer addresses is to
e"lore 4hether or not lo4er Australasian consumer usage of the Internet is a result
of less sohisticated business usage of the @eb relative to the United 8ingdom$ or
for some other reason2
The data for this aer has been ooled from t4o studies conducted by the authors:
the )666;'000 Australasian @ebAUA? Audit ,Adam and !eans$ '000-$ and a
)666;'000 study in the United 8ingdom ,Paliha4adana and /air$ '000-2
The U8 study 4as carried out in )666;'000 4ith the key obIectives of ascertaining
the characteristics of firms that have adoted the Internet in business=to=business
marketing$ and to e"amine and evaluate the variety of uses$ and the e"tent$ to 4hich
Internet is used in marketing by business=to=business organisations in %ritain2
The above study is imortant to the resent study resented in this research in that in
as much as comanies may adot the best ICT ractices$ its use by the public may
be hindered by believes and no4ho6 4hich may result in lo4ered effectiveness and
altimately lo4ered rofit generation for comanies and benefits for customers2
')
/!/!1 A ST)D0 B0 %)T# %$TT($
A study by 'uth 'ettie! ,'00)-: 3ow 7ill the 8nternet 2hange Marketing9 This aer
attemts to categori5e some of the 4ays in 4hich the Internet 4ill transform market=
ing2 Three sources of change are identified: Cultural change$ marketing management
change and marketing in the ne4 medium = Internet marketing2
The study indicates that the Internet clearly has a role in marketing strategy$ both as
a segmentation and targeting instrument$ and as a vehicle for market research
,secondary research$ online surveys$ online focus grous$ email anels$ etc2-2 It can
also augment the traditional areas of oerational marketing: romotion$ distribution$
roduct and rice2
The Internet 4as initially seen as a ne4 advertising medium$ 4ith 4eb sites as virtual
eretual osters$ and banner advertisements as the gate4ays to these 4eb=sites2
!esite declining click=through rates and the use of traditional media by Internet
businesses$ online advertising is gro4ing raidly$ 4ith revenue for '00+ roIected at
S):2+ billion2 There is evidence that advertising banners 4ork better as virtual
7osters7 than as gate4ays$ 4ith the branding and image enhancement effect being
u to )0 times the clickthrough rate2
The otential of the Internet in many other areas of romotion is also being
recogni5ed2 The Internet is a lo4 cost direct marketing tool ,for e"amle$ email
marketing-$ it can be used for P232$ sonsorshi and for building brand image ,for
e"amle$ PesiKs association 4ith music sites to enhance its young image-2 The
otential of the Internet as an intermediary 4as >uickly recogni5ed2
There 4ere redictions electronic commerce 4ould lead to the emergence of ne4
tyes of electronic intermediaries: virtual malls$ electronic 7brokers7$ rating services
and automated ordering services2 The Internet is also a lo4=cost and efficient
distribution medium for information=intensive roducts such as ne4s$ soft4are$ music
and video2
In the study it 4as indicated that Sly4ot5ky ,'000- introduces the concet of the
7choiceboard7 4hereby consumers design their o4n roducts ,e2g2 !ellKs on=line
comuter configuration-$ and redicts that by '0)0 choiceboards 4ill be involved in
*0T of US commerce2
At the same time$ the Internet enables ne4 ricing mechanisms such as variable
ricing ,e2g2 airline seat ricing- 4hich theoretically increases both volume;utilisation
and rofit$ and auctions$ 4here rices are determined by the bidding of consumers or
manufacturers2
The Internet has the otential to be a o4erful customer service tool$ because
comanies can use it to rovide '(;1 roduct and service information$ and can
develo customer relationshis$ all at relatively lo4 cost2
''
The cost of an email is a fraction of a letter$ and the cost of an Internet 7chat7 is a frac=
tion of a telemarketing call2 The medium can also rovide virtual evidence of intangi=
ble services$ so that$ for e"amle$ one can no4 see online insurance olicies and
bank accounts2 Mobile Internet creates further oortunities to imrove customer
service2 In the US Starbucks are running a trial allo4ing users to re=order their
drinks2 Consumers send SMS te"t messages 4hile 4alking to the coffee sho$ so
that their drinks are 4aiting for them 4hen they get there2
@hile the above study elaborates on the imortance of ICT in marketing it also
indicates that there are some threatsM the Internet has also been seen as a threat$
articularly to brands$ making brand strength 4eaker than ever before2 Dirtual
communities members focus less on the brand and more on roduct and service
features2 Internet suorts highly rational shoing$ encouraging disassionate
comarisons of rices and features$ 4hich may undermine brands based on facts2
/e4 marketing techni>ues have aeared2 These include viral marketing$ ,4hich
uses email to sread messages 4ithout cost from consumer to consumer-$ guerrilla
marketing ,4hich uses underhand tactics such as 7droing7 brand names in chat
rooms-$ ermission marketing ,in 4hich relevant targeted messages are sent to
consumers 4ith their rior ermission$ .odin ,)666- and affiliate marketing$ 4here
sites carry links for associate sites and share the revenue generated2
The digitisation of the Internet enables the recording$ analysing and understanding of
consumer decision=making behaviour2 Analysis of 4eb=site logs enables the marketer
to identify relevant consumer behaviour$ for instance the recise oint at 4hich
otential consumers lose interest ,currently about ::T of bro4sers 4ho commence
an online urchase leave the site before comleting a urchase-2 In some cases
these details can be used to create future sales$ as a result of this analysis
Ama5on2com created O@ish ?istsO and an 7advise 4hen stock is available7 facility2
!igital technology enables concurrent customi5ation$ so that one can customi5e the
Internet site$ the market research survey or the service offered during the marketing
interchange2 For e"amle$ recogni5ing from his online behaviour that the user is very
rice conscious$ he may be offered a better dealM recogni5ing that the user is a
novice or has an out of date comuter$ the site is tailored to his ability or technology
level2
@ith the develoment of mobile and P!A Internet$ segmentation and targeting can
include time and lace2
In concluding the finding in the above research it is indicated that the Internet is
revolutioni5ing marketing$ radically changing the relationshis bet4een consumer$
intermediary and manufacturer2 The Internet allo4s comanies to address consumers
individually and interactively$ develoing relationshis and facilitating targeted
marketing2 Consumers are no4 able to lay a pro4active role2
'*
The above study is very imortant to the resent research 4ork because it highlights
the imortance of properly incorporating a 4orking and effective ICT strategy in
marketing in organi5ations of today2
To further understand the study7s scoe and obIectives$ details on email$ SMS and
MMS marketing is described belo42
/!1 $MA(L MA%2$T('3
&mail marketing is argueably the most used and fastest 4ay of getting information$
mostly marketing information to a targeted audience today2 eICT comrises of e=
marketing in 4hich email marketing is one of its tools2
In an article by :ristina &oukhadar! '00:: ;-marketing in an 8ntegrated 7orld 9 4here
she soke to circulation directors on both consumer and b=to=b rint ublications and
@eb sitesM findings 4ere that email marketing and e=ne4sletters run the gamut from
a small art of the marketing rocess to a full=blo4n$ money making roduct channel2
&very4here$ it seems$ email techni>ues are being used to save money and gro4
ne4 revenue2
?eonard Timm$ director of circulation for the Interiors division$ uantities of7 scale$ they use one ,&mail?abs 9 email soft4are-2
The email sys=tem gives the caability to comose the coy and creatively send out
the emails and get the statistics back2 It rovides counts on delivered coies$ oens
and click throughs2 According to Timm the idea is email as an integrated 4hole2
Carmel Mc!onagh$ circulation director$ =ederal 2omputer 7eek! says Federal
Comuter @eek may soon be the first b=to=b maga5ine to claim )00 ercent
demograhics on its email file2 The focus on rofiling enables a high level of list
segmentation and testing of ne4 roducts and 4e7ve been retty successful 4ith
email ne4sletters2 The rint maga5ine has )0 email ne4sletters affiliated 4ith
different demograhic segments of its subscriber file2 #ne third of the comany7s
online revenue comes from its email ne4sletters2 All are also available as 3SS2 O@e
can s4itch rather >uickly and set u the format 4ith 3SS$O says Mc!onagh2 3SS
can7t be tracked at this oint$ though2 O/o one is sure of the click through rates$
because the @eb cra4lers ske4 the 3SS traffic and the hits2 @e don7t kno4 ho4
many are actually oening and reading it2
Charles Fuller$ senior DP business develoment$ ;ntrepreneur Media$ says$ email
marketing and e=ne4sletters have aved the 4ay to a gro4ing rint circulation$ a
sonsored email rogram and an ancillary book business2 @e use it to hel 4ith
retention efforts and to drive eole to the site$ and for e=commerce$ artnershis$
and transaction=oriented events2 @e can market to other lists also$ for e"amle$ for
events that need secial demograhics$ overlaying beyond the confines of the list2
'(
The @eb strategy is to cover every segment they can! casting as 4ide a net as
ossible2 O@e go after individuals in the marketlace$ targeting certain
sychograhics$ like eole 4anting to start a business$ either a home=based
business or a hardcore small to mid si5ed business of from '0 to )00 emloyees$O
Fuller says2
;ntrepreneur uses its email ne4sletters to e"tend the brand name$ to build a
relationshi 4ith its readers and allo4 them to consume the content in a different
form2 They signed 4ith Avantgo a month ago to ut their 4ireless content on its
service2 The service is free$ and the registration is very thinPemail$ name$
demograhics2 Cis idea is an entrereneural sirit of email marketing2
>he above three snapshots o? how some print market leaders use the email+website
in marketing shows its viability as part o? a ma@or marketing strategy.
The Internet;&mailing a4areness in '00: sa4 the Irish Internet body emloy
CheetahMail! According to the article in PrecisionMarketing! ,'00:-$ The (rish
(nternet Association =((A> has aointed &"erian o4ned email marketing and @eb
analytics comany CheetahMail to bolster online communication 4ith members2 The
IIA7s inhouse team 4ill use CheetahMail7s targeting and segmentation features to
create highly ersonalised email camaigns = based on member demograhics$
references and online behaviour2 &"tensive camaign testing is to take lace$
allo4ing creative 4ork to be refined for ma"imum imact2 Fergal #7%yrne$ chief
e"ecutive of the IIA$ comments: OCheetahMail 4ill hel us to chamion a best=
ractice aroach to email marketing2O
.enerally$ email is no4 more oular and 4idely used than direct mail2 According to
a research by Precision Marketing in artnershi 4ith CC% ,Coad$ Cole and %urey-$
'00+ 9 email has overtaken direct mail as consumers7 referred method of marketing
communication2 An article by Travel Trade .a5ette$ '00:$ says$ email can hel 4in
over youth market2 %ran4ell Eohnson$ in the article$ ointed out that$ youthful
consumers refer to receive their marketing by email 9 but it is vital as a brand to 4in
their trust before filling u their inbo"es2
>he above buttresses the point o? how seriously various organi6ations are taking
steps to utili6e the internet and its emailing capabilities to its maximum and most
importantly! to do it right.
/!1!* $MA(L MA%2$T('3 T(PS B0 CA%&L $LL(S&'
The day of the itch has assed2 %est ractices in email marketing demand
communications that go beyond advertising$ resect the customer$ and seak in a
familiar one=on=one style2 J&mail is the most ersonal advertising medium in historyL$
says 5eth odin$ 4hose book Permission Marketing set the rules that transformed
email marketing into 4hat it is today2 JIf your email isnKt ersonal$ itKs broken2L In
resonse to the imersonal abuses of sam$ email marketing became ersonal by
necessity follo4ing the '00* adotion of the CA/=SPAM Act of then U2S resident$
.eorge @2 %ush2
'+
The act essentially defined sam as marketing messages sent 4ithout ermission
and set enalties not only for sammers$ but also for comanies 4hose roducts
4ere advertised in the sam2 Smart marketers$ recogni5ing that eoleKs aversion to
sam destroyed the customer loyalty they 4orked so hard to build$ had already
begun to address the roblem 4ith best ractices that focused on ermission2 Today$
4hatKs best is often defined by the si5e of your comany and the industry youKre in2
%ut a fe4 core ractices hold for everyone2
Carol &llison$ a freelance 4riter in a Customer 3elationshi Management ,C3M-
maga5ine$ '00:$ gave eight simle email marketing tis$ 4hich if follo4ed can rove
to be very helful in any email marketing camaign2 The < tis are >uoted directly
belo4:
*> 3$T P$%M(SS(&':
J&mail is one of the most o4erful and yet one of the most dangerous mediums of
communications 4e have$L says Eim Cecil$ resident of /urture Marketing$ a
customer loyalty consultancy in Seattle2 JDirtually everyone uses it and in business=
to=business marketing everyone you 4ant to reach has access to email2 ItKs also very
ine"ensive and it can easily be built into e"isting marketing systems2 %ut of all
media$ it is the one 4here itKs most critical that you have e"licit ermission2L @ithout
ermission you not only risk losing customer good4ill and inviting CA/=SPAM
enalties$ you could end u blacklisted by ISPs that refuse all mail coming from your
domain if samming comlaints have been lodged against you2
Permission is not difficult to get2 #ffer something of valuePa couon or romise of
secial discounts$ a 4hiteaer or informational ne4sletterPin e"change for the
customer agreeing to receive your messages and$ often$ to rovide valuable ersonal
information and references2 Sign=u can be done on a @eb site or on aer forms
distributed at trade sho4s and conventions or by traditional mail$ resellers$ and
affiliated organi5ations in a business net4ork2
/> B)(LD A TA%3$T$D MA(L('3 L(ST:
JThe very best 4ay to get ermission is to have your best customers and your
biggest fans ask their friends to sign u$L .odin says2 It results in a self=screened
database of rosects 4ho are robably interested in your offering2 That is ho4 Tom
Sant built a mailing list that no4 numbers *+$000 for his ne4sletter$ Messages >hat
Matter. According to Sant$ author of Persuasive .usiness Proposals and iants o?
5ales! J@e simly began by follo4ing u 4ith eole 4e met at trade sho4s or on
sales calls and asked them$ N@ould you like to get a ti from us every fe4 4eeks
about ho4 to do your roosals betterBK @e made it clear that eole shouldnKt be
getting this if they didnKt 4ant to2L
Sant includes a Subscribe link in his mailing so ne4 readers have a means of signing
u 4hen their friends for4ard it to them2Cis mailing list JIust gre4 organically$L he
says$Jbecause eole 4ould ass it around2@e created an entire net4ork of eole
4ho 4ere getting these messages2 ItKs very effective and itKs enabled us to
strengthen our osition as thought leaders or recogni5ed e"erts in the field2L
':
1> @&%2 @(T# A CL$A'- TA%3$T$D DATABAS$:
Eack %urke$ author of 2reating 2ustomer 2onnections$ advises that you should 4ork
4ith the cleanest ermission=based list you can find that is targeted to your industry
and your offering2 Many comanies have this information in C3M$ SFA$ and contact
management databases2 %ut there are laces to rosect if you donKt2
JA good lace to look is 4ith traditional$ established data merchants for your industry$L
%urke says2 In the insurance industry$ for instance$ Programbusiness2com allo4s its
members to send broadcast emails to its database of some +0$000 targeted
subscribers and members have the oortunity of selecting subsets of addresses
categori5ed by insurance tye such as commercial$ health$ life$ and auto2
Coregistration services @eb sites$ such as 4442listot2com or 4442otionsmedia2
com$ can hel2 Coregistration simly means you offer your e=5ine and email
romotions through a registration form that aears on multile sites2Fou should$
ho4ever$ do some research to ensure they 4ill reach your targeted demograhics
and the lists are maintained2
JToo many comanies$ large and small$ are under the illusion that they have the
email addresses of their clients$L %urke says2JIf you actually go in and audit their
client databases$ youKll find theyKre lucky to have '0 to '+ ercentPand 4hat they do
have is often out of date2L
5> AD&PT A ST%AT$30 &" P$%S(ST$'C$:
It takes time to build customer relationshis2 JThey used to say it takes something
like 12* imacts to make an imression 4ith an ad$ and that 4as long before the
Internet2 I believe today itKs aroaching '0 imrints before it makes an imression$L
%urke says2 JSo if you arenKt touching your clients in some 4ay at least once a
month$ chances are theyKre going to find somebody else to do business 4ith2L
JAfter the customer has registered for future emails$ do4nloaded your 4hiteaer$ or
entered your s4eestakes$ there often is nothing to enhance that relationshi2
Comanies need to think about 4hat should haen ne"t$L says Eeanniey Mullen$
artner and director of email marketing at #gilvy#ne @orld4ide2 #gilvyKs research
sho4s the first three emails are the most critical2 Mullen advises there should be an
introductory message in 4hich customers accet an invitation and give ermission
for future communications$ follo4ed by a second that sets u customersK
e"ectations by e"laining future benefits ,discounts$ couons$ or high=value
informational ne4sletters-2 The third should begin to deliver on their e"ectations by
sending the romised ne4sletter$ 4hiteaer$ or discount offering2
8> T$LL A ST&%0:
In All Marketers Are Aiars! .odin emhasi5es the imortance of storytelling as a
successful marketing strategy2 &mail offers the oortunity to tell the story in
continuous installments2 J&mail marketers donKt have a rayer to tell a story$L .odin
says$ Junless they tell it in advance$ in another medium$ before they get ermission2
#ther4ise$ it >uickly becomes sam2 The best email marketing starts 4ith a
foundation$ like Ama5on$ and uses the email to dri the story$ to have it gradually
unfold2L
'1
Too much email marketing$ %urke oines$ is one=off offers 4ritten as if reciients Jlike
to run home at the end of the day and turn on Come Shoing /et4ork so they can
be targeted '("1 by commercials2L A 4ell=crafted ne4sletter should be more than Iust
a summary of your resume or comany history2 For instance$ each issue of SantKs
Messages >hat Matter offers a free ti or strategy on ho4 to make business
roosals sing2 J@e focus on roviding secific content$ messages of a age or so
about the kinds of things 4eKre good at$L Sant says2
7> L$T %$AD$%S D%(,$ D$S(3':
As thereKs no such thing as guaranteed delivery in the email business$ design is
esecially imortant2 %ecause filters often block logos$ grahics$ and Flash
animation$ they can determine 4hether or not a customer or rosect even sees your
message2 JFilters are getting e"tremely thorough in 4hat theyKre filtering out$L %urke
says2 JIf youKre not careful$ those filters can filter out legitimate email2L Ce
recommends using flat te"t 4ith hyerlinks to your @eb site2 JItKs te"t so itKll go
through$L %urke says2 JFou can ut all of the grahics in the 4orld on your @eb site
and once they click through to your @eb site youKre better able to cature their
identity and their information for future follo4 u2L
Many comanies offer both lain and rich te"t email editions$ giving customers the
otion of registering for the html edition on their @eb sites2 In those editions$ design
becomes esecially imortant2 %ut #gilvy has found that email re>uires something
different than traditional creative marketing design: Its studies have sho4n that users
are most likely to resond to images and coy to the left of an image2 J@e have seen
increases u to 1+ ercent in resonse rates by moving the call to action button u
ne"t to an image instead of belo4 the image$ or by literally changing a link to a button
so it stands out more rominently in the te"t$LMullen says2
She has also found that the use of industry=$ comany=$ and brand=secific 4ords
and hrases enhances the resonse2 For instance$ the 4ord advice generates a high
resonse for comanies considered to be the thought leaders of their industry$ but
comanies 4ith consumer roducts$ such as Ale 4ith its iPod$ 4ill generate a
better resonse using 4ords like new or sleek2
E> #A,$ A' $L(T ST%AT$30:
Peole 4ho gave you their email address did so because they 4anted to hear from
you2 %ut that can change and often does2 JIf they sto resonding$L Mullen says$
Jchances are itKs for one of t4o reasons: either theyKre not interested in your content
anymore or theyKre no longer getting your emails2 JIn either case 4e recommend that
you define a set number of nonresonse messages Vafter 4hich youW sto sending
them emails2 It sends a negative brand message and it doesnKt do anything to hel
reestablish your relationshi 4ith them$LMullen says2
That number differs by industry2Travel comanies$ for instance$ cannot redict 4hen
their customers 4ill be traveling and looking for discounts on rooms and airfares$ so
their hori5on is much longerPas long as several years2 #n the other hand$ a high=
tech %'% comany is robably only going to 4ant secific information on 4ireless
security 4hen itKs addressing the roblem internally2
'<
After the roblem is solved$ continued mailings about 4ireless security are likely to
irritate2 !evising a successful e"it strategy is much like determining a successful
formula for content: 8no4 your industry2
;> B$ST P%ACT(C$S M 2'&@ @#AT 0&) @A'T:
The key to maintaining a set of successful best ractices is to kno4 4hat you 4ant
from them and be reared to re4rite them as your business needs change2Mullen
suggests starting 4ith a good a4areness of 4hat you 4ant your best ractices to
achieve2 JIdentify 4hat you 4ill use them for$ the goal of your communications$ and
ho4 youKll define the success of your camaign$L she says2 JThe most imortant
element in any kind of successful email marketing is understanding and defining 4hat
your realistic strategy should be2L
/!1!/ $MA(L MA%2$T('3 "%$N)$'C0
&mail marketing fre>uency is also a very imortant asect to look at2 According to
'oger .est$ ,'00+-$ 2*0:$ once a business has found the right combination of media
to effectively reach target customers$ the ne"t >uestion becomes ho4 often the
business needs to e"ose target customers to its message in order to achieve a
certain level of a4areness2 Using too fe4 messages may revent information from
getting through to target customers and 4ill robably result in lo4 levels of
a4areness and comrehension2 #n the other hand$ too many e"osures could
irritate target customers and otentially have an adverse effect on retained
information and ercetions of the ad$ roduct$ or comany2
An e"amle by %est$ 4as AF?AC insurance$ 4ho a fe4 years ago$ had only )*
ercent name recognition in the United State and 4as looking for an effective
marketing communications camaign to cut through the clutter of mundane insurance
ads and raise brand a4areness2 The comany found 4hat it 4as looking for and
initially sent S*+ million advertising it2 The no4 infamous A"LAC duck led to more
sales leads in the first ' 4eeks of that year than in the revious ' years combined$
leading to record revenues2 AF?AC7s brand=name recognition sky=rocketed to over 60
ercent$ and revenues gre4 *0 ercent every year the camaign 4as run2 Co4ever$
after several years of hearing a duck screaming JAF?ACRL in various situations$ many
eole 4ere finding it irritating2 At some oint the ositive imact of such reetition
4ill turn into negative ercetion of the comany2
In an article by %rick Marketing$ ,'006- 9 what is the right ?reBuency to send your
emails9 ,###!emailmarketing$ournal!com-2 Ce 4rote: @hen it comes to email
marketing it is difficult to tell someone or a comany e"actly 4hat the fre>uency of
email distribution should be2 &ach business and audience 4ill react differently2 It is
really u to you to figure out 4hat that erfect fre>uency is2 The only 4ay to really
figure this out is to do as many tests as ossible for a certain amount of time2 keeing
track of all statistics on opens and unsubscribes 4ill be imortant2 Fou 4ill have to
kee track of 4hat time your email goes and then analy5e the data2 Four best bet is
to ut all the info in a sreadsheet and do this for either three or si" months to be
able to make an accurate decision2
'6
After you have decided on a time frame to analy5e this information$ make some small
changes to your distribution schedule and then analy5e the numbers to see 4hat
tye of significant changes that occurred from the changes that you had made2 This
tye of testing is very imortant so that your business is not missing out on any
oortunities2 %efore you do this you 4ill need to figure out if you 4ant to send one or
t4o emails out er day2 #nce you have made this decision then you can start to
erform these tests2 Fou could also as art of your test include increasing from one to
t4o emails er 4eek or the other 4ay around2
%elo4 is a diagram by &mail Marketing Eournal illustrating ho4 to launch an effective
email camaign starting from obOectives:
Figure 2.#: !$$ecti%e !mail &ar'eting
/!1!1 B)(LD('3 0&)% $MA(L %$P)TAT(&'
JUnderstanding develoments in the enterrise;cororate environment can be
enormously helful in ursuit of best=inclass email delivery rates$L says Al Ciuido$
resident and C&# of &silon Interactive$ a rovider of strategic email
communications and marketing automation solutions2 The latest trend in cororate
filtering is reutation=based technologies that authenticate the sender using a variety
of techni>ues that 4hitelist the IP addresses sending the mail2
*0
This suggests a set of best ractices$ in addition to honored standards such as
getting ermission$ to hel assure deliverability2 Some of these include the follo4ing:
X Test your camaigns to ensure theyKll ass traditional antisam techni>ues such as
content filtering2
X Send a consistent volume of mail from stable IP addresses2 Sudden increases in
message volume from a single address$ articularly if itKs ne4 or unfamiliar$ can
trigger a block2
X Contact the comanies at the domains you email most often and ask that they
4hitelist your IP address2 It could oen doors else4here2 According to !i.uido$
Jbeing on multile cororate 4hitelists is sometimes used as a factor in
enterrise;cororate solution reutation algorithms2L
X Test your camaigns 4ith content filters and monitor emerging cororate solutions
to better understand ho4 they determine reutation scores2
X Authenticate your email and imlement sender verification technologies to enhance
your reutation and hel assure deliverability2
As genius as email marketing sounds$ like search engine otimi5ation ,S&#-$ it takes
time and erseverance to become successful2
/!5 SMS MA%2$T('3
The Internet=enabled mobile hone has roliferated raidly in many markets2
Follo4ing the first release of @AP ,4ireless alication rotocol- in )66uested by the consumer2
Cistorically$ ush strategies have been associated4ith efforts to boost sales in the
short term2 In fact$ most early mobile messages 4ere romotional in nature$ focusing
on inducing an immediate urchase2 In addition$ firms that emloy mobile camaigns
can attract consumer attention and roduce consumer resonses to a much greater
degree than through other direct marketing channels because they can engage in
one=to=one dialogue 4ith customers2
/otably absent fromnmany discussions of mobile commerce$ or Jm=commerce$L is
the notion that brand building can occur effectively in conIunction 4ith the use of a
ush strategy2 M=commerce rovides a uni>ue environment in 4hich the firm7s
message may facilitate the consumer going to a 4ebsite$ sending a te"t message$
seeking out information from another medium$ or even making a urchase2 The
ossibility of these actions makes it more likely to build the brand in conIunction 4ith
ush romotions2
**
The fundamental remise of their aer 4as that the ability to brand a roduct is a
rimary driver of the managerial intention of large firms to use SMS advertising in m=
commerce2
In conclusion$ their study e"amined the factors influencing an M/C7s decision to
adot SMS=based mobile advertising in &uroean markets2 %ased on literature from
both academic and industry sources$ they hyothesi5e that four factors are involved:
ercetions of the ability to build the brand$ location=based services$ rivacy;security
concerns of mobile advertising$ and technological conditions2
From the use of P?S ,artial least s>uare- to estimate the arameters of the
roosed model$ the emirical results suggest that all four factors are significant
drivers of the use of mobile advertising$ thus corroborating their basic remise2 The
finding of central imortance to managers is that the single factor most correlated
4ith the intention to adot SMS advertising is the erceived ability to build the brand2
They noted that although the mean score for the brand building effect 4as modest$ it
has the highest imact on intention2 This may indicate that the current stage of its
strategic ositioning is some4hat transitional: SMS may face a certain sketicism$
but managers7 intention to use it may actually be high2 Their results are also
consistent 4ith their assertion that mobile media rovide a greater oortunity to
simultaneously send out messages and ask for direct resonse$ all 4hile heling to
build the brand2
The ability of mobile advertising$ under aroriate conditions ,e2g2$ consumers
oting in to receive messages from comanies they like-$ to generate action and
e"citement can be caitali5ed on by building brand e>uity2 Moreover$ it aears that
the managers surveyed subscribe to the idea that building brand e>uity imroves firm
erformance2 This 4as their maIor findings amongst others2
As 4ith the evolution of advertising on the Internet$ any dramatic annual increase in
mobile advertising e"enditures is likely to take some time2 As .arwise and =arley
,'00+- noted$ the use of mobile advertising by firms is still limited2 Co4ever$ the
findings suggest that managers of firms oerating in &uroean markets erceive an
oortunity to use mobile commerce as a brand=building device2 .iven the
fundamental imortance of brand=building to today7s marketers$ this ercetion bodes
4ell for the future gro4th of mobile advertising2 #f course$ for the use of this medium
to e"and$ marketers 4ill have to learn ho4 to use it roerly2
In this regard$ robably one of the most imortant imlications of the resent study is
ho4 to overcome consumers7 negative ercetions of rivacy intrusion by mobile=
based romotional messages2 This finding makes considerable sense$ given the
SPAM;SPIM eidemic$ 4hich is of great concern to consumers2 Moreover$ it stands to
reason that consumers 4ill be more recetive to messages for brands that they like2
The limited research available clearly suggests that ot=in aroaches are more likely
to be associated 4ith effectiveness2 Co4ever$ it is virtually unkno4n 4hy consumers
choose not to ot=in or avoid mobile messaging2
*(
3esearchers should further investigate this asect2 In many resects$ mobile
advertising rovides an oortunity both to engage in relationshi marketing 4ith
customers and to build brand e>uity2 The ability to rovide an interactive e"change
affords the oortunity to build e"citement for the brand2 More oortunities are
afforded by this medium due to the availability of sending messages at any time and
any lace in an Jal4ays onL environment2@hile future technological develoments
may make the use of location=secific messages more common2 It is clear that
mobile advertising does offer some uni>ue advantages that at least some marketers
should consider caitali5ing on2
/!5!* SMS AD,$%T(S('3
#ne of the first mobile communications technologies to be alied in marketing$ SMS
is a ne4 technological bu554ord for transmitting business=to=customer messages to
mobile hones$ agers$ and ersonal data assistants ,P!As-2 SMS advertising is
no4 a substantial source of revenue for many oerators$ articularly because it has
been incororated in the Jinstant messaging cultureL among teenagers and young
rofessionals ,5adeh! ())(-2 #ne key advantage of SMS is that it can caitali5e on
the Jal4ays onL trend$ in 4hich eole have access to the Internet virtually the entire
day2 SMSalso allo4s formore interactivity 4ith the consumer than traditional media2
Many firms deliver alerts$ ne4s udates$ traffic information$ or romotional couons
via SMS2
In the future$ .PS ,.lobal Positioning System- technology may also be incororated
in SMS advertising for those 4ho seek timely information at the right lace2 For
e"amle$ in Eaan$ agencies are conducting e"erimental transmission of location
based restaurant information to ublic transortation users ,C( 2ommunications!
())D-2 In this e"eriment$ 4hen users inserted their train ass at the boarding
station$ the information on their commuting route 4as sent to the mobile comany$
4hich in turn transmitted romotional messages of restaurants located near their
destination2
&mirical studies from both academics and ractitioners rovide insight on some
asects of SMS advertising2 In a ioneering study$ .arwise and 5trong F())(%
conducted a trial of ermission=based SMS advertising in the U82 #n recruitment$
resondents 4ere aid cash incentives and received more than )00 messages in the
si"=4eek trial eriod2 Almost all resondents 4ere satisfied or very satisfied2 The
study finds that uantitative Internet data to otimi5e 4eb sites and 4eb
marketing initiativesL2
7ebopedia defines 4eb analytics as: a generic term meaning the study of the imact
of a 4eb site on its users2
In whatis.com: @eb analytics is the rocess of analysing the behaviour of visitors to a
4eb site2 The use of 4eb analysis is said to enable a business to attract more
visitors$ retain or attract ne4 customers for goods or services$ or to increase the
dollar volume each customer sends2
Ultimately$ this can hel to imrove the ratio of revenue to marketing costs2 There is
also the need for >ualitative analysis in 4eb analytics2
According to 5weeney 5usan et al.! ,'001-$ @eb analytics can be sub=divided into
Kuantitative and Kualitative studies2 %elo4 is a brief e"lanation of both concets:
=A> Nuantitative Studies:
Auantitative Studies roduce results you can measure$ such as the number of uni>ue
click=throughs to a 4eb age$ number of eole in /orth America 4ith broadband
Internet access$ and so on2 The data here is obIective and seaks more of the
general oulation using structured research tools2 Auantitative data is measurable2
@hen seaking of 4eb analytics$ most of the time you are talking in terms of
Kuantitative data = Jthis haened '$000 times over '( hoursL2 Aualitative research
is often used 4ith >uantitative research to hel e"lain 4hat haened by roviding
insight into an individual7s motivation$ attitude$ and behaviour2 Together they rovide
very useful insight2
=B> Nualitative Studies:
Usability testing$ intervie4s$ surveys$ and the ever oular focus grous are all tyes
of >ualitative methods of measurement2 Aualitative studies roduce results that offer
insight into the motivation and rationale of a customer for a given situation2 Think of it
as eedback or opinion$ not facts Iustified by numbers2 Aualitative studies seak
more to the ersonal reaction of an individual2
(0
#f course$ 4hen a high ercentage of individuals give feedbacks and oinions tend
to tilt or oint to one direction more than the other$ then such feedbacks and oinions
should be looked at and analysed for ossible changes2 In this asect >ualitative
measurement 4ould have heled for a ositive change2
/!7!* 2$0 P$%"&%MA'C$ ('D(CAT&%S
8ey Performance Indicators ,8PIs- is a common hrase in the business 4orld and
you 4ill see it come u often 4hen discussing 4eb analytics2 8PI is also kno4n as
8ey Success Factors2
@hen thinking in terms of 4eb analytics$ your 8PIs concern those measurements
that make a difference to your business in relation to the Internet ,5weeney 5usan et
al.! '001-2
For e"amle$ 4hen erforming a 4eb age key4ord analysis in other to kno4 4hich
key4ords are used the most by search engine users in your area of business$ the
results that come u ,using a search engine otimi5ation soft4are-$ that sho4 the
most used 4ords by search engine users$ stands to be the key erformance
indicator2 /ormally this 4ill come under 8PIs2 An e"amle of such soft4are is J7eb
2;EL search engine otimi5ation;marketing soft4are 2
/!7!/ C&MM&' M$AS)%$M$'TS &" P$%"&%MA'C$
There are several measurements of erformance but for the urose of this study$
some basic ones are listed belo42
First establish 4hat 8PIs are imortant to your business model2 @hat >uestions
about your on=line customers do you 4ant an ans4er toB
The follo4ing are some of the more common measurements for you to evaluate:
,)- Click=through 3ate ,CT3-2
,'- Uni>ue Disitors2
,*- Time sent2
,(- Click Stream Analysis2
,+- Single=age Access2
,:- Total Sales$ ?eads generated or !esired Action Taken2
,1- Customer Conversion 3atio2
,uisition Cost2
,6- /et !ollar Per Disitor2
,)0- Cost Per Disitor2
,))- Average #rder Si5e2
The above are the basic or common measurements undertaken in the course of a
4eb erformance analysis ,5weeney 5usan et al.! '001-2
()
/!7!1 MA%2$T('3 $,AL)AT(&'
@e discussed above about metrics of effectiveness in terms of on=line marketing and
certain tools;soft4are used for measurements2 %ut 4e need to remember that this is
Iust one asect of a business 9 focusing on the use of ICT in Marketing2 The
marketing ideology has to be 4hole 9 that is$ the general marketing 4ell being of a
business is crucial to sustainable rofit and cometitive advantage2
ICT is Iust a tool in marketing and emhasis should be more on a market orientation
not Iust the tools2 Today$ marketing should be every emloyee7s riority and not Iust
that of the marketing deartment2 A JhelloL and Jthank youL 4ould matter a lot to a
comanies image2
The ultimate idea is to have satisfied customers 4ho 4ill become loyal and translate
to sustained rofit$ value and cometitive advantage2
According to 'oger .est$ ,'00+-$ although a market=based business 4ill use several
e"ternal metrics to track market erformance$ an essential erformance metric is
customer satisfaction2 Many marketing strategies can be develoed to attract
customers$ but it is the business that comletely satisfies customers that gets to kee
them2
According to .est! this vie4oint may sound hilanthroic to those 4ho do not accet
the 4hole concet of market orientation and market=based management2 In his book
Market-.ased Management! '00+$ he demonstrated the tremendous leverage a
business can create in gro4ing rofits from a base of Jvery satisfiedL customers and
roactive management of of dissatisfied customers2
For the urose of this study$ a fe4 market=based erformance metrics 4ill be
described to buttress the oint that marketing should be looked at as a 4hole and not
Iust the use of tools like ICT2
%est$ ,'00+- 2 =/+> =5+> =7+> =;+> =*++>
Figure 2. &easuring )ustomer *atis$action
8eeing customers satisfied is very imortant because it is more difficult and
e"ensive to attract ne4 customers than to retain them2
('
#ther erformance metrics include Customer 3etention Inde" ,C3I- amongst others2
The ultimate idea is to be able to attract$ satisfy$ retain$ and kee customers loyal2 If
this can be achieved to a high ercentage$ then the business 4ould have done
something right in attaining cometitive advantage2
(*
C#APT$% T#%$$
M$T#&D&L&30
“Marketing isn't somebody's responsibility; marketing is eerybody's responsibility” -
(6ack 7elch8 9:O8 %.!% 3 "%8 /eneral :lectric 9o(&
((
C#APT$% T#%$$
1!+ M$T#&D&L&30
The main research method for this thesis includes the use of >uestionnaires$ in a
survey$ to gather rimary emirical data ,via email link-$ and intervie4s ,via
telehone-2 I designed my survey >uestionnaire and intervie4 after revie4ing various
research aers and marketing;management books by the likes of Adam 52$ ,'00)-$
'oger .2$ ,'00+-$ and Cubrin &. A2$ ,'001-2 The survey interface 4as designed to
discourage incomlete surveys through romting$ and as a result$ almost
comletely eliminated artially comleted resonses2 The brief intervie4 4as
conducted to validated the resonses to the survey >uestions and create more
insight2 This research is basically an inductive aroach2 It is a comarative case
study 4ith a combination of >ualitative and >uantitative analysis ,see .hauri Perve5$
.ronhaug 8Iell$ '00+$ 2 )0< 9 )')-2 The research design is casual in nature$ and
e"lanatory$ creating yet another ste to a more in=deth research in this area ,see
.hauri Perve5$ .ronhaug 8Iell$ '00+$ 2 +1 9 +6-2
1!* S)%,$0 &B.$CT(,$S
The survey obIective is to ans4er the belo4 focus >uestions through the above
mentioned methods2
)- Co4 is internet marketing ,4ebsite and email- usedB
'- Co4 is mobile hone marketing ,sms and mms- usedB
*- @hat is the ercentage use of internet marketing to mobile hone marketingB
(- Is ICT basically or ma"imally usedB
+- @hat ICT are redominantly used in the comanies and 4hyB
:- @hat are the comanies doing right or 4rong in the use of ICTB
The idea is to thro4 more light into this areas for the ma"imum use of ICT in
marketing for better organi5ational erformance and cometitive advantage2 The data
collected has revealed a lot in the ICT use of the comanies under study2 This
comanies cut across retail;hard4are stores$ banks$ music;entertainment$ IT$ and
rint media2 Although it is a relatively small samle si5e ,five comanies- but
deliberate not to alter other areas of this rogramme as a 4hole and because of ho4
sensitive these issues under focus are to such large comanies and the time it 4ill
take in observing anti=sam la4s in order to get the secific deartment to ans4er
the >uestions2
It is intended that through the literature revie4$ readers of this 4ork 4ill see from the
you=kno4=4hos of ICT and marketing ho4 to better undertake an ICT aroach to
marketing in their various businesses no matter the si5e2 Secifically based on the
data collected$ advice 4ill be dra4n;given from the literature to address maIor ICT
use misconcetions2
(+
Finally$ this is also to fill the research void in this area of study and as another
foundation ste for other such studies 4ith larger samle si5e and regional
comarison2
1!/ DATA C&LL$CT(&'
The data in this study 4as collected through eSurveysro at 4442esurveysro2com2
The on=line soft4are allo4s survey >uestionnaire structuring$ formatting$ emailing to
resondents$ e"orting of data$ and ercentage;grahic resentation2 Though in=
deth statistical analysis 4as searately carried outM the authenticating caability of
the soft4are by 4ay of corresonding email address and IP address ,Internet
Protocol Address- to the various comanies 4as imortant and an added value2
The email addresses and IP addresses sho4 that the resondents 4ere from a
genuine verifiable source and are actually different comanies2 This is very imortant
in sho4ing the validity and reliability of the research as a 4hole ,see aendi" !- for
roof2
The resondents basically received emails 4ith links to the survey after rior
communication to observe the anti=sam la42 The link directed the resondents to an
CTM? age ,Cyer te"t Mark=u ?anguage generated age- 4here the survey
>uestions 4ere ans4ered and submitted2 An ot=out link 4as also resented in
accordance 4ith anti=sam la42
The intervie4s 4ere carried out via telehone after rior aointment and each
lasted about )0 to '0 minutes2 The intervie4 validated the >uestionnaire for errors
synonymous 4ith survey >uestionnaire data collection as e"lained by .hauri
Perve5$ .ronhaug 8Iell$ ,'00+-2 They also sho4 further insight into the analysis and
conclusion of the study 4hich 4ill be seen in the follo4ing chaters2
1!1 STAT(ST(CAL T$C#'(N)$
#ne of the imortant thing to note 4hen 4riting a research reort is to make it
readable$ and understandable by your target audience and others2 The statistical
techni>ue used for this thesis is Jercentage ratingL 4hich involves analysing$
summari5ing and resenting the results in tables and grahs2
Firstly$ the >uestionnaire$ 4ith '< >uestions is divided into three arts$ the first art
,A-$ consists of si"teen >uestions 4ith a scale of one to five ,one being the lo4est
and five the highest-$ 4ith a total score of uestions 4ith allocated t4o oints each based
on the correctness of the ans4ers given in relation to this study2 The oints total for
the ten >uestions is '0 oints 4hich corresonds to '0T of the >uestionnaire total
score2 This brings the total rated >uestions to )00T2 The third art ,C-$ consists of
t4o >ualitative >uestions 4ith no rating2 The t4o >uestions are a suort for both the
>uestionnaire and the intervie4s2

The results 4ill be tabulated in terms of the category of comanies under study
,retail;hard4are stores$ banks$ music;entertainment$ IT$ and rint media-2
Secondly$ the scoring and interretation are set belo4 in ercentage ,see Cubrin &.
A2$ '001-:
For vertical cumulative score ,Ai A H %-
,)- 0 9 '0 Y D&3F /&.ATID&
,'- ') 9 () Y /&.ATID&
,*- (' 9 :' Y M#!&3AT&
,(- :* 9 ue e"lained above and intervie4 analysis 4ill
seek to ans4er the obIectives;focus >uestions of this research2
(1
C#APT$% "&)%
A'AL0S(S
“!he concept is interesting and well-formed" but in order to earn better than a “#” grade"
the idea must be feasible” -
(0ale ;ni*ersity )rofessoruestionnaire data collected2
This means that comanies in the ositive range on the scale imlements ICT more
or better in their marketing2 @hile the others are not bothered or indifferent2 The
intervie4 4ith the comanies on the ositive side of the scale suggested that they
could do better if ublic resonse encouraged them 4hile ma"imi5ing their marketing
budget2 #n the other hand$ intervie4s 4ith the comany in the negative range
sho4ed they 4ere Iust develoing their 4eb resence ,under construction- and they
do not have a functioning 4ebsite$ 4hich sho4s lo4 level of the imortance of ICT in
e"anding their market share2
It 4as also suggested from the intervie4 4ith the retail;hard4are store that they deal
basically more 4ith the local buyers2 .iving the imortance of ICT in today7s 4orld
and more so in marketing$ it becomes inconceivable that there 4ould be a comany
in this category 4ithout a 4eb resence2
Intervie4 4ith the rint media ,under moderate in the scale- suggested that in as
much as they recognise the imortance of ICT in marketing and 4ould try e"loiting
it$ do not find it effective2 It also suggested that the comany rely mostly on rinted
material2
#ne imortant finding 4ith the intervie4s conducted on the comanies is that they do
not carry out surveys on the imact the use of ICT to its ma"imum or artial;lack of it
4ould have on the comany rofit$ value and cometitive advantage2 The intervie4
also sho4ed that 4hile the comanies on the ositive side of the scale areciate
and use ICT in their marketing$ comrehensive erformance evaluation are not
carried out to make allo4ance for imrovements2
5!*!* DATA D(SP$%S(&'
This section is to find the standard deviation of the observed cumulative data of the
comanies under study ,Standard !eviation 9
htt:;;en24ikiedia2org;4iki;standardZdeviationM .hauri Perve5$ .ronhaug 8Iell$
'00+-2
Mean [ 02** \ 021' \ 02:* \ 021* \ 02++;+ [ '26:;+ [ 02+6' or =89!/:>
,ariance [ ,02** = 02+6'-
'
[ 020:
Standard deviation [ ]020')(+: [ 02)(1 or =*5!75E:>
The above descritive statistical measure sho4s that the average use of ICT in
marketing for the samled comanies is +62'T$ 4ith a standard deviation of
)(21T2 This suggests that the variability of ICT use in marketing of such
comanies could fall bet4een ((2++*T = 1(2)(1T2 In other 4ords if this study 4ere
to be reeated several times 4ith the same category of comanies the mean score
4ould fall 4ithin the range above2
The mean score of +62'T is consistent 4ith the literature revie4ed 4hich suggests
that most comanies7 ICT use is Iust about average and that there is lenty of room
for imrovements in this area of ICT use2 Comanies use ICT$ and 4ould be 4illing to
ma"imi5e the use of ICT if it is 4orth their 4hile in their marketing budget2 This
unfortunately deends on ublic recetion and ercetion of certain ICT marketing
techni>ues in terms of rivacy and data rotection and the best ractices in using
such ICT tools2 Co4ever$ the onus is on comanies to create the confidence in the
ublic in other to ma"imi5e this relatively chea marketing tool and to engage best
ractices 4hen using such tools2
5!/ e(CT A'D m(CT A'AL0S(S
Analysis of eICT;mICT use as a deendent variable in relation to ICT use as a 4hole
,indeendent variable-2 This is to see a relationshi bet4een the scores of each
>uestion relating to either eICT or mICT and the ICT scores in general2 %elo4 are t4o
tables and grahs illustrating this2
TABL$ 5!/ 4 e(CT =i!e emailing> %elationship @ith (CT in 3eneral!
Comanies 4ith lo4 scores in ICT generally scored lo4 in eICT and mICT >uestions
and vice versa2 So there is a relationshi2 See aendi" % for data collected on=line
to better understand the selection of >uestions relating to eICT ,email- and mICT
,SMS;MMS-2
+(
N '&S! %etailP#ard6are Store Bank MusicP$ntertainment (T Print Media e(CT
' * + + + /+
A+ ) ) ( ' ' *+
A1 + + * + + /1
A6 ) ( * ( ) *1
A)( ) ) ( ' ' *+
A)+ 0 0 0 0 0 +
A'0 0 0 ' 0 0 /
A'* ) + * ( ) *5
(CT 11 E/ 71 E1 88
A* =A>
Figure #.: +ra"h sho,ing relationshi" bet,een eI)T / I)T
The grah above sho4s to the right the general ICT scores bar and to the left
>uestions relating to emailing ,eICT- starting 4ith the light blue bar 4hich is the total
of resonses by individual comanies er >uestion2 The table and the grah$ sho4s a
relationshi bet4een comanies 4ith high scores and scores to >uestions relating to
the use of emails2
TABL$ 5!1 4 m(CT =i!e SMSPMMS> %elationship @ith (CT in 3eneral!
The above table is similar to table (2' but sho4ing relationshi bet4een mICT scores
and ICT scores in general2 See corresonding grahic illustration belo42
++
A* ,A- A+ A1 A6 A)( A)+ A'0 A'* ICT
0
)0
'0
*0
(0
+0
:0
10
uestions relating to SMS;MMS ,mICT- starting 4ith the light blue bar 4hich is the
total of resonses by individual comanies er >uestion2 The table and the grah$
sho4s a relationshi bet4een comanies 4ith high scores and scores to >uestions
relating to the use of SMS;MMS2
5!1 "&C)S N)$ST(&'S
The survey obIective is to ans4er certain focus >uestions as belo4:
)- Co4 is internet marketing ,4ebsite and email- usedB
'- Co4 is mobile hone marketing ,sms and mms- usedB
*- @hat is the ercentage use of internet marketing to mobile hone marketingB
(- Is ICT basically or ma"imally usedB
+- @hat ICT are redominantly used in the comanies and 4hyB
:- @hat are the comanies doing right or 4rong in the use of ICTB
The above >uestions have been ans4ered in the body of te"t in this chater = see
also aendi" A H %2 To re=iterate 9 according to the >uestionnaire and intervie4
analysis$ generally$ >uestion one above sho4s that four out of the five comanies
under study has a functioning 4ebsite but do not use it ma"imally for data mining and
eC3M uroses2
+:
A: A< A)0 A'* ICT
0
)0
'0
*0
(0
+0
:0
10
uestion suggests that in as much as ICT is generally used
by comanies$ it is not ma"imally and effectively used as a maIor marketing strategy2
It is obvious in the analyses that comanies use 4ebsites and emailing more than
SMS;MMS in their marketing aroach$ and the reason for the redominant use of
the latter is that SMS;MMS has maIor rivacy issues$ 4hich ans4ers the fifth
>uestion2
In this study$ it 4as found that most of the comanies have 4ebsites 4hich is a lus
but the 4ebsites need to be more dynamic and interactive2 They fairly use email and
SMS;MMS techni>ues but need to be more obIective and carry out thorough
erformance metrics in other to imrove their 3#I ,return on investment-2 See
aendi" A H % and refer to the literature revie4 chater for better clarification2
+1
C#APT$% "(,$
"('D('3S- %$C&MM$'DAT(&'S- A'D C&'CL)S(&'S
“$t is better to be prepared for an opportunity and not hae one than to hae an opportunity
and not be prepared” -
(7hitney 0oung 6r( # +ean of School of Social 1ork8 Atlanta ;ni*ersity&
+<
C#APT$% "(,$
8!+ "('D('3S- %$C&MM$'DAT(&'S- A'D C&'CL)S(&'S
This chater focuses on discussing the findings and their imlications for businesses$
small or large scale2 3ecommendations 4ill also be given for further studies and
finally$ conclusions based on the study as a 4hole2
8!* "('D('3S A'D (MPL(CAT(&'S
%ased on the findings in the analysis above$ some imlications 4ill be discussed
briefly2
The research found that one of the five comanies under study did not have a
functioning 4ebsite but ICT 4as used saringly2 The intervie4 conducted revealed
that this comany referenced their comany from another site 4hile their site is
resently under construction but has a 4orking comany email address2
The imact this 4ould have cannot be kno4n 4ithin the scoe of this research but a
comany 4ithout a functioning 4ebsite and therefore no ersonal 4eb resence is
giving out a lot to cometition2 Such comanies cannot tell the added value or ho4
much market share is lost by not investing in that marketing channel2 For e"amle$ if
adverts by such comanies 4ere made basically via flyers and ne4saers the
audience out=reach is more limited than a comany 4ith a 4orking 4ebsite and can
reach other targets outside its locality2 Peole continually look for variety and lo4
rice2 If in a locality you are marketing to +00$000 eole$ 4ith a functioning 4eb
resence$ email and SMS;MMS marketing channels$ your reach go far beyond your
locality and 4ill definitely dra4 other rosective customers if your roducts and
services are uni>ue and rice conscious2
Cost and benefits come to lay 4hen rosective customers go out side their locality
to urchase goods and services but some eole 4ill get 4hat they 4ant and need
4eighing cost and benefit2 The >uestion is 9 ho4 does a comany not reaching out
that far have a chance in that market share2 The imlication is loosing it to your
cometition 4ho is2
@ebsites like 4442@ebPro/e4s2com and 4442SitePro/e4s2com rovide >uality
and reliable resources on ICT in marketing on a daily bases and as trends change2
All that is needed is to subscribe to their ne4sletter2
The other four comanies all have 4ebsites and use ICT in marketing but not
ma"imally2 Cere the >uestion of roer or better use comes to lay2 For e"amle$ out
of the four comanies$ only the IT comany used a 4ebsite design that is both static
and flash combined2 It is understandable that because .oogle doesn7t tend to inde"
flash based sites roerly$ no4adays 4eb designers tend to kee it static2
+6
%oth it is very imortant to balance the visual aeal and content of a 4ebsite to both
the audience and the search engine siders ,techni>ues comanies like .oogle and
Fahoo uses to inde" sites in their search engines-2 An audience that is not aealed
to 4ith the right content and design 4ill robably not visit again and therefore you
loose the chance of a sale$ client^le or better still ossibilities of collecting ersonal
data for data mining and eC3M uroses2
/avigation friendliness is also of imortance2 In >uestion nineteen of the
>uestionnaire$ :0T of the comanies surveyed said their 4ebsite 4ere navigation
friendly2 This means visitors to their sites 4ill find it easy to move around in a fe4
clicks to find 4hat they are looking for2 In sites 4here the reverse is the case$ visitors
4ill come to a beautiful site 4ith lots of content but send ages to find e"actly 4hat
they cam there for2 If such a visitor visits another site 4ith same aeal and content
4ith a better navigation$ the tendency is that he;she 4ill not visit the other 4ebsite
again resulting in loss of otential customer2
Auestion t4enty of the survey indicated that :0T of the comanies surveyed did not
have an avenue for their 4ebsite visitors to sign=u for their ne4sletter or
corresondence2 The imlication of this is that ersonal data of rosective
customers 4ill not be easily collected for consented communications of marketing
camaigns or corresondence2
In a 4orld 4here mobile devices are ubi>uitous$ businesses should take advantage
of the mobile age2 :0T of the comanies surveyed said their 4ebsite is moderately
mobile hone friendly i2e2 it renders 4ithout much distortion on a mobile device
screen2 @hen a comany embarks on creating a 4eb resence the designer should
bear in mind the small screens of mobile device and design a site that 4ill have
minimal distortion on such devices other4ise it7ll not aeal to eole on the move
and searching for roducts or services2 A mobile version of 4ebsites are sometimes
designed to deal 4ith this issue2
Findings also sho4 that :0T of the comanies surveyed said they undertake 4eb
analytics2 This toic is beyond the scoe of this study but 4as highlighted in the
literature revie42 @hile$ the figure indicates ositiveness to4ards 4eb analytics$ it
must be said that$ 4eb analytics$ has many arameters that must be investigated to
understand visitor;customer behaviour on a 4ebsite2 #nly then 4ill it lead to useful
information that 4ill better the imact the 4ebsite is suosed to have on the
business2
Although$ the intervie4 revealed generally that marketing 4ith ICT has an imact on
the comanies7 revenue and value$ figures could not be discussed because of the
short intervie4 timing for the intervie4ee7s convenience and schedule2
8!/ %$C&MM$'DAT(&'S
ICT in marketing must be brought to a ne4 aradigm$ 4here the tools of ICT 4ill be
used ma"imally$ effectively and efficiently to gain business value and cometitive
advantage2
:0
%ased on this study$ further inferential studies should be carried out 4here
hyothesis 4ill be tested on a larger samle si5e 4ith focus on >uantitative
techni>ues of data analysis2 Studies 4ith geograhical regions should be conducted
comaring countries already advanced in ICT usage in marketing 4ith countries 4ith
emerging technology ,for e"amle African countries-2
This research is in no 4ay e"haustive and it oens a 4indo4 into various areas in
4hich further researches into the roblems comanies face 4hen imlementing ICT
use in marketing2
8!1 C&'CL)S(&'S
The survey results and analysis sho4 that the comanies under study use ICT in
their marketing but not ma"imi5ed in terms of the use of emails and SMS;MMS2 The
study revealed that most of the comanies have a 4orking 4ebsite but that a more
advanced 4ebsite use is yet to be achieved in terms of the 4ebsite resentation and
caabilities2 The Internet has dynamic caabilities and desite ICT diffusion in
organi5ations it is yet to be fully e"loited to create value for money and a
cometitive advantage2
A lot has to be done on the art of organi5ations to sensitise the ublic about the
advantage of ICT use in marketing ,in terms of email and SMS;MMS- to them$
bearing in mind anti=sam la4s2 The ublic should be 4ell informed about rivacy
issues to ut their minds at rest 4hen giving out their ersonal details to comanies
or businesses they deal 4ith2
The o4er of information and communication technology should not be
underestimated esecially in marketing2

%$"$%$'C$S
ActivMedia ,'00)-$ O@eb Change '00)$ &=business Comes of AgeO$ available from
htt:;;4442activmediaresearch2com2
Adam$ Ste4art ,'00)-2 O#neto#ne eMarketing Strategy Alignment: Five Internet Case
StudiesO2 Academy o? Marketing Annual 2on?erence$ Cardiff$ @ales$ United 8ingdom$ Cardiff
University$ ,'=( Euly-!
Adam$ Ste4art$ Mulye$ 3aIendra$ !eans 8enneth 32$ Paliha4adana !ayananda ,'00)- = A
Three Country Comarison of Internet Marketing2
Ang$ ?a4rence and ?ee$ %oon=Chye ,'000-2 O&ngendering Trust in Internet Commerce: A
Aualitative InvestigationO2 ANGAM ())) 2on?erence Proceedings$ Sydney$ Mac>uarie
University2 htt:;;4442gsm2m>2edu2au;conferences;'000;an5am;banner2html2
%arnes Stuart$ and Scornavacca &usebio$ ,'00:- &ditor 9 Un4ired %usiness: Cases in
Mobile %usiness$ I3M ress2
%ar4ise P$ Strong C$ = Permission=based mobile advertising2 E Interact Market '00'M):,)-(
9'(2
%ar/ir$ A2$ .allaugher$ E2 M2 and Auger$ P2 ,'00*- N%usiness Process !igiti5ation$ Strategy$
and the Imact of Firm Age and Si5e: The Case of the Management Publishing IndustryK$
&ournal o? .usiness ? (this is of im)ortance from B to
%&(
% sec2%B sec2" sec2 "B sec23 sec
(%7& 7hat ty)e of design does your 1e,site ha*e 3 in terms of gra)hics8 Ia*a scri)ts8 flash
etc> ? (this is of im)ortance from % to B&(
*ery hea*y2hea*y2*ery light2light2moderate
(%!& +o you ha*e a flash design8 a static design or ,oth> ? (=lash @ in form of a shock#1a*e
mo*ie8 Static @ $lain non shock#1a*e mo*ie& 3 (Both @ " )oints&(
=lash design2Static design2Both
(%.& Is your 1e,site na*igation friendly> ?i(e( the ease at 1hich *isitors can mo*e around8
click and find 1hat they 1ant( (this is of im)ortance from B to %&(
Cery friendly2friendly2moderate2unfriendly2*ery unfriendly
("& +oes your 1e,site ha*e the a,ility for *isitors2customers to sign#u) for your ne1sletter
,y their names8 email and gender> (0es @ " )oints&(
0es2Ao2other
("%& +oes your com)any take into cognisance the la1s against s)amming> (0es @ " )oints&(
0es2Ao
(""& Is your 1e,site mo,ile )hone friendly> i(e( ho1 does it render on a mo,ile )hone
,ro1ser( (this is of im)ortance from % to B&(
Cery distorted2distorted2moderate2undistorted2*ery undistorted
("3& Eo1 often are your staff trained or u)dated a,out I9T use (internet and mo,ile )hone&>
(this is of im)ortance from B to %&(
Cery often2Often2moderately2Seldom2Ae*er
:<
("D& +oes your com)any undertake 1e, S:O (search engine o)timisation&8 S:M (search
engine marketing&8 link )o)ularity and general monitoring> (0es @ " )oints&(
0es2Ao
("B& +oes your com)any undertake 1e, analytics (finding out the effect of your 1e, )resence
3 in terms of site2)age *ie1s and con*ersion rates&> (0es @ " )oints&(
0es2Ao
("F& Eo1 often do you u)date your I9T infrastructure in terms of soft1are and hard1are>
(this is of im)ortance from B to %(&
Cery often2Often2moderately2Seldom2Ae*er
("7& If you ha*e ans1ered most of the Guestions a,o*e )ositi*ely8 then you may ,elie*e in
the im)ortance of I9T in marketing8 data mining8 and e95M (electronic customer relationshi)
management&( $lease confirm ,elo1: (0es @ " )oints&(
0es2Ao
("!& $lease gi*e other information a,out your I9T use in marketing ,elo1 that you other1ise
cannot gi*e a,o*e: (Additional info @ " )oints&(
"n behalf of myself and %lekinge Institute of Technology& S#eden ' I say
thank you for your patience and time taken to ans#er the above *uestions!
:6
APP$'D(L =B> 4 %$SP&'D$'TS
10
1)
1'
1*
1(
1+
1:
11
1<
16
ue in terms of email H SMS;MMS do you use moreB
,*- @hat is your reason for using a articular ICT techni>ue moreB
,(- Co4 do you collect data ,email$ hone$ name and gender- for your ICT use
and and eC3M urosesB
,+- !o you have a 4ebsiteB
,:- If yes2 !o you advertise on your 4ebsiteB And 4hat 4ay do you advertiseB
,1- !oes your 4ebsite have the facility for on=line ayments ,via merchant
account or Payal etc2-B
,