Economic Daily: "Click" on the New Value of Internet Marketing
Economic Daily: "Click" on the New Value of Internet Marketing
Audiences often switch channels during long advertisement breaks on television. So, what means does the internet have to make people calmly accept product information? Internet marketing expert Dongming Liu expressed that China's internet marketing lacks diversified models. However, all is quietly changing now, evolving towards an all-encompassing network integrated marketing phase.
"Online ads suddenly aren't so annoying anymore." Bian Zeheng, 28, who works in Beijing, is a loyal user of online videos and frequently watches music videos on various video websites. She said, "A year ago, when I watched online videos, I often had to endure the ten or so seconds of pre-roll ads just like watching TV. Now, for most video websites, ads only appear when you pause the video."
More importantly, thanks to the rapid development of internet technology, the value of internet marketing is improving, allowing users to have a relatively good experience and be able to accept online marketing without being disturbed. On the other hand, companies also use new marketing methods such as online surveys and data analysis to evaluate their products and consumer future purchasing trends. Due to significant cost advantages compared to traditional offline methods, these new marketing approaches are increasingly favored by companies. A case in point is Coca-Cola Company's collaboration with Tencent on the "Online Torch Relay," which was considered one of the most successful internet marketing cases of 2008. After users gained the qualification for the online torch relay, an unlit icon would appear next to their QQ avatar. If they successfully invited other users to participate within ten minutes, the icon would light up. In just 40 days from March 2008, the activity attracted 40 million participants, averaging 120,000 participants per second.
Like Coca-Cola, internet marketing is becoming a new arena for brand building for large enterprises. Compared to simple product sales, they hope to utilize innovative internet communication methods to enhance brand reputation and achieve long-term customer relationships. Considering that the largest proportion of China's internet users are aged between 18 and 24 (as of June 2008, accounting for 30.3% of the total number of internet users), creativity and interactivity have thus become key words for large enterprises conducting internet marketing. The book "Spectrum of Network Integrated Marketing Weapons" introduces embedded marketing methods such as videos, games, widgets, or using community-based websites for interactive marketing.
On the other hand, for large enterprises, internet marketing is also becoming a new source of business data. High-end cosmetic websites like Guerlain and Lancôme obtain large amounts of crucial data about consumer distribution areas and income levels through giveaway raffles. Procter & Gamble gets data analysis on high-end consumer purchasing behavior through Taobao, while Philips collaborates with Google to attempt the first integrated marketing effort in China.
Senior Market Manager Fang Lu of Philips Greater China stated that Google's free website analytics tool can provide detailed data to help businesses understand customer behavior and needs on their websites. This includes which page users log into the Philips website from, where they exit, or where they spend the longest time on a page. Through this data, it becomes clear where customer interests lie, allowing for corresponding adjustments and controls.
Small Enterprises: Spending Every Penny Wisely
Two years ago, the customer database of Weijin Stainless Steel Equipment Company in Qingzhou, Shandong, was basically all customers from North China, not even having one from the southern regions. However, in 2008, the company's biggest deal came from Japan. General Manager Ren Xinguo indicated that the rapid business growth was closely related to promotions conducted on the Baidu platform. "Traditional methods are greatly restricted by region and time, and for small and medium-sized enterprises, choosing the fastest and most effective marketing method is very important."
Compared to large enterprises, SMEs like Weijin Stainless Steel Equipment Company focus more on the effectiveness and return on investment of internet marketing. They need to accurately select, precisely match, strengthen the control and management of results, and spend costs where they can best demonstrate value. Guangdong Marketing Association President Dai Lüxian pointed out that to help SMEs cope with the impact of the international financial crisis, network marketing innovation has become a key promotion project for the Guangdong Provincial SME Bureau this year.
Traditionally, China's SME internet marketing methods have been concentrated on the use of search engines. As their understanding of network marketing deepens, they pay more attention to how to analyze, optimize, and enhance advertising effects and use various analytical tools to optimize their own websites.
At the same time, these SMEs that cannot afford ad placements on major portals begin to utilize the interactivity of the internet to conduct targeted word-of-mouth marketing, such as blog marketing. By the end of 2008, the number of blogs in China had reached 107 million. Experts expressed that by leveraging the existing search engine weight advantage of blog service providers, valuable information released by SMEs can more easily quickly attract the attention of a large number of users, directly increasing the possibility of potential users.
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