New,Twist,The,Future,Internet, marketing A New Twist on The Future of Internet Marketing
Awhile ago, I got an email from one of the "gurus" I follow and it shocked me. The gist of it was this person wanted to trade services for a household item.To say it floored me would be an understatement.What was worse was a few days later t Automation technologies represent a fundamental aspect of any modern industry. The major types of industrial automation solutions, such as DCS, PLC, SCADA, and MES, are used on a large-scale in process and discrete industries.DCS technologie
As we look forward into the new year, there is alevel of uncertainty about whether our marketinglives will remain similar to how they are now --or do a complete 180 and run in the oppositedirection. How can we predict what direction marketing willtake in 2003? It's beyond my humble dispositionto make a sure claim about the future of Internetmarketing. However, with a mixture of my personalrecent discoveries and those that I've foundelsewhere, I believe I have a fairly predictableidea. It's not what you expect. Are you ready? I believe that the future of marketing is intangible items. What?! How dare I make such a claim? Everythingis supposed to be automated! The man in the eBooktold me I can spend three weeks in the Bahamas,never lift a finger the entire time, and comehome to millions in my bank account! I know, it's a grueling concept. But hear me out.Just when you may think you know what I'm gettingat, I'll be sure to throw another twist at you. There are two reasons why tangible items will bethe next big boom. First, they decrease therefund rate. With an automated system, it can'tbe easier for a customer to order your product,download it, then drop you an e-mail saying, "Please give me a refund for XYZ. Thanks." Goodness knows I've done it if the product didn'tdeliver as promised. After pouring your sweat and blood into thewonderful eBook you created, how rewarding willyou find it to keep up with the ever-increasingreturn rate? On the other hand, if you ship a tangibleproduct, what percentage of customers want to gostand in line at their local post office, and ontop of that, pay for shipping costs to return theitem? Second, they increase customer loyalty. I don'tknow about you, but getting a tangible product inthe mail always excites me. Lately I've foundseveral websites that offered to send a free tapeor CD with no shipping costs. I've recieved a Robert Allen tape and CD, as wellas a Dan Kennedy tape on Magnetic Marketing. That was it. I immediately had a considerablystronger attachment to the websites that sent mea tangible product with real, human hands, thanthose websites that offer a free eBook downloador similar. The website that sent the Dan Kennedy tape alsosent a letter along with it. The site owner madesure I knew that if I ever wanted discounted DanKennedy products, I should visit www.xyz.com. Any ideas on the first place I'll turn to when Iwant a discounted Dan Kennedy product? You got it. Here's the twist. Instant gratification prevails on the Internet.People want food -- fast, so they get fast food.They want a movie -- now, so they order one onPay-Per-View from their living room couch. Yourcustomers want what your sales letter promised --instantly. Is that a problem that conflicts with the conceptof tangibility? Quite the opposite. Your job isto come up with a way to split your product inhalf. One half can be an eBook, for example,which satisfies the desire for instantgratification. Your customer has material to keephim or her busy until your second half arrives inthe mail. This could be in the form of an audio tape, a CD,a manual, a video, or any other tangible itemyour creative mind might possibly dig up. Iseveryone going to start using this strategy? Halftangible, half digital? It's doubtful. But if YOU want to be heads and tails over yourcompetitors -- while gaining priceless customerloyalty, and a significant decrease in the refundrates your digital-focused competition isstressing over -- why not forget about jumping onthe bandwagon with the rest of 'em, and take thewheel instead?
New,Twist,The,Future,Internet,