E-Marketing Report for North Brisbane Landscape - Assignment Example

? E-Marketing Report for North Brisbane Landscape Executive summary The report focuses on the condition of North side Landscape in Australia, which is a company well-known for its garden landscapes for the past 36 years. The company has a very loyal base of customers, but in comparison with other companies at the national and global level, the company was found to lag in its appeal. The company’s online presence is poor in comparison with the rest, and there were many factors responsible for it. The visual representation of the website of the company was also not attractive enough to capture user attention. So, strategies were recommended for a future marketing plan to uplift its presence in the e-marketing arena. A ranking of the four companies, North Brisbane Landscape, C Price Landscapes, Australian Native Landscapes, and Frosts Garden Centres, chosen in this paper, has also been done to deduce the comparative position of each company. The overall result suggested a lowly position of North Brisbane Landscape, the company discussed in the paper. The company was found to lack in its 7 I’s and 6 C’s components. The recommendations have been done, keeping in focus the deficiencies observed in these two components respectively. Introduction E-marketing is the marketing using digital technologies in order to help selling of the products or services. E-marketing provides businesses houses of any size an easy access to the general mass market within an affordable price range. Specific benefits achieved from e-marketing include the following aspects: global reach, lower cost, results that can be tracked and measured, 24-hour marketing, personalization, one-to-one marketing, etc (Developing an E-Marketing Plan, 2005, pp.2-3). Business websites should be maintained by every running company in order to propagate their products and services online. As websites are so important for a company, this needs to be audited on regular basis in order to determine their effectiveness as well as any broken link, i.e. a link which cannot be accessed by the user. A good website audit report would provide information on how often the website is accessed by the users, whether by subscribing or paid advertisements, etc (Website Audit – an Analytical Approach, 2007). In this paper, we will talk about North Brisbane Landscape and compare it with three other websites at the local, national and international levels, namely at local level - C Price Landscapes, nationally - Australian Native Landscapes, and internationally - Frosts Garden Centres located in Oxfordshire, UK. In this research, two tools of the 6Is and the 7Cs will be used to compare and evaluate these three websites. These websites belong to the same industry. The audit report of North side Landscape supplies says that the website of North side Landscape has been experienced in their services for the past 36 years but not experienced in the effectiveness of their website. This is because the website requires more information and features for providing information for their customers or even in dealing with their suppliers. The company lacks in features such as identification, individualization and interaction with customers (North Brisbane Landscape, 2010). The local company, i.e. C Price Landscapes, is better in terms of its homepage contents (C Price Landscapes, 2010). The information is clear and it has communication with the social network users like Facebook. The company chosen at the national level, Australian Native Landscapes, is far better than the rest of the company websites going by its contents and features. The website has made good use of color combination and provides correct links to guide its customers (Australian Native Landscapes, 2011). The last company chosen at the international level is Frosts Garden Centres in Oxfordshire. The company has a well maintained website. Interactive marketing Interactive marketing is the ability to address the customer, remember what the customer has said, and address the customer again in a way that would illustrate that the seller remembers what the customer has told them (Kumar, 2008, p.275). Interactive marketing is in fact an extension of e-marketing, and it is facilitated by the growing application of the Internet all over the world. The 6 I’s of e-marketing are interactivity, intelligence, individualization, integration, industry restructuring and independence of location (McDonald & Wilson, 2011, p.274). The 7C’s of customer interface used in e-marketing strategy are content, context, communication, commerce, connection, community and customization (Rayport, 2003, p.499). Web Audit The web audit tools of 6I and 7C will be used to evaluate the website of the four chosen companies. Web audit for North Brisbane Landscape North Brisbane Landscape and Garden Centre is a well-known company in Australia providing the raw materials and other facilities required for constructing landscapes or gardens. The company has been functioning for the past 36 year. 6I’s Interactivity – the customer is able to initiate contact with the company. Through interactivity, the company can gather 100% of the attention of the user. The communication tools of push and pull are applied here by the customer seeking information, which is pull, and the company providing the same, which is push. The company can also store information related to the frequency of its visits. North Brisbane Landscape has built a website of its company that helps the users by providing information about its products. The push and pull strategy are exhibited here. Intelligence - the web and several other forms of digital media appear to be low-cost methods for collecting information related to customer perceptions. A good deal of marketing research information can be accessed by using web analytics. North Brisbane Landscape fares poorly in this aspect as the website it has built for communicating with customers does not provide any means with which the customer-related information could be collected. Individualization – this feature enables a company to personalize a company website according to the tastes and preferences of the users. The websites of North Brisbane Landscape contains outdated information. It has not been customized for a long time. Integration – integration helps the company to gather both inbound (customer to organization) and outbound (organization to customer) information. As a form of direct response channel, it enables customers to revert back to offers and advertisements that are publicized in offline media. North Brisbane Landscape has an e-mail facility on their website with which they can gather feedback and queries from their customers. Industry restructuring – this involves two steps of disintermediation and re-intermediation. Disintermediation is the removal of business intermediaries such as distributors or brokers in the supply chain that link a company with its customers. Re-intermediation is the opposite of disintermediation, and it involves creating new intermediaries between the customers and the suppliers to provide different services, e.g. supplier search or product evaluation. The website used by North Brisbane Landscape does not provide any such clue regarding the same. Independence of location – this helps widen the reach of the organization. The company website lacks it, too. 7 C’s A customer interface is the way in which information and services are presented to customers and users. There are six main features known as the 6C that are essential to make a good online application or a web page. Context – represents the layout and design of the website. The layout used by North Brisbane Landscape is fairly good. Commerce – this helps to get commercial transactions. The contents of the company website are not efficient in this respect. Communication – this can help in gathering partnerships. North Brisbane Landscape website does not exhibit any such aspect. Customization – this helps the users to customize the site according to their preferences. North Brisbane Landscape scores badly here, too. Connection – the company site is linked with other sites for promotion. The website of North Brisbane Landscape does not have any such connections. Community – it enables user-to-user interaction, which is absent on the website of North Brisbane Landscape. Content – this involves the visual contents of the website such as colors, fonts, graphics, etc., used in the layout. The content used on the company website is considerable. The ranking from 1-5 of North Brisbane Landscape for 7c’s and the 6I’s NA will be used where no score can be given. 6 I’s Criteria Score Interactivity 2 Intelligence N/A Individualization N/A Integration 2 Industry restructuring N/A Independence of location N/A Total score 4 7C’s Criteria Score Context 2 Commerce NA Communication NA Customization NA Community NA Connection NA Content 2 Total score 4 Web audit for C Price Landscapes C Price Landscapes is a leading company in Australia providing solutions for landscapes constructions. They provide excellent facilities for gardening and outdoor decorations (C Price Landscapes, 2010). The website audit is as follows: 6I’s Interactivity – the company website has good interactivity schemes as it has an e-mail facility for solving customers’ queries. The company has also linked up with the social networking site Facebook for increasing its interactivity. Intelligence – there is not much information regarding this aspect on the company website. Individualization – the company does not have any facility for personalizing the website according to the customer needs. Integration – the website is integrated with social networking sites, and the company has developed their own blogs for integration. This helps users respond to the advertisements that are featured on the site. Industry restructuring – there is no such facility on the company website. Independence of location – the company website does not provide any such feature. 7C’s Context – the context of the company website is beautifully built. The layout and the design provide information about the company very clearly. Commerce – the company website does not have features to enable commerce on its home page. Communication – the company website has facilities like emails for providing communication between the user and the company. Customization – though the company website is built tastefully, it does not have any feature where the interface can be customized according to the user needs. Connection – there is a good connection as the website of the company has partnered with Facebook to increase its propagation. Community – the website of the company does not have any community for facilitating user-to-user communication. Content – the visual representation of the company website has been done very carefully, making a good combination of light colors and darker shades. The graphics and fonts used on it also make it appealing and attractive enough to capture users’ attention. The ranking from 1to 5 of C Price Landscapes for 7 C’s and the 6 I’s N/A will be used where no score can be given 6 I’s Criteria Score Interactivity 3 Intelligence N/A Individualization N/A Integration 3 Industry restructuring N/A Independence of location N/A Total score 6 7 C’s Criteria Score Context 3 Commerce N/A Communication 3 Customization N/A Connection 3 Community N/A Content 3 Total score 12 Web audit for Australian Native Landscapes Australian Native Landscapes is a company in Sydney Australia that provides different types of garden soils and other materials for building gardens. It has a well-grown horticulture to provide plant saplings of various kinds (Australian Native Landscapes, 2011). 6 I’s Interactivity – the company website provides ample materials for interactivity. There are facilities where the user can send his feedback or queries, which increases interactivity. The website is able to capture 100% of the customer attention. Numbers have also been provided by the company for customer assistance. Intelligence - there is no facility for collecting information about the user visits, etc. Individualization – there are not many facilities on the company website where the interface or the home page can be customized according to the preferences of the user. Integration – the company has good integration facilities with a proper interaction between the company and the user. It has home delivery facility with quality assurance and features like ‘Add in Carts’ where customers can shop according to their requirements; it helps to build integrity. Industry restructuring – there is not much information about the industry restructuring feature on the company website. Independence of location – the company website lacks in this feature. 7 C’s Context – the website of the company has been designed very carefully and keeping in mind the attention of the customers. The design and layout used on the home page have been done beautifully. Commerce – the home page of the company website does not have any feature assisting commerce. Communication – the website has e-mail addresses and an assistance number for communicating between the users and customers. Customization – the company does not provide any feature on the home page of their website where the graphics and its contents can be personalized according to the preferences of the website visitor. Connection – the website of the company provides a telephone number for customers to inquire about their problems or get assistance; this helps increase connection. The company does not have any particular tie-ups for increasing connection. Community – the website does not have any community group for helping the users to interact with each other. Content – the company has built its visual content by providing almost all sorts of information on its home page. The color combination chosen for the content balances well the designs and contours of the web page. The company website also provides a clear map for guiding its visitors to the nearest location. The ranking from 1-5 of Australian Native Landscapes for 7c’s and the 6I’s NA will be used where no score can be given 6 I’s Criteria Score Interactivity 4 Intelligence N/A Individualization N/A Integration 4 Industry restructuring N/A Independence of location N/A Total score 8 7 C’s Criteria Score Context 4 Commerce N/A Communication 3 Customization N/A Connection 2 Content 4 Total score 13 Web audit for Frosts Garden Centres Frosts Garden Centres is a company in the UK that provides facilities for constructing gardens and landscapes (Frosts Garden Centres, 2012). 6 I’s Interactivity – the company website provides good amount of information on its services and products. Intelligence – the website lacks here as it does not have any means with which it can collect user information. Individualization – the website can be customized according to the wishes of the user. Integration – the website has good integration facilities as it contains a section where it provides advice as well as invites advice on gardening from its users. It has also integrated social networking sites (Facebook) on its website to increase its reach. Industry restructuring – no such information can be gathered from this website. Independence of location – the company website does not have any such feature. 7 C’s Context – the company website is created using the right combination of colors, graphics and fonts to capture the user attention. Commerce – the website does not have any feature of pop-ups or paid advertisements of other companies. Communication – the website provides e-mails and a user advice page for communication. Customization – like the previous websites, this website also cannot be customized. Connection – connection is done mainly through e-mails and the user page. Community – there is no extra community on the web page of the company. Content – the visual content of the website is fairly good, but there is a need to make it more vibrant to retain the interest of the user. The ranking of Frosts Garden Centres from 1-5 for 7c’s and the 6I’s NA will be used where no score can be given 6 I’s Criteria Score Interactivity 3 Intelligence N/A Individualization N/A Integration 3 Industry restructuring N/A Independence of location N/A Total score 6 7 C’s Criteria Score Context 3 Commerce N/A Communication 3 Customization N/A Connection 2 Content 3 Total score 11 Proposed marketing plan for North Brisbane Landscape The e- marketing strategy developed for North Brisbane Landscape will consist of the following steps: Identify the right target segment The company deals with gardening and landscape building. So, the right target segment for the company will be households, lodging hotels, guest houses, etc., which have a provision for constructing such landscapes in their area. The company will be required to frame its position in such a way as to judiciously decide on its pricings for different consumers. Setting objectives The objectives for the future actions of the company would include: Creating awareness – the company needs to work on its ad campaigns to increase awareness. It can collaborate with the NGO’s to increase its spread. Focusing on sales – the company will need to build sales of its products online by increasing sales from old customers or by selling content and advertising space to new subscribers. The right marketing mix The company will have to work on its e-marketing strategy to increase its market share. The recommended strategies are as follows: Product – the company will need to re-design its web page so as to make it more appealing and visually satisfactory. Use of vibrant colors and designs will be recommended. The company can hire professional web-hosting companies to fix the matter. Personalization – the company website will have to develop personalization. The company can gather information about its customers by using cookies that can access any computer or a web page. Customer service – the company can develop a customer service network for transactional situations. They can also devise an online system for solving the queries of the users. Community – they can form online communities where users could connect with each other. Estimating their budget – the company will have to estimate its budget before beginning the program. Building the brand The company can either rebuild its existing brand by introducing new features, or go into a co-branding strategy with other related or newer companies. Customer relationship The company can ask its users to register themselves. This would enable the company to gather information about their usage and personal data which can be useful for mass mailing or SMS marketing. When writing e-mails, the company should ensure that it uses the right technology as an e-mail sent in the HTML format might look messy in a different set-up. Data privacy Lastly, the company should ensure that none of the customer information gets leaked or stolen. The company should also have a plan to safeguard the information that would be collected via online cookies. Measuring performances The performances can be measured by analyzing the financial reports and sales figures. These would help to predict the future sales level and the market share that can be gained by the company. References Australian Native Landscapes (2011). Retrieved September, 29, 2012 from: http://anlscape.com.au/ C Price Landscapes - C Price Landscapes (2010). Retrieved September, 29, 2012 from: http://www.cpricelandscapes.com/ Developing an E-Marketing Plan (2005). Retrieved September, 29, 2012 from: http://www.herts.ac.uk/fms/documents/business-services/flare/Developing%20an%20e-marketing%20plan.pdf Frosts Garden Centres, (2012). Retrieved 29 September, 2012 from: http://www.frostsgardencentres.co.uk/ Kumar, V. ( 2008). Managing Customers for Profit: Strategies to Increase Profits and Build Loyalty. New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall. McDonald, M., & Wilson, H. (7th ed.) (2011). Marketing Plans: How to Prepare Them, How to Use Them. Chichester: John Wiley & Sons. North Brisbane Landscape Supplies (2010). Retrieved September, 29, 2012 from: http://www.northbrisbanelandscapes.com.au/ Rayport, J. (2003). Introduction To E-Commerce. India: McGraw-Hill Education  Website Audit - an Analytical Approach (2007). Retrieved September, 29, 2012 from: http://www.advanceecomsolutions.com/newsletter_archives/dec07/newsletter.html Read More