How Marketing On Internet Is Different?

Marketing on internet is different in the following ways:

Information can be communicated throughout the world through interconnected series of computers via World Wide Web.

A company can provide in-depth information about its products and services which can be accessed by the web users anytime and anywhere.

Website of the company projects its image as the marketing manager wants.
It helps to connect with customers.

Advertising on web can be useful in spreading awareness about the products and services.

Advantages of Internet Marketing:

Target market: Through web an organization can target very specific groups of individuals with a minimum waste.

Message tailoring: Marketers can design messages to appeal the specific needs of target groups.

Interactive capabilities: It allows the customer interaction leading to a higher degree of customer involvement.

Information access: Users can always access the useful or required information about the company and its products easily on its website.

Sales potential: The ability of this medium to generate sales is high.
Creativity: Marketers can create the website very creatively to attract more viewers.
Market potential: As the use of internet increase, the market potential also increases.

Disadvantages of Internet Marketing:

Measurement problems: Effectiveness of this medium could not be established because of this novelty and sophistication of measures adopted by audiences.

User characteristics: It is difficult to measure the characteristics of audiences.

Clutter: There are too many ads and the chance of being noticed is very low.

Costs: Web is an expensive medium for advertising lower priced consumer product.

Services can be differentiated from the products on the basis of four basic characteristics: intangibility, heterogeneity, simultaneous production and consumption, perish ability.

Intangibility: It is the most basic difference. Services cannot be seen, felt or touched. Services are intangible and so they cannot be stored whereas products are tangible.
Heterogeneous: Services cannot be standardized like products. It is difficult to ensure consistency in the service quality and customer satisfaction.

Simultaneous production and consumption: Unlike products, services are produced and consumed simultaneously and so customers participate and affect the transaction. Service quality depends on the employees action.

Perishable: Unlike products, services cannot be stored for future consumption. It is a complex task to forecast demand and supply.

Market strategies for service firms: Traditionally it was believed that 4 Ps work well for tangible goods, but three more Ps are added in the service marketing mix. They are physical evidence, process, and people. Since the services are provided by people so that activities like selection, training and motivation of employees carry huge importance for an organization as they have direct impact on customer satisfaction. Service quality can be demonstrated through physical evidence. Different processes can be selected by the service firms to deliver their services. Service marketing involves external marketing, internal marketing and interactive marketing. External marketing refers to pricing, distributing, and promoting the service. Internal marketing refers to training and motivating employees who will serve the customers. Interactive marketing refers to communicating skills of the employees with the customers.