Why The Razor-Sharp Focus on On-line Marketing?

A key component of MarketThink’s vision is to focus on what we believe is a radical change in the method of how buyers and sellers are brought together.

As recently as 10 years ago, the ability for an organization to control how when and where it conveyed “its message” was limited to a few, expensive outlets controlled by a select few “gatekeepers”. Ten years ago, print (brochures, catalogs, advertisements, direct mail) and direct sales (face to face contact) were the main staples in a marketer’s toolbox. For a lucky few with a lot of cash and resources, television and radio was possible.

Today, forward thinking businesses introducing new products and services or even re-vamping their existing offerings have a much more level, a much wider, and a much more accessible playing field with many affordable ways to reach large markets.

The marketing divisions between the large and the small organization have crumbled as more, less expensive, widely available marketing and communication channels have opened up.

E-mail, on-line marketing, search engines, the World Wide Web, Pod casting, Blogging and many other emerging electronic techniques have completely and radically changed how you can deliver your message — and perhaps more importantly how your competitors are delivering their message.

Face it, whatever you are selling, whatever service you are providing, a strong, well designed, well organized on-line presence has to be an integral part of
your marketing plan.

This new “e-vironment”, has provided a field where you can reach a wider audience with, more measurement and more control and better ROI.

Information has always been a key component of how people shop and today, online is first place that people go for that information. As of a result of this shift, today’s consumers are much better at “pulling” the information they need rather than waiting for you to push it at them. Today, how people shop for goods and evaluate and engage your services is radically different than it was 10 years ago. The availability of search engines and tools that allow comparison shopping, a consumer driven community that will not hesitate to post their recommendations on-line has forever altered the purchasing process.

More Than Just A New Skin

There are many marketing professionals who believe that simply putting a new “e-skin” on traditional marketing techniques is sufficient to play on this new field. To us, at MarketThink, that is the same as putting a Ferarri body on a Model-T chassis. Looks great but don’t expect it to compete in today’s world.

Our belief at MarketThink is that on-line marketing requires a different way of thinking — new techniques of presenting information and new methods of delivering an experience.

Anyone will tell you that an e-mail campaign is radically different thinking than a direct mail campaign or that a well designed Web site that allows your shoppers to engage with you is different than a paper catalog. On-line marketing is a new way of acting that requires new ways of thinking.

What Does Your Customer Expect?

Ask yourself about your customer’s expectations of the experience you are going to deliver? Does it include an on-line component?

Absolutely.

That on-line component could range from well presented details and well structured information about your ideas and mission to an on-line store where your customer experiences and purchases your products or services. You customer’s expectation might include the capability of reaching you by e-mail so that that they can give feedback or get answers to questions critical to completing their purchasing decision. It might include finding information about your company and its management so that they can evaluate your philosophies against their needs, wants and requirements. It may include sales tools or white papers to help a customer understand how your product is exactly what they need or how your services can make the differences in their business.

In short, on-line marketing deals with a complete, total view of how to deliver information and close sales in an on-line world.

MarketThink strives to help you understand how this new e-vironment works, as well as why and how it can help your business reach the marketplace.

On-line marketing is our passion. It’s why we exist.