Internetiturundus - interneta mārketings - internet marketing

An Estonian version of this article can be found on the Aktiva website:
Kodulehekülje sisu strateegia

There is not much point in attracting potential buyers and partners to your website if:

1. It is too complicated to use for the average person
2. There is not enough content to interest them to engage further
3. The best content is buried somewhere in the site but not easily found

A successful commercial website is simple to understand, easy to use and has a well thought out content strategy

Of course every company has different target audiences and unique products ad services but nonetheless, there are some common themes that successful websites share:

Essentially a website should contain topical, relevant and useful content that satisfies the needs and desires of the primary target audiences.

To be sure what content should be included in your website you should, ideally, ask your target audiences. Speak to your partners, clients, suppliers, investors, employees and other stakeholders and find out what they want and then give it to them. It is easy to assume you know what they want; but if ask them, it will save you changing the site later and it will make you stand out from your competitors too!

Bear in mind too that your website will be visited by potential partners and buyers who are not familiar with the internet and so wherever you can, try to keep the presentation and features as simple as possible.

Making sure your website site is easy to use really is very important. Simplicity is beautiful but actually enormously difficult to achieve, even for most web professionals.

It is advisable to seek professional advice when planning your website content strategy but if you want to do it yourself then consider the following list as a guide. In this I use the example of a Light Machinery Exporter targeting the European market (especially Germany).

Development plan for website content strategy

(thanks again to Alison Clark for inspiring this article many moons ago. This is/was essentially her thinking and something which I have adopted and personalised.)

Visitor characterisation (who are your targets?)

Focus on overall visitor requirements and preferences.

Characterise each type of visitor

e.g. German, male, machine buyer aged about 50, internet savvy but uses modem and old PC, speaks some English

Usage development (what so they want from your site?)

Understanding of key stages and needs of visitors.

e.g. The German buyer: Needs price comparisons with the competition, specifications of equipment in easy-to-print format and live currency conversions.

He would also like to see testimonials, guarantees and know more about Estonian business culture, because he has never bought from an Estonian company before.

Takeout statements (what do you want them to think, feel and do AFTER they have left your site?)

Specific communication objectives for each type of visitor.

e.g. You would like him to leave the website thinking: “ this company is professional, have good prices and speak German. I will put them on my tender list and also contact them for further information”

Identify information vehicles(What content do you need to get the response you want?)

Identify and prioritise content and features that support visitor needs and desires.

e.g. German language version, pdf printouts of specification sheets, a live currency converter, a testimonials/reference page or ‘guest book’, logos displaying awards and memberships of trade associations etc etc). A section ‘about Estonia’ would be helpful too, possibly that identifies and stresses the German connection (Hansa etc)

Branding personalisation (What sort of personality does your company want to project?)

Clarification of style and tone to be used.

e.g. Our German, middle-aged buyer is quite conservative so the tone should be formal. In his business, precision and efficiency are important so a clean and uncluttered design would be best. Friendly, welcoming language should be used.

The list above provides a simple snapshot for just one audience. You will need to repeat the same exercise for every target group.

Unnecessary duplication of content needs to be eliminated and simple navigation system should be developed to hold the content together and to ensure the target users can easily and quickly find the content and features they need.

The content strategy development process outlined above should discover and prioritise the content and features your website requires to meet your company goals.

If your website satisfies the needs of clients, partners and other stakeholders then it will satisfy you too.

An Estonian version of this article can be found here E-turundus ekspordi turundusstrateegia osana on Aktiva’s website

For the purposes of this article we define emarketing as:
The process of buying, selling or sharing information, goods and services via the internet.

Assuming that you have already defined an export marketing strategy then maybe it’s time to develop an integrated approach that incorporates emarketing.

Which areas of export marketing strategy can emarketing support?

1. Increased access to foreign markets
2. Better international customer relationship management
3. Faster launch of new products and services
4. Instant sharing of company news and other information
5. Creation of lower cost buying and selling channels
6. Creation of new revenue streams, unique to the internet
7. Lower cost international market research

If we consider typical export marketing activity we can identify how emarketing can assist in more specific ways. For example, in the sales and marketing process emarketing enables your company to deliver precise product and service information and targeted sales messages to a huge international audience.

Emarketing can help the export sales and marketer to:

1. Answer potential customer enquiries
2. Handle client enquiries and provide stock/pricing/delivery information
3. Promote specific products and services according to availability
4. Provide catalogues of product information
5. Provide company and market sector background information
6. Conduct market research (prospects, markets and competition)

Of course to be able to do these things the exporter’s executive management must provide their export marketing department with the necessary budgets to identify and employ emarketing tools, services and training/personnel.

Of course different exporter types might have different priorities for emarketing:

1. Distributors: respond to sales enquires and enable sales people access to product and process information
2. Manufacturers: supply support material and access for distributor and detailed product information e.g. catalogues
3. Service companies: use the internet as a showcase to promote their services and do market research

The integration of ecommerce payment systems and other transaction processing is another area of great value to exporters. The most popular activities are online ordering and payments systems.

As e-buying processes save money by generally reducing the buying cycle period, improving transaction efficiency and reliability it is becoming more interesting for exporters (and importers too) to take part in e-marketplaces and therefore to consider integrating their existing systems.

To develop a really successful export emarketing strategy you will need to:

1. Adapt your products and services to suit the target markets
2. Understand and use online communications channels
3. Adapt your promotional strategy and budget to the online world
4. Clarify the role of intermediaries and new virtual partners
5. Ensure your products and services are competitively priced in new international markets

Of course whilst export marketing online can benefit you by:

1. Cutting costs: email and Skype are cheaper than traditional phone calls; a updateable website is cheaper than reprinting catalogues and brochures; research is fast and cheap online
2. Increasing market reach: new international markets become accessible; the ability to enter e-marketplaces and specialist directories; increased search engine visibility; more efficient and easier communication with foreign partners and distributors.
3. Creating new e-products and e-services,

none of it is possible without management support and executive decision making at the highest level.

Emarketing can be an essential part of your export marketing strategy, and should be, but it requires serious commitment.

It is important to create a specific budget for emarketing within your export marketing budget and ideally for each target market.

There are some fundamental, base level activities that should be included in your export marketing budget but selling to Germany and UK is quite different and requires different skills, activities etc. and therefore different budgets.

The minor differences in export marketing to individuals countries are not necessarily expensive but they are critical to e-export success.

I was recently asked to explain what I meant by :

“International trade agreements need to help, not obstruct, e-export”
as mentioned in this Internet marketing usage in Estonia post

Well the problem is manifold but I have to be careful here as I am no expert on international trade agreements or government policy.

I will try not to embarrass myself or altex..too much
Here goes:

E-commerce is a good thing in many ways (putting aside the ‘globalisation acceleration’ and ‘augmenting the digital wealth divide’ arguments):

The consumer wins:

1. Better choice
2. Lower prices (look at music and travel for example)
3. Easier for non-city dwellers to buy stuff too. ( If you live in the middle of nowhere with a credit card then you can get almost whatever you need)

The business wins:

1. Increased access to new markets
2. Cost and time efficiencies in most business processes (especially sales and marketing..something I do know a bit about)

The government wins:

1. Consumers are happy + businesses are happy = Gov is happy
2. (+ GOV BONUS PRIZE : more tax being collected, which no doubt will be needed to look after increasingly ageing populations without private health care..but that’s not for this blog)

But before we get too excited about this technology revolution….and YES it IS a revolution. Consider this by Ian Davis and Elizabeth Stephenson of McKinsey’s (extract from 10 trends to watch in 2006) :

“The technology revolution has been just that. Yet we are at the early, not mature, stage of this revolution. Individuals, public sectors, and businesses are learning how to make the best use of IT in designing processes and in developing and accessing knowledge. New developments in fields such as biotechnology, laser technology, and nanotechnology are moving well beyond the realm of products and services.
More transformational than technology itself is the shift in behavior that it enables. We work not just globally but also instantaneously. We are forming communities and relationships in new ways (indeed, 12 percent of US newlyweds last year met online). More than two billion people now use cell phones. We send nine trillion e-mails a year. We do a billion Google searches a day, more than half in languages other than English.”

…there are a few issues

So I would like someone to point me at the specific texts of international trade agreements that help overcome these barriers…if they exist? Or should I continue to assume that most international agreements are obstructive through negligence?

Please use comments or contact me by email.

1. Lower cost telecommunications. Just how much should broadband access be? Why are some countries so expensive relatively to salaries? (I know, its lack of competition! The question was rhetorical)
Why is Estonia (outside Tallinn) more expensive than the UK or France (last time I looked)?
If the world wants e-commerce then the world needs cheap telecommunications, and I mean really cheap. Like SKYPE cheap
2. More people need to go online. Let’s not be EU or USA centric here, but think globally too. Ok, so Estonia has Tiger Leap (that’s cool…for schools) but what about all the micro-businesses? And everyone else? Computers are still too expensive for many. Perhaps computer recycling would be a step? Hey Hansapank- got any old computers you want to give away?
3. Domain names. altex wants to buy several .ee domain names. Guess what? We are not allowed!! So I have to buy .coms instead. This blog is a .com but I would prefer to give my money to Estonia to be honest. Domain name buying needs to be quicker and easier (think godaddy.com).
4. Multilingual “paperwork”. E-commerce standards and other important documentation need to be in every language. When, for example, will we see W3C standards in Estonian? How can we ensure non-discriminatory accessibility if people do not fully understand compliance guidelines?
5. Lower transaction costs. Generally speaking e-payment systems need to evolve dramatically and the cost of using them drop dramatically too! Transferring a payment to an EU company via my Hansapank account costs 30€. Why?

In some countries, like the UK, people still use chequebooks! Dinosaurs!

Credit card adoption rates need to super accelerate too.

Why do you think Estonian levels of e-commerce purchase are so low? It’s not just the ‘desire to dress up and go shopping’.

It’s also because many people who want to buy from foreign suppliers (who only take credit cards and do not accept Estonian debit cards or e-banking) can’t.

The fact is however that Estonia is light years ahead in e-banking etc. and this is definitely one area where it can lead the way.
6. Tax benefits. It’s nice to see governments planning generous tax credits for companies doing business online. This follows their decision to also award generous grants for people building environmentally friendly housing.

And was that a green pig that just flew past my window? Oh I must have been dreaming……
7. Security and confidence. People are genuinely and rightly (sometimes) concerned about their privacy and fraud online. This whole area is a can of worms as individual freedoms must be respected but the hackers must be beaten too. I would hate to have the job of solving that one.

Oh and SPAM is starting to get really annoying.
8. Digital signatures need to carry the same legal weight as ‘real ones’ and e-documents, including email, should be recognised ‘legally’.
9. Clarity of definitions. What’s a “good” and what’s a “service”? Digital delivery of knowledge is what exactly? It blurs the line and no doubt creates headaches for GATT and GATS negotiators who have plenty to do already?

So not only does each country need to have an ENLIGHTENED and ACCELERATED domestic policy ‘unit’ that looks specifically at facilitating e-business and export online but also international organisations like the WTO, UNCITRAL and the EU need to really get moving.

I mean it’s not rocket science, is it?

In the meantime we can sit and watch:

1. Admirable e-innovators who risk more than they should for the ‘not as big as they should be’ prizes
2. Proud e-governments who fund their own e-agendas but leave small businesses to wonder what to do next
3. Multinational corporations who can afford the best “e” talent and knowledge and just make even more money and solidify their economic strangleholds (but not for long)

If I was a conspiracy theorist I could argue that big business is holding back e-business because they know how successful the SMEs and developing nations will be at ‘stealing’ their market share once they are fully enabled. But I am not a conspiracy theorist so I will just forget about that

NOTE: It’s encouraging to see UNCITRAL moving forward. The General Assembly Adopts New Convention on Use of Electronic Communications in International Contracts .but I suspect it’s still not enough or fast enough for many SME exporters of Estonia.

It’s time that governments and international institutions started playing the e-game at the right speed. The speed of light. Business demands it.

Some bedtime reading:

1. http://europa.eu.int/information_society/ecowor/ebusiness/index_en.htm
2. www.internetpolicy.net
3. www.gbde.org
4. www.uncitral.org

PS. I am not a technologist, just an internet marketer, but anyway I bet there are whole bunch of enormously complex integration issues that need to be resolved too.

When I first heard Estonian I thought it was Japanese!

You might laugh at my ignorance (especially if you are Estonian or Japanese) but think again:

TEGEMA consonant-vowel-consonant-vowel-consonant-vowel or

YAMAHA consonant-vowel-consonant-vowel-consonant-vowel.

You get the idea? It sounds the ‘same’.
It’s the principle of vowel harmony that swings it for me.

Okei, it does not sound exactly the same to me anymore, I have been in Estonia more than a year, but I still like to hear Estonians speaking in Japanese accents….just for fun.

But wait!

Estonian is a Baltic Finnic language from the Finno-Ugric branch of the Uralic language tree if I am not mistaken.
And isn’t Japanese essentially an Altaic language?

There has been some study to suggest that Altaic and Uralic languages are connected, given their similar grammatical structures.

A list of Uralic languages

At Wikipedia it states that the Uralic - Altaic connection is generally unaccepted but I still like to think there is a link between Japanese and Estonian.

You decide for yourself and let me know your opinion, that’s what the comments box is for

Anyway I digress: This is a blog about export marketing so why am I am talking (about the) Japanese?

Apples! That’s why.

And small farms.

Japan is next to china.
Guess which one grows and sell huge quantities of cheap apples.
Yep, China.

Guess which one has a tiny apple growing industry fighting against a huge, cheap neighbour.
Yep, Japan.

So how has one farm managed to kick out the competition?
Quality and diversity.

Some clever Japanese apple farmers have taken advantage of the fact that the wealthiest Chinese (and other nationalities too) are prepared to pay for ‘luxury apples’.
In fact they are prepared to pay 17 US DOLLARS EACH!!!

Now that is what I call successful export marketing.

This ‘boutique fruit industry’ could set a positive example for small Estonian Farmers.

If the Chinese elite are willing to pay up to 100 US dollars for a giant juicy Japanese apple (with a dragon design in the skin) then perhaps Estonian farmers could produce ‘boutique fruit’ or ’boutique vegetables’ too?

How about rare mini-cabbages or specially shaped chanterelle mushrooms?
What about organic pink carrots?
I don’t know, maybe I am crazy, but I bet there is a strong potential for farmers in Estonia to grow special herbs too.
Plus when I visit the central market in Tallinn I see all sorts of strange stuff from the woods.
Maybe some of this should be branded and exported.

And hey, what about the rare Estonian orchids: not only could they be grown and exported? but also they could attract speciality tourism too!

The fine restaurants of Europe, and Tallinn too, are quite prepared to pay premium prices for ‘unique products’.

So lets encourage Estonian Farmers (and perhaps families with their own bit of land) to resurrect those rare and dying varieties of Estonian fruit, vegetables and herbs and sell them to people with a taste for the exotic.

To find out more about how those clever Japanese farmers increased exports by 1000% in 3 years read this report from Anthony Faiola of the Washington Post Foreign Service.

I read a post about Firms of Endearment (FoE) at one of my favourite blogs the other day (Ageless Marketing from that very smart guy David Wolfe)

It prompted me to share my own views on stakeholder centric websites.

Stakeholder centric thinking should permeate down to the web presence, as you would expect in a FoE.
However many companies are still tacking web strategy on at the end of the ‘process’ despite evidence that creating positive web experiences for consumers leads to increased levels of brand engagement, positive word of mouth (oh and customers too).

When planning a website’s content strategy its important to address the needs of all the stakeholders and not just the primary audience which is usually the sales prospect.

Tragically too it is way too easy to focus on delivering site functionality without keeping the needs of the inexperienced visitor (by comparison to the site developer) uppermost in the mind. (Not everyone is an expert web user..yet)… Thankyou Alison Clark for your inspiration, I hope you do not mind me playing with your words…

What’s important is to develop a mechanism for choosing the website’s character and content strategy to services everyone’s needs.

PS Visitor groups = audiences = stakeholders

1. Characterise each type of visitor focussing on each group’s requirements and preferences.
2. Consider how each group will actually use the site and breakdown their processes into key steps.
3. Specify communication goal(s) for each stakeholder audience/visitor type.
4. Identify content and features that support visitor needs, kick out the other useless fluff ‘n’ stuff.
5. Clarify the style and tone of the site ensuring it fits existing branding ‘rules’
6. Ensure that the usability, especially navigation, is simple and that key features are intuitively reached by each target group but remain eminently accessible to all others.
7. There are, of course, many other elements of a successful website strategy, perhaps best summarised as : visibility, accessibility, credibility, usability and persuasive writing.

But they are for another day..