Internet Marketing Myths
By Del Earle
Can you really sell to 30 million people on the Internet? Is advertising allowed? Is anybody making any sales? Can customers find you if you set up a World Wide Web site?
Media reports on Internet commerce are conflicting and often confusing. Myths abound. Many business people have suffered disappointment after investing money, time, and high hopes based on over-hyped legends of riches to be made in cyberspace. Others hold back from getting involved in Internet marketing because of the dark warnings of the doomsayers and their mythology.
If you’re in any kind of business, then you’re also in the business
of selling. You don’t want to miss out on an opportunity that could
make you money. But you don’t have money to throw away either. So you
stand to benefit from cutting through the mythology and getting at the
facts.
MYTH 1: You can advertise to 30 million people over the Internet.
No one is sure how many people are on the Internet. When I wrote
the first draft of this article, the highest estimate I had heard was
35 million. Then just today, as I was sitting down to put the story in
final form, I received a badly done direct-mail package proclaiming:
“ADVERTISE TO 90 MILLION+ FOR JUST $20 PER MONTH.”
But nobody really knows how many users there are, because there’s
no central authority over the Internet. No one owns it. It’s a massive
interconnection of computer networks, communication lines, and
switching equipment.
In October 1994, Matrix Information and Directory Services and
Texas Internet Consulting carried out an extensive survey, which
estimated that the “Consumer Internet” at that time numbered 13.5
million users of 3.5 million computers. This refers to users who could
access the Internet’s interactive services, such as the World Wide Web.
The internet has grown tremendously since then and millions more people are indeed on-line.
Still, this doesn’t mean that you will reach 27 million people
with your marketing message. Nor should you try to. The Internet is
not a mass market. Don’t try to send out mass unsolicited messages to
Internet users, whether through e-mail, mailing lists, or newsgroups.
People will be very annoyed and will let you know. There’s nothing to
be gained, and you’ll do much better by targeting your audience and
making use of the Internet’s interactive capabilities.
MYTH 2: If you don’t get your company on the ‘Net now, you’ll miss
the big boom.
There’s no proof you’re going to miss out on anything if you take
the time to do some research, get to know the Internet, participate in
the online community, and work out a strategic plan.
Personally, I think the low cost and the high possibilities of on-line marketing make it worthwhile to get involved now. By being an
“early adopter,” you may get better public relations value or stronger
positioning. Maybe you’ll even get rich.
But don’t rush to set up an online presence just for the sake of
being there or just for the sake of beating the crowd. You may find
yourself sitting by one of the thousands of “billboards in the desert.”
Even if you have to hire a consultant or an Internet “presence provider,” go into cyberspace with a plan and with your eyes open.
MYTH 3: You can’t advertise on the Internet.
The Internet is really a mosaic of many smaller virtual communities, each with its own history, culture, standards, rules, and
values. In some of those communities, the words “advertising” and
“marketing” have taken on meanings different than in the mainstream
business world. To people in some areas of cyberspace, the word
“advertising” is a four-letter word, but “marketing” is perfectly
acceptable.
I would offer this statement: Certain methods of advertising are
not tolerated on the Internet. I say “tolerated,” because there’s no
central authority to allow or disallow anything. However, some Internet
communities will not tolerate unsolicited advertising messages.
They’ll respond vehemently if you try. In some moderated newsgroups
or discussion groups, the moderator will filter out promotional
messages.
One of the best Internet marketing approaches is the “soft sell.”
Depending on your business, you might try:
* Participating helpfully in newsgroups while casually letting people
know what you do.
* Tacking a “signature” with contact information at the end of your
e-mail messages and discussion group postings.
* Placing lead-generating messages in electronic malls and directories.
* Preparing e-mail sales messages to send out to those who express
interest in your services.
* Setting up a World Wide Web site that offers useful information
and resources along with information about your business.
MYTH 4: If you try to advertise on the Internet, you’ll get
flamed to a cinder.
No, you won’t. Not if you do it right–by respecting the Internet
culture, participating in the online community, Advertising appropriately, and being a real resource for others. Also, it might help
to call it “marketing” instead of “advertising.”
MYTH 5: You can make a pile of money fast on the Internet.
Don’t buy anything from anyone who tells you this. In any business
effort, making money requires planning, strategic marketing, a good
product and offer, good customer service, considerable shrewdness–and
much hard work.
Maybe you will make a pile of money on the Internet. But you
won’t do it by buying into a get-rich-quick scheme.
MYTH 6: Nobody’s making any money on the Internet.
Many Internet entrepreneurs won’t say how they’re doing financially.
In many cases, that’s because they’re doing quite well and they don’t
want to tip off the competition.
I’ve seen reports by business people complaining that they have
tried the Internet and it didn’t work. Maybe they bought into some of
these myths. Maybe they failed to apply sound marketing principles in
establishing an Internet presence. There are principles of marketing
in cyberspace, but to learn them takes research, participation, and
time.
Will your company benefit from marketing on the internet or the
World Wide Web? No one can guarantee that. It’s too early, and the
medium is changing too fast to make predictions. One Internet presence provider, feels that right now a product should meet at least one of these criteria to be a good candidate for direct sales over the Internet:
* Appeals to the technologically savvy.
* Is a computer-related item.
* Appeals to a broad segment of the Internet user base.
* Appeals to a wide geographic audience.
* Is a specialty item otherwise difficult to locate.
* Is an “informed purchase”–the buyer responds to information
rather than hyperbole.
* Can be purchased over the Internet less expensively than by other
channels.
This provider is referring to direct sales. Many companies will also
benefit by using the Internet for communications, customer support,
sales support, soft-selling, and other purposes.
MYTH 7: Nobody can find you on the Internet. A variant: You can’t
find anything on the Internet.
The Internet is big. The World Wide Web, dominated by commercial
companies, is growing fast. To a beginner, the Internet can seem huge,
scary, and labyrinthine.
But the Internet is becoming easier for beginners to navigate. The
World Wide Web (WWW) has made a lot of difference. As long as you have
the URL (Uniform Resource Locator, or World Wide Web address) of a
site, all you do is enter the URL and your software will connect you
to the site instantly. Once you find a site you like, you can easily
add it to the “hotlist” or “bookmark” list in your software. This way
you can call it up anytime without having to retype it. So you can
very quickly become your own expert navigator.
Now to the next step: Many WWW site owners have set up directories,
indexes, search tools, and resource pages with instant links to useful
sites. Some of these “teleportation sites” provide general listings
with many subject categories and entries. Examples are:
Yahoo (URL is http://www.yahoo.com/); and WebQuery (http://webcrawler.cs.washington.edu/WebCrawler/WebQuery.html).
Other directories are specialized. There are excellent business
directories, such as (http://www.directory.net/)and the WWW Business Yellow Pages (http://www.cba.uh.edu/ylowpges/ylowpges.html).
Some directories allow you to find information by an automatic
word search, rather than having to scroll through long lists.
Enter these “top-end” sites in your own hotlist, and you immediately gain all of their capability. These directory sites and search
tools will continue to get better and easier to use, so that even new
users will quickly become crack navigators.
My point is that you can find your way around on the Internet–and
people can find you–if you set things up right.
To help people find your business site on the World Wide Web, set
up plenty of “pointers.” Negotiate links with other sites. Make sure
you’re in the directories and navigation lists, many of which are free.
You can figure out how to make the announcements, postings, and listings yourself, or you can have an Internet presence provider do it.
And be sure to promote your Internet presence through conventional
offline channels–ads, mailings, brochures, press releases, company
stationery, business cards, and packaging.
Del Earle is a freelance internet business consultant based in Claremont.