The book is divided into three parts, each covering a different aspect of how organisations use the Internet for marketing to help them achieve competitive advantage. Table P.1 indicates how the book is related to existing marketing topics.

Part 1  Internet marketing fundamentals (Chapters 1–3)

Part 1 relates the use of the Internet to traditional marketing theories and concepts, and questions the validity of existing models given the differences between the Internet and other media.

n   Chapter 1 An introduction to Internet marketing reviews the relationship between the Internet and the modern marketing concept; the relationship between Internet marketing, e-marketing, e-commerce and e-business and the benefits the Internet can bring to adopters and outlines differences from other media.

n   Chapter 2 Internet micro-environment reviews how the Internet changes the immediate marketplace of an organisation, including marketplace and channel structure. It describes the type of environment analysis need to support Internet strategy by examining how customers, competitors and intermediaries and the interplay between them can be evaluated.

n   Chapter 3 Internet macro-environment? reviews the impact of social, technological, economic, political and legal environmental influences on Internet strategy and its implementation.

Part 2  Internet strategy development (Chapters 4–6)

Part 2 describes the emerging models for developing strategy and provides examples of the approaches companies have used to integrate the Internet into their marketing strategy.

n   Chapter 4 Internet marketing strategy considers how the Internet strategy can be aligned with business and marketing strategies and describes a generic strategic approach with phases of situation review, goal setting, strategy formulation and resource allocation and monitoring.

n   Chapter 5 The Internet marketing mix assesses how the different elements of the marketing mix can be varied in the online environment as part of strategy formulation.

n   Chapter 6 Relationship marketing using the Internet details the strategies and tactics for using the Internet to build and sustain ‘one-to-one’ relationships with customers.

Part 3  Internet marketing: implementation and practice (Chapters 7–11)

Part 3 of the book explains practical approaches to implementing an Internet marketing strategy. Techniques for communicating with customers, building relationships and facilitating electronic commerce are all reviewed in some detail. Knowledge of these practical techniques are essential for undergraduates on work placements involving a web site and for marketing managers who are dealing with suppliers such as design agencies.

n   Chapter 7 Achieving online service quality explains the work involved in the different stages of building a web site in order to achieve the goal of service quality. The stages include analysis of customer needs, design of the site structure and layout, and creating the site.

n   Chapter 8 Interactive marketing communications describes the novel characteristics of new media, and then goes on to review different online and offline promotion techniques necessary to build traffic to a web site and for other promotion objectives. Among the techniques covered are: banner advertising, affiliate networks, promotion in search engines and directories, co-branding and sponsorship, e-mail, loyalty techniques and PR.

n   Chapter 9 Maintaining and monitoring the online presence defines a process for successful updating of a site and online and offline methods for assessing the effectiveness of the site in delivering business and marketing benefits.

n   Chapter 10 Business-to-consumer Internet marketing examines models of marketing to consumers, and provides many case studies of how retail businesses are tackling such marketing.

n   Chapter 11 Business-to-business Internet marketing examines the different area of marketing to other businesses, and provides many examples of how companies are achieving this to support international marketing. It also discusses the different stages of the buying decision such as supplier search, product evaluation and selection, purchase, post-purchase customer service and evaluation and feedback.

Who should use this book?

Students

This book has been created primarily as the main student text for undergraduate and postgraduate students taking specialist marketing courses or modules which cover e-marketing, Internet and digital marketing, electronic commerce and e-business. The book is relevant to students who are:

n   Undergraduates on business programmes which include modules on the use of the Internet and e-commerce. This includes specialist degrees such as Internet marketing, electronic commerce, marketing, tourism and accounting or general business degrees such as business studies, business administration and business management.

n   Undergraduate project students who select this topic for final year projects/dissertations – this book is an excellent supporting text for these students.

n   Undergraduates completing a work placement in a company using the Internet to promote its products.

n   Students at college aiming for vocational qualifications such as the HNC/HND in Business Management or Computer Studies.

n   Postgraduate students taking specialist masters degrees in electronic commerce or Internet marketing, generic MBAs and courses leading to qualifications such as Certificate in Management or Diploma in Management Studies which involve modules on electronic commerce and digital marketing.

Practitioners

There is also much of relevance in this book for marketing practitioners, including:

n   Marketing managers or specialists such as e-commerce managers or e-marketing managers responsible for defining an Internet marketing strategy and implementing and maintaining the company web site.

n   Senior managers and directors wishing to understand the potential of Internet marketing for a company and who need practical guidelines for how to exploit this potential.

n   Technical project managers or webmasters who may understand the technical details of building a site, but have a limited knowledge of marketing fundamentals and how to develop an Internet marketing strategy.

What does the book offer to lecturers teaching these courses?

The book is intended to be a comprehensive guide to all aspects of using the Internet and other digital media to support marketing. The book builds on existing marketing theories and concepts, and questions the validity of models in the light of the differences between the Internet and other media. The book references the emerging body of literature specific to Internet marketing. It can therefore be used across several modules. Lecturers will find the book has a good range of case studies, activities and exercises to support their teaching. Web site references are given in the text and at the end of each chapter to important information sources for particular topics.

Student learning features

A range of features have been incorporated into this book to help the reader get the most out of it. They have been designed to assist understanding, reinforce learning and help readers find information easily. The features are described in the order in which you will encounter them.

At the start of each chapter

The ‘chapter at a glance’ page provides easy navigation for each chapter, it contains:

n   Main topics: the main topics and their page numbers.

n   Case studies: the main cases.

n   Learning objectives: a list describing what readers can learn through reading the chapter and completing the exercises.

n   Key questions for marketers: explains the relevance of the chapter for practitioners.

n   Links to other chapters: a summary of related information in other chapters.

In each chapter

n   Definitions: when significant terms are first introduced the main text contains succinct definitions in boxes for easy reference.

n   Web references: where appropriate, web addresses are given to enable readers to obtain further information. They are provided in the main text where they are directly relevant as well as at the end of the chapter.

n   Case studies: real-world examples of how companies are using the Internet for marketing. Questions at the end of the case study are intended to highlight the main learning points from the example.

n   Minicase studies: short features which give a more detailed example, or explanation, than is practical in the main text. They do not contain supplementary questions.

n   Activities: exercises in the main text which give readers the opportunity to practise and apply the techniques described in the text.

n   Chapter summaries: intended as revision aids to summarise the main learning points from the chapter.

At the end of each chapter

n   Self-assessment exercises: short questions which will test understanding of terms and concepts described in the chapter.

n   Discussion questions: these require longer essay-style answers discussing themes from the chapter. They can be used either as topics for individual essays or as the basis for seminar discussion.

n   Essay questions: conventional essay questions.

n   Examination questions: typical short answer questions of the type that are encountered in exams. These can also be used for revision.

n   References: these are references to books, articles or papers referred to within the chapter.

n   Further reading: supplementary texts or papers on the main themes of the chapter. Where appropriate a brief commentary is provided on recommended supplementary reading on the main themes of the chapters.

n   Web links: these are significant sites that provide further information on the concepts and topics of the chapter. This list does not repeat all the web site references given within the chapter, for example company sites. For clarity, the web site address prefix ‘http://’ is omitted.

At the end of the book

n   Glossary: definitions of all key terms and phrases used within the main text, cross-referenced for ease of use.

n   Index: all key words and abbreviations referred to in the main text.

Support material

Free supplementary materials are available via the Pearson Education companion books web site at www.booksites.net/chaffey to support all users of the book. This regularly updated web site contains advice, comment, support materials and hyperlinks to reference sites relevant to the text. There is a password-protected area for lecturers only to discuss issues arising from using the text; additional examination-type questions and answers; a multiple choice question bank with answers; additional cases with suggestions for discussion; a downloadable version of the Lecturer’s Guide and OHP Masters.

Table P.1  Coverage of marketing topics in different chapters