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Marketing on the Internet: A Book Review | |
By: Hilary Lane
April 1997
Marketing on the Internet, 2nd ed.
Jill H. Ellsworth and Matthew V. Ellsworth
428 pages, $24.95
ISBN 0-471-16504-2
John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Making money on the Internet sounds easy. You've heard the get-rich-quick schemes and success stories by now. Just set up a Web page to advertise your widget or service and big bucks magically follow.
Wrong! Yes, there are hundreds of virtual malls and products for sale, millions of email messages hawking the virtues of online advertising, but thus far, individuals are flocking to the Internet to acquire information, not to buy big ticket items. So far, more companies are failing than succeeding, but the few who are flourishing know how to market their wares strategically, know what sells, what works, what doesn't.
Jill and Matthew Ellsworth can help in that endeavor. Using the Internet since 1980, they have followed business trends and the evolution of the Web with great interest, writing eight books and numerous articles about the phenomenon. This book, intended for those who want to learn how to use the Web and Internet resources effectively, aids marketers in understanding all of the technologies available and offers detailed instructions for actually doing so.
Fairly quickly, the authors clearly differentiate between online advertising and marketing: advertising is everywhere -- TV, buses, newspapers, and so on, whereas marketing can be accomplished by gaining visibility. A Web site, they say, is a virtual corporate headquarters where you can market and sell products and services. The trick is to get Internauts to visit the page. The book covers the techniques and strategies for gaining this visibility.
Topics range from getting a business connection on the Internet to designing and creating an effective Web page. It is a comprehensive resource, even including new developments such as Java, VRML, interactive graphics and electronic commerce.
The authors' premise is that the Internet has become less limited and more user-friendly for businesses, so why not take advantage of it? Virtual color catalogs, on-screen order forms, sound, online distribution and surveys are but a few of the ways available out there. But is this new technology for everyone? Not necessarily, but you won't get that impression from the book.
Using numerous examples to illustrate key points, the book paints a picture of successful marketing sites, mostly showing those that require experience and fairly good money to produce (offering a secure, transaction-oriented Web site isn't cheap). Although the authors offer extensive resources for building Web sites, including a tutorial on HTML, navigational strategies and defining terminology, they don't discuss the pitfalls or problems one may encounter. And where is the information about writing a good business plan?
On the other hand, the book thoroughly covers one of the most important and heated issues of the day: Net etiquette. With the advent of unsolicited junk mail, blatant advertising in newsgroups and offensive sales pitches, the Ellsworths detail restrictions, acceptable use policies, copyrights and how to stay out of trouble by avoiding intrusive practices. This important information is a must read for businesses who are considering selling their wares online.
The authors wrote the book in an easy-to-follow, simplistic style that anyone can understand. They provide more information in one place than most books of its type, even including their take on the future trends for Internet marketing, such as better bandwidth, more multimedia, virtual reality, new and improved transfer protocols, more sophisticated search engines and increased security. It's a worthwhile resource for anyone who decides to market in cyberspace.
© 1997 Hilary Lane, all rights reserved.
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