ONLINE MARKETING AND CARIBBEAN BUSINESS

1. ONLINE MARKETING AND CARIBBEAN BUSINESS Terrence W. Farrell October 6th 2010 Presentation to CTU ICT Roadshow, Roseau, Dominica October 5-6, 2010

2. SOME KEY TRENDS AND DEVELOPMENTS • Internet access and usage continues to expand exponentially worldwide, and in the Caribbean as well. • Broadband access is increasing worldwide and speeds are improving • Online video consumption continues to explode; graphics technologies continue to improve the look and feel of websites • Use of mobile devices (phones, e-readers) is beginning to get traction • Social media and networking continues to grow within the youth demographic • Non-traditional media companies – Google, Apple, Amazon – are moving into the television space via the Internet delivered over their mobile TV devices • Managed IPTV services are rolling out from cable companies and telecomms companies and TV Everywhere is seen to be the next step –Pay TV content available on any Internet-connected device

3. WHAT DO THESE TRENDS MEAN FOR BUSINESS? • Marketing provides the means by which customers and potential customers become aware of our products and services • The shift of customers to the online world means that businesses must follow customers there. • What was learned long ago about the differences between the consumption of Print, Radio and Television media, also applies to the Online medium. • It is imperative that businesses understand how individuals behave in the online space and shape their strategies and messages accordingly.

4. WHAT’S DIFFERENT ABOUT ONLINE? Even though we talk about these generic categories of media –Print, TV, Radio, Online – each one is highly differentiated. Print covers newspapers of various types, Radio covers Music, Talk, Religious, etc; Television covers Sports, Music, News, Food, Movies, etc. The Online Space is also highly differentiated – Search, Social Networks, Banking, Portals, News, Video, Music, etc. “The practice of broadcasting generic advertising messages to the mass market is rapidly being usurped by specifically targeted, narrowcast marketing through digital channels to an increasingly diverse and segmented marketplace, even, ultimately to a target market of one. Digital marketing allows us to build uniquely tailored ongoing relationships with individual customers. Marketing in the digital age has been transformed into a process of dialogue as much about listening as it is about telling.” (Understanding Digntal Marketing, Ryan and Jones p.26)

5. WHAT’S DIFFERENT ABOUT ONLINE? • Web servers and page tags capture information about visitors – where they come from, how long they stay, what pages they visit and whether they are converted (purchase something, register for something, etc.). These data enable us to determine whether we are reaching the right customer for our business • Customers in the online space demand a high quality experience; poor experience will mean that they probably won’t be back. • Online users are fickle; there is so much choice that they don’t feel the need to be loyal to any particular service. • Online communities connect and ‘talk’ to each other so that bad experiences are transmitted virally. A company’s brand or image can be damaged very quickly.

6. THE PARADOX OF ONLINE MARKETING • There are over 180 million websites out there • There are over 120 million active domains on the Internet • The Internet is ‘noisy’; people get to websites now mainly by Search • Driving traffic to a particular website requires • offline marketing using traditional media • marketing launch events • use of viral marketing via Facebook, Twitter etc. • use of ‘influencers’ –bloggers, podcasters -- and • old fashioned ‘word of mouth’.

7. IMPLICATIONS FOR CARIBBEAN BUSINESSES • Are Caribbean citizens/consumers online? • Yes, and increasingly so; however we have no data on how Caribbean online users behave; we know what are the sites they visit, and it might be reasonable to assume that they behave in a similar fashion to online users elsewhere. • Does the legal infrastructure exist for the conduct of e commerce? • Some legislation has been passed in some Caribbean countries, but important legislation governing payments is still pending. • ‘Net neutrality’ discussions are still ongoing worldwide

8. DEVELOPING AN ONLINE MARKETING STRATEGY Capture Data on Visitor Behaviour Develop Website Market Website Search engine optimization; Adwords; Offline marketing • Content • Product • Company • Payment • Order Fulfillment Review & Revise Content Review & Revise Processes

9. PERSPECTIVE ON CARIBBEAN WEBSITES • Website designs are often poorly designed and amateurish; sites remain static for long periods. • News websites tend to be unappealing (exceptions do exist); they attract the most visitors because of the news content, but it would be safe to assume that users do not stay or return during the day since the sites are only updated once per day in most cases. • Caribbean businesses do not seem to ‘partner’ in sharing content; even companies within the same group build their own websites without identifying synergies with other group companies.

10. WEBSITE MARKETING • Some Caribbean businesses are making use of Google adwords and social networking media to reach customers within product information. These include • Banks (e.g. Scotiabank) • Small hotels • Shipping companies • Dating services • Real estate services • Offline marketing of websites is not prevalent; companies typically include their urls in their print ads but aggressive offline marketing of the website is not common.

11. INTERNAL PROCESSES • Internal processes must be well-organised and efficient. These include:- • Customer Service, integrated with online • Invoicing • Payment Mechanism and Receipting • Order Fulfillment • Download • Shipping and Delivery • After-Sales Service

12. CONCLUDING COMMENTS • There is huge potential in Online Marketing as it allows Caribbean businesses to address a larger marketspace. • Online Marketing permits greater performance management so we can know quickly whether or not our campaign is effective and make adjustments; Marketing Expense moves closer to being a “Cost of Sales” • Online Marketing does not supplant other more traditional means of reaching and impacting customers; it can be used synergistically with these other means to improve campaign effectiveness. It can help to lower the cost of acquiring customers or making sales. • Online Marketing is not just building a website; it begins there, but does not end there; in fact, in the online space, companies need to be continually adjusting and tweaking website content, refining and expanding databases of customers and potential customers, and enhancing the user experience.

13. THANK YOU