Marketing and promotion

Marketing is making products and services available to buyers in a planned way which encourages people to buy more of them. Marketing usually involves establishing an image for a business (eg a logo) and promoting the business through advertising and any other means that makes consumers aware of the company and keen to buy its products and services.

Since the mid-1990s the Internet has become an important tool for marketing and promoting companies. This is because so many Australians now shop around for products and services on the Internet and increasingly order and buy products and services on the Internet. In fact, at September 2002, 18% of people aged 16 or over who used the Internet had purchased goods or services online in the previous six months. Not only is this an important marketing tool but It can also be a relatively cheap one for any business.

What to do

Look at your current marketing plan, or if you don't have one, list the ways in which you currently market and promote your business, and then consider where and how the Internet might help. The possible areas where a website, and the use of email, could add value include:

• establishing and reinforcing the company's image and name
• securing new markets and new customers
• helping to keep existing customers by providing them with additional help and information via the website and emails
• meeting many of your customer's expectations that they can research, order, book or buy online whenever it suits them
• creating more opportunities for promoting the business
• saving time and money when doing traditional promotional activities - eg emailing a newsletter is much cheaper than mailing it by post
• monitoring customer behaviour to see what they buy and what their preferences are.