CHAPTER 11· BUSINESS-TO-BUSINESS INTERNET MARKETING
involve adoption of a wide range of Internet technologies and web-based applications.
Primarily, customer-facingweb-based applications focus on a) serving a communications
objective, b) serving a transactional (sales) objective, and c) pursuing both a) and b)
simultaneously. Supplier-facingweb based applications focus on a) serving a transactional
(sales) objective (e.g. e-procurement) and b) managerial objectives, i.e. supplier-
relationship management, supply chain management, knowledge management and
application service providing.
In the case of industrial companies, web sites can be used to provide buyers with a
high level of specific product information (see Figure 11.3).Online communications
A dilemma faced by organisations operating in B2B markets is just how much informa-
tion to communicate (specific principles and techniques of online communications are
discussed in detail in Chapter 8). Take the example of the world’s train manufacturers,
where there are just five key companies. To provide potential and existing clients with
information, each manufacturer will publish information about new contracts, new prod-
ucts and testimonials from existing customers. However, whilst this information will also
be of great interest to potential customers it could also be of great value to competitors.
The web provides easy access to many data sources and this has led companies to employ
staff specifically to find and summarise information from competitors. Therefore it is
important to strike a careful balance between disclosing too much information (for com-
petitors) and not enough (for customers). This problem has largely been overcome by the
use of password- and firewall-protected extranets (see Chapter 1 for further details).
Nevertheless, for some organisational markets being able to link customers to infor-
mation is a key advantage. Take the UK government for example, which is using the
Internet and the web to modernise and improve many public services by providing more
web-based customerservice information. The UK government has set a target that 100%
of government services should be capable of being delivered online by 2005. The out-
come is portal sites like Directgov (see Figure 11.4) that provides information about a
wide range of government services and links to around 1,500 different contacts.
According to the site you can:
‘Browse by audience groups such as ‘disabled people’ and ‘parents’ or by topics
including ‘money, tax and benefits’, ‘employment’, ‘education and learning’ and ‘motor-
ing’. Or you can access definitive government directories or use the search engine.
Book a driving test, tax your car, renew your passport, find out about child safety,
parental leave, special educational needs and lots more.
Link to government departments as well as relevant third parties which can offer
additional trusted advice and support.Online communications offer an opportunity to create highly tailored, fast communi-
cations that can deliver high information content at comparatively low cost (Gattiker
et al., 2000). The online advertising spend has increased significantly during recent years
in terms of the number of organisations advertising online and the size of the online
promotional budget being spent, but recently there is a reported slow down in the
growth rate of the online advertising sector. However, this slow down is not uniform as
interestingly organisations are beginning to use a wider range of online promotional
tools; search engine marketing is becoming particularly important in ensuring web con-
tent is visible to the chosen target market audience. Another example of a new and
increasingly popular mode of online communication is online video (see Mini Case
Study 11.2), which has become technologically viable as more end-users (B2B and B2C
markets) have broadband Internet connections.