Does Internet Marketing enable more effective targeting and segmentation?

Internet Marketing will enable the business with more effective targeting and segmentations this is because it will help the business to identify how much demand there is for the product in the market and it can also allow a business to see if the strategies that they are using is working and giving the results that they want.

Also Internet Marketing can be easily measured, the business will be able to identify how much demand there is for the product in the market. This can be done by the business monitoring how many people are visiting the website and the customers details can be collected easily.

Online shopping when consumers are able to purchase products using the internet. This is also a very successful method as it is used all over the world and most retailers sell their products using this method. The reason for its success is because it is easy and simple to do, it also provides customers with convenience as they can shop whenever they want and they can purchase anything they want to and this is at the comfort of their home. Online advertising has overtaken television expenditure this is because of the advantages that it has and online spending has increased 4.6% to £1.752bn in the first half of 2009, while TV spending has decreased 16.1% to £1.639bn.

Also Internet is a very important part of daily life, an approximate of 70% of 16-24 year old internet users use social networking websites and 37% of 18 -24 years olds have also either expressed their opinion on blogs and websites or become a member.

ASOS.com is the UK’s leading online fashion and beauty store. ASOS.com is a very popular company with an estimate of 4.5 million visitors a month and has 1.88 million registered users. The sales for the year ended in 31 March 2008 was £81 million and they have an approximate average of 220,000 daily visitors, 3.3million shoppers each month and have 1.8million registered users.

At ASOS there are several ways that they use Internet Marketing to help them target and identify new market sectors that they could enter. For example at ASOS they have a blog where customers are able to add their comments and opinions into an open conversation. On the blog customers are able to talk about the products and offers that are being provided at ASOS, they are also other discussions about celebrities and the latest fashion trends. The business will also be able to take suggestions from customers about the new products that they should invest into. They could also take feedback from the customers about the service and product that they are providing and find ways of improving and developing the business.

ASOS also advertise on social networking websites as well like Face book and Twitter. On these websites, ASOS have created an account which customers are able to join and by doing this they will be regularly updated about new products and fashion trends. By joining a social network it will help ASOS to retain existing customers as well as attracting new ones. The customers will also be able to add comments, join in discussions and will be able to send links to other people which can help widen their target audience.

Segmentation:
This allows businesses to develop products and services which will meet the demands of the customers more effectively, this will therefore increase the demand that the customers for the products. The business will have to identify the customer’s needs and wants and look at if they have already met them or what they can do to meet them. There are many types of segmentation these are geographic, demographic and lifestyle.

Geographic segmentation:
This is when the needs of customers in different area’s differ, for example ASOS also have international deliveries as well as delivering to the customers in the UK. Therefore these customers will have different needs in terms of how the package is delivered and how much they will be charged for the service. ASOS will have to ensure that they meet the needs of all these customers so that there will be more demand for their products and services, this will therefore increase their reputation and profitability.

Demographic segmentation:
This is when the needs of customers differ because of demographic factors this includes things like gender, family, age, sex and many other things, for businesses to gain knowledge about this they will look at the family life cycle which shows that sort of things that different families will purchase and be interested in. ASOS will have to take this knowledge into account, and make sure that they target a wide range of customers and make sure that they price their products so that it meets their needs and demands.

Lifestyle segmentation:
This is when the needs of customers differ because of their opinions, values, interest and many other things, to gain this information a business may look at lifestyle segmentation table this will provide them with information about the customer’s choice of products and services, and gives them an indication of what they demand and need. At ASOS they can fulfil the needs and wants of their customers by looking at the customer’s choice, if they are able to fulfil their needs it will help them to increase their sales and will help them to be profitable, and will also give them a competitive advantage.