Web-Based Marketing: Assessing the Potential for Small Business Firms
Marketing via the Internet and the World Wide Web is widely hailed as the wave of the future for business firms. For several years, however, many larger brick-and-mortar business firms were reluctant to engage in digital marketing (Fajuri, 2001). While the trepidations of the larger business firms now appear to be largely in the past (ôExclusive Survey: Digital Marketing Budgets to Growö, 2003), a reluctance on the part of small business firms to take the leap to Web-based marketing continues to characterize the attitudes of must such firms (ôSome Suppliers Still on the Internet Sidelinesö, 2004).
There is a great deal more underlying eventual success in a Web-based marketing venture, however, than sampling obtaining a unique Web address and posting a Web page. Important issues related to content, attractiveness, ease of use, security, and responsiveness (to name but a few) are both critical to the success of Web-based marketing and substantially increased the investment required to attain success in Web-based marketing (McMillan, Hwang, & Lee, 2003). Thus, it is necessary for small business firms to develop a strategy for Web-based marketing that provides an appropriate balance between marketing needs and available resources (ôMailings Thrive in Tough Timesö, 2002).
The project specified in this document will assess the appropriateness of alternative approaches to Web-based marketing for small business firms. The plan is to assess the following alternative approaches to Web-based marketing:
Operate a fully-functional Web-based marketing site from the firmÆs own facilities
Operate a fully functional Web-based marketing site that is hosted by a major Internet marketing portal
Post a Web page that provides relevant data related to the company, its products or services, pricing, and business po
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