Best Practice in Web Marketing

As reported in the most recent edition of 2020@TheFuturePlace, edited by Ray Poynter, a new website has just been launched by the Marketing Council to demonstrate best practice on the web.

www.e4M.biz is the UK's first non-commercial website designed to guide senior corporate executives on the best practice and theory of e-marketing. The goal is to help UK business be the best in e-commerce by learning from the example of companies that have succeeded and/or failed, in their online ventures.

By researching and interviewing over 100 companies in the UK and abroad, The Marketing Council has brought together valuable insights into how a strategic approach to e-marketing can reap substantial rewards and help businesses make the most of the Internet channel.

The site is aimed at CEOs and senior marketing directors of businesses of all sizes, from SMEs to large corporates, and covers a wide range of sectors including travel, retail, banking, automotive and chemical industries.

11 strategic areas were identified, through independent quantitative research amongst senior marketing professionals, as being crucial to successful online marketing. These include using e-business to build loyal customer relationships, making effective use of e-generated customer data and directing business to a web site using on and offline promotion.

e4M.biz consists of 100 case studies split into business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-consumer (B2C) categories, which showcase best practice in e-marketing and offer unique insights from senior marketing professionals and leading academics on these key strategic issues.

Companies profiled include: Egg, Tesco, Lastminute, Vauxhall, Thomas Cook, Ford, Barclays, Confetti, DHL, RS Components, Sainbury's, American Airlines and the AA. Each case history outlines the company's e-marketing strategy including challenges that were overcome and future objectives. Also where possible, each case includes definitive results of the company's e-marketing strategy.

e4M.biz has been sponsored by companies including BT, Cisco Systems, ICI Paints, IBM, Royal Mail, Sainsbury's and Vodafone, along with the Dti, UK On-line and Cranfield University. The research for the site was undertaken by Birmingham University.

All articles 2006-22 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas unless otherwise stated.