Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC) is a cross-functional process for planning, executing, and monitoring brand communications across multiple channels to profitably acquire, retain, and grow customers. IMC considers every customer touchpoint with a firm to help form brand images and should be strategic, include two-way communication, and be results-driven. Effective IMC requires understanding target markets, objectives, audiences, and defining success metrics for marketing communication campaigns across online and offline media.

1. PROMOTION

2. Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC)
• Integrated marketing communication (IMC) is a cross-functional process for
planning, executing, and monitoring brand communications designed to
profitably acquire, retain, and grow customers.
• IMC is cross-functional because every touch point that a customer has with a
firm or its agents helps to form brand images.
• Every contact with an employee, a Web site, a blog comment about the
product, a YouTube video, a magazine ad, a mobile app, a catalog, the physical
store facilities, and so forth helps the customer form an image of the company.
• In addition, the product experience, its pricing level, and its distribution
channels enhance the firm’s marketing communication in a variety of online
and offline media to present a strong brand image.
• The best marketing communication can be undermined if these online and
offline contact experiences do not communicate in a unified way to create and
support positive brand relationships with customers.

3. IMC strategy begins with a thorough understanding of target markets, the
brand, its competition, and many other internal and external factors. The
Interactive Advertising Bureau suggests a four-step process, good for any
marketing communication campaign:
1. Set clear and measurable objectives and strategies.
2. Understand your audience motivations and behavior, especially in social
media.
3. Develop a creative approach appropriate for the brand in one or more
platforms (earned, paid, or owned media).
4. Define success metrics.
Many IMC experts agree that it should
“(1) be more strategic than executional (i.e., more than just about ‘one voice,
one look’),
(2) be about more than just advertising and sales promotion messages,
(3) include two-way as well as one-way communication
(4) be results driven”

4. IMC Goals and Strategies
• Marketers create marketing communication objectives based on
overall marketing goals and the desired effects within selected target
markets
• The traditional AIDA model (awareness, interest, desire, and action)
or the “think, feel, do” hierarchy of effects model is part of what
guides marketers’ selection of online and offline MarCom tools to
meet their goals.
• Both the AIDA and hierarchy of effects models suggest that
consumers first become aware of and learn about a new product
(think), then develop a positive or negative attitude about it (feel),
and ultimately move to purchasing it (do)
• The thinking, or cognitive, steps are awareness and knowledge.
• The feeling, or attitude, steps are liking and preference.

6. Traditional Marketing
Communication Tools
1) Advertising: Advertising is defined as “Any paid form of non-
personal presentation and promotion of ideas, goods, or services by an
identified sponsor”
2) Public relations: Public relations involves “Building good relations
with the company’s various publics by obtaining favorable publicity,
building up a good corporate image, and handling or heading off
unfavorable rumors, stories, and events”
3) Sales promotion: Sales promotion consists of “Short-term incentives
to encourage the purchase or sale of a product or service”

7. 4) Direct marketing: “Direct marketing is an interactive process of
addressable communication that uses one or more. . . Media to effect,
at any location, a measurable sale, lead, retail purchase, or charitable
donation, with this activity analyzed on a database for the
development of ongoing mutually beneficial relationships between
marketers and customers, prospects, or donors”
5) Personal selling: Personal selling is defined as “Personal interactions
between a customer’s and the firm’s sales force for the purpose of
making sales and building customer relationships”

8. Internet Advertising

9. Internet Advertising
Paid Media Formats
Anything goes with paid media online: text— from a sentence to pages of
story—graphics, sound, video, hyperlinks, or an animated car driving through
a page.
• A paid search ad, prompted by keywords, is the most important technique
• Keyword search is the paid part of a larger strategy called search.
• Marketing Mobile advertising is the fastest-growing category.
• Many of these ads also have interactive capability, allowing action between
consumers and producers.
• This occurs when the advertiser provides a link, game, or direct purchase
shopping cart within the ad, and the consumer can click on the ad to
activate a drop-down menu or other interactive feature.

11. Display Ads
• Display ads are the second-largest spending
• category, with a little over 20 percent of
• online marketers’ advertising dollars followed
• by classified ads and the fast-growing mobile
• ad category. It is interesting to note how ad formats
• have changed over the years, reflecting the
• intense competition for audience attention in an
• environment where consumers are in charge.

13. Rich Media Ads
• All ads in this category are highly interactive,
• at least offering click-through to the advertiser’s
• Web site, where the transaction or any
• other objective is achieved. Some rich media
• display ads enhance the interactivity by sensing
• the position of the mouse on the Web page and
• animating faster as the user approaches. Other
• ads have built-in games or videos. Still others
• have drop-down menus, check boxes, and
• search boxes to engage and empower the user.

14. Rich Media Ads
• In-banner video ad
• Expandable/retractable ad
• Pop-up
• Pop-under
• Floating ad
• Interstitial ad
• Wallpaper ad
• Trick banner
• Map ad

15. Contextual Advertising
• Ad servers maintain an inventory of display ads from clients and serve
them into Web sites as appropriate users are viewing particular
pages.
• Contextual advertising occurs when an ad system scans a Web page
for content and serves an appropriate ad, such as an ad for tickets to
a concert on a music site.
• Google’s AdSense gives sites special JavaScript code to put into their
HTML site code so that relevant ads can be sent into the page.
Microsoft adCenter and many others offer this service and pay site
owners when the ad appears on their sites.

16. • Behavioral advertising is another form of contextual advertising, but follows
user behaviour instead of Web page text. Used by Lenovo in the
• Google Display Network, one behavioral advertising approach is called
remarketing—a tactic that involves communicating with users who previously
visited a Web site.
• This occurs when advertising networks track user click behavior, usually
through cookie files placed on their hard drive, then present ads to the user
based on their previous behavior
• Facebook also offers very specific ad targeting based on profile information
(more on this later).
• Contextual advertising is good microsegmentation for marketers and good for
users who receive relevant ads at the precise moment they want information.

17. E-Mail Advertising
•Sometimes, the least expensive type of online
advertising is e-mail advertising—paid content
embedded in another firm’s e-mail.
•Advertisers purchase space in the e-mail
sponsored by others, often an e-mail newsletter.
•Note that HTML and multimedia e-mail
messages sent from a firm directly to internet
users are owned content, not paid media.

18. Text Link Ads
• These are ads that are simply a hyperlink placed in specific
text in a blog post or other owned media content—including
content downloaded by mobile phone users.
• In a hypothetical example, a flower shop might buy a
specified number of links for the word rose on many blogger
sites, and these would have a hyperlink to the flower shop’s
Web site.
• The goal of these ads is to raise a site’s rankings in the search
engines.

19. Sponsored Content
• Sponsorships integrate editorial content and paid media based on either
underwritten (someone else’s content) or advertiser-created content.
• Most traditional media clearly separate content from advertising; women’s
magazines are an exception.
Example
• Food advertisers usually barter for recipes that include their products in
these magazines, and fashion advertisers get mentions of their clothing in
articles.
• This practice pleases advertisers because it gives them additional exposure
and creates the impression that the publication endorses their products

20. TYPES OF ONLINE SPONSORSHIPS
•CONTENT CREATION
•MOBILE/WEB APPLICATIONS
•BRANDED INTERACTION
•CONTESTS/SWEEPSTAKES
•GAMES, PODCASTS
•POLLS/SURVEYS
•TRIVIA.

21. CLASSIFIED ADS
• Classified ads are placed both by individual consumers and by
companies. These usually use text, but may also include photos.
• The ads are grouped according to classification (e.g., cars and rentals)
and tend to be an inexpensive format.
• Classified ads can be found on dedicated sites (e.g., craigslist. org and
superpages.com), as well as online newspapers, exchanges, and Web
portals.
• In many cases, posting regular-size classified ads is free, but placing
them in a larger size, in color, or with some other noticeable features
is done for a fee.

22. PRODUCT PLACEMENT
• Online gaming creates huge special-interest communities.
• There are many types of online games with social interaction, from two-
player chess to Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing
• Games (MMORPG)—sporting thousands of players moving about as
avatars at the same time.
• Some games have storylines or plots, with players accomplishing goals
and developing in skill and power, and others are completely
nonstructured, with players designing the action.
• Television programming also includes product placement.
• In the social media world, product mentions in tweets, blogs, and
elsewhere are the new age of product placement

23. Social Media Advertising
• Social media sites sell space to advertisers who wish to reach the site’s
audience.
• Four main objectives for this branded content paid by advertisers in social
media
1. BUILD BRAND AWARENESS
2. ENGAGE EXISTING CUSTOMERS
3. INCREASE THE SIZE OF COMMUNITY
4. DRIVE TRAFFIC TO AN ONLINE DESTINATION
Advertisers also used social media to
• INTRODUCE NEW PRODUCTS
• BUILD DATABASES
• GAIN FEEDBACK FROM USERS

24. Social networks have three unique aspects:
1) Personal profile. Social networks contain personal profiles’ data,
including the member’s name, image and other pictures, demographic
information (e.g., age, gender, and location of residence), interests,
career/ student status, and membership groups. These data are freely
shared and usable by marketers for customizing advertising.
2) Social data graph. Companies can make a map or list of all the
connections between individuals to discover the network size for like-
minded people.
3) Interpersonal interaction data. Marketers can capture information
about the amount and timing of interactions among network friends.

25. • Many companies have created advertising platforms
that capitalize on social media’s unique features.
Social media ads use these data for specific targeting
and user engagement.
• Advertising is the major current revenue source for
social media companies.
• Advertisers are willing to pay a great deal for placing
ads and running promotions in social networks
because of the large number of visitors in the
networks and the amount of time they spend there.
They find it effective.

26. Paid Media on Facebook
•Advertisers can reach over 1 billion active
members by advertising on the Facebook social
network, with over 50 percent of users logging in
on any given day, according to Facebook.com.
•However, most advertisers prefer more narrow
targeting to reach their well-defined markets,
and this can easily be done via member profile
information.

27. • This narrow targeting is important for global advertisers because
Facebook is available in more than 70 different languages on the site,
and over 75 percent of active users live outside of the United States.
• Facebook ads can include interactive features, link to other brand
content, and are very easy to create.
• Advertisers simply upload an image and type the text right into the
Facebook template.
• Facebook offers excellent metrics to see how many people were
presented the ad, and whether or not they took an action, like
clicking on a link.
• Furthermore, advertisers can set a maximum daily budget.

28. Facebook Sponsored Stories
• Facebook added an interesting feature called sponsored story, which
integrates social endorsement into ads.
• This is a great tactic because a Facebook member’s friends are likely in the
same target market for any particular product.
• When members chat with friends and notify them that they “checked into”
a place or “like it,”
• Example: Starbucks, a boxed “sponsored story” will appear on the
Facebook page with the logo of Starbucks (fee paid to Facebook).
• Furthermore, the name Starbucks will also appear in the user’s news feed
(another fee paid to Facebook).
• This feature has a few variations (e.g., uploaded photos).
• Users have the option to delete the boxed advertisement. This kind of
advertising can increase word-of-mouth conversation as well

29. Types Of Sponsored Stories
(All Paid For By Advertisers)
• Domain stories happen when a user “likes” a Web site while on the site.
Immediately a post goes into the user’s Facebook news feed, saying something
to the effect: “Travis likes X site.”
• Page like stories are similar; however, the news feed post occurs when a user
“likes” a product’s Facebook page
• Check in stories occur when a user checks in via Facebook at a retail
location. When the advertiser pays for this type of sponsored story, the user’s
friends will see the check in.
• Page post stories allow marketers to turn favourable posts on their own
Facebook pages into ads.
• App Used/Shared Game Played stories are shown to the friends who also
use apps or games

30. Social Ads
• A social ad has three criteria: profile data, interaction data, and social
graph (friend connections).
• Thus, data to create these ads come automatically from the user’s
profile data, social data (friends/ connections), and interaction data
(data about the user’s interaction with friends).
EXAMPLE
• Facebook user went to a particular movie and liked it, a social ad
would be populated with this information. The ad is then presented
to the Facebook friends that she selected to view it and, thus, share
her excitement about this new movie

31. • A social ad also can include interactive features such as
polling, votes, sharing, and other types of engagement with
the ad.
• when companies incorporate social networks into ads,
Facebook advertising is quite effective.
• One study of 800,000 Facebook users showed a big increase
in ad recall, awareness, and purchase intent for the Facebook
ads of 14 different brands—this occurred when the
homepage ads mentioned the friends of users who were
already fans of the advertised brand

32. Twitter’s “Promoted Tweets,” “Trends,” and
“Accounts”
• Barking at Facebook’s heels, Twitter is a strong competitor
for advertisers’ dollars.
• Twitter launched its first ad product—promoted tweets—in
2010 and netted $45 million in ad dollars.
• That was due in part to the enthusiasm among brands like
Virgin America, Coke, Ford, and Verizon to give the untried
format a whirl.

33. 1. Promoted tweets are ads that appear as content at
the top of a Twitter search page or a user’s timeline.
They can be targeted to Twitter users by geographic
location and by whose Twitter streams they follow.
Users can interact with promoted Tweets just as
they can with organic Tweets
2. Promoted trends are ads placed on hot topics in
Twitter that are presented near a user’s timeline.
3. Promoted account ads are featured in search results
and in the “Who to Follow section.” These ads help
users find others with similar interests.

34. • Using these paid media vehicles, advertisers can target
Twitter users by 350 very narrow interests, such as movies
that are musicals.
• Companies can also target @username to reach users with
similar interests as the original account holder, not simply
their followers.
• Another interesting trend is that famous Twitter account
holders often get paid to send tweets.
• These celebrities tweet when they visit a retailer, like Best
Buy or a restaurant, and the innocuous tweets do not seem
like the paid media that they are.
• One study found that 47.3 percent of marketers had paid for
sponsored Tweets

35. LinkedIn Advertising
• The LinkedIn social network is great for advertising to narrowly
targeted business professionals.
• Advertisers can use the LinkedIn DirectAds product to target by
(1) job title and function
(2) industry or company size
(3) seniority or age
(4) LinkedIn Group membership.
Advertisers have the choice of paying for the number of impressions or
clicks LinkedIn is their most effective online media, generating 50
percent of inbound links

36. Advertising in Second Life
• Interestingly, it is possible to advertise in virtual worlds.
• For instance, in Second Life, companies can pay virtual clubs,
stores, or malls to put up posters or kiosks featuring brand
information and links and can even provide “teleports” to
the company’s virtual property.
• There are ad networks available in-world so that advertisers
can spread their messages throughout various properties
and pay for either number of ads displayed or per click on
the ads.

37. Paid Media in Online Videos
• Organizations can place ads before, during, or after videos on a number of
different sites, including YouTube and Vimeo
1. In-stream videos are ad units that show before or during the video playback,
such as pre-roll, mid-roll, and video takeovers (ad takes over the entire video
screen for a short time). These are usually 15 to 3 seconds in length.
2. Interactive banners and buttons run over or within the video content during
play.
3. Branded player skins allow companies to surround the video with their
branded images. Note that text, banners, and rich media ads can also surround
the video
4. In-text video ads are displayed when the viewer rolls the mouse over relevant
words shown during the video play.
5. Various sizes include banners, marquees, expandable ads, and full screen
takeovers.

38. • Nearly all of these allow for interactivity. Viewers can click
through to an advertiser’s Web site, Facebook, or Twitter
page.
• Also, special buttons allow click-through to get store or
dealer locations, see related videos, and receive special
promotions or simply to share the video
• Video ads must be prepared to play automatically for the
three screens: television, computer, and smartphone.
• Note that advertisers pay only if viewers watch at least 30
seconds or to the end of the ad.
• That is, when viewers click to skip the ad after a few seconds,
advertisers do not have to pay for the placement.

39. Social Media Performance
Metrics
• select metrics that can easily
• be measured on a continuous basis and apply
• them directly to the organization’s social media
• objectives.

41. Awareness/Exposure Metrics
1) Unique visitors: measures the number of visitors—without
repetition— who access a site, application, video, or other
social media content within a specific period of time.
Unique visitors is measured by user registration, cookie
files, or by a third-party measurement service such as
Nielsen or comScore.
2) Page views: refers to single pages that are viewed on a
social media site Obviously, the more pages users view, the
longer they are on the site learning about the brand.
3) Impressions: refers to the number of times an ad loads on
a user’s screen. Marketers use this popular metric for all
Web properties.

42. 4) Number of searches: measures the number of times
users search for the brand, company, or associated key
words selected by the organization while typing the key
words in a search engine.
5) Search engine ranking: evaluates where the
organization’s social media content appears in the
search engine results pages for desired key words.
6) Number of followers, registrations, or subscribers:
to the blog, social network page, video channel, or
other content

43. Brand Health Metrics
Brand health refers to the amount of conversation and what proportion
of the sentiment is positive or negative—and more.
• Share of voice (SOV) is the proportion of online conversations about
one brand versus its competitors.
• Sentiment refers to the proportion of online conversation about a
brand that is positive, negative, or neutral
• Brand influence can include a number of other metrics, including
number of inbound links to a social media property, number of
Twitter links that are retweeted, number of comments on posts, and
number of times content is shared or linked

44. Engagement Metrics
1) Content viewership refers to the number of visitors who consume
content, such as by reading a blog (page views), watching videos or
listening to podcasts, and downloading white papers.
2) Tagging, bookmarking, or “likes” for content can be counted.
3) Membership/Follower metrics count the number of RSS (Really Simple
Syndication) subscribers, members in a community, such as a LinkedIn or
Meetup.com group, or number of followers on Twitter.
4) Number of shares measures how many times viral content is shared
with others.
5) Content creation counts the number of visitors who upload ads for a
contest, such as the Frito Lay Super Bowl promotion. Companies can also
measure the number of visitors who rate or review products, write
comments on blogs or videos, or also retweet and other content-related
items measured in previous categories.

45. Action Metrics
Although engagement metrics demonstrate actions taken by users, this
category steps it up to a higher level of action (closer to purchase)
• Click-through to an advertiser’s site. This is measured by the
proportion of all people who are exposed to a communication
message and those who click to visit the site.
• Contact form completion or registration, allowing the
company to add the person to their database of names, e-mail
addresses, and more.
• Event attendance online or offline, based on a social media
promotion for a Webinar or other event.

46. • Purchase is the ultimate goal for company marketers.
Companies measure conversion rates (proportion of all site
visitors who purchase), number of purchases, average order
value, and many other metrics that evaluate communication
effectiveness toward this goal.
• Note that many other factors lead to purchase, such as
product quality price, and availability; however, social media
communication (especially discount promotions) can play an
important role in motivating purchase.

47. Innovation Metrics
To know if social media communications are driving customers to
comment and review in ways that help the company improve its
products and services.
it is a very high level of brand engagement and builds customer loyalty
• Number of ideas shared in a company’s social media site (such as My
Starbucks Idea).
• Trend spotting helps companies know what is hot in their target
markets. Google Trends displays “hot” search key words and allows
users to search trends.
• Trendsmap displays real-time Twitter trends worldwide, and many
blogs and other sites provide word cloud displays of the most popular
words in posts.
• Many other companies report social media trends

48. Mobile Advertising
• Forward-thinking marketers are closely watching developments in the
mobile device market.
• Smartphones and tablets have high penetration reason for its fast
growth also has to do with Google’s mobile search advertising
options, the increase of display advertising space available, and the
number of mobile networks for placing ads.
• Note that the lion’s share of mobile ad spend goes to
A. Mobile Search (45 Percent)
B. Banners And Rich Media (30.7 Percent)
C. Text/Video Messaging (19.6 Percent)

49. MOBILE ADVERTISING FORMATS
1. PAID SEARCH
2. DISPLAY ADS
3. FULL SCREEN TAKEOVERS
4. MESSAGING
5. LOCATION-BASED ADS
6. VIDEO
7. APPS

50. PAID SEARCH
• Paid search occurs when an advertiser pays a search engine a fee for
directory submission, for inclusion in a search engine index, or to
display its ad when users type in particular keywords
• Internet users click on paid search ads (also called “sponsored links”)
25 percent of the time.
• Three tactics currently prevail when it comes to paid search
marketing:
1. KEYWORD ADVERTISING
2. PAID INCLUSION
3. DIRECTORY LISTINGS

51. KEYWORD ADVERTISING
• Keyword advertising at search engine sites prompts
sponsored text or display ads to appear on the SERPs (Search
Engine Results Pages).
• For example, advertisers can buy the word automobile, and
when users search using that word, the advertiser’s banner
or text message will appear on the resulting page
• Google also sends contextual ads for display on other Web
sites in its AdSense program, as previously mentioned (site
owners get paid whenever a user clicks on the ad at their site
or in a video and so forth)

52. PAID INCLUSION
• Paid inclusion occurs when sites receive guaranteed indexing in a search
engine. This service is offered by many search engines
• Except for Google—which does not offer paid inclusion, preferring to keep
the natural search results purely based on its algorithm.
• Sites can submit URLs both to Google and to Yahoo! for free.
• Doing this accelerates the time to get into the index, although the search
crawlers will eventually find the site.
• Paid inclusion doesn’t guarantee position in the SERP—other factors used
for ranking determine the position there.
• Sometimes search engines indicate paid inclusion with the term sponsored
link.

53. Directory submission
• Directory submission is when an organization pays to be included in a
searchable directory.
• For example, Yahoo! includes products in its shopping pages at a cost-per-
click (CPC) fee and includes local business listings in its local directory.
• Directory submission is important for many other search engines in vertical
markets, such as job listing fees in Craigslist or business listings in Business.
com.
• Note that some directory listings are free.
• Paid search is commonly called pay per click (PPC) because advertisers pay
whenever users click on the ads

55. • Google and other search engines greatly increased revenues
for advertisers and their own pockets by selling keyword ads
because the user is more open to messages that relate to the
context of their online activity
• Google AdWords is a very complex service to use because it
involves appropriate selections for keywords, ad group
(several ads in one subject area), language, geographic area,
run dates, and formulating an ad headline and text that will
capture user clicks.
• Plus, of course, deciding on the click-through rate for bidding
purposes.

56. Marketing Public Relations

57. • Marketing public relations (MPR) includes brand-related activities
and nonpaid, third-party media coverage to positively influence target
markets.
• Thus, MPR is the marketing department’s portion of PR directed to
the firm’s customers and prospects in order to build awareness and
positive attitudes about its brands. Although it costs the firm money
to create such a Web site, it is not considered advertising (paid-for
space on another firm’s site).
• Several advantages come with using the Web for publishing product
information.
1) Low-cost alternative to paper brochures or press releases sent in
overnight mail.
2) Product information is often updated in company databases, so
Web page content can be updated more easily.
3) Can reach new prospects who are searching for particular products
(inbound marketing).

58. • MPR activities using internet technology include the Web
site content itself, online events, and many other online
tactics
• Every organization, company, individual, or brand Web site is
an MPR tool because it serves primarily as an electronic
brochure, including current product and company
information.
• Most internet users purchase online and even more use the
internet to gather information before shopping either online
or offline.
• This underlines the importance of the company Web site and
its tactics to be found via search engines.
• The Web site is far from dead, as some suggest.

59. • Important point is to create a site that satisfies the firm’s
target audiences better than the competition and to keep
populating it with current content.
WEB SITES CAN
A. Entertain (games and electronic postcards)
B. Build communities (online events and social media)
C. Provide a communication channel with the customer
(customer feedback, forums, and customer service)
D. Provide information (product selection and purchase,
product recommendation, and retailer referrals)

60. • The Web site is a door into a company, and must provide inviting,
organized, and relevant content.
• Microsites are Web sites designed for a narrow purpose, with only
three to five pages.
• It also contains many social media hooks many marketers have
noticed that linking a microsite to the company’s main site dilutes its
efforts to build a large presence on search engines (because Google
sees them all as related and not separate sites warranting separate
links on a search results page).
• Other examples of microsites include one for a specific model of
automobile, specific television program, or contest site

61. SALES PROMOTION OFFERS

62. • Online sales promotion tactics can build brands, build
databases, and support increased online or offline sales, but
like offline promotions, most do not help to build customer
relationships in the long term.
• Online sales promotion works, especially to entice
consumers to change their behaviour in the short term.
• Marketers report three to five times higher response rates
with online promotions than with direct postal Mail online
tactics are directed primarily at consumers.
• Sales promotions are popular display ad content

63. Sales Promotion Activities
•COUPONS
•DISCOUNTS
•REBATES
•PRODUCT SAMPLING
•CONTESTS
•SWEEPSTAKES
•PREMIUMS

64. Coupons
• Online coupons had great promise in the internet’s
early days but did not gain widespread acceptance
until the economy declined in the United States
• In this study, 27 percent of respondents said they
preferred online coupons because of their
convenience, as compared with 33 percent, who still
preferred print coupons. Incidentally, those who like
digital coupons prefer getting them via e-mail

65. Sampling
• Some sites allow users to sample digital products prior to
purchase. Many software companies provide free download
of fully functional demo versions of their software.
• The demo normally expires in 30 to 60 days, after which time
users can choose to purchase the software or remove it from
their system.
• Online music stores allow customers to sample short clips of
music before downloading the song or ordering the CD.
• Market research firms often offer survey results as a
sampling to entice businesses to purchase reports.

66. Contests, Sweepstakes
• Many sites hold contests and sweepstakes to draw traffic and keep
users returning.
• Contests require skill (e.g., trivia answer or photo upload) whereas
sweepstakes involve only a pure chance drawing for the winners.
• These activities create excitement about brands and entice customers
to visit a retailer.
• They persuade users to move from page to page on a Web site, thus
increasing the length of time on a site (called site “stickiness”).
• If sweepstake offers are changed regularly, users will return to the site
to check out the latest chance to win

67. Virtual Worlds
• These are sites where users take the form of avatars
and socialize in an online space of their own making.
• Companies create a presence in metaverses such as
Second Life, or create their own virtual world to
support commerce.
• companies can create a virtual storefront, multimedia
event or talk/lecture, contest, and can also create
blogs. They can publish a URL containing streaming
audio or video content, so that other Second Life
residents will view their content and subscribe

68. •Other interesting tactics include offering visitors
branded items, such as clothing containing Logos
•Finally, some companies use their avatars as
promotional vehicles, engaging other avatars in
conversation about the brand and offering sales
promotions, such as coupons

69. Online Games
• Games can be played on three types of hardware:
consoles, PCs, and portable devices.
• Zynga, Inc. produces online games and sells virtual
products to players who use real currency to buy
them.
• Some players spend thousands of dollars a month on
virtual skyscrapers in “CityVille” or imaginary chickens
in “FarmVille”

70. • Advergames combine online advertising and gaming,
featuring a company’s product.
• They are used to draw site traffic and build brands in both
business-to-business (B2B) and business- to-customer (B2C)
markets and are growing in popularity online
• Advergames are unabashedly commercial by nature, but if
they are fun and exciting, players will enjoy them and tell
their friends.
• The advergame is an important tactic that acknowledges the
consumer’s increasing power by engaging users with
entertaining product-related content

71. ONLINE GIFTING
• GroupCard’s application allows retailers to sell group gift
cards on their own Web sites and social networking pages.
• What is unique about this app is that the customer who
creates the card can circulate it to many others, who then
can add additional personalized messages and contribute a
dollar amount via PayPal.
• GroupCard also offers collaborative gifting so that a group of
people can combine funds for a gift certificate redeemable at
the merchant’s own Web properties

72. IMC Metrics