Why Web?

For a while, it was a fad, and a threat, and a bit of a mystery. But the World Wide Web has now become a very real, if not essential, part of doing business in the 21st century.

When considered in comparison to the rest of our marketing arsenal, the Web can be a very powerful component of your strategic plan. It’s not just colorful and flashy.

It’s dynamic. That means that, with a well implemented web strategy, your marketing message will reach the market first. With traditional print media, once the ink hits the paper your message becomes immediately dated. If a new breakthrough occurs the next day, your literature is obsolete. (The role of printed matter changes in light of the new technology!) But your web page can be updated, and instantly the entire wired world gets the message.

It’s interactive. That means that it not only distributes information, but it also gathers it. Hit lists tell you how many visits a site gets - or a page within a site - almost instantly. But carefully engineered, you can not only ask for information, but track customer behavior like never before, and respond almost instantly. By listening (digitally) to your customers 24-7, you won’t miss a bit of market data.

It’s measurable. Any marketing textbook will tell you how important it is to measure the success or failure of a marketing program. No other system can report results faster and more accurately than the Web. And, of course, the ability to respond to the results quickly helps to ensure that your refinements will take effect quickly as well.

It’s reliable. The early years of the web were somewhat chaotic as the technology developed and issues of security and stability were addressed. Now the medium has reached a level of maturity that makes business on the web viable, if not necessary. Computer systems, communication lines, security systems, file and function compatibility, and continually wider bandwidth and higher speeds make business on the web good business.

It’s economical. The Web makes it very cost-effective to reach a potential audience of millions, saves the cost of brick-and-mortar, reduces the need for travel time and expense, and cuts review cycles to a minimum. Research costs are cut due to unprecedented access to information and vendor channels, and purchasing has undergone a revolution as bids and pricing are more competitive (and quicker) than ever.

Early reasons to get on the web included the threat that your competition was getting there first. Peoples’ habits have changed, and now your customers are going there first. Now, with web use still growing exponentially, it’s more important than ever to be there - wisely.

Why web? Your customers are there, your vendors are there...perhaps the key to your success is there, too!