The Internet is a Medium of Immediacy

 

The Internet is rapidly changing the way businesses do business, and those who succeed in this new marketplace will be the ones who are unafraid to embrace not only the new techniques of the medium, but new ways of thinking and a greater degree of flexibility in their ability to effect changes in response to their customers' needs.

As the Internet matures, the focus is moving away from the underlying technology towards the needs of business and people. Forward-thinking companies will succeed not so much by the implementation of new technologies, as by a willingness to try new ideas and business models based on two-way communication and a greater intimacy in their customer relationships.

It is essential to remember that the Internet is a medium of immediacy. Those who fail to recognize this fact will soon be eclipsed by their more agile competitors. Successful Internet marketing demands not only an awareness of the Net's capabilities, it also requires a willingness to adapt to new paradigms of promotion.

The common currency of Internet-based commerce is information - not just the information that a company's Web site provides for its users, but the information the company can derive directly from user feedback and indirectly from their site usage and behavior. This two-way flow of information provides benefits to both businesses and consumers and is the basis for the relationships upon which successful e-commerce will flourish. The potential of this flow of information cannot be realized, however, unless the company can respond with frequently updated and adapted content which reflects its customers needs.

One of the great advantages of the Internet over other marketing and advertising media is the ease with which change can be effected. Technically, it takes only a few minutes to implement updated Web site content, and new Web authoring applications make it possible for even non-technical personnel to effect these changes. The problem which many companies must overcome lies in their procedures for deciding to implement change. Everything moves faster in cyberspace and new ideas and information must be implemented as quickly as possible for maximum site effectiveness. It is essential that those responsible for site management respond with daring alacrity.

In this vital, infinitely flexible medium, it is self-defeating to permit new ideas and content to founder through committees, memorandums and the linear hierarchy of the traditional corporate decision-making process. The winners in this new marketing game will be those companies who have both the ability and the courage to move faster than their larger, more bureaucratic competitors.

Web sites aren't carved in stone. They're not even printed on paper. Get it up, try it out, observe the traffic patterns and user feedback and respond, even on a daily basis if necessary. If something doesn't work, it's no disaster if you have the ability to respond quickly. Pull it down and try something else. The Web is a new toy. Play with it.