Why Use the Web to Market? Compelling Evidence

Sooner or later, one of your board members, staff, or subscribers will ask you the following question: “Don’t you think we should have a Web page?” Perhaps your organization is already online, wondering how to make the most of your Web presence. Still others might be wondering “What’s in this Web venture for us?” or “How can we make money on the Web?”

Arts organizations use marketing to develop new audiences, maintain existing ones, and enhance the experience for all audience groups. Additionally, you want to know who your customer is, what they value, and how you can create more value for them in everything you do as an organization. There are challenges that arts organizations face when using traditional marketing methods (e.g., the difficulty of tracking the impact of a paid advertisement) and the Internet may be a solution to many of these challenges. The Internet possesses real-time marketing capabilities that work for you 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It is not meant to be used as a replacement for established marketing methods; integrating a Web presence into your strategic marketing plan is a way of augmenting the services you are providing to your customers.

Reaching Target Audiences

One reason to implement a Web presence is the sheer volume of people that you can reach using the Web. The current number of Internet users worldwide is estimated to be 100.5 million. Analysts predict that number will double in the next two years. While not all of these people will be visiting your site, you can be sure that, as this number grows, the number of your customers that will be online will grow as well. Technology also has made it possible to personalize your message to individuals. Possibly the best example of this approach can be seen in the customer-centered marketing approach of online bookstore, Amazon.com (http://www.amazon.com) This media success story is highlighted in a recent article in Inter@ctive Week (http://www.zdnet.com/intweek/print/971006/inwk0079.html). You might be surprised at the profile of the "typical" Web user, briefly illustrated by the following demographic points gathered from a series of surveys conducted by the Georgia Tech Research Corporation and the Graphic, Visualization and Usability (GVU) Center (http://www.gvu.gatech.edu/user_surveys/). These demographics suggest that Web users are remarkably similar to arts audiences:

• The average household income is $53,000;
• The average age of users responding is 35.7 years old; and
• 47% of respondents hold some form of college degree.

Offering Convenient Sales Options

The World Wide Web is also becoming serious business. People who shop online currently make up 25% of all Web users, and it is estimated that this number will more than triple in the next four years. If you currently sell tickets, art, merchandise or services by phone or in person, this guide’s section on electronic commerce can provide information about translating these activities to the Web. The number of online shoppers is increasing in much the same way as demand for catalogue shopping and charge-by-phone ordering increased in recent years. Security is a concern for some shoppers, but you'll find that recent advances in security systems have made online shopping as safe as any other form of commerce, perhaps even safer.

Using Technology to Further Your Mission

The Web is an excellent medium for arts communication because of the tools involved. These include audio, video, and commerce tools that allow organizations to communicate their personality, reach new constituencies, and connect with their audiences in new and exciting ways. Most importantly, implementing an online presence can further the mission of your organization. For example, if your mission includes arts education, a Web site that includes distance learning would allow you to reach students outside of your own region.

Making the Decision to Implement Technology

Not all organizations will want to develop a Web presence right away, and you should not put up a Web site "just because everyone else is doing it.” Since the decision to market your organization online should be considered part of your overall marketing strategy, this site provides the information you will need to conduct a needs assessment study as a way of determining whether or not it is the right time to get online. Ways to cut costs and find funding for new technology are also discussed.

Using This Site

This guide is designed to help you make the best possible decisions about implementing or enhancing your Web presence to successfully market your organization. You may either move step-by-step through the sections, or refer to the site map to jump to particular areas of interest. For ease of use, any terminology that might be unfamiliar has been linked directly to the guide’s glossary, and words not included there can be referenced using an online encyclopedia such as TechWeb’s Encyclopedia (http://www.techweb.com/encyclopedia).