With the global traffic on Internet increasing daily, it is imperative for universities to consider the module very relevant because it will help reposition student face global challenges in e-commerce and e-business as well as been dynamic in making decisions that have to do with internet marketing.
Moreover, universities use e-marketing module to test the success rate of their internal e-commerce business which they achieve through posting it on the intranet (for instance CU online of Coventry University website). They also use it to advertise their institution online for prospective students who are interested in studying in Coventry University.
E-marketing module in universities enables students to have a view of the new innovation in technology as well as its practical applications to business since most 21st century business revolve around e-business. Organisations buy and sell products by sharing databases online and hiring employees (Carolyn, 2004:5). Having seen how important this is to business world, it now leaves institutions with the task of teaching this module very well in order to equip their students to face the global challenge and competitiveness in the business world.
As e-marketing course has been in institutions for a while, the teaching pattern has remained a source of debate among scholars. Whichever method adopted, its pedagogical approach should be based more on implementation. Face to face medium of teaching should be imbibed as research shows that student prefer that more. (Sweeny & Ingram 2002)
Below are three critical learning methods which can be adopted:
•Critical Thinking
•Integrative Learning
•Memory Learning
Critical Thinking is a process of actively analysing, synthesizing, and evaluating the thinking process and improving on it.
Integrative Learning is a learning theory describing a movement towards integrated lessons which allows students make connections across curricula (Hutchings & Shulman 1999:13).
Memory Learning is the ability to remember what we are being taught. Examples of memory learning are observation, audio-visuals etc.
Obviously, the teaching of the practical terms of e-marketing in higher institutions of learning cannot be over emphasised. However, e-marketing has much more effects in the business world.
Nowadays more and more people want to follow the modern development of technologies and innovations, especially those in business industry, because the success and profit of businesses depend on how much they can offer customers and the ability to meet them wherever they are. Most of the potential customers spend their time on Internet that is why e-business is popular and profitable and that makes e- marketing the best tool to use. E-marketing gives businesses of any size access to the mass market at an affordable price and, unlike TV or print advertising, it allows truly personalised and interactive marketing. Specific benefits of e-marketing include:
-global reach
- lower cost
- trackable, measurable results
- 24-hour marketing
- personalisation
- one-to-one marketing
- more interesting campaigns
- better conversion rate
Together, all of these aspects of e-marketing add up to more sales (http://www.businesslink.gov.uk/). More sales bring more profit. It makes e-marketing a vital part of each business. Practical examples of application of e-marketing in different industries help to understand the importance of e-marketing in business industries. Top brand communications are transforming from monologue to dialogue, from persuasion to engagement and from the push media to the pull media (Chaffey et al, 2003:311). Good examples of these are the last two TV grand prix winners at the International Advertising Awards ( Dove’s Inner Beauty and Cadbury’s Gorilla commercials that were first viewed and made popular by the online audience (canneslions.com). Companies such as Google and YouTube have become legendary brands in just a couple of years with little or no advertising budget (Weber, L. 2007:102).
Another benefit of e-marketing has been witnessed in the drastic development of the virtual business industry. From Amazon to Argos and iTunes Store, the world has seen the growth of virtual sales in which buyers make transactions with retailers without any real contact.
Virtual customer service as used by Orange telecommunication is a good example of using the internet to market services and products to both existing and prospective consumers.
E-mails have also played a major role in information dissemination from the marketers to the end users. In this case, we have some marketers that build up a database of consumer emails while others simply buy them from outside, all for the purpose of communicating brand values to the public.
References:
Siegel, Carolyn F. (2004) Internet marketing: foundations and applications. Boston, MA: Houghton Miffin.
Hutchings P & Stiuman, L (1999). The schorlarship of teaching change 31(5), 10-15
Chaffey, D., Mayer, R., Johnston, K., & Ellis-Chadwick, F., (2003) 2nd ed. Internet Marketing Strategy, Implementation and Practice.Essex: Pearson Education Limited.
Weber, L. (2007) Marketing to the Social Web. New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Sweeney, Jillian C. and Deborah Ingram (2002), ' A comparison of Traditional and Web-Based Tutorials in Marketing Education: An Exploratory Study,' Journal of Marketing Education, Vol.23 (1), 55-62.
