Business-to-business
electronic commerce (B-to-B) is the use of the internet to facilitate the
exchange of goods, services, and information between organizations. Today,
B-to-B sites look more like consumer sites with social media and community
building applications. Most marketers are now using some sort of web analytics to
determine which activities generate leads to then use that information to make
the Web site more effective. One way that Pantene Pro V measures its Web
application, Web site, or other piece of interactive technology is to evaluate its
stickiness factor. Stikiness is a measure of a Web site’s effectiveness calculated
by manipulating the frequency of visits by the durations of a visit by the
number of pages viewed during each visits (stickiness = frequency x duration x
site reach). The advantage of B-to-B internet marketing is that it allows
Pantene marketers to evaluate the effectiveness of their advertisement ads by
tracking their audience with statistical measures to see whether these new avenues
are beneficial or used by customers. Furthermore, this allows Pantene to make their
most marketing investments where there is more frequency of engagement by
consumers. Not only does this strategy result in better investments but it also
benefits the consumer and the Pantene Pro V market. Pantene’s customers will
recognize that their voice is being heard which is very important as it does
build loyalty. The chart below is an example the analytic activity that is measured through Web application.
The
primary purpose of creating these new applications is that they provide
additional information about present or potential customers; increase efficiency;
lower costs; increase supply range efficiency; or enhance consumer retention,
loyalty and trust is being developed each year. This enables business marketers
to know their audience better as relationship marketing is taking place. Relationship
marketing is a strategy that entails seeking and establishing ongoing
relationships with customers. Using strategies like these allows Pantene to
build competitive advantage as competition has become more intense in today’s
market.