"VERY USEFUL. We advertise our business worldwide."
"Has given us cred. in industry"
"Our entire business marketing strategy centres on use of Web pages and other Internet services. As a startup company we are able to pursue advanced marketing strategies using the Internet that would otherwise require huge investment. Money that is saved is then invested in our products."
"As a web design company we use our pages to show what we can do, and also advertise the other services we provide, we have had some contact as a result from the site from prospective clients."
"(Outstanding success, we use the pages as an online brochure and information service)"
"Very useful as provides plenty of business as a worldwide audience is available. Basically we use our web page to advertise our hotel fully providing as much information as possible on the hotel, with includes response forms and tariff's, main problem has been with server security as we can not offer online booking or deposits due to America Online's server security"
"Developed a web site offering a full web advertising service to estate agents. This has never taken off as estate agents seem uninterested in paying for the internet. However time spent on HouseNet and our own web pages was useful as a training exercise"
"(marketing , selling products direct, distributing newsletters, making available up to the minute product info, enhancing our traditional print media with extra info and search facilities)"
"My web pages are used to show samples and the range of my work to prospective clients. Placing artwork on special pages, not linked to the main sites, enables me to show full colour artwork, finished or in the course of completion, instantly, to clients in any part of the world. I now get instant feedback whereas, pre-internet, this procedure could take a week!"
"Very useful"
"Main site launched one week ago. Well, for a start, we'd look damn silly being a web design firm without a website. The primary current goal is to advertise our services, but we love content provision, so we'll be moving on to entertain and inform people. We're getting a lot of interest over our online Directory of Directories, but it's really too early to discuss success (failure is not an option)."
"The primary purpose of the website is soft marketing of the business. Income generated directly via the internet currently represents around 5 to 10% of turnover"
"using a web design company which put too many fancy graphics on which had to be taken off as half the world couldn't read them"
"promoting my business, hoping to acquire leads"
"Marketing and integrated to the company Intranet for mobile teleworking. Has replaced the printing of corporate brochures etc."
"Generating contacts"
"Because our products are highly specialised, our website enables the relevent people who are searching for specific solutions to find us. We have found that normal advertising is a waste of money"
"Created by self - in Hot Metal Light/ publisher etc. Some sales for computer company have resulted."
"Mainly to advertise the group companies, but also to trade electronically"
"Peps site has started to make sales beyond the reach of a local IFA."
"Extremly useful. i am finding customers that i would not find any other way. i see the web as being an ever expanding magazine in which one can place adverts of unlimited length for very little cost. for instance i sell one film i produced"james herriot's yorkshire", james herriot's books have sold over 50 million copies world wide. in the past the only way i could find an audinces/ sales overseas was licensing to another company. in doing this i would only recive a very small royalty. by using the web, in july 1997 alone i had a gross of [confidential]. i just could not have made these sales any other way. 93% of the sales were from the usa."
"It's gives us a much wider client base by being on the net."
"Probably less than 5% of replies from my web site were serious enquires"
"we have a catalogue and a magazine for secondhand bookdealers on it. Our web-page was designed free by a very talented pair of web-page designers as their example to promote their business. Normally we wouldn't have been able to afford it, but it has been very worthwhile getting us customers for our Billy Bunter catalogue from all over the world."
"Internet is not all it appears to be. It is slow, difficult to find what you need and often does not tell you more than you knew already although it can give you general information on a business or organisation and allow to find about other similar orgnsiations you may not have known about through the links. For researching items overseas then it is very useful. E-mail is also extremely useful"
"As Integral solutions Limited (ISL) sells IT business solutions, most of our prospects use the WWW. Our Clementine product is referenced from all the major US and other sites in data mining. We have sold serious amounts of business as a result of WWW page visits, though as this is 15,000 pound ($24,000) minimum software there is always a visit and often an evaluation. Includes sales made from the UK to Fortune 500 companies in USA, and US Federal Government, largely initiated by www."
"The web site is the basis of our business - we are an exclusively Internet company."
"My business and service is entirely dependent on the Internet."
"100% Internet based business"
"Of increasing importance - we are being contacted more frequently by potential suppliers. We spent the least amount possible on the page, as we foresaw litle possibility of generating revenue from it. Consequently any response is worthwhile. We don't trade from the page but ask for contacts from potential partners around the world."
"we advertise all our live music through our pages, our business is mainly from a local catchment area, so not in any way dependent on the web, however; much interest is noted from further afield plus new contacts like new bands and acts who contact us through our pages.."
"Only for advertising"
"The Web Pages are an advert with a portfolio of some of our clients. Overall our business has done well as a result."
"Only been on the Net for 3 months and really only had website in last 3 weeks. However, we have had 2 bookings in that time and to date 87 visitors to our site in the last 2 weeks. Probably a little early to comment as we are still trying to fully understand the operation of the Web, and how we can best use it in marketing our facilities."
"As a result of running an internetional advertisement we thought that a web site would allow interested parties to access easily changed information about our company and services. When accessing they could get more information than a press ad without any sales pressure and access it at anytime from anywhere. (In order to promote your web site to a specific industry or market place it must be supported by press coverage to tell people who maybe interested where to find the Web Site. The disorganised jumble which is the World Wide Web, with its assortment of search engines, is not (in itself) a valid stand alone promotional medium for active promotional activity. I think it requires some coordination or global centralisation/registration of URLs where everyone could look.)"
"new; included in the price of the dialup conection; writen by ourselves; abstracts of reports, details of training packages; links page. We may add pages of genral interest to those concerned with social issues (Too soon to evaluate)"
"(Our web site is an online catalogue of our product. In addition to this, we are using our site to provide extra information to our customers about us and to build up valuable loyalty)"
"useful source of new business, reduced distribution costs (brochures). Web Pages are a cost effective way to reach a new audience. Potential Clients can see our product in detail before making enquiries, this reduces wasted time for all concerned.... We can use new technologies such as 'panoramic' images to give a better view of our properties than can be achieved in print. Our Web pages are more up to date than our printed material. With the knowledge gained developing our Website, we have realised the benifits on an Intranet and have begun to use Web technology in our office environment."
"Not marketed effectively to date"
"Experimental and now under review we hope to secure resource to relaunch our site to meet the"web"audience's needs and requirements from a building society site."
"The web page is just a publicity front - It allows me to tell schools I have a web site which gives a more professional finish to marketing!"
"Our web page is relatively new but has already resulted in several useful contacts. I personally feel that the Internet will become more and more important for business in the very near future, just as fax machines and PCs etc are vital for many businesses s now. It is therefore important to be in at the beginning so that the advantages and possible pitfalls can be identified. One of the most important aspects of the Web at the moment is that it is an inexpensive medium to experiment with."
"Marketing profile raised Also conduct online transactions - selling publications and booking training courses."
"The WWW is another part of the marketing mix. We use for general information about our company and services. It is planned to extend the use to allow staff to complete time-sheets remotely and allow clients to view project status."
"To reinforce the brand (relaunched site in line with new Marketing campaign in May 97 -represented progress in integrating the Web site into core Marketing). Also used from initial launch to learn about online commerce, through selling Wine, flowers, chocolates; also used to reach wider market with promotions that otherwise may only be seen instore."
"we provide an independent information resource of antiques and related services to encourage overseas buyers to visit the UK. My own antiques business then features heavily on the site as a supplier of antique furniture etc. (the importance of the name of the site, is becoming obvious by the amount of traffic)"
"The number of enquiries for information on our products has increased dramatically. Our website has enabled us to advertise ourselves throughout the world and increase export sales"
"We have recorded major sales for most of our clients, as well as excellent PR"
"Advertising. Our internet service provider has been unreliable"
"The web-pages has expanded my business from being just local based to a total global organisation with business coming in from abroad."
"Our web page is still being produced, so full assessment at this point is not possible"
"The web pages demonstrate our capability to our clients. We do not expect to derive any business directly from our presence on the web."
"Web pages are used to promote general background information about the firm and the services which it provides. The site is modest at some 50 pages but will be developed further. It is also intended to demonstrate that the firm has IT skills as the site was entirely developed in house."
"Enquiries have turned up from all over the world - thus making my business more 'global'"
"great way for people to respond thru feedback forms, also stops wasting sales stsff time bcos they can get all info they need online instead of asking sales"
"To provide us with a permanent presence on the Web. Indexing is the key. You've got to be 'findable' by surfers. We have had approaches from the USA, Europe, Middle and Far East and China since we started using our Web pages."
"An extremely accurate and visual representation of qualitative marketing/research. An instant interactive database. From analysing hit rates from log files I can forecast future content and build a site to exact both clients' needs and audience requests."
"TREMENDOUS RESPONSE AND HIGH PERCENTAGE OF ENQUIRIES VIA THE WEB HAVE BEEN CONVERTED TO SALES. THE INTERNET, IN OUR 1ST YEAR, HAS BECOME THE MOST PRODUCTIVE MEDIA SOURCE OF ENQUIRIES AND SALES"
"Only just started developing the pages. Will be advertising our services and including results of research into"best buy"products"
"We think this is an ideal global sales medium for the smaller company"
"used mainly for advertising our vacancies and for general information about the company"
"We created the site to include electronic brochure, user involvement through traveller survey and traveller tales, and on-line transaction through on-line hotel booking facility. We've reviewed this and are thinking about changing content to deliver vital travel information that speed and ease of access would make looking&finding this information via Portman's web site on internet 'soooo' obvious, business users will wonder why they hadn't looked before."
"LOCAL ADVERTISING -REASONABLY GOOD"
"It is an immediate means of communication with our various audiences. The site has received a number of accolades e.g From the Financial Times, Interactive Investor and IR magazines"
"the main problem has been self-educating in how to sell to an anonymous face, it can be difficult to guage the customer from the type written word. Also one's sense of humour which would normally help to sell a product does not come over when typed!"
"AD AND INITIAL ENQUIRY. ABOUT 4 RESPONSES/WEEK - 1 NEW CLIENT/WEEK"
"This is an umbrella web publishing business for about 50 societies, nurseries, booksellers and related organisations."
"To offer free preliminary advice to obtain instructions - we receive a regular reasonably number of new enquires, but few at the moment turn into fee generating instructions"
"mail order"
"For announcing the presence of the business. This is already important internationally and is gaining increasing importance within the UK"
"reduce the amount of traditiona literature sent out (refer enquirers to our web site)"
"I use my web pages like a brochure with lots of text information, I think this works because search engines pick up on key words. I have made many new clients"
"we show all our new titles in full colour"
"We have used our web sites for publishing, promotion and commerce. We have found integration with e-mail based publishing has been a particularly good development tool. Generally speaking, we have found lowest common denominator solutions work best. Altho' we aim at a high tech audience, Netscape 2.x is the predominant visitor browser."
"Advertsing & PR of services offered"
"We use our web site as a showcase for our services, and as a substitute for a printed brochure"
"Cybercard offer on demand printing of Greeting Cards via the internet, we find that it is very hard to get customers in the first place, even with a free sample, but that once we have got them customers are very loyal. Here is an example customer comment: 'Hi Jeremy, I have now ordered 4 cards from Cybercard and I am totally happy and pleased with every single one! I just want to say that this amazing service deserves more than congratulations, you are indespensible to me - I will use Cybercard for all my cards in the future, what would I do if you weren't there!! And the free introductory card only shows how much you care!! Thanking you again, David Wright ps. With prices and next-day service like yours I never need visit a WHSmiths again!!'"
"online brochure and promotion of our web services"
"Use for general awareness only at this point"
"Keeping them up to date is a serious issue for a small company that cannot afford a professionally maintained site. But they act as a shop window that helps our small company look big."
"By including detailed product information in the web pages we are able to direct architects and other building specifiers to detailed information quicker and more conveniently than faxing pages of brochures etc."
"Very Successful. 60% of business now generated from our Web Site"
"They have generated a reasonable amount of interest and several good leads. Quite good considering they are not really advertising branded goods."
"UK is far behind the rest of the world, more possative responses from overseas."
"Use site as selling tool showing work etc, this has resulted in new business, we also use discreet pages to allow clients to see how their work is progressing. We recently did work for a dutch company, this saved as a lot of time and courier/telephone calls"
"not enoug h time to update them!"
"WE DO NOT THINK WE HAVE GENERATED ANY NEW BUSINESS FROM OUR WEBB SITE BUT IT HAS ADDED TO OUR IMAGE"
"Promotion, catalogue, live course status. Difficulties getting search engines to categorise/list us correctly."
"Have had a number of responses but they have not lead anywhere so I am planning to update my site"
"Success in bringing in business, Cost of providing own server and private connection too expensive"
"GENERAL PROMOTION OF THE COMPANY AND TO LAUNCH NEW PRODUCTS AND SERVICES. SINCE BEING ON THE INTERNET FOR 7 MONTHS, THERE HAS BEEN SOME INTEREST, BUT WE ARE YET TO MAKE A SALE"
"One Sale so far , increases general awareness"
"mail order"
"We have not to our knowledge, nor expected, to gain any direct referrals from our web site. We do however find it a useful tool in cross marketing and demonstrating our commitment as a firm to technology. Any further development however is likely only if we can see some more tangible benefit"
"Advertising and a service to offer our clients"
"Have used static html pages in the past but found that user are more keen to look at your site if they feel that they are getting more information and more up to date information than they could get elsewhere. We are now using Active Server Pages linked to a frequently updated database for this purpose."
"WE DEVELOPED THE SITE OURSELVES IN SPARE TIME - IT OCCASSIONALLY GENERATES SALES LEADS - WE SEE FAR GREATER FUTURE POTENTIAL AS OUR CLIENT BASE INCREASES - PARTICULARLY FOR SOFTWARE DOWNLOADS TO CLIENTS"
"We Have successfully sold and rented a number of properties directly from peple who have gained the information they required from the web pages."
"I use my web pages to explain my methods of farming. While I get no commercial benfit from it is worthwhile in term of the feed back I get from other farmers."
"We use our web page to sell and support our software around the world."
"To attract enquiries"
"Have found our web pages an ideal vehicle to get our company information to clients and interested parties easily and quickly."
"Has helped me develop overseas contact and have also sold small amount directly from the order pages on my web site"
"offer free software which people can download and try out. Sales to BBC and Cable and Wireless have been made strictly through the Web"
"WE provide impartial advice to business. We also delegate Domain Names (a voting member of Nominet (UK) Ltd, write and host Web Sites, DNS, email forwarding etc. We are a College Company."
"Car rental very productive"
"Advertising of products and services, plus current research projects"
"The site's a great free advert for the publication, and it's ideal for directing people for further info - since I get free access, and I myself design the pages, the only overhead is my development time, and the cost of the phone call. It's also good for flexing my design muscles in directions I wouldn't dare for a corporate client."
"Our web pages feature details of hundreds of holidays - we specialise in villa rental/self-catering holiday accommodation and skiing holidays. We offer tour operators and holiday home owners the opportunity to advertise their holidays in a central site on the web - HolidayBank in a very cost effective manner. This opens up whole new markets for them and ensures they get the most from Internet advertising. Our service puts holiday-makers from all over the world in touch with tour operators and holiday home owners - people whose products they would very probably never have heard of otherwise."
"To early to say."
"brief summary of goods and service, e:mail reply button, quotation request button - far greater response on these buttons than before we installed them, no significant failures"
"USED TO ADVERTISE JOB VACANCIES - VERY SUCCESSFUL"
"Marcomms. Extremely useful way of getting information to our customers."
"Product and service information, downloadable software demos"
"My website acts as an advert for my web design business, which, together with my portfolio, accounts for nearly all my work"
"Most difficult thing is explaining the concept behind the net, and proving that it works"
"supports customer distance learning programmes, PR attention, sampling new products, establishing dialogues with customers, showing service commitment to patients (information leaflets) etc etc"
"electronic commerce, co. product info, customer service, training...."
"Used as an extended brochure of products and services and a demonstration of Web Authoring Service"
"gained new customers"
"Up to date pricing information for customers, special offers, technical help forum, new products"
"for general awareness of the airport facilities and as a popint of contact to join our mailing list"
"When advertising it is a great help just to add that if anyone requires further information all they have to do is to go to the web address and fill in the various spaces. Although comparatively new to this form of communication it does seem to be used more and more frequently and I am now beginning to get a reasonable amount of reponse both from the web and E mail."
"We are Internet exclusive, this is our business, and we are growing."
"WE ARE DEVELOPING A SITE WHEREBY ALL CLIENTS AND CANDIDATES CAN WORK INTERACTIVELY TO FIND NEW EMPLOYEES/EMPLOYERS."
"I design my own pages which are primarily for specific industry users to find out who is selling what and what services are available within the industry (food and drink + cut flowers, pot plants etc.), reasonable success so far with enquiries from all over the world"
"To advertise my clients businesses as well as my own. All my clients have benefited from having web pages."
"One major client gained solely through our web site in 18 months on the web has made our efforts worthwhile"
"It was hard at first to get the pages up and running and we had to rely on help from various sources about the net. Hit rates are low at present but we are just about to redesign the pages and we hope to get far hight hit rates as the pages out there just now were only the first attempt by ourselves at web pages."
"marketing and on line application form"
"marketing and customer support"
"Our site is used to advertise our products and to distribute updates to our agents world-wide. We have received enquiries and made sales into countries we could not have afforded to visit. The website is an easily accessible location for our agents to obtain the latest software versions with the minimum of delay, 24hrs a day."
"provision of investment performance and analytical data on the worlds investment funds, oriented towards the private investor (free of charge) and so designed to encourage investment Management companies to 'link' and interact with these private investors for a highly cost effective fee."
"We have broken into the international market and it is spreading the name of our company. Although rather expensive for it's return, we feel as a IT company that we should practice what we preach, it will pay off once more Britains are on the net. I think we will have to wait until after 2000 because of the computer bios problem but it will come"
"Web Pages show products offered and invites visitors to request further details via an e-mail link - this way we can maintain contact with interested parties"
"use them as an added value service"
"My website is currently the Host Site for Junior Chess in Essex, and we are also hosting the Smith & Williamson British Chess Championships"
"Once people know you have a web site they will use it to update re products"
"85% of our business is generated through the Internet, on average one application for a position with the company received each month"
"To advertise our company & our vacancies to interested candidates. Although reasonably effective overall, the process is necessarily more random than advertising in the specialist press."
"Within our three websites (each for a different mag) we show examples of what each magazine is made up of, thus helping to encourage more people to buy or subscribe to the paper copy. We have also won numerous awards for one of our sites"
"To publicise productrs and provide customer support on a worldwide basis"
"The web-pages have been succesful as a PR excercise and have so far not resulted in more trade. We see this as a long term project to improve communications between us and our customers, which will in turn result in more business . We have already encouraged other small local nureries to go online. This will enable us to work together on marketing projects. We plan to hold demonstations of the internet for garden centres in order to encourage them to see it as a useful business tool."
"I did our pages myself and it is pretty straightforward (learning HTML etc is easy, there is plenty of help on the net, and plenty of software for free download - gif construction html programmes etc) but indexing is a helluva task even with the submitit!-type pages to help. I might add that HTML is an excellent leveller. With print, Coca Cola (for instance) can spend a million to my pound: but with html everyone is roughly the same. All Coca Cola can do is spread graphics so thickly, no one can be bothered to wait long enough to download!"
"Web pages are currently under construction. However, we have had a number of enquiries by browsers and we are hoping to extend the pages giving our professional introducers the ability to track their business - as referred to us - through the web-site."
"low cost way of advertising and sending additional info to clients"
"Great success in capturing international interest, less so on the UK front, I guess the UK has a little catching up to do."
"List products and offer catalogue"
"Directories/brochures work but use as a direct means of securing consultancy work doesn't."
"to advertise the company worldwide - useful for enquiries"
"Maintaining up-to-date product catalogues for worldwide customers and distributors"
"we use pages to give people an idea of our company and products,and as an electronic catalog"
"Since introducing Web Page Design as a part of my existing business earlier this year my trade has greatly increased. It is still early days but hopefully this will continue as more businesses see how usefull the net will be"
"There has been no business or enquiries yet as a result of the web page. This is probably because the page currently has no links to other web pages. However, I have found the web pages of other organisations useful. For example, one can immediately download technical data sheets (say) from a company in the USA. In the past it would typically be difficult and time-consuming to get the data out of a UK distributor by ordinary mail."
"Product Information and awearness"
"All marketing is carried out on the web"
"building a web based business"
"Use of a web site is relatively new to us (6 months), so we do not have a lot of statistics yet. We use it for marketing type information, company background, new business information and job vacancies. In future we intend to distribute software product through it, order forms, shipping the software package, ongoing support etc. Although we get a lot of"hits"we have not as yet generated any business which can be associated directly with the web site. We do however know that it is useful in providing customers with confidence about us and presents a better image. As an electronics design consultancy, in certain circumstances, we need a web site just to be taken seriously."
"Very useful to be able to provide detailed product to prospective customers easily"
"new company, but web pages are a primary selling aid and promotion tool for us."
"very useful, we have encouraged a good number of sales enquirers through people accessing our web site"
"Our web pages have generated enquiries from parts of the world that we would not normally reach. Although these have not yet converted to contracts we regard the long delay as part of the nature of our service. There is no doubt that the use of Websites in the construction industry is very much in its infancy but there is a lot of interest among our clients."
"Online catalogue. Sales normally to overseas customers. Resistance to credit card ordering in the UK even with encryption. Has generated increased customer numbers to shop"
"Very early days yet, but initial results are encouraging"
"Our site is interactive to some extent. We are receiving enquiries on a regular basis resulting in a constant supply of new clients. Business is written on a regular basis, often with clients who would otherwise be inaccessible to us."
"Advertising services, too early to tell- successes/failures"
"So far good advertising - qualifying enquiry quality at moment"
"publicise conferences/events, detailed programme of events, very useful for publicising international conferences, on average 5 delegates sign up to the conference after viewing the web page and requesting details from there."
"We provide a free service of making bizarre anagrams of the names of web users and in doing so draw their attention to the Anagram Genius software which we market."
"As a publisher of specialist IT publications, we have found the Web useful as a general marketing tool (but not, so far, as a way of handling pay-as-you-go sales). Overall the Web accounts for a small but growing proportion of our turnover. It is also useful for providing customers with controlled access to text, Acrobat and HTML files."
"is our main direct marketing asset"
"We are using our site as an alternative to dealing with our reps, as we have just completed overhauling the site to include on-line orders, quotes, etc. We feel that this gives our customers the feeling ( rightly or wrongly ) that they are more in control of our partnership with them, rather than forcing our reps on them. By allowing them to download or request specifics, they only receive, in the first instance, what they want, rather than extraneous info."
"Very Successful on-line estimating and ordering section + A printing industry discussion section"
"extensive use of email for project conferencing"
| McCannics Home Page |
e-survey: | Back: Web useful? |
Index: Summary |