Annals of Dunarea de Jos University of Galati Fascicle I.

Economics and Applied Informatics Years XVII no2/2011 ISSN 1584-0409 www.ann.ugal.ro/eco

Development of a Web Marketing Plan for an eBook ChallengesandOpportunities

AlexandruCAPATINA,MouradTOUZANI

A R T I C L E

I N F O

A B S T R A C T

Articlehistory: Accepted1June2011 Availableonline30June2011 JELClassification M31,M15 Keywords: ebook,Webmarketing,Online mediaplan,Knowledgebased society

Inthispaper,weemphasizethebenefitsofebooksforthecustomerswhoarelookingfor international availability, acquisitions in real time, competitive prices and social responsibility from the part of the publishers; our most important contribution characterizedbyoriginalityisthedesignofawebmarketingplanmodelforebooksselling process, structured in the following sections: search of the specialized websites, characterizedbyahightraffic,wherethepotentialcustomers oftheebooks(thereaders) canbefound,targetingthewebsiteswhichsellebooks,designofthewebsitededicatedto theebooksellingprocess,attractionofthepotentialcustomersusingafreetrialversionof the ebook; implementation of the online media plan, promotion of the ebook within socialnetworksandspecializedforumsandanalysisoftheindicatorsassociatedtotheon linemediaplaninordertoassessthewebmarketingstrategy. 2011EAI.Allrightsreserved.

1.Introduction The development of the new information and communication technologies in the last period provides opportunities regarding the development of ebooks: virtual publications which can be reached by anyone fromanypointintheworld.Eveniftherewasabigcontroversyconcerningthefutureofprintedbooks,today this no longer exists. Both types of publication are now complimentary since each type has its specific characteristics.Thewidecirculationandavailabilityofebooksarethemostimportantadvantagesthistype ofpublicationcanbringsincethisallowsthedisseminationofculturesallaroundtheworld. The design of an ebook represents an important challenge for the authors, because it involves a lot of collaborativeworkwithwebdesigners,butinthesametimeitprovidesunlimitedadvantages.Intheopinion ofthespecialists,themainbenefitsrelatedtothedesignofanebookare[1]:
the existence of a total control on the ebook, as the author should retain it on the estore in order to add or updateachapterbeforesellingit; the affiliation represent another important benefit; in this context, the author should find persons which can promotetheebookinexchangeofmoneyresultedaftersales; thebrandawarenessoftheauthor;whateverthesubjectoftheebookmightbe,theauthorwillbeperceivedas anexpertinitsniche.

There are three types of ebooks according to their complexity degree. First type refers to the text displayedwithoutlecturingtool;inthiscategory,wefindthetextsdistributedonCDRorDVDswhichcanbe associated to a classic book. The second type of ebook outlines the text edition using search engines and lecturingtools;itismanagedbythewebbasedtechnologies.Thethirdtypeisthetextwhichcanbereadon thecomputer,facilitatedbymultimedia,hypertext,interactivityandnetworks.Itisverysimpleandeasyto purchase and download ebooks through the Internet. It is exactly like purchasing any other product. The only difference is that after payment the customer will be redirected to a download page or receives the downloadlinkinanemail. Inviewtopublishanebook,theauthormusttakeintoconsiderationthefollowingstages:
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. firstofallthesubjectwhichwillbediscussedmustbehighlightedandhowcantheauthorwillpointoutonthe subject; then,thepublictargetwillbedefined;theauthormustsetthetargetingcriteria(demographic,psychographic, geographic,behavioral)andfocushisattentiononthepersonswhichareinterestedbythesubjectoftheebook subject; thereasonsforwhichtheebookiswrittenmustbeemphasizedinthenextstage;affiliatemarketingstrategies representoneofthemostcommonreasonforthedevelopersofwebsiteswhichprovideebooks; next,theauthormustdecidethechaptersformatthepublictargetisinterrogatedontheobjectivesofthee bookinordertofacilitatethefeedback; finally,theauthormustsetthetitleandchaptersoftheebook,astheseelementsoftheebookcatchtheeyesof thepotentialreaders.

Department of Business Administration, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, Dunarea de Jos University of Galati, Romania, Institut Suprieur de Gestion de Tunis,Tunisie.Emailaddresses:acapatina@ugal.ro(AlexandruCapatina).

2.Theadvantagesprovidedbytheebooksintheknowledgebasedsociety Anebookprovidesalltheadvantagesofaprintedbook;moreover,itcanbeobtainedforfreeorfor4to8 times lower prices thanthe printed version. In the majority of cases, the ebookscan be downloaded from specialized websites. The ebooks are very useful in the education and academic domains even if in the beginningtheywereespeciallyusedintheliterature. Theoriginalfeaturesoftheebookwhichcanbetranslatedintoadvantagesare[2]:
itcanbefoundindifferentpageformats,accordingtoreaderspreferences; itcanbetheobjectofaspecializedreadingsoftware(searchofoccurrencesandcontexts); itcanbesubmittedtoadynamicdisplaywhichprovidesatemporaldimension; itisgeneratedbyaspecificsoftware; itcanbeeasilyoutsourced,i.e.itcanbepropagatedandreadinthesametimeindifferentgeographicregions.

Other advantages refer to the fact that the ebooks can customize the viewing experience (enlarge font size and style, change orientation on device, modify screen contrast), they are easily searchable (specific terms,definitions,chapters),oftenbyjustclickingonakeywordwithinthetext,theyhavethe potentialto addmultimedia(graphics,audio,video)andhyperlinkstootherinformation,includingyourownreference materials;inthisway,thereaderscanacquiretitlesalmostinstantlyviatheInternet,includingthosethatare backlistedoroutofprint. Anebook,oncesold,cannotbecopiedandsenttootherpersons,withoutthepermissionoftheauthor. Onlyforspecificpurposes,certainpartsoftheebookcanbecopiedorannotatedwiththeauthorpermission. The publishing and the sale of the ebooks are two profitable operations because there arent expenses associatedtothepackages,transports,employees,exhibitionspacesetc. The ebooks promote the social responsibility regarding the economies of the raw material (wood), representingoneoftheinformationtechnologiescontributionsonthesustainabledevelopment. Ebooks allow publishers to publish (and readers to read) works by a larger number of authors, and worksonawidervarietyoftopics.Criticsoftraditionalbookpublishingstatethateconomicpressureshave reducedandlimitedthenumberofauthorsandtopicsthattraditionalpublisherswillnowproduce. Mostebookpublishersdonotwarntheircustomersaboutthepossibleimplicationsofthedigitalrights managementtiedtotheirproducts.Generallytheyclaimthatdigitalrightsmanagementismeanttoprevent copyingoftheebook.Howeverinmanycasesitisalsopossiblethatdigitalrightsmanagementwillresultin the complete denial of access by the purchaser to the ebook. As with digital rights management in other media,ebooksaremorelikerentalorleasingthanpurchase.Therestrictedbookcomeswithanumberof restrictions,andeventuallyaccesstothepurchasecanberemovedbyanumberofdifferentpartiesinvolved. 3.Theimplementationofawebmarketingplanmodelfortheebooks The development of an ebook marketing strategy represents an essential part of ebooks success. We proposeawebmarketingplanfortheebookswhichinvolvesthefollowingmainstages:(figureno.1)

searchofthespecializedwebsites,characterizedbyahightraffic,wherethepotentialcustomersoftheebooks (thereaders)canbefound; targetingthewebsiteswhichsellebookswithinsearchengineswithhighawareness; designofthewebsitededicatedtotheebooksellingprocess; attractionofthepotentialcustomersusingafreetrialversionoftheebook; implementationoftheonlinemediaplanwhichwillbefocusedonPayperClickmodelandaffiliatedwebsites (revenuesdistributionsystemsbetweenthosewhichbuyInternetadvertisingandtheownersofthewebsites whichsellebooks)inviewtogettraffictothewebsite; promotionoftheebookwithinsocialnetworksandspecializedforums; analysisoftheindicatorsassociatedtotheonlinemediaplaninordertoassesstheprojectperformance. Figure1.GanttChartassociatedtoamodelofawebmarketingplanforebooks

Search of the specialized websites, characterized by a high traffic, where the potential customers of theebooks(thereaders)canbefound A potential reader of an ebook will access specialized ebook search engines as Digital Book (http://www.digitalbookindex.org/about.htm), ebook Locator (http://www.eBookLocator.com), Google
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Books (http://books.google.com), Google Scholar (http://scholar.google.com), Online Books Page (http://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/),SearchEBooks(http://www.searchebooks.com/)etc.Thebookwill beidentifiedbyabookiconinthesearchresults.Byclickingonthelink,asearcherwillhaveaccesstothee books details. The emarketers main task is to include the ebook in the main search engines in view to providetraffictothewebsitewhichpromotetheebook.Evenifrankingtheebookinthetoptenortwenty searchresultsisverydifficultandexpensive,itrepresentsanopportunitythatmustntbemissed.Wereveal inthefigureno.2anexampleofaspecializedsearchengineSearchEBooks,whichprovidestheopportunity tomakerefinedebooksearches.
Figure2.Exampleofaspecializedsearchengineforebooks

Targetingthewebsiteswhichsellebookswithinsearchengineswithhighawareness First of all, we will have in view the targeting strategy an ebooks online customers have different demographiccharacteristics,needsandbehaviors.Itfollowsthatdifferentapproachestosegmentationmay be required and specific segments may need to be selectively targeted. Related to the positioning / differentiation strategy for an ebook, developing an appropriate online value proposition is an important aspectwhichwilldetermineitsperformance.Forexample,themarketercanallowpeopletodownloadthee bookbeforepaying,readpartofit,andtheneitherpaytodownloadparttwo,orgetapasswordtoreada secondpart.Todefinethebestcustomerswillrequireafinancialmodelofcustomerlifetimevalue,bytaking intoconsiderationtheforecastedfuturepurchasesandreferralpurchases[3]. Designofthewebsitededicatedtotheebooksellingprocess Writingandcreatinganebookcanbeaverychallengingtask.Asanewerdevelopment,sometimesonly theelectronicversionofabookisproducedbythepublisher.Itisalsopossibletoconvertelectronicbooktoa printedbookbyprintondemand.Howeverthisisanexceptionastraditiondictatesthatabookbelaunched intheprintformatandlateriftheauthorwishes,anelectronicversionisalsoproduced.Theavailabilityof toolkits as Ebook Architect programs helps the authors to publish their ebooks. Once an author have created and published several ebooks, he can create an ebook store. The people who visit the estore dedicated to the ebook selling process will appreciate the options and the instant ability to download e books containing information they need. Without shipping costs, ebooks downloads are a budgetfriendly commodity. While designing a website for ebooks, its usability is to be kept in mind. The textual content should be easily read and the content on the pages must be easily accessible. The most significant key variableswhichmustbetakenintoconsiderationbytheownerofawebsitesupportforebookspromotion andsellingare:highqualitycontent,easytousefeatures,fastupload,permanentupdates. Attractionofthepotentialcustomersusingafreetrialversionoftheebook Freetrialsandsamplesofebooksareagreatwaytointroducenewcustomerstothewebsite.Providinga freetrialofanebookcanbeagreatsaleproducingopportunity.Agreatwaytoincreaseyourebooksalesis tocreateatrialversionofyourebookandfreelydistributeit.Thiswillprovidethepotentialcustomerswith a sample of your ebook and encourage them to purchase the full version. If someone sees the benefits of what a publisher provides at no costs and risks, he or she will probably buy the ebook from the website. Givingawayfreesamplesandtrialoffersofebooksisawinwinbusinessstrategyforbothpublishersand readers.Apersoncanmakeanebookandgiveitawayforfreeforthemainfollowingreasons:hecoulduse thefreeebookasabonus,orthankyougift,foritscustomers,websitevisitorsorezinesubscribers,hecould usetheebooktoremindreadersaboutitsbusinessorproductsorhecouldevenincludeadvertisingwithin itsfreeebook. Implementationoftheonlinemediaplaninviewtogettraffictothewebsitededicatedtothebook The online media plan will be focused on the following pillars: identifying a potential profitable topic, researchingtheviabilityofdevelopingthedocument,discoveringbuyerpreferencesandunderstandinghow theproblemisframedinthemindoftheprospect.Firstofall,aftertheapprovaloftheonlinemediaplanfor anebook,thewebsitecertificatemustsecuretheacquisitionsofthepotentialcustomers.Deliveringonline advertisingspecificationsrepresentsanotherstepoftheonlinemediaplan.Aftermediaplannersdefinethe target audience for an ebook, they set communication goals: to what degree the target audience must be exposed to (and interact with) ebook in order to achieve advertising and online sales objectives. Pay Per Click(PPC)advertisingisoneofthequickestwaystodrivetraffictoyourebookssalespage.Itiscertainly notthecheapestsourceoftraffic,butitisprobablythemosteffectivetechniquetoguaranteeahightraffic[4].
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Thetasksassociatedtothestagesrelatedtothewebmarketingplanfortheebookscanberevealedinan htmlversion,beingeasilyaccessedbythepersonsinvolvedinsuchawebproject.(figureno.3)
Figure3.Htmlversionassociatedtothetasksofawebmarketingplanforebooks

[1]. [2]. [3]. [4]. [5].

Promotionoftheebookwithinsocialnetworksandspecializedforums Social networks and specialized forums are designed for information to quickly move from member to member, so the ebook web marketing campaigns that are focused on these capabilities perform the best. Membersinsocialnetworksliketocommunicatewitheachother,orselfexpress.Asaresult,theebookweb marketing campaigns should satisfy these needs with the appropriate tools. As more people contribute or interactwiththemarketingcampaign,thevalueoftheebookisincreased.Thiscanbeintheformofviral marketingthatiscreatedbythecommunity,contests,votingorgames.Inthisway,apublishercancontinue earningmoneymonthandyearsago,aspassiveincome[5]. Analysis of the indicators associated to the online media plan in order to assess the project performance The underlying goal of any online marketing campaign for the ebooks is to attract more traffic to the website. The analysis of the indicators associated to the online media plan can be performed by means of specialized softwaresuchasGoogleAnalyticswhichwillkeepcomprehensivetabsontrafficflowandvisitor numberstotheebookwebsite.Animprovedreaderexperiencemaynotleadtobetterrankings,butitwill almostcertainlyleadtoincreasedsalesoftheebook. 4.Conclusions Having in view the fact that Internet makes a worldwide bridge for the people, the opportunities for marketing activities are huge. Internet is the richest media from the perspective of communication possibilities for the ebooks. Thus, the moment of the development of ebooks customer attraction can be rigorously planed, themessages can becustomizedaccordingto the readers preferencesandcan generate different modalities to assess the performance: the frequencies of a site accessing, the number of ebooks sold, the number of recommendations of the website, etc. Taking into consideration the stages that we proposedforebookswebmarketingplanmodel,theprincipleofcustomersattractioncanbeformulatedas itfollows:Toproposethemostadequateebookdesign,tothemostrepresentativetargetandwiththebest argues. Long term web marketing strategies build ebooks awareness and increase sales revenues. Short term strategiescreateimmediaterevenuebygivingreadersanincentivetopurchase.Byimplementingbothlong andshorttermstrategies,thepublisherofanebookcanattendtoimmediatesalesgoalswhilebuildingthee bookreputation. References
SmithS.CreateanebooktheBenefitsofOwnership,JohnWilley&SonsEdition,NewYork,2001 CrinonJ.Lavnementdulivrelectronique:simpletransition?,PresseUniversitairedeFrance,Paris,2000 SmithE.R.EloyaltyHowtoKeepCustomersComingBacktoYourWebsite,HarperCollins,NewYork,2000 BleojuG.,CapatinaA.InternetMarketing,Ed.FundatieiUniversitareDunareadeJos,Galati,2006 Boyd S. Make Money OnlineWrite and Sell EBooks Guide: A Work from Home Internet Business Writing, Selling EBooks Online, GloboticMediaPublishing,2009 [6]. KinnardS.MarketingwithEmail,MaximumPress,NewYork,2000

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