by Troy Janisch

A decade ago, discussions of whether an organization needed a Web site or whether it should be viewed as a marketing tool, were common. As Internet use increased among target markets at the turn of the century, reaching 60% of US and Canadian households in 2001(August, 2001, NAU Internet Survey), discussion changed to how prospective customers were using the Internet.

Internet media users can be broken into four categories based on their general pattern of Internet use. Heavy users access the Internet daily. Frequent users access the Internet weekly. Infrequent users access the Internet monthly. Lapsed users access the Internet in periodic bursts of typical use. These categories are shown below:

Categories of Internet Media Use



The categories of use among differing target markets varies.The ages, incomes and occupations within your target markets will influence how appropriate and effective specific Internet tactics may be for your organization. For example, it would be ineffective to distribute weekly product updates via the Internet to a target market comprised widely of infrequent Internet users.

You can use the demographic and behavioral trends information gathered during your business review, in readily-available secondary research, to identify the categories of use among your target markets

In association with the Internet usage pattern of target markets, it is necessary to identify the online activities of your target markets. For example, prior to implementing e-commerce , you must identify the online shopping patterns and preferences of your target markets. The most popular online activity is information gathering. Much of the information gathered, relates to identifying products and services to buy – even in cases when users do not plan to purchase the product and services online.

By identifying the expectations and needs of your target markets, prior to implementing Internet media tactics, you build the foundation of an effective, market-led Web site.