4S Web Marketing Mix
(Constantinides)

Knowledge Center

The 4Ps Marketing Mix framework is a sound tool for traditional / physical marketing management, however applying that framework to virtual (internet) marketing is a poor choice. Two main limitations of applying the traditional 4P's framework in online environments are:

• The drastically diminished role of the 4Ps, and
• The lack of any strategic elements in the 4Ps model.

The basis for successful E-Commerce is the full integration of the virtual activities into the physical strategy of the company, its marketing plan and its organizational processes.

What is the 4S Web Marketing Mix?

The 4S Web Marketing Mix method from Constantinides identifies the following four critical managerial ingredients of E-Marketing:

1. SCOPE - defines the main strategic issues underpinning the online presence; these are subject to continuous management review and appraisal. Issues of scope include markets and competitors, customer profiles, effects of the online operation on existing internal processes and identification of the strategic role of the firm's online presence.
2. SITE - identifies the operational aspects of the online presence reflecting the character, positioning and market focus of online firms. The corporate web site, as the main interface between the firm and its customers, must be designed in a way that facilitates contact with the target group(s). The web site must express a virtual experience that encourages customer interaction as well as customer retention.
3. SYNERGY - designates areas where integration between the online presence and the organization or its networks is essential. Online firms will maximize their market impact by capitalizing on synergies with existing commercial and organizational processes. While they fully utilize their commercial networks. This requires:
   • Integration with the Front Office: integration of the firm's virtual activities in the total corporate marketing plan. This is necessary to provide the online presence of the firm the initial support, needed in order to develop as a significant component of the total marketing program.
   • Integration with the Back Office: Emphasizes the fact that a far-reaching integration of virtual activities in the existing organizational processes is a vital condition for meeting the service needs and expectations of online customers. Integration of the online presence with existing organizational processes might mean that some of the traditional operations or procedural routines have to be upgraded or re-designed in order to deliver the proper level of virtual customer service and value.
   • Integration with external parties and company networks: necessary for promotional and logistical activities as well as outsourcing processes that cannot be done internally in a cost efficient manner.
4. SYSTEM - provides an outline of technical factors underpinning the secure, safe, cost-efficient and customer-friendly operation of the corporate web site.

Origin of the 4S Web Marketing Mix. History

The method was developed as an educational tool in 1996/97 but has been proved quite suitable as a process for designing a new web site or evaluating and improving an existing one.

Usage of the 4S Web Marketing Mix. Applications

• Designing of new web sites.
• Evaluating / upgrading of existing web sites.
• Especially useful for dealing with Clicks and Mortar (B2C) environments

The Steps in the 4S Web Marketing Mix Process

1. Scope: Strategy and Objectives.
   Market Analysis: Competition basis, competitors, market potential, market forecast, market trends.
   Potential Customers: Profiles, motivation, behavior, needs and current way of fulfilling them, priorities.
   Internal Analysis: Internal resources, processes, values. Is the Web a sustaining or disruptive technology?
   Strategic Role of the Web Activities: Generic types: Informational, Educational, Relational, Promotional, Transactional.
2. Site: Web Experience.
   Customer oriented content. Important questions:
   - What does the customer expect in the website? Domain name, content, design, layout, atmosphere, aesthetics and website positioning and the classic 4 Ps
   - Why the customer will make use of the website? Simplicity, functionality, speed, findability, searchability, navigation, interactivity and customization
   - What motivates customers to come back? Online service, customer feedback, Relationship Management, Information quality and "freshness", Customer protection, privacy policy, perceived safety.
3. Synergy: Integration
   Front Office integration: Integration with the physical marketing strategy and marketing activities
   Back Office integration: Integration of the website with organizational processes, legacy systems and databases
   Third Party integration: Create networks of partners, which will assist the commercial, logistic and other website activities.
4. System: Technology, technical requirements and website administration.
   Software, hardware, communication protocols, content management, system service, website administration, hosting decisions, payment systems, performance analysis.

Strengths of the 4S Web Marketing Mix. Benefits

• Identifies the critical strategic, operational, organizational and technological issues underpinning a successful online presentation.
• As far as the low entry barriers and the fast technological change are concerned, the method argues for an integrative approach on strategic and operational management issues.
• Well suited for Internet strategy and physical applications in sectors where conditions are changing quickly.
• Can highlight the role of marketing managers as strategists (and not only as tacticians).

Limitations of the 4S Web Marketing Mix. Disadvantages

• Developed for Business to Consumer (B2C) applications.
• Requires a good knowledge of online consumer behavior in order to be able to optimize the web experience elements. This knowledge may not always be available.

Assumptions of the 4S Web Marketing Mix. Conditions

• The classic 4Ps of the traditional Marketing Mix are not the critical factors of online marketing.

Article: Efthymios Constantinides - The 4S Web-Marketing Mix Model. E-Commerce Research and Applications, Elsevier Science, July 2002, vol 1/1, pp 57-76

Forum Forum discussions about Web Marketing (B2C Strategy). How to Build a Successful Online Platform: Edelman 5-Question Framework In the past decade, the number of online platforms has increased significantly. This is not surprising, given the ability of those platforms to create a lot of value through the enablement of communic... 8   Digital / Web Marketing versus Traditional Another difference with traditional marketing (mix) is that in web marketing individual clients can be - and often are - reached ("One-to-One Marketing"), such as in the case of search marketing and s... 8   2 comments A/B Testing. Fundamentals and Tips What is A/B Testing? It is essentially a way of validated learning by comparing two versions of some thing/object to find out which one performs better. A/B Testing was traditionally associated with ... 7   4 comments Digital Marketing ROI? Metrics for Social Media Campaigns Digital marketing Return on Investment (ROI) is the measure of the profit or loss that you generate on a digital marketing campaign, based on the amount of money you have invested. Here are a bunch o... 6   🔥 Content Marketing Content Marketing (CM) is a type of marketing that focuses on creating and publishing valuable, consistent, and relevant content (videos, blogs, text, etc.), which does not directly promote the brand ... 4   2 comments Lead Generation: List of Traditional and Digital Techniques Lead generation is the process of generating interest in a company's brand, products, or services using inbound and outbound marketing strategies. There are two distinct lead generation categories:... 4   5 comments Publisher (books) goes Social Media; Do or Don’t? I am writing a thesis for a publisher in the Netherlands and I am examining the possibilities for the implementation of social media. How could we reach potential readers? Is it relevant to profile th... 4   2 comments The E-Marketing Model used by Facebook Can anyone help me to describe the Facebook Model, taking into account the e-marketing techniques used by Facebook? ... 4   Video Marketing: Tips to Improve your Video Content Online video might not be the easiest marketing technique to take on, more businesses are carving out time and resources to ensure it's on their list. There are different types of video content that y... 3   Web Marketing Obeys to other Rules than Traditonal Marketing Constantinides is absolutely right: E-commerce should not be viewed as an application of technology but as an integral part of a strategic approach to running a business via the web. And indeed web ma... 0   1 comments Start a new topic about Web Marketing (B2C Strategy) Sign up for free

Courses about Web Marketing (B2C Strategy). Beginners Course Advanced Course Course for Experts

Best Practices The best, top-rated topics about Web Marketing (B2C Strategy). Here you will find the most valuable ideas and practical suggestions. 🥇 Marketing in the Internet Age We should not think about Internet Marketing, but about Marketing in the Internet Age. The internet and similar (mobile) new technologies enable changes in many things: the position of customers, th... 20   10 comments 🥈 Web Marketing in Africa The speed of web marketing is a big challenge to marketers in Africa. We have a slow society, yet we have to particiate in international trade. Unless the mindset of most African people is changed I s... 8   3 comments

Expert Tips Advanced insights about Web Marketing (B2C Strategy). Here you will find professional advices by experts. Consultancy Tips Teaching Tips Practical Implementation Tips Another Web Marketing Mix E-Marketing Strategy In contrast to the 4S Web Marketing Mix, Kalyanam and McIntyre are suggesting an E-Marketing Mix that can be synthesized... Six Steps for Integrating Social Media Into your Organization Social Media Integration, Using Social Media, Social Media for Business In order to successfully integrate social media into your organization, six useful steps can be used. These are the foll... How to Improve your Conversion Rate? Best Practices To improve the Conversion Rate (CR) of a web site you have to follow these eight principles: 1. “Avoid accidental marke... The Role of the 4P's in an Online Enviroment E-Marketing, Strategy Although the 4P's are not the critical factors in an online environment, they are still more or less important and neces... Don't Forget Internal Marketing Involving your Employees, Internal Marketing Best Practices Besides external marketing, dealing with the image, look and view how customers see or define your organization, interna... Strategic Options for Dot-coms and Established Firms Internet Strategy, Business Strategy M. Porter suggests the following strategic options for dot-coms and established companies in his article “Strategy and t... Understand your Conversion Rate Web Site Marketing and Benchmarking According to Bryan & Jeffrey Eisenberg with Lisa T. Davis (Call to Action: Secret Formulas to Improve Online Results, 20... International Versions of Websites. do or Don't? Branding, Brand Relationship, Internet Strrtegy An article of Bartikowski and Singh (2014) studies the efficiency of increasing Website Cultural Congruity (WCC) across ... The Importance of Customer Differences in Markets with Network Effects: the Limits of Scale Network Effect, Network Strategy, First Mover Advantage, Second-mover Strategy, Customer Intimacy, Market Segmentation The network effect (Metcalfe's Law) is the phenomenon that the value of a product or service increases (exponentially) w... Key Search Engine Optimalization Steps Improve your Ranking According to Vanessa Fox (Marketing in the Age of Google, 2010)- a former Google's expert, to help search engines to sea...

Information Sources Various sources of information regarding Web Marketing (B2C Strategy). Here you will find powerpoints, videos, news, etc. to use in your own lectures and workshops. Introduction to E-Marketing | Internet Marketing E-marketing, Web Marketing, Affiliate program, Search engine optimization, Email campaigns, Mobile marketing This presentation covers the topic of E-marketing, divided into various subcategories. It consist of the following secti... Integration of Social Media in Business Internet Strategy, Online Strategy, Social Media Strategy, Integration Presentation about the Internet, Social Media and the Integration of them in business by A. Siegle. The presentation ha... The Internet / Social Media Revolution Social Media, Internet Strategy, Internet Impact, Digital Revolution Video shows how fast social media is growing. And gives a clear status of the position of social media by 2014. Great s... Social Media for Business Social Media in Business, Social Media for Business, Social Media and Business This presentation is about social media in businesses that outlines some steps to integrate social media into you organi... Cross-cultural Marketing on the Internet Marketing, International Business Presentation about Cross-cultural Marketing by Rafael Capurro. The main focus is on website marketing. Hofstede’s cultur... Speech Kotler on Internet Marketing Initial Understanding of Internet Marketing, Trainings, Workshops Philip Kotler explains some conditions and gives some tips on internet marketing. - Have a good Website. Including what...

Tools Useful tools regarding Web Marketing (B2C Strategy). News Videos Presentations   Books Academic More

Compare with:  Marketing Mix (4-Ps)  |  Extended Marketing Mix (7-Ps)  |  Operational CRM  |  Bricks and Clicks  |  TDC Matrix  |  Twelve Principles of the Network Economy  |  Affiliate Marketing  |  Strategic Thrusts

Return to Management Hub: Marketing & Sales  |  Strategy & Innovation

More Management Methods, Models and Theory