Hello, research0297-ga!
I have found numerous eFax advertisements on prominent search engines
and paid advertising sites by typing in different search queries.
j2Global Communications, which offers the eFax service, also offers an
affiliate marketing program on their home page. In the initial
business stages, eFax ran a successful viral marketing program,
generating business through word-of-mouth advertising.
Advertising on Search Engines and Pay Per Click Sites
=======================================================
I have included some of the sample queries I used to bring up eFax
advertisements, though I have not included the links since ads often
change with searches. You may try the same queries if you like:
google.com (eFax is a sponsored link to the query "faxing)
yahoo.com (eFax is a sponsored link to queries about "faxing)
teoma.com (eFax is a sponsored link to the query "faxing)
alltheweb.com (eFax is a sponsored link to the query "faxing)
Search.com (eFax is a sponsored link to the query "email faxing")
Excite.com (eFax is a sponsored link to the query "email faxing")
webcrawler.com (eFax is a sponsored link to the query "mobile faxing"
metacrawler.com (eFax is a sponsored link to the query "email faxing")
goclick.com (eFax came up under "email faxing")
dogpile.com (eFax is a sponsored link to the query "mobile faxing")
Hotbot.com (eFax is a sponsored link to the query "faxing on the road")
searchfeed.com (eFax is listed as an advertiser)
espotting.com (eFax is listed as an advertiser)
business.com (eFax is a sponsored listing to the query "mobile faxing")
Also see an early paid advertisement in a 1999 issue of The Advocate
http://www.theadvocates.org/liberator/vol-04-num-14.htm
Advertising through the j2Global affiliate program
==================================================
j2 Global also offers an affiliate program to those who wish to earn
extra income by advertising the company's programs on their websites.
http://www.j2global.com/jcom/j2/page/affiliates
"Want to make your website work even harder for you? By recommending
our convenient business critical communications and messaging
solutions to your friends, family, colleagues and customers, you can
earn extra income."
Advertising methods under the j2Global Business Model
======================================================
http://investor.j2global.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=85255&p=irol-faq
"j2 Global has a multi-pronged approach to generating monthly
recurring subscription and usage based revenue. One is to drive
customers to the eFax.com, j2.com, eFaxcorporate.com and
j2corporate.com Websites based on word of mouth, branding, search
engine placement, advertising, and Cost-per-Acquisition (CPA) customer
deals, as well as to monetize the advertising-supported base of "free"
subscribers. This is done by selling third party advertising,
participating into telecom calling party paid revenue, upgrading
customers to paid subscription accounts and utilizing the database as
a source of leads for our business solutions."
Early Advertising through Viral Marketing
=========================================
Though the following article is dated, it provides some insight into
how eFax gained so many customers - in the early days, at least!
Word-of-mouth advertising gave the company its initial growth.
From "TMF Interview With eFax.com CFO Todd Kenck." The Motley Fool.com.
August 16, 1999
http://www.fool.com/foolaudio/transcripts/1999/stocktalk990816_efax.htm
TMF: "How do you intend to keep the user growth going and what are
some of your goals in terms of numbers, if you can get into that kind
of information?"
Kenck: ..."I think the way to continue to gain new subscribers is,
one, we have a great word of mouth distribution. The product seems to
get installed into corporate departments mostly by word of mouth. A
manager begins using the product and disseminates it to his work
group. It's an easily referenced product from one colleague to another
or from a friend to a friend. So, I think that will continue to drive
users in our favor."
"But on the other side, we are spending a significant amount of
resources marketing our brand, trying to drive people to us. And there
will be more of that as well as other partnerships that will develop
users. And I think as we add other technologies and other services, we
make a more compelling offering."
...
TMF: "What in your mind is the ideal eFax customer? Is there a certain
target customer that you're trying to market the product to?"
Kenck: "One is just by the demographic. We're targeting the
professional business user -- a consumer of fax who is more than
likely a sub-business customer. We think we're targeting the global
professional, the road warrior. Those people have a high utility for
being able to get their communications, whether they're voice or fax
or e-mail, anywhere in the world, anytime. So I think the target
market is always going to be the mobile professional."
Read more....
==
More about the early power of eFax's viral marketing campaign:
From "The Fact Is, Free Fax Attracts," by Leslie Walker. Washington
Post Staff Writer. Thursday, April 22, 1999
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/business/longterm/tech/techthursday/dotcom/dotcom042299.htm
"A publicly traded company called JetFax started the battle in
February by changing its name to Efax.com and offering a free
incoming-fax service. After a decade of making facsimile machines and
other office equipment, such as combination scanners, fax machines and
printers for Hewlett-Packard Co., the company decided its fortune
really lay with Internet services."
"Reflecting the current mania for Internet stocks, Efax.com's market
valuation quadrupled almost immediately."
"Once lighted, Internet freebie flames often spread rapidly via e-mail
as users tell their friends. Efax.com made it easy by putting an
automatic message function on its Web site to take care of that job.
These messages function as a kind of "viral marketing," because people
getting word of the fax number may come on board as subscribers
themselves."
"Within eight weeks of going free, Efax.com had signed up more than
300,000 subscribers."
==
The following excerpt compares the successful viral marketing
strategies of Hotmail, ICQ and eFax:
From "Viral Marketing - May 2, 2002.
http://www.webadvantage.net/tip_archive.cfm?tip_id=200&&a=1
"How did Hotmail do it? The strategy was simple. On the bottom of each
and every Hotmail email was the phrase, "Get your free private email
at hotmail.com." Interesting fact: today Hotmail is the largest email
provider in India despite never having spent a dime in that market."
"The instant messaging service, ICQ, is another viral marketing
success story, though they were never even intending to market
themselves. When ICQ was created in 1996, it was unlike anything else
like it. People would tell other people about ICQ and would share
their ICQ ID #s. Unlike HotMail, ICQ spent ZERO marketing dollars and
was eventually acquired by AOL for over $287 million. At the time of
its acquisition, ICQ had about 30 million users."
"Free email fax service, EFax.com, used a strategy similar to
Hotmail's with similar success. In only 8 weeks, they signed up more
than 300,000 subscribers - all through viral email marketing."
Some eFax consumer opinions
=============================
How can eFax provide faxing services for free?
A short article in Personal Technology provides some insight from an
eFax customer: http://www.sandimasnews.com/news/mar/832.html
"Here is how eFax works. You sign up at eFax and if you decide you
want to have their free service with a phone number based in Illinois
or some other area code other than your local area code and prefix, or
for about $12.95 per month, you can have a local phone number and can
fax directly from your PC through the Internet for about 10¢ a page."
** "How can they provide this service for free, or only $12.95 a
month? Advertising. They send you advertising e-mails, and when you
use the software to view the e-mail fax attachment it shows some
small, unobtrusive ads. But, believe me, based on the amount of spam I
receive, the e-mails advertisements are very few. I?ve never counted
them, but I bet I receive an eFax advertisement about once a month."
==
This arrangement has brought complaints by some customers who have
been unhappy with the eFax policy of sending fax advertisements that
cut into the allocated fax pages allowed under the free service.
The following excerpt is from a May 8, 2003 posting on Lawsites
http://www.legaline.com/2003_05_04_lawsites_archive.html
"Recently, I received a notice from eFax stating: "When you signed up
for your Free account, you agreed to the eFax Customer Agreement,
which states the following: 'As a Free Service Customer, [you] may
receive a limited number of faxes in your e-mail.' We consider a
limited number of faxes to be up to 20 pages a month. In the past
three months, you averaged 40 or more pages at this Fax number." The
notice went on to say that I would have to upgrade to a paid account
or have my fax service suspended. Not long after, they suspended me.
The problem with this is that, when I signed up, there was not a word
in the customer agreement about page limits."
"When I called customer service and explained all this to a
representative, he dismissed me, saying the only way I could continue
my number was if I signed up for a paid account.
** As for the junk faxes, he explained those were necessary to offset
the cost of the free service.
"There is no such thing as a free lunch, of course. But the original
eFax model was to bring in revenue through advertising. Users of free
eFax accounts would have to first click through a paid advertisement
before viewing a fax."
==
A complaint of uninvited download of eFax software:
From "Readers report uninvited software making itself at home on their
systems." The Gripe Line. Ed Foster (free registration is required to
read the entire article)
http://www.infoworld.com/articles/op/xml/00/05/08/000508opfoster.html
"Another form of intrusive software was reported by an IT manager at a
company that has the not untypical policy of prohibiting users from
installing software on their systems without her approval. One user,
however, innocently clicked on an e-mail attachment from a client,
which proceeded to install eFax software on his system in order to let
him read his client's message. He was given no prior notice of the
installation or opportunity to decline installation of this software,"
wrote the IT manager. "I consider this extremely bad manners, no
better than a virus and possibly even contrary to federal law. This
eFax outfit is doing something unnecessarily intrusive."
"An eFax representative confirmed that users (eFax has both free and
paid versions of its fax-via-e-mail service) can attach eFax client
software to serve as a reader for messages sent to an e-mail address
instead of a fax number."
==
For some additional consumer opinions about eFax, see eopinions:
http://www.epinions.com/bsrv-Office_Services/show_~recent_content/sec_~recent_content_list/pp_~2/express_~y/surveys_~
==
I hope this information helps you to further understand some methods
that eFax uses to advertise its services and attract customers!
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