First they established their presence on the Web. Then they enlivened their sites with interactive and e-commerce components that went well beyond "brochureware." Now, marketers are exploring a variety of Internet-based tools to take their online customer relationships to a whole new level.

Think of it as: Internet Marketing: The Next Generation.

While few people are willing to call them "killer apps" just yet, it seems that permission-based e-mail marketing, online behavioural profiling, and more customized content delivery are definitely on the rise.

"Where the industry has moved rapidly is anything ‘e' is now less about advertising and more about building relationships online, and the core of that really is customer relationship management," says David Feldt, vice-president and director of e-business solutions at Toronto-based direct response agency Impiric.

"The major trend that we're seeing now...is a realization that the technology can help you retain your customers, but you have to have the strategy in your organization to be able to effectively do that," says Robert Clarkson, general manager of Carlson Marketing Group. "And sometimes that means you have to change the organizational structure because marketing organizations of companies tend to be geared towards acquisition [of customers]."

While Internet companies are generally sophisticated at using direct communications, says Clarkson, it's still "early days" for traditional marketers.

One of the chief obstacles facing Canadian corporations that want to leverage their Internet strategies, says Feldt, is the lack of financial support.

"The case really hasn't been made that this can make money for us, so let's do it," he says. Such initiatives take money, time and effort to build, he adds, because they tie in to a company's databases, call centres, inventory systems, distribution, accounting systems and all its business activities. Still, he predicts that a significant number of Canadian companies are developing initiatives that will be ready by the fall or the end of the year.

Among those marketers that are on the verge of taking their Web strategy to the next level is The Shopping Channel. It will be using e-mail direct marketing to deliver weekly information updates and monthly product category newsletters to customers' in-boxes by the beginning of this summer. The Toronto-based broadcast retailer has built a list of 50,000-plus customers who have opted to receive information from The Shopping Channel by e-mail.

"Our customers are fanatics about our brand and about what we do," says Ted Starkman, TSC's vice-president of electronic commerce. Based on inbound e-mail to its customer service group, the company sees a "constant request for a further dialogue," says Starkman. This provides the company the opportunity to tailor its one-to-one communications to individual customers' interests.