Internet Marketing
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What is Internet Marketing?
Depending on whom you ask, the term Internet marketing can mean a variety of things. At one time, Internet marketing consisted mostly of having a website or placing banner ads on other websites. On the other end of the spectrum, you can make a fortune overnight on the Internet using some form of an “Internet marketing program“.
Today, Internet marketing, or online marketing, is evolving into a broader mix of components a company or an individual can use as a means of increasing sales, even if your business is done completely online, partly online, or completely offline. The decision to use Internet marketing as part of a company’s or small businesses overall marketing strategy. Internet marketing is becoming an increasingly important part of nearly every company’s marketing mix. For some online businesses, it is the only form of marketing being practiced.
Internet Marketing Components -
Components of Internet marketing may include:
- Setting up a Website – Consisting of text, images and possibly audio and video elements used to convey the company’s message online, to inform existing and potential customers of the features and benefits of the company’s products and/or services. The website may or may not include the ability to capture leads from potential customers or directly sell a product or service online. Websites can be the Internet equivalents of offline brochures or mail order catalogs and they are a great way to establish your business identity.
- Search Engine Marketing (SEM) – Which is marketing a website online via search engines, either by improving the site’s natural (organic) ranking through search engine optimization (SEO), buying pay-per-click (PPC) ads or purchasing pay-for-inclusion (PFI) listings in website directories, which are similar to offline yellow page listings.
- Email Marketing – Which is a method of distributing information about a product or service or for soliciting feedback from customers about a product or service through Email. Email addresses of customers and prospective customers may be collected or purchased. Various methods are used, such as the regular distribution of newsletters or mass mailing of offers related to the company’s product or services. Email marketing is essentially the online equivalent of direct mail marketing.
- Banner Advertising – Which is the placement of ads on a website for a fee. The offline equivalent of this form of online marketing would be traditional ads in newspapers or magazines.
- Online Press Realeases – Which involve placing a newsworthy story about a company, its website, its people, and/or its products/services with on online wire service.
- Blog Marketing – Which is the act of posting comments, expressing opinions or making announcements in a discussion forum and can be accomplished either by hosting your own blog or by posting comments and/or URLs in other blogs related to your product or service online.
- Article Marketing – Which involves writing articles related to your business and having them published online on syndicated article sites. These articles then have a tendency to spread around the Internet since the article services permit re-publication provided that all of the links in the article are maintained. Article marketing can result in a traffic boost for your website, and the distribution of syndicated articles can promote your brand to a wide audience. Boosts SEO & PageRank.
Internet Marketing and Home Business: Of all of the aspects of Internet marketing, target customers and clients expect a business to have a website. In fact, not having one could raise a red flag to a prospect. Online usage has become so pervasive today, many customers might easily choose to do business with a company that they can get up-to-date information on 24 hours per day, 7 days per week. Even a business that only has very local customers, such as a small location restaurant or shoe store can benefit from having a website and engaging in online marketing. Those businesses whose customers are global might have a difficult time finding an alternate method of attracting customers that without a website cannot maintain a strong Web presence. Because of the “virtual” nature of most home businesses and websites, they can certainly provide benefits to a home business. Since most home-based businesses don’t have a physical store or location, a website provides a cost affective means for future customers to get to know what you do, what you sell. A website can sometimes be considered a “storefront” for selling goods and services directly. The Internet has helped home businesses to grow because of the reasonably low start up cost and maintain a web website. Therefore, Internet marketing should be part of your business plan and your marketing strategy.
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